Chapter 44. The sound of wind, rain, and iron forging

Zhang Yang came with the team to the Ford Center to prepare for the game, and started his first game with the Spurs at 8 pm.

Durant won the scoring title for the first time last season, leading the Thunder to rise and finish eighth in the Western Conference with a record of 50 wins and 32 losses. He continued to make great strides this season and is currently ranked fourth in the Western Conference with a record of 35 wins and 17 losses. Durant continues to top the scoring list with an average of 27.6 points per game.

Westbrook was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time this season, averaging 21.9 points and 8.2 assists per game, catching up with his class's No. pick.

The Thunder sent Jeff Green away and promoted Ibaka. Harden, as the sixth man, averaged 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.1 steals per game, and his performance was also very good.

With the addition of Perkins, Krstic, Sefolosha, Nick Collison... the Thunder, who are enjoying the benefits of four rookie players, Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden, are strong this season.

Zhang Yang was very nervous in his debut against such an opponent.

Then, the troika, led by Richard Jefferson and Split, beat the Thunder 19 to 7 in one and a half quarters... Zhang Yang was stunned!
The Thunder's starting lineup was so beaten that they questioned their lives. Although Durant was already the scoring leader, he was only in the fourth grade. At this time, he played like a big pitcher, had poor ball-handling skills, made more mistakes than assists, and his psychological quality was relatively fragile. Before the official timeout, he had already started to shoot randomly in panic.

龟龟倒是压力越大打得越勇猛，但场均21.9分里有14分在近距离范围内的他，遇到了防守效率达到4年来新高的邓肯……雷霆队全队半节12投3中！
Dead memories began to attack Zhang Yang. He remembered that he was so shocked when he first saw the Spurs system "more than ten years ago."

It is because of this system that many people forget that Popovich was one of the most vicious coaches in the first decade of the 21st century and the Spurs were one of the teams with the most black feet. It is also because of this system that the Spurs became one of the most popular teams in the next few years.

...

After the official timeout, Zhang Yang was replaced by Popovich.

He was very excited and shocked, but now he has calmed down.

Because his teammates were so calm, he was so excited that he seemed like he had never seen the world before.

The game continues and the Thunder attack.

The Thunder players are all under a lot of pressure, and there is no smile on their faces...except for Harden, the odd one out.

With Boss Du, Second Brother Gui, and Third Brother Ka supporting him in front, he had no pressure at all.

After Harden came on the court, he saw that the person defending him was Compton Zhang San. He became even more excited as he thought of himself as the second brother. After receiving the serve, he rushed to the top arc and started to fight.

Zhang Yang pressed forward to defend, and with his physique of 196 cm + 95 kg, he was quite good at confrontation.

But Harden is also 196 cm tall and weighs 100 kg, so he has more tonnage and even more explosive power!

Not only that, Harden is no longer the player who was only able to make corner three-pointers and tank-like breakthroughs 8 years ago. His skill set is now very rich, even richer than when he was forced to be the boss. He successfully broke into the inside... and then was blocked at the sideline of the three-second zone by McDyess and Blair.

Wanting to pass the ball back... After being passed, Zhang Yang followed the defensive tactics and moved to a 45-degree angle on the right side of the three-second zone. Durant ran to the top arc with the help of a screen from the right sideline. Zhang Yang immediately caught up with Durant who had shaken off Ginobili and cut off Harden's pass to Durant.

Harden could only force a shot against the opposing two inside defenders... and missed!
George Hill grabbed the defensive rebound, advanced quickly, and made a transition from offense to defense!
The Thunder fought hard to retreat and did not give the Spurs any chance to score directly on fast breaks, but their defensive formation was already in disarray.

George Hill passed the ball to Ginobili, who received the ball, dribbled one step to attract the defense's attention, and then made a ground pass.

Zhang Yang cut into the inside with the help of a screen from the wing, received the ball and made a layup!

In the first round, Zhang Yang felt the charm of the Spurs system.

The role player style of play is too comfortable in this system.

Although their fast break speed is not fast, the rhythm is very good and they can easily tear through the opponent's defense.

Zhang Yang's offensive and defensive roles in the tactics are very simple. On the defensive end, he is responsible for pressuring the player with the ball and intercepting the ball from three-point shooters on both sides of the arc. On the offensive end, he plays a simple role of attacking the basket and receiving mid-range shots. With excellent tactical awareness, he integrated into the team smoothly in the first round.

Popovich was more upset than happy when he saw this scene.

During the playoffs against the Suns last season, he had already taken a fancy to Zhang Yang.

But last offseason, he was busy competing with the Lakers for Steve Blake.

The Lakers have defended the championship for two consecutive years, with three towers and Kobe, and they are strong. If the Spurs can grab Blake, they can not only strengthen themselves but also weaken the Lakers.

But the competition failed, Blake would rather take the Lakers' 400 million annual salary than the Spurs' full mid-level salary.

When Popovich wanted to recruit Zhang Yang, Zhang Yang had already been poached by the Warriors for more than 2 million in two years.

Fortunately, Zhang Yang did not waste most of the season with the Warriors. He made great progress under the pressure of fighting for the ball, and did not fall into the bad habits of a bad team. His tactical awareness was still excellent... Thinking of this, Popovich felt better. On the court, the Spurs still had the absolute initiative, suppressing the Thunder, and the score difference continued to widen.

After the first game, the Spurs led the Thunder by 33 points with a score of 16 to 17!
哈登打了5分多钟，5投2中拿到4分1板1助攻，张杨3投2中，加上2中2的罚球，拿到6分1板。

It is hard to say who is stronger between Zhang Yang and Harden now, but Zhang Yang plays much more easily than Harden.

Thunder head coach Scott Brooks is a good hand at training players, but in terms of coaching ability, his tactics are extremely simple. In the first quarter, the Thunder's playing style seemed to be Westbrook and Harden holding the ball, and if they couldn't get open, they would force Durant to shoot.

The advantage of this style of play is that it gives the three players a lot of room to play, which can accelerate their growth, but when none of the three can play well, the Thunder's entire offense will be at a loss.

In the second quarter, the Spurs continued to play strong offense and scored 31 points in a single quarter. Duncan only played for 2 minutes in this quarter. The Spurs' defense was affected and they conceded 25 points to the Thunder, but they still suppressed the Thunder.

At the end of the first half, the Spurs led the Thunder by 64 points, 41 to 23, and ruined the game!

第二节张杨只打了4分钟，进了1球，拿到2分1板1助攻。

After the halftime break, Popovich did not let Duncan play again, and let Parker and Ginobili take turns to lead Zhang Yang and create singles opportunities for Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang had already vaguely guessed Popovich's idea before, and he was very excited when the opportunity came. He just took the ball and did it... The sounds of wind, rain and iron forging were all pleasing to his ears.

In the third quarter, Zhang Yang played for 8 minutes, made 6 of 2 shots, and 2 of 1 free throws, scoring 5 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal, and single-handedly lowered the Spurs' score in the quarter to 21 points... The Spurs were also seized by Westbrook's counterattack opportunity, and Guigui led the team to 27 points in a single quarter, narrowing the gap to 17 points.

Popovich's mouth twitched as he watched, he seemed to hear the basket hoop at the Ford Center crying!
But he inexplicably liked this sound, it had the style of Los Angeles.

In the final quarter, Popovich continued to let Zhang Yang play singles as the main attacker. Zhang Yang did not disappoint him and did not hesitate because of the terrible performance in the third quarter. He continued to play and played slightly better than in the third quarter. In 6 minutes of playing time, he made 5 of 2 shots, one of which was a layup 2+1, and scored 5 points and 1 assist.

Seeing the score difference narrowed to 11 points, Popovich called a timeout and substituted George Hill, Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, McDyess and Split to stabilize the game.

Zhang Yang was not substituted in and sat on the sidelines to rest. Facing the melee defense of Westbrook and Harden, he had a hard time and was under a lot of pressure. But when the ball was given to him to play one-on-one, he still focused on every shot, trying to make the shot and constantly learning from the lessons of his previous failure in one-on-one play.

This is also what Popovich admires about him. He is not afraid of pressure. If he plays poorly, he will strive to play better in the next ball. Putting aside his talent, it is only with such ability to withstand pressure that he can make rapid progress under heavy pressure!
...

In the final quarter, the Thunder scored 30 points in a single quarter, with a score of 30 to 22, narrowing the gap by 8 points.

But the Thunder had lost too many games before, and the Spurs were the ones who had the last laugh.

107比98，马刺队以9分优势击败雷霆队，拿下5连胜，战绩提升到45胜8负。

Zhang Yang made his Spurs debut, scoring 18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.

After the game, the Spurs, who still have 29 games left to play, once again welcomed calls of "34 consecutive wins" and "surpassing the Bulls."

However, some media criticized the Spurs' trading Neil for Zhang Yang, saying that this cast a shadow on the Spurs' chances of "surpassing the Bulls."

通过下半场的努力，张杨成功将上半场5投3的投篮表现拉低到了16投7中，命中率拉低到5成以下。

These media didn't care that Zhang Yang's performance in the first half was much better than Neil's, and they only focused on his performance of 11 of 4 shots in the second half.

If other players see such public opinion, they may want to prove themselves, which will affect their performance in tactics, or they may not dare to continue playing singles.

But Zhang Yang didn't do that. On the 14th, when the Spurs challenged the Wizards away, he still played the way he should play. When it came to tactical cooperation, he did what he should do. When Popovich asked him to practice one-on-one, he just took the ball and swung it.

After the game against the Thunder, he already knew that he didn't have to worry about the "basic tasks" at this stage.

The team has already made tactical adjustments to the matter of Neil being traded, so he doesn't need to worry, and his tactical performance is no worse than Neil's.

What he has to do now is to seize the time, improve his strength, and prepare for a possible "collapse" in the later stage.

He treated blacksmithing as music, playing the music and dancing.

……

……

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(End of this chapter)