Chapter 369 368. Treat Everyone Equally

The next day, at noon on the 12th, at Zhang Yang's home, Zhang Yang, Felton, Paul, Harden, and Tatum had lunch together.

Paul played an away game in Orlando yesterday. After the Hornets flew to the hotel in Charlotte this morning, he and Felton, who came to pick him up, went to Zhang Yang's home as guests.

Seeing Paul, Harden and Tatum were very calm, no longer like they used to be when they would get excited just by seeing an NBA player - the most popular player among the new generation of NBA stars, Zhang San, had to pay for their meals, a mere small player...

In the last two game days of the Bobcats, Harden would go to the Turkish Airlines Arena after lunch to communicate and practice step-back shooting with Felton. Half a year ago, it was Felton who was the main focus, but now it has become Harden who is the main focus, mainly because Harden is not as restrained as when he first entered college. He is more relaxed and dares to speak more.

Harden is indeed gifted in the step-back move, although limited by his technical level and basic skills, he may not be able to use this move to his advantage immediately in the NBA, or after stunning the fans at the beginning, he may fail because of the opponents' targeting.

But he started to develop the step-back shot with Zhang Yang in 04. After more than four years, he has developed very rich step-back shooting techniques in the three areas of near, medium and long range. In terms of step-back skills alone, he is much better than Zhang Yang.

Moreover, Harden is limited by his basic skills and cannot use many of them in actual combat, but Felton has a solid foundation and he can use them!
If Felton needs to improve, he will go back to his alma mater to find his junior. If Harden has any ideas, he will call Felton...

It's like... Harden is using Felton to test out his step-back shooting development?
In this regard, Zhang San’s comment: Erha: My template, I cultivate it myself.

Regarding Harden who is about to run for the draft, major media have given two templates, the upper and lower limits, Wade and Felton. The media mentioned the lower limit Felton more because both of them came from North Carolina.

While eating, several people talked about last night's post-match press conference.

The Bobcats defeated the Spurs, finally breaking the "unwin curse" against the current top three teams in the Western Conference. The game was a hot topic after the match. Zhang Yang's 30 points beat Ginobili's 27 points, and there was also a lot of discussion among fans. Most of the basketball news this morning was occupied by last night's game.

It's just the direction of public opinion...

Felton: "Popovich really has bad intentions. I felt there was something wrong with him last night. He praised us so hard and said everything I wanted to praise. It turns out he wanted to flatter us to death."

Paul laughed when he heard this. He was paying close attention to the game between the Bobcats and the Spurs.

The Hornets are about to play against the Bobcats and are competing with the Spurs for second place in the Western Conference.

If the Spurs beat the Bobcats or they lost to the Bobcats, at this stage, the second place in the Western Conference is basically gone.

He also saw the news about the Bobcats being overpraised when he left his hotel in Orlando this morning.

Under Popovich's guidance, Zhang Yang's three-pointer was hyped by the media as a "groundbreaking shooting method"; the Bobcats' offensive system was hyped as a "basketball system that is ahead of its time"; the Bobcats' future prospects were also hyped up...

If another coach said this, the impact would not be so great, but that is Popovich, a three-time championship coach. Among the current head coaches, only Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan have more honors than Popovich. His boasting attracted many media to follow suit.

Will this kind of malicious praise make the Bobcats players feel proud... Paul thinks it's difficult. Felton is not proud, and it's difficult for the Bobcats to feel proud. But it will definitely make other top teams unhappy. Even if they know that Popovich said this to disgust the Bobcats, they will still be unhappy.

Popovich has dug a not-so-small hole for the Bobcats. It won't kill the Bobcats, but it may cause them some pain.

Paul looked at Zhang Yang, wondering what his friend wearing the No. 3 jersey would say about this.

Zhang Yang showed a satisfied expression and said, "It's been a long time since I saw news praising us so much. This feeling is really nostalgic."

Paul, Felton, Harden, Tatum: "..."

Xiao Pao: Well, what am I expecting?
But Paul suddenly felt that there was something wrong with him. From Zhang Yang's tone, he felt that Zhang Yang was speaking from his heart!

It is true that he hasn't seen any news praising the Bobcats for a long time, not even when the Bobcats played against the Cavaliers. You know, the Bobcats were praised from time to time last season. Some media seemed to think that the Bobcats did not attract enough hatred and made enemies for them everywhere.

This season, after the Bobcats fell from first place in the league in the middle of the season, there were more news disparaging them than in the previous two years, mainly focusing on the collapse of the defensive system after losing Gerald Wallace and the poor prospects for the playoffs where defense is paramount.

During the time when the Bobcats were adjusting their offensive system, there was also a lot of public opinion attacking their defense.

Paul thinks this situation is normal. The Bobcats won the championship last season, so what else can they brag about?
After last season's finals, the media has already hyped up everything that can be hyped up, and the fans are probably tired of it, so they might as well pick on their faults and attack them to generate more attention.

But Popovich drove the car on this broken road...

...

After a day of rest, on the 13th, the Bobcats' fourth-to-last game day of the regular season arrived.

After the morning preparation training, at noon, Zhang Yang and Felton pooled their money to treat everyone, this time inviting a group of people from the Big Boss Gang, including Rondo from the former Big Boss Gang, to have lunch at his farm.

Tonight and tomorrow night, the Bobcats play back-to-back games at home against the Hornets and Kings, who flew from Milwaukee to Charlotte this morning.

Inviting Paul is done at home, while inviting Rondo is done at a restaurant. The difference is not due to the closeness of the relationship, but based on the style of the person being invited.

Paul also cares about face, but he cares more about the inside. He is ambitious and casual about food, clothing, housing and transportation. As long as they are not bad, it's fine. Zhang Yang's family is definitely not bad and will not make him feel embarrassed.

Rondo has an aloof personality, but the good side of him is his appearance. When he was a younger brother, he was very low-key. But after being traded to the Kings, his true nature was revealed when he left the team - he longed to be considered generous by others, and the way he did that was to spend money and he liked to embellish himself with a luxurious life.

Therefore, Zhang Yang and Felton chose to invite these two good friends to dinner at different locations.

Although Rondo used to be their younger brother, that was only in the past. Now he is the core point guard of another team. To maintain a good relationship, we have to respect other people's preferences on the premise that they can accept it.

However, Rondo, a sophomore, was able to secure a tactical core position when he joined the Kings. After playing for a month, he was regarded as the face of the team and attended team activities... This still surprised Zhang Yang.

The first generation Porcelain King Martin and Slam Dunk King Richardson really are...can't even compete with a sophomore substitute!

In terms of personal ability, Zhang Yang believes that Rondo is definitely not as good as Kevin Martin and Jason Richardson, who both average 20+ points per game.

But Rondo's personality is much stronger than those two. Kevin Martin is soft-tempered and Jason Richardson is gentle and humble, both of which are well-known.

Of course, Rondo was able to be trained by the Kings as the face of the team. Zhang Yang believes that Rondo’s talent is there.

新秀年场均5+5+5，二年级连续三双、且有一场3乘以15，谁见了都会说一声‘下一个基德来了’。

Rondo did not disappoint people's expectations. After joining the Kings, he played 28 games, averaging 33 minutes per game, scoring 9.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 2 steals, with a shooting percentage of 50.6%, a three-point shooting percentage of 30.9% and a free throw shooting percentage of 70%.

With the "doting" assistance of Kevin Martin and Jason Richardson, the three of them worked together to lead the team and pulled the Kings out of the slump. Now they are ranked 33th in the West with 46 wins and losses. They are called the "Western Eagles". Although the counterattack momentum is not as wild as the Eagles, this outside trio is also interesting and has attracted the attention of fans again. At the dinner, Rondo no longer listened to others silently like before, but took the initiative to find topics to talk about. Zhang Yang felt like... imitating the little fat boss?

There was a sense of humor in it, like a child wearing an adult's suit, but Zhang Yang did not make fun of it. He just treated it as a normal exchange with friends from other teams.

It can be seen that Rondo is eager to get rid of the label of "kitten" as soon as possible, both on and off the court.

Since they didn't drink, the dinner ended early, and the group returned to the Turkish Airlines Arena. The members of the Boss Gang rested or played cards and billiards for entertainment, relaxing their nerves and preparing for the evening's game.

Rondo also went to the training ground arranged by the Bobcats for the Kings to prepare for tomorrow night's game with his teammates.

As the evening approached, the Turkish Airlines Arena was bustling with people as the Bobcats and Hornets were about to start their second matchup of the season.

The visiting Hornets were booed mercilessly by the veteran fans.

It was not like this last season. At that time, fans in the Carolina area would still cheer for Paul. After all, he was a genius from the local university, Wake Forest University, and he played very well in the NBA, so they definitely had to support him.

But this "certainty" has a premise - Paul's performance is not as good as Zhang Yang's, and the Hornets are not as good as the Bobcats.

The situation is different this season. Paul has performed among the top three in the league. After Nash was dragged down by the general manager and the team's record collapsed, Paul is in second place and is becoming the second most popular candidate for MVP.

The fans in the Carolina area don't care whether he is a genius from a local university or not. They will boo him if he deserves it. No matter how talented Paul is, can he be more talented than Duncan? Duncan was booed too.

If the Bobcats had not had an amazing record of 16 wins and 15 loss in their last 1 games, surpassing the Hornets, Spurs, and Pistons and widening the gap to rank third in the league, fans in the Carolina area would probably hate Paul.

The fans' likes and dislikes are just that simple. They care much more about these things than the players themselves.

There was a fan who should be Paul's college classmate, holding up the No. 3 jersey of the Demon Deacons with a stick. The jersey was also propped up with the stick, and it was written with "Go away, CP3". When Paul saw this scene, he was very upset, but his desire for victory became even stronger.

He wants to use practical actions to shut these people up!

Tonight's game is crucial to whether the Hornets have home-court advantage in the second round!

The Spurs lost to the Bobcats the day before yesterday, and their record is 53 wins and 25 losses; the Hornets defeated the Magic the day before yesterday, with Paul dunking over Howard and showing his dominance, and their record is also 53 wins and 25 losses.

The two teams have played against each other four times, with each winning two games. The Spurs are ahead of the Hornets thanks to their better record in the division.

If the Hornets want to surpass the Spurs, they can only have a better record than the Spurs. They have to win one more game than the Spurs in the remaining four games. In addition, they will have to play against the Jazz and the Lakers in the last three games. The difficulty is extremely high, but Paul and his teammates still want to give it a try.

Paul can only win the MVP competition if he gets more than 55 wins, ranks second in the Western Conference, and preferably wins the last time he plays against the Lakers.

However, after the game started at 7 pm, the ambitious Paul suffered a critical blow at the beginning... The Bobcats made 4 of 8 shots in the first 6 minutes, including 2 of 2 three-pointers. Felton and Mike Miller each made a three-pointer, and Okafor made a 2+1 against David West and made the free throw, stopping the Hornets 15-8!
Byron Scott's carefully crafted defensive plan was messed up by the Bobcats' interspersed running!

In addition to the Spurs, all defensive teams will make the same mistake when they first encounter the adjusted Bobcats - trying to deal with the Bobcats' changes in playing style through predictive adjustments.

However, their predictive adjustments are often based on traditional basketball concepts, and such adjustments are worse than no adjustments at all.

What the Bobcats changed were their tactical concepts, tactical coordination details, and rhythm; the framework based on 80s offensive basketball, triangle offense, and Princeton remained unchanged.

The defense that was effective in the past will still be effective, but the effect will not be as good. If they have the stability and teamwork ability of the Spurs, they may be able to defend pretty well.

But apart from the extremely special Spurs team, most coaches of strong defensive teams would be very confident that they have that ability...

Compared to the Magic, the Hornets are still better. They scored more than 130 points in the last match against the Bobcats. We know that they mainly rely on offense when playing against the Bobcats. They have made a lot of preparations on the offensive end and played well.

After being outscored by the Bobcats 15 to 8, the Hornets surged in the last eight minutes, scoring 8 points and holding on to the score, preventing the Bobcats from widening the gap.

The Bobcats' scoring efficiency dropped slightly in the last 8 minutes, but they still scored 24 points. After the first quarter, the Bobcats led the Hornets by 39 points, 31 to 8!
The Hornets temporarily stabilized the situation, but the initiative and control of the game rhythm fell into the hands of the opposing Bobcats.

The Hornets began a long road to chasing points, and had a climax in the middle of the second quarter to narrow the gap to 3 points, but Zhang Yang immediately counterattacked and hit a three-pointer to widen the gap to 6 points again.

After the climax, the Hornets fell into a period of weakness and missed their second shot. The forward helped Zhang Yang to block the opponent. Zhang Yang grabbed the defensive rebound again and counterattacked. He used the threat of chasing shot and played a moon-looking fast break with Okafor who followed up.

Okafor scored two points with an alley-oop slam dunk, and the score difference returned to 8 points!
Paul then made a mid-range shot to stabilize the situation, but Felton immediately responded with a one-on-one step-back three-pointer.

Facing an opponent as strong as an ox as Felton, Paul was truly helpless. When the two played against each other in college, he was the one being bullied. In the NBA, he is an MVP-level player, while Felton is just an ordinary star, still far from being an All-Star, but he is still the one being bullied when they are facing each other!

At the end of the first half, the Bobcats led the Hornets by 69 points, 60 to 9!
The score difference of less than 10 points continued into the second half of the third quarter. When the role players of both teams became tired and needed to take a break and the stars needed to step up to solve the problem, the Hornets were at a loss.

Peja, who made 10 of 6 shots, two three-pointers and two free throws and scored 16 points in the first two and a half quarters, became wilful and failed to make shots in wide open spaces.

Paul was defeated by Zhang Yang's top defense, Okafor's inside defense, and Hill's flank double-team.

At this time, the only player of the Hornets who could score goals was David West, but as an inside player, 20 points per game was his normal limit, and 30 points would be considered a breakthrough. It was really difficult for him to score continuously and withstand Zhang Yang, who had a hot shooting performance recently.

At the end of the third quarter, Zhang Yang made two consecutive mid-range shots, then broke into the inside and made a layup against Chandler and caused a foul. He scored 7 to 2 on his own, widening the gap from 8 points to 13 points!
After three quarters, the Bobcats lead the Hornets 100 to 87!
Zhang Yang scored 14 points in the third quarter, and the 'King of the Third Quarter' reappeared this season!
In the final quarter, the Hornets finally gained an advantage. Unwilling to lose the hope of rushing to second place in the Western Conference, they attacked with all their might. Paul threw 6 three-pointers in this quarter, made 3 goals, scored 13 points and 3 assists in a single quarter, leading the Hornets to a 34-point surge.

On the defensive end, they no longer cared about the pre-match preparations and defended freely. They did a pretty good job with their rough and fierce backup defense, and they only allowed the Bobcats to score 27 points. The Hornets won by 7 points in a single quarter, but the disadvantage before the game was too big, and the Hornets only had an advantage in this quarter, but it was in vain.

保罗25分4板13助攻1抢断、大卫-韦斯特21分8板3助攻、佩贾22分、钱德勒10分11板2盖帽6犯规、邦奇-威尔斯12分6板2助攻、詹姆斯-波西14分……黄蜂队6人得分上双，依旧败下阵来。

张杨首节16分、第二节9分、第三节14分、末节13分，全场打了41分钟，30投18中，其中三分球7中4，加上14中12的罚球，狂飙52分8板3助攻，率领山猫队以127比121稳稳击败黄蜂队，报了上次失利的一箭之仇！
After the final whistle, Paul looked at the 6-point difference, unwilling and angry... What kind of coach is this! It's better not to adjust!
They lost because they were 8 points behind at the start!

In front of the TV, there was another person who was even crazier than Paul.

Watching Zhang Yang accepting a post-match interview on TV, he said: "The Spurs and Hornets are competing for the second place in the Western Conference. We can't cause trouble for them. After we beat the Spurs, we must also treat the Hornets equally..."

Man No. 23 who wishes to remain anonymous: I finally narrowed the gap to 0.2 points and was about to overtake, but this lousy Hornets team actually let Zhang San score 50+!

(End of this chapter)