Chapter 379 378. Little Duncan: Honest advice hurts!

Harden: "Jack, don't you like the nickname 'Tiger'? It fits your team very well. Tigers are cats, just like native cats. Tigers are much more domineering than native cats."

Zhang Yang: "I like this nickname very much, but comparing our performance tonight with that of the Kings is shameful for me as a player. At least we are not worthy of it now. If it were that Kings team, I think they could win 70 games in the Eastern Conference this season."

Harden: "I think you will be better than that Kings team in the future. My coach has evaluated you and said that you are talking about dreams in the world of capital, but you have enough potential. If you stick to it, you will definitely be a great team."

Zhang Yang: "Roy thinks so highly of us? It's an honor!"

Roy Williams, 58 years old, is an active NCAA legendary coach and an assistant coach during Larry Brown's college coaching days.

In 1988, Larry Brown led the Kansas Jayhawks to win the championship and left college basketball. Roy Williams, who was only 38 years old, took over as coach of the Kansas Jayhawks. At that time, the University of Kansas not only lost Larry Brown, but also graduated many senior players headed by star player Danny Manning, leaving a lack of successors. At that time, public opinion believed that Roy Williams was just a temporary transition coach, but it only took him one year to lead the Kansas Jayhawks back to the Madness Three and make it to the Madness Three for 14 consecutive years, including 10 quarterfinals, 4 semifinals, and two finals, but his luck was not good and he did not win the championship. The most unexpected loss was the 03 loss to Syracuse University led by Anthony.

In 03, Roy Williams' contract with the University of Kansas expired, and North Carolina poached him back with a sky-high contract of 6 million over 4800 years. This salary broke the annual salary record of coaches in North American basketball at that time. At that time, the highest contract in the NBA was Phil Jackson's 5 million over 3000 years. It was not until 05 that the New York Knicks gave Larry Brown an annual salary of tens of millions.

The highest paid basketball coach in North America right now is Phil Jackson, who is paid $1200 million a year by the Lakers, followed by Duke's Coach K, who is paid $7 million over seven years. Larry Brown, who was laid off by the Knicks, is currently suing his former club for his salary, so if he is included, he will be the second highest paid.

It was revealed that Popovich and Pat Riley's salaries also exceeded 10 million, but Popovich's main position in the Spurs is actually executive vice president, and Pat Riley is the general manager of the Heat, so they are generally not counted.

When Roy Williams took over as coach of North Carolina, North Carolina had not entered the Big Three for two consecutive years. It was the most depressed period for the brothers Carter and Jamison after they left college. After Roy Williams joined, he put things right in the first year and led the team back to the Big Three. In the second year, the 'old North Carolina big four' won the championship and became famous throughout the United States. Including this year's championship, Roy Williams led the team to two championships in five years. In addition, except for Harden who chose to leave college early to participate in the draft, three of the 'new North Carolina big four' chose to stay in school for another year. They are still the favorites to win the championship next season.

Zhang Yang was indeed happy to receive praise from such a legendary college coach.

After browsing the news and chatting for a while, Zhang Yang went back to his room to take a shower and go to bed.

Brothers Harden and Tatum went to the game room to continue playing games.

The next morning, Tyronn Lue came to pick up the Tatum brothers, and the elder brother Carmelo went back to school. He had skipped classes for more than half a month, and it was time to go back to study. He had an exam next month and he couldn't fail, so he had to cram.

His younger brother Jason returned to live with Coach Lu.

Erha said goodbye to Zhang Yang at the airport, and happily returned to Compton, dragging the top-of-the-line laptop and game console that Zhang San had given him, as well as the gifts that he had brought for Ronaldinho.

This time, Harden stayed at Zhang Yang's home for more than half a month, and was provided with food, drinks, and favors. He would not have done this in the past because he could not afford to repay the favor, but now it is different. He is about to participate in the NBA draft, and is expected to be in the top five or even higher. Soon he will have some small money to give in return.

Zhang Yang is familiar with Harden's personality and his mother's strict education. He would never give him expensive gifts before, but now that Harden has become a member of society, it doesn't matter if he gives him a small gift.

There were also gifts for DeRozan's family, and Harden was asked to help take them back. Zhang Yang originally invited DeRozan to watch the game together, but DeRozan stayed in Los Angeles to accompany his parents who were undergoing treatment and was unable to come.

After sending Ha on the plane, it was almost noon, and Zhang Yang drove directly to the Turkish Airlines Arena.

Felton and Okafor also arrived at the stadium before noon, setting an example and showing their teammates the core players' enthusiasm for preparation.

The other members of the Big Boss Gang were not called because the three core members had a small meeting to discuss the competition.

As for what they discussed... there's no way the three of them could come up with anything useful. When talking about tactics and strategies, Okafor wouldn't speak unless it was necessary, Felton created the atmosphere, and Zhang Yang couldn't do all the talking alone.

They are more likely to talk about news and hot topics.

Felton: "Did you read the report of the Lakers and Nuggets last night? The Lakers scored 130 points, just like us. Iverson scored 35 points, Allen and Anthony both scored 30 points, but they still couldn't beat the Lakers. The Nuggets only scored 116 points and were blown out in the final quarter."

Okafor: "The Lakers scored 28 points in the first quarter, 31 points in the second quarter, 32 points in the third quarter, and 39 points in the final quarter. Their full-strength offense may be stronger than ours."

Zhang Yang: "Yeah, it's a pity."

Felton: "What's the regret?"

Zhang Yang: "I didn't see the live broadcast! It was already 11 o'clock when I got home, and the live broadcast just ended. Kobe scored 46 points, Garnett scored 24 points, 16 rebounds and 6 assists, Kidd scored 17 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists, and Vujacic made 5 of 5 three-pointers... What a pity I didn't see it. It's really troublesome that they are too popular. There are too many interviews after the game..."

Xiao Fei looked at Little Duncan: What if you want to beat him to death?
Little Duncan gave a look in return: He is stronger, and maybe both of us will be beaten to death.

In order to avoid being unable to resist beating his younger brother and being branded as a bad boss, Felton decisively changed the subject and brought the topic back to their Bobcats.

Last night, when Zhang Yang just got home and checked the news, the game between the Lakers and the Nuggets had just ended and various topics had not yet been hyped up. At that time, most of the topics he saw were about the Bobcats being on par with the Kings.

The Lakers and Nuggets played with a score of 130 to 116, especially the Lakers' 39 to 28 crushing victory in the final quarter, which stole the spotlight. Not many people blindly praised the Bobcats anymore, but more people were discussing the regular analysis posts that were not very popular before.

Zhang Yang benefited the most. He scored 10 points in a row at the beginning of the third quarter and beat Pierce, which became a hot topic.

Felton: "I saw data analyst Hollins say that the Eagles still have a chance to beat us. We were able to slaughter them, mainly because of the team offense at the start of the first quarter and Jack's personal offense at the start of the third quarter."

Okafor: "I actually think so too. We don't have top perimeter defenders. We can't do a good job of defending Bibby, Johnson and Pierce. For team defense, we only have basic coordination and on-the-spot response. The three of them mainly score singles, so it's hard to predict what kind of offense they will play."

Felton: "It's so hard to be seventh..."

Okafor: "The Lakers, who are ranked 8th, also have to try their best. If they are careless, they may be overturned by Iverson, Allen and Anthony. In fact, the Nuggets and the Hawks are really similar. Their outside trio may be the first and second in the league. The Lakers can't compare with them, but the inside lines of these two teams are very weak. We actually have a great chance of winning, but we can't be careless.

The Eagles of the future are the opponents we should really pay attention to.

Iverson of the Nuggets' contract will expire next year, and Allen's contract expires after this season. They are very unstable, and all three of them have maximum salary contracts.

The Hawks are different. Neither Bibby nor Johnson are on the maximum salary, only Pierce is on the maximum salary. Johnson's contract expires in 10 years, Pierce's in 11 years, and Bibby's contract expires in 09 but he has the intention to renew it. I saw reports saying that Bibby's asking price is not high. This trio will be very stable in the next few years, and their ages are similar. Johnson is 27, and Bibby and Pierce have just turned 30. They don't have to worry about contracts now, and their careers have reached a stage where they urgently need honors.

We should put the Hawks together with the Bulls and Magic as our future rivals. "Okafor's words made sense, and Felton wanted to applaud but didn't want to listen more.

It's rare to hear little Duncan talk so much, and every sentence he said was a calm analysis. The fat little boss felt it was too boring.

He turned to look at his younger brother and asked, "Jack, what do you think?"

Zhang Yang: "The Hawks are worth noting, but it doesn't matter. Their three-man team plays well offensively, and we just need to play better than them. Their three-man team has strong on-the-spot adaptability, and I also want to see how strong they are and then beat them.

As for their future, at their age, they have already reached the stage of going downhill. We are now standing at a higher position than them and are still going uphill. We can pay attention to them, but we don’t have to be afraid of a team that is bound to go to the grave in the future. "

Felton: "Well said Jack! Why be afraid of them? Send them to the grave!"

Okafor: “…”

Little Duncan was convinced. He worked hard to analyze the situation and the future for Little Fat Boss. As Little Fat Boss listened, his brows were furrowed and his face was full of resistance.

As a result, after Zhang San said a few arrogant words, the fat boss was so excited?

How does the Chinese saying go? Honest advice hurts the ear!
At this moment, in the eyes of little Duncan, Zhang San is a treacherous and flattering person, and the fat boss is a tyrant and a tyrant!
...

After spending an entire afternoon preparing for the game with the team, Zhang Yang went home in the evening to watch the live broadcast of Game 1 between the Bulls and the Raptors.

As expected, there was no suspense and the Bulls won with an 18-point advantage.

But the score...91 to 73.

After the game, the TV stations posted the scores of the first games of the six series that had been played.

The Bobcats defeated the Hawks 130-107.

The Lakers defeated the Nuggets 130-116.

The Magic defeated the Cavaliers 111-98.

The Jazz lost to the Suns 108-114.

The Hornets defeated the Warriors 127-121 in double overtime.

Bulls 91 to 73…

姚明11投7中，外加13中11的罚球，把小奥尼尔打得6犯离场，拿到25分8板2助攻2盖帽。

Bosh, the highest scorer of the Raptors, scored 19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block, but apart from him, only Calderon scored 11 points and Bargnani scored 10 points. There was no fourth player who scored in double digits. O'Neal Jr. only scored 30 points and 6 rebounds in 4 minutes.

After the Raptors acquired O'Neal and lost Ford, they were forced to play a slow-paced offense, and in terms of slow-paced offense and defense, the Bulls are the best in the league.

The first games of the remaining two series, the Spurs playing the Mavericks at home and the Pistons playing the Wizards at home, started at the same time, but Zhang Yang didn't watch them. He went to read for a while to adjust himself. When it was almost the fourth quarter, he turned on his computer to check the real-time scores of the two teams and chose to watch the live broadcasts of the Pistons and Wizards.

The Spurs led the Mavericks by 71 points, 58 to 13, after three quarters. The Mavericks had no hope at all. By the end of the third quarter, only Nowitzki and Terry scored in double digits for the Mavericks, and both of them had very low shooting percentages. Nowitzki made 14 of 6 shots, and Terry only 15 of 6.

Facing the Pistons' defense, the Wizards' offense didn't soar, but they were still in the lead. After three quarters, they led the Pistons by three points, 74 to 71, which was even more interesting.

It was just a strange thing. He had just paid the live broadcast fee when the Wizards collapsed. They missed shots one after another and were completely overwhelmed by the counterattacks of Billups and Hamilton...

In the final quarter, the Pistons scored 30 to 18, reversed the Wizards 101 to 91 and maintained their home-court advantage.

On the other hand, the Mavericks scored 35 points in the final quarter and launched a crazy counterattack led by the outside trio of Harris, Terry and Josh Howard.

However, the Spurs won in the end, with a score of 27 to 35 in the final quarter, defeating the Mavericks 98 to 93 and maintaining their home-court advantage.

Zhang Yang went to check the scores of the first games of all the series in the first round and felt the difference between the East and the West.

In the West, except for the Lakers vs. Nuggets where the difference was more than 10 points, the difference in the other three series was within 3 points.

In the East, the points difference is more than 10 points...

After a day of rest, on April 4, the second game day of the Bobcats' first round arrived.

At noon, Zhang Yang saw the news that the league announced the best rookie of this season. The second pick Durant played 80 games, averaging 20.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1 steal per game, and was elected with 82 first-place votes.

The second to sixth place in the vote count were Horford, Yi Jianlian, Conley, Scola and Navarro.

Yi Jianlian and Scola both performed very well in their rookie season. The former played 70 games, averaging 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game; the latter played in all games, averaging 10.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Both have relatively comprehensive abilities.

Zhang Yang thinks that if the two players are paired with two blue-collar centers, the Rockets' inside line will still be very attractive in the next few years. Unfortunately, McGrady underwent minimally invasive surgery and it is estimated that there will be no more news for him. The Rockets will most likely not spend money on recruiting players, but perhaps Yi Jianlian will get the same unlimited firing treatment as Ariza?
Durant's performance in his rookie year was indeed good. He averaged 20+ points per game. Since the beginning of the 21st century, he is the third rookie to have done so. Apart from him, only James and Anthony have done it.

However, Durant's 20.1 points came in a very interesting way. He scored 44 points in the final game of the regular season against the Clippers, and his average of 19.8 points per game increased to 20+.

But the evaluations of new and old players who score points are completely different. New players who score points have potential, while old players who score points just show their face...

(End of this chapter)