Chapter 358 357. Can't block the road

When Randy Brown told Zhang Yang that the Pistons lost, several teammates also heard it.

Hill said: "We are 1-3 against the Pistons. We need to have a better record than them to surpass them."

Felton: "It's a bit difficult. Our next nine games are against the Lakers, Spurs, Hornets, Magic, and Bulls. We have to play six games against these five teams. The Raptors are still in the playoffs and will definitely give it a try. The 9ers are ninth in the East. Even the Kings, with Rajon, Richardson, and Martin, will not be easy to play against."

Zhang Yang, who was just excited about tying the Pistons, was instantly annihilated from his happiness. He complained, "I know our final month is a tough schedule. Boss, can you please not say it out loud? It really spoils the fun!"

Felton: "Jack, we must stay calm and focus now. We can't be careless. We have a lot to do. We need to be proficient in the coordination of your offense, strive for the second place in the East, and gain an advantage when we directly compete with our competitors..."

Zhang Yang: "Boss, have you noticed that you are becoming more and more like Rick? Who was it that complained that Rick was too strict?"

Felton: "Huh? Really?"

Zhang Yang: "Huh? What's true or false?"

Felton: "Am I really like Rick? He is one of the best coaches I have ever seen. My career plan is to become a coach after retirement, starting as a scout, trainer, and assistant coach. I will definitely retire earlier than you, and then maybe I will be your trainer or an assistant coach on your team."

Zhang Yang: "That's great, we can still compete for the championship together then."

Felton: "Yes, I think so too. It can also help you solve some things you don't want to deal with."

Zhang Yang: "That's right... By the way, did James and his team win?"

Felton: "I don't know. Didn't you ask the staff to keep an eye on it for you?"

Zhang Yang: "They are busy cleaning the stadium after the game. I am sorry to bother them. Let's go and take a look."

Hill, Okafor, Alan Anderson, Brad Miller and others were speechless.

We were just chatting so seriously, but suddenly the topic went off track and we talked about... things that will happen at least 10 years later?
Brad Miller has been here for a few months and has gradually become familiar with the style of this team.

It's completely different from the teams he's been on.

But he enjoys the atmosphere of this team with young players as the core...

A few minutes later, cheers from the big brother and the third brother came from the home team's locker room, and the teammates knew that North Carolina must have made it to the finals.

Alan Anderson, who went to watch Curry's game, said regretfully: "I really want to see Curry win the championship."

Okafor: "It's a very low probability that the Davidson Wildcats can beat the Kansas Jayhawks. The Kansas Jayhawks had a terrible touch that day. If their substitute shooters could make a long shot, Curry would have no chance to make the buzzer beater."

Hill: "Yes, the lineup gap is too big. The four core players of the North Carolina Blue Devils are no worse than those of Raymond's championship team. As long as two of their four core players can perform normally, Curry has no chance at all. Curry has created a miracle by reaching the final four."

As for Zhang Yang, after celebrating with Felton that the school team entered the finals, he felt a little regretful, although he also knew that Curry's counterattack had come to an end and hoped that North Carolina could win.

He also felt that Curry was so miserable... Just like the previous four rounds, North Carolina had another draw tonight, beating Davidson College 4-92. They lost the first game of the qualifying round in early February. Harden, Ellington, Hansbrough, Lawson, and Tatum still remember it. Tonight it was like they had met someone who had cut off their financial resources, and they were killing each other.

However, it would definitely be better if they could make it to the final four. Curry's three-point shooting trip in his sophomore season will definitely attract more attention from NBA teams than before. In addition to the Warriors and the Knicks in the lottery zone next year, there may be more teams competing for him.

Zhang Yang and Felton agreed to watch the live broadcast together on the evening of the 5th. The NBA was off that day, and they were playing against the Magic on the 6th. In the warm and pleasant Orlando, they ate fruit and watched Harden and Rose play against each other...

...

After a day of rest on the 2nd, the Bobcats faced the Raptors, their first back-to-back opponent at home, on the 1rd.

Before the game, Zhang Yang looked at the Raptors' record of 36 wins and 37 losses, and sighed: "Before the trade, the Raptors were expected to become the fifth team in the East to win 5 games, but now they are almost eighth. The Hawks won again last night, and they have won 50 games."

Felton: "Yeah, at that time I was arguing with Emeka about who was better, the Raptors or the Magic."

Zhang Yang: "Fight for this? Do you think the Magic team is stronger?"

Felton: "Ah? I think the Raptors are better. Emeka is the one who thinks the Magic are better. He thinks Howard is much better than Bosh."

Zhang Yang: "Oh..."

Felton: "I didn't expect the Raptors to lose all the way to less than 50% after the trade, while the Magic have 45 wins... I saw a lot of news saying that Colangelo Jr. was able to win the best manager award thanks to his father's connections. Now looking at what the Suns and Raptors did after he left, I think he is actually quite good."

Hill on the side interjected: "That statement is correct, but he can use his father's connections and withstand the pressure from the owners of the Suns and Raptors. This is also a kind of ability." Felton: "Then why is he fired so often?"

Hill: "I'm also surprised. Given his connections with his dad, a team would normally hold on to him for a long time."

Zhang Yang: "I was also curious about this before. I studied Colangelo's work history and thought that maybe he completed the work too quickly and too well."

Felton: "Huh? Doing a good job is also a reason to be fired?"

Hill was thoughtful.

Zhang Yang: "You could also say he was too extreme.

He joined the Suns in 04, completed the roster that summer, and basically built a championship-contending lineup in the summer of 05.

He joined the Raptors in 06. Through trades and signings, he built a lineup for the Raptors that would win 50 games in the summer of his joining. The Raptors had just won the No. pick in the previous season, and his operation that summer was no worse than helping the Suns build a running and gunning lineup.

But this left him with no room to maneuver afterwards, and no resources available to continue operating.

The Suns are in good shape. They already have Stoudemire, Marion, and Nash, and they have added a few suitable role players. Their ceiling immediately rises to first place in the regular season and the divisional finals in the playoffs, and they can compete for the championship.

The Raptors only have one All-Star level player in Bosh. When Colangelo Jr. came to power, he wanted to build a complete lineup. He couldn't get good enough players, so he chose substitutes or downgraded contracts. The lineup and system were built, but after it was completed, the strength was definitely far worse than he had expected at the beginning.

But he has already filled every link, the salary space has been used up, he cannot sign any contract, and the lineup is completed link by link. When a trade is made, it is very likely that one link will collapse as a whole.

Just like this time when Ford was traded for O'Neal, the team lost the initiator of the fast break and the team's top breakthrough expert, and Bosh in the interior was also held back.

He failed to succeed in the playoffs. After the season ended, the boss asked him for an offseason reinforcement plan, but he couldn't come up with one. Other teams would definitely not agree to use a substitute to replace the original target, unless they changed their team building ideas... It's normal for him to be fired."

Hill nodded: "This explanation makes sense, but it is a bit too business-like, there must be some other reasons.

I heard that he has an arrogant personality and a narrow mind, and often clashes with teammates over personal issues. I have seen news reports that he privately speaks ill of his teammates to his friends.

Zhang Yang: "There must be reasons in this regard. Many causes lead to one result..."

As the two teammates were chatting, Felton began to not understand what they were saying, but it didn't matter. No matter what the two were saying, he just had to say "ah, yes, yes, yes" next to them.

He is the boss and is responsible for leading his teammates. He does not need to know everything. Everyone has his own job and is happy.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, the game between the Bobcats and the Raptors started.

Compared to the last matchup shortly after the All-Star break, the Raptors played much more organized tonight.

With the arrival of an old man who can only play positional warfare and has a knee injury, head coach Sam Mitchell had to give up the successful playing style in the first half of the season and let the players cooperate with O'Neal Jr. to play a slow-paced offense.

Although the team still lost more games than it won, at least it wasn’t as messy as the games right after the trade.

After 2 hours and 23 minutes, the game was over and the Raptors were…completely defeated.

When they speed up and play a light offense, they are still able to compete with the Bobcats in terms of rhythm. Their original formation of Ford pushing forward, two big men, Bosh and Bargnani following up, and a shooter and a striker on the wing, has a speed advantage when pushing forward, and is able to use the offense and defense transitions to create mismatch opportunities under the Bobcats' not-so-good rotations.

Now we are playing a pure positional battle and have completely fallen into the rhythm of the Bobcats.

It was another desperate night for Bosh, who threw long two-pointers and cut to the wing.

The relay distance and low post were all occupied by O'Neal Jr.

Later in the game, Bosh started throwing three-pointers!
别说，三分天赋显现出来了，6投2中，全场打了35分钟21投10中，加上2中2的罚球，拿到24分5板2助攻2抢断1盖帽。

波什绝望到扔三分，主要是他让出了中近距离空间，结果小奥尼尔上半场打了19分钟9投3中，全场16投7中，加上4中3的罚球，拿到17分6板1助攻2盖帽。

The rebounding ratio between the two teams was 34 to 54...

The Raptors also had some highlights tonight, doing a good job of blocking Zhang Yang's mid-range shots. Zhang Yang made 7 of 3 three-pointers and 25 of 10 shots, only a 40% hit rate. Combined with 7 of 7 free throws, he just managed 30 points, plus 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals.

加上费尔顿的15分4助攻、奥卡福的15分14板、布拉德-米勒的14分10板、希尔的15分6板，山猫队5人得分上双，以110比98轻取猛龙队，拿下本赛季第55场胜利！
(End of this chapter)