Chapter 361 360. Accidentally Achieved Tactical Goal

Howard was confused and was torn apart by Maurice Evans and Turkoglu who were hit by two consecutive three-pointers by Zhang Yang.

Even though they saw Zhang Yang shoot like this in the last round, they still didn't react this time. When they pounced on him, Zhang Yang had already lifted the ball and jumped up, so they didn't cause any interference at all.

For Zhang Yang, who had just made his debut, this kind of chase-down shooting environment was no different from training!
The Magic players were stunned, while the Bobcats players were extremely excited. After retreating, they high-fived and bumped chests with Zhang Yang to celebrate.

Mike Miller: It turns out that shooting three-pointers can be so exciting!
He seemed to have opened the door to a new world, but when he saw the new world, he felt depressed because he knew clearly that he could not enter this new world.

His speed is not enough to be a counterattack charge, he can only follow up and support, and his emergency braking ability is also very average... Fortunately, he experienced the most brutal blow last season, and now he is just upset and his mentality is not unbalanced.

When his defensive target Turkoglu ran over, he immediately threw himself into defense and did what he could.

When the Magic team was on offense, Howard did not let his classmate mess around and leaned on Brad Miller to ask for the ball in the low post.

Nelson, who still wanted to take a reckless approach, had to give up and pass the ball to Howard.

Brad Miller suddenly took a step away the moment Howard caught the ball.

Howard, who had just received the ball, lost his fulcrum behind his back, and subconsciously kicked his legs to jump up, dunking the ball into the basket with both hands!
Big White Bear: ???

Beast: I don’t know how I scored a goal…

The main point is that the body reacts faster than the brain!

Zhang Yang ran in and urged the serve. Howard, who didn't have time to be happy about this beautiful back-to-back dunk, quickly retreated. The Magic players saw that Zhang Yang was about to start another fast break, and they also tried to retreat.

Zhang Yang tried to launch a fast break but failed. However, he created a mismatch and passed the ball to Felton. Standing in front of Felton was Lewis!
Felton received the ball and took a step forward. Lewis couldn't even block Felton to limit his speed. Turkoglu, who came to block the middle, missed his shot. Howard under the basket had to move to the right sideline of the three-second zone to defend Felton's jump shot.

Felton hit the ground ball to Okafor, who cut in from the left, caught the ball and dunked for two points.

The Bobcats scored three goals in a row and took an 3-8 lead at the start!

Suo Suo was quite helpless with this ball. For him, the most difficult player to defend against for the Bobcats was not Zhang Yang or Okafor, but Felton's close-range jump shot!
After three years of development, Felton's shooting distance is just a little bit inside the elbow area, which is his limit after three years of practice.

This distance is very awkward for Howard who is guarding the basket alone. If the opponent is farther away, the wing can make up for it and he doesn't need to expand to the sideline; if the opponent is closer, he can interfere by stepping on the arc of the reasonable collision zone.

Howard doesn't have to worry about normal offense, because Nelson can't get past Felton in one-on-one, and Felton can't get past Nelson in one-on-one. But in this kind of mismatch, when Felton breaks in, Howard can only move forward in advance to make up for it, leaving someone behind him.

On the sidelines, Carlisle praised Zhang Yang's offensive choice in this round: "Jack plays comfortably, and he always makes good use of favorable conditions."

Vincent replied, "Yes, he made a strong fast break this time, and took advantage of the threat of the chase three-pointer in the first two rounds, disrupting the opponent's retreat formation. The second and third positions of the opponent went to block him. Nelson went around Mike to receive the ball, creating a great singles opportunity for Raymond."

Carlisle: "But I like his execution more. I just suggested that he try more chasing shots tonight. He took the opportunity decisively at the beginning. He dared to use a skill he learned in the game. This is why he can go from zero foundation to the scoring champion in just 5 years!"

After practicing the chase shot for half a month, Zhang Yang has already used this tactic in the game. Of course, it is not a regular counterattack method. In the past few games, he has used a total of 5 long two-point and three-point chase shots, an average of less than 1 per game, and his hit performance is average, with 5 of 2 shots.

Because Howard grabbed offensive rebounds like crazy in the previous two games against the Magic, Carlisle had already focused on the two games against the Magic since he came back from the game against the Bulls. He racked his brains to find ways to limit Howard's offensive rebounds, and a large amount of his hair fell out again.

In the last game against the Raptors, he saw Bosh miss a three-pointer and Zhang Yang grabbed the rebound and made a counterattack to catch up by two points, and he suddenly got inspiration.

Zhang Yang averaged 5.3 rebounds per game this season, which is a very good level for a guard. He is also good at grabbing rebounds and launching counterattacks... So if conditions permit, just let the two inside players focus on stopping Howard from grabbing offensive rebounds and let Zhang Yang protect the rebounds.

If it was the original Katu, he couldn't make such an arrangement, but under the influence of Bitu...

Vincent: "Maybe he has wanted to play this way for a long time, and he wants to use the game to strengthen this move. He is just worried that if he misses the shot, it will affect the offense of the whole team. Now that you have arranged for him to play this way, he has no worries. After all, it was you who arranged it if he missed the shot."

Carlisle thought about it and agreed: "Jack...he...has this possibility..." On the court, the Magic team, who were trailing 2-8 at the start, were not discouraged. The wins in the previous two matches against the Bobcats allowed the Magic team, which was mainly composed of young players, to accumulate strong confidence and withstand the pressure brought to them by Zhang Yang.

Howard fell into the low post to receive the ball and continued to single out Brad Miller.

There are always media and fans saying that Howard is not good at one-on-ones, but they basically compare him with O'Neal and Yao Ming. Doesn't his offense seem to be full of flaws?

At his peak, O'Neal could play 40 minutes per game and score 30 points. Yao Ming, who is currently in his peak, can average 30 points in a little over 25 minutes. Even if Howard shot hard, he could only score about 20 points in a game. There is definitely no comparison.

But compared to most centers in the league, Howard's explosiveness is top-notch before his decline!

Brad Miller was totally overwhelmed, but fortunately Okafor double-teamed him in time, and Howard quickly grabbed the ball to avoid a mistake, and wanted to pass it to the wing, but he couldn't see anyone!

Howard can only pass the ball straight and has poor vision. Nine out of ten times he passes the ball through people, he will make mistakes. Okafor did a very good job of double-teaming this time.

But Howard has Turkoglu!
Turkoglu took the initiative to go around to the right side of the free throw line and received a pass from Howard. Facing Mike Miller's pursuit, Turkoglu threw the ball to the right sideline without stopping. Lewis took a three-pointer from the right side... and made it!
5 to 8, the Magic are keeping the score close!

Howard maintained his rushing posture and watched the ball fall into the basket. When he lowered his head and prepared to retreat, he saw Zhang Yang rushing in!
This enthusiasm for defensive rebounding was like falling into a sewer, which made Howard stunned for a moment. When he reacted, Zhang Yang had already picked up the ball and retreated to the baseline, throwing the ball to the free throw line!

Howard missed the chance to intercept!
Felton received the ball and launched a counterattack, but his speed was not fast and he was blocked outside the top arc. Nelson and Howard, who were chasing him, double-teamed him from the front and back. He passed the ball to the right side... Zhang Yang, who followed up, went straight into the inside, and Lewis, Maurice Evans and Turkoglu double-teamed him.

The two guns led the opponent's defense to the top arc and the right area, and Zhang Yang jumped up... and passed the ball!
As soon as Mike Miller ran to the left sideline, the ball came. He caught the ball and shot a three-pointer... and it went in!
11 to 5, the Bobcats lead by 6 points again!
In the offense-defense transition, after Nelson served as a spot shooter for two rounds, he finally calmed down and no longer stubbornly confronted Zhang Yang and Felton. He waved for a pick-and-roll.

Turkoglu went up to help Nelson block Felton, Nelson broke through, Howard and Lewis contained the defense inside and outside, Nelson passed to the left... Maurice Evans received the ball and made a layup!
This time, Howard retreated directly when Maurice Evans shot, without trying to rush for the ball, and just stepped back.

Zhang Yang picked up the ball and quickly passed it out, feeling a little regretful. After just a few rounds, he no longer had the conditions to continue.

There's nothing they can do. Their lineup's counterattack speed is just that fast. They don't have the ability to continuously launch fast breaks like the Nuggets, Suns, and Warriors.

However, he was the only one who felt regretful on the Bobcats. The coach and other players were very happy. He himself felt regretful but was also happy at the same time. The side goal was unexpectedly achieved - using the threat of counterattacks to reduce Howard's rushes.

In fact, they did not have high expectations for this goal, including Zhang Yang. The Magic's ability to defend against fast breaks is quite good. Howard can be said to be the fastest center in the league today. His ability to lead the team to retreat is ranked first among all centers, and he is the best at breaking the defense. The ability to achieve this goal was purely due to Zhang Yang's two unreasonable three-pointers at the beginning of the game.

Falling into a positional battle, Zhang Yang did not continue to hold the ball, but started running to look for shooting opportunities.

Felton started the attack with a pick-and-roll with Brad Miller from the top of the arc.

The Magic defended the pick-and-roll very well. In fact, their rotation defense was average. It was not bad, but not great. It was just average.

But Howard was doing the job of two guys, staying alone under the basket, with four Magic players defending in the mid- to long-range positions, and their rotation defense target was only one - to double-team the player with the ball.

Van Gundy's defensive strategy was a bit rough, but it brought Howard's defensive ability to the extreme. In the first two encounters, the Bobcats suffered a lot under the Magic's defense, and their scoring performance was not good.

But this time it was different…

After Brad Miller received the pass from Felton in the high position after a pick-and-roll, he waited for a moment and then lobbed the ball...to the mid-range on the right baseline!
When the big white bear passed the ball, there was no one there. When the ball reached there, Mike Miller, who was running down the wing after setting an off-ball screen for Zhang Yang, just happened to be at that position.

The ball has arrived and the people have arrived!

Mike Miller received a lob from Brad Miller, turned around and shot a mid-range shot from the right baseline...it missed, but this shot put a lot of pressure on the Magic players.

In a positional battle and a slow-paced offense, the opponent only used two passes to create an open mid-range shot opportunity!

(End of this chapter)