Chapter 363 362. Prologue to a New Era
Friends who often watch the game will find something very counterintuitive.

When top teams play against ordinary teams, the sophistication of tactics is difficult to demonstrate, and the on-the-spot adaptability of coaches and players does not seem to be that important, especially at the critical moments of a tense game, it is not as effective as if the stars just took the ball and swung it.

However, when playing against top teams, the role of tactics and on-the-spot adaptability are more prominent. If one side makes a big and good change, it can often beat the opponent badly.

That’s been the case with the Bobcats’ recent games.

The Wizards were just an ordinary playoff team, but when they met the Bobcats, who had made major adjustments to their offensive system, their performance was no different from the previous three encounters. They couldn't defend the Bobcats in the first place, and whether the Bobcats changed or not, they couldn't defend the Bobcats. They didn't have to care about the Bobcats' changes and just went for it, and they almost got upset.

But the Pistons and Bulls had a hard time playing against the Bobcats for the first time. They were completely unable to defend and were overwhelmed by the Bobcats from the start.

Tonight's Magic, like the Pistons and Bulls, made sufficient defensive preparations and executed their defensive strategies very well, but the more prepared they were and the more thorough their execution, the worse their defense became.

The gap between the Magic and the Pistons and Bulls also became apparent at this time. Those two teams were able to keep the score close through on-the-spot responses and the personal abilities of their players.

Although the Pistons lost the first game of their back-to-back games against the Bobcats, the score was close until the end.

The Bulls also held on for three quarters. If it weren't for Zhang Yang and Felton's 58-9 run in 0 seconds to defeat the Bulls, if the Bulls had held on to the score when Yao Ming was resting and dragged the game to the critical moment, with Hinrich and Yao Ming, the Bobcats might not have been able to hold on to the victory.

The Magic…

Compared with Van Gundy Jr., S. Van Gundy has a very prominent advantage - he doesn't get entangled.

In the original time and space, the Magic team faced the Cavaliers for the first time after their rise. In the first two games, they were completely defeated by James. James scored 30 points with 20 of 49 shots in the first game and 24 points with 13 of 35 shots in the second game. After the two away games, Van Gundy analyzed and summarized, and came up with the defensive strategy of point guard Nelson defending, Turkoglu cutting off James on the other side, and Howard guarding the basket alone. He executed it decisively, and in the third game, James' shooting percentage plummeted to 39.1%. The Magic team finally turned the tables 4-2.

This kind of decisiveness is something that Van Gundy Jr. does not have.

But when it comes to on-the-spot response...that tangled freak of Van Gundy Jr. is bad enough, and the big Van Gundy is even worse!
The only advantage of Van Gundy's on-the-spot response is his emotional personality. As long as the Magic play well, he can always help the players play better, but when they don't play well...

Tonight, Van Gundy called a timeout in the first half of the first quarter, but it not only failed to reverse the team's decline, but directly led to a greater disadvantage.

Compared with the Pistons and the Bulls, the current Magic team is obviously weaker in overall strength. The coach's on-the-spot adaptability is far poorer, and there are no players with outstanding personal abilities like Billups and Yao Ming.

Howard is strong and is undoubtedly the best inside player of the new generation, but when he is needed to step up and score to solve the problem, he can only rush and make a few shots. When the team is doing well, he looks very domineering, but when he falls behind, he fights like a trapped beast.

After the official timeout, the Magic still couldn't reverse their decline, and the Bobcats gradually widened the gap...

After the first quarter, the Magic scored 28 points, which was slightly higher than their average score of 26.2 points in the first quarter this season. Their offense was pretty good, but the Bobcats scored 45 points, setting a new single-quarter scoring record in team history!

Zhang Yang made 10 of 7 shots in the first quarter, including 2 of 2 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 18 points, plus 4 rebounds and 2 assists, leading the Bobcats to a 17-point win over the Magic in a single quarter. This single-quarter score difference also broke the Bobcats' team history record!
The Bobcats players were getting more and more excited.

The Magic players were really stunned. During the intermission, no one spoke for a long time, only Van Gundy was roaring.

The influence of a coach on a team is always multi-dimensional. When the team was trailing by a large margin, Van Gundy's impatient personality made the players feel even more uncomfortable. However, at the same time, the players also felt unwilling to give up.

After returning from the intermission, the Magic players remained motivated.

Due to being so far behind, the Magic players played more freely. They ignored the defensive plan and just followed their feelings, double-teaming when necessary and blocking when necessary. With less hesitation, the defensive effect was even better.

On the offensive end, they kept trying to shoot three-pointers. They were trailing by so much that only if the three-pointers started raining could they quickly make up the difference.

But the Bobcats are prepared for this. The Magic are the league's top three-point team, with the most three-point shots and hits made. The Bobcats coaching staff and players guessed that the Magic players would definitely increase their three-point shooting output and stepped up their three-point defense.

Moreover, although the Magic players took the initiative to increase their three-point shots, they were not so confident in their shots because their offensive rebounds were not guaranteed tonight!

Howard's offensive rebounds are a very important part of the Magic's offense. His offensive rebounding ability is among the best in the league, but the Magic's offensive rebounding as a team is last in the league.

There are only three options for Howard to partner with at power forward: Lewis, Brian Cook, and Turkoglu, who mainly plays small forward and occasionally plays power forward.

The three of them mainly score from long range. Together they can make 6 three-pointers per game, making them the backbone of the Magic's offense. However, their combined number of goals scored within close range is only 5. They basically stay outside the mid-range on offense. Their combined offensive rebounds are 2.5 per game, the same as the backcourt duo of Zhang Yang and Felton.

The Magic also ranked third from the bottom in the league with an average of 9.4 offensive rebounds per game. Only the Heat, who are in a slump, and the Suns, who do not value offensive rebounds, have lower averages than them.

When Howard couldn't grab offensive rebounds, the Magic's outside shooters' shooting confidence was naturally affected.

In fact, the Bobcats' defensive choice has many problems, but Van Gundy's on-the-spot response is poor, and he couldn't think of a way to use it during the game...

Psychologically, the Magic players' bottom line also dropped further. As the game progressed, their psychological goal changed from seizing the time to catch up to - not letting the opponent mess up the game.

Because of the above reasons, the Magic failed to effectively narrow the score gap in the second quarter even though their offensive options were not a big problem and their defense was good.

The Bobcats played patiently as a whole. After seeing that the Magic's defense was more relaxed and effective, they did not blindly and arrogantly think about widening the score gap and chose to play steadily.

They knew very well that they were able to surge so hard in the first quarter mainly because they made four consecutive three-pointers at the beginning. In the first quarter, they were making tactical responses around the three-point threats of Felton, Zhang Yang and Mike Miller. When the opponent gave up and defended as they pleased, it was difficult for them to attack around the three-point threat like they did in the first quarter, unless Zhang Yang dared to make a few more three-pointers under the opponent's close defense, just like he did against the Bulls.

But with a lead of more than 15 points, there is no need to gamble on luck. The opponent should gamble on luck. The Bobcats players patiently waited for the opportunity. In the middle of the third quarter, Turkoglu missed the three-pointer from the top of the arc. Zhang Yang grabbed the defensive rebound and counterattacked!

Hill, Millsap and Okafor rushed to the basket, and Felton followed up from the wing. This lineup was very fast, and the four of them kept the opposing defense under the basket and on the wing very well.

When Zhang Yang pushed forward to the top of the arc at a high speed, only Nelson came to block him.

Zhang Yang jumped up to face Nelson's defense, used Nelson's hand that he stretched out as a aiming weapon, and made an urgent stop and three-point shot...and it went in!
Zhang Yang hit the third three-pointer of the game!
Zhang Yang's shot once again broke through the psychological bottom line of the Magic players, widening the score difference from 17 points to 20 points, with the score 90 to 70!

The Magic players' psychological bottom line has no room to go down any further, it collapsed!

In the second half of the third quarter, Van Gundy tried to struggle unwillingly, but no matter how he roared, the players all looked like "Give me the ball back, I want to go home."

After three quarters, the score difference reached 25 points. Van Gundy could only replace the main players, declare surrender, and continue to struggle. The opponent naturally would not replace the main players. The score difference might become exaggerated. In extreme cases, it might evolve into a conflict or even a fight.

The final quarter became garbage time, and Zhang Yang sat on the bench dejectedly, as he knew he would not have a chance to play again tonight.

Seeing Arroyo, the mountain of Puerto Rico, scoring points, regardless of his ability, his dribbling ability far surpassed that of Jack, and he dared to shoot any ball, Zhang Yang said with a little regret: "In the first three quarters, when the Magic were in such a situation, Van Gundy didn't let Arroyo play. I was looking forward to defending him."

Hill responded, "Yes, Arroyo is the only player on the Magic who has the ability to score continuously against defense. I still remember that he beat Wade and James in the Olympics. The US men's basketball team couldn't defend him. Although his average score per game this season is not high, he has scored 15 points in a single quarter, making him the Magic's highest scorer in a single quarter this season."

Okafor concluded: "The Van Gundy brothers don't like to use new players or players without stability. This is a defect in their coaching ability and a lack of flexibility, but it is also their advantage."

Arroyo played the entire final quarter, making 5 of 3 three-pointers, 2 of 0 mid-range shots, 1 of 1 layups, and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 13 points, leading the Magic to their highest single-quarter score of the night, 30 points in garbage time, narrowing the 25-point gap to 19 points. It didn't play any role in the outcome, but it looked a little better.

张杨今晚三节打卡下班，出战33分钟，首节18分、第二节11分、第三节13分，25投16中，其中三分球6中4，加上6中6的罚球，拿到42分9板5助攻，率领山猫队以129比110大胜魔术队！
...

The game between the Bobcats and the Magic may not attract as much attention as the game between the Bobcats and the Bulls, but it is also one of the most watched matchups in the Eastern Conference.

When the battle report came out, the crowd of onlookers was shocked.

The final score was not that bad, 129 points, which is not considered high for the NBA after 04. The Suns have several games with such scores every year.

Later, the Warriors and Nuggets also performed like that, and the Knicks also performed like that before Thomas's amazing move.

Before the Bobcats played against the Magic, they averaged 109.8 points per game, ranking fourth in the league. When they played against the Suns and Nuggets, they even scored 140+ points in overtime, which was really exaggerated.

A 19-point difference, or even a maximum of 25 points, is not surprising. Even in a matchup between two strong teams, a one-sided game can occasionally occur. Even the Bulls and Lakers, who dominate the East and West, have lost by 20 points this season.

Mainly the performance of the Bobcats and Zhang Yang in the first quarter!

The Bobcats scored 84 points in the last three quarters, an average of 28 points per quarter, which is basically their average performance this season.

But they scored 45 points in the first quarter and beat the Magic team!

Zhang Yang's personal performance, in particular, became a hot topic among the media and fans, with the focus being on his three-pointers.

He made 6 of 4 three-pointers in the game, which is not particularly outstanding. I can only say that he shot accurately tonight. His 6 three-point shots are about the same as his average number of three-point shots this season, but he made 4 of 3 three-pointers!

Zhang Yang scored two consecutive three-pointers at the start of the game. Whether it was the fans watching the live broadcast or the fans who saw the game clips reported in the news, they all exclaimed "Wow".

The chase-down shot is not a rare move. There are only two people on the Bobcats who have this shooting ability, but looking at the entire league, there are dozens of people who can do this. If we narrow it down to the chase-down shot with the ball, we can count about ten people.

But those people only do this in specific situations, such as when there is not much time left in the game or when it is the buzzer beater at the end of the quarter. McGrady, Kobe, Carter, Ray Allen and others often shoot like this, or when they are in high spirits, Terry and Kobe will occasionally do this.

As for Zhang Yang, his chasing three-point shots accounted for two-thirds of his three-point shots! He regarded the chasing three-point shot as a regular three-point shot!

The reason why the media and fans make such a judgment is because Zhang Yang's playing style has the tactical support of the team!

The Bobcats' defensive rebounding strategy in this game and the positioning choices of the players in the fast break during the counterattack were all aimed at creating chasing shooting opportunities for Zhang Yang.

This is obviously not a special situation like the one where Komcare and others had to vote.

Moreover, after Zhang Yang scored two consecutive three-pointers at the beginning of the game, he did not continue to shoot blindly. Instead, after the opponent's defense focused on the top arc, he took the initiative to go deep into defense and create shooting opportunities for his teammates.

Obviously, it is not the kind of reckless shooting like Terry and Kobe, but part of the tactics.

It was only after a long period of precipitation, countless good games, a comeback in the playoffs, and Kobe's recommendation that people saw his uniqueness.

Zhang Yang's first battle with his new style of play attracted widespread attention and discussion!

(End of this chapter)