First in scoring

Chapter 95 94. I finally understand why I got the No. 3 pick

After the opening game, the Bobcats got two days of rest, one day on the 31st. A new month arrived, and on November 11st, Zhang Yang left Charlotte with the team to start two consecutive away games.

The first stop is Philadelphia, and the first opponent in the two-game road trip is the 76ers.

On the 2nd, the Bobcats came to the Wachovia Center to prepare for the game.

As a player who also wears the No. 3 jersey, Zhang Yang was asked by reporters if Iverson was his idol. He replied: "My goal is to become the strongest player wearing the No. 3 jersey."

The reporter feels that this 17-year-old rookie is really brave!
But this time Zhang Yang was so brave on purpose.

He and Fat Boss discuss how he can help the game more.

His positioning is already very good, but his mid-range shooting is not good enough. When facing an opponent with strong team defense like the Rockets, his positioning is not enough to restrain the opponent.

The result of the discussion - becoming the target of the other party.

As a high school rookie, Zhang Yang is easily targeted. If he can attract more attacks from the opponent, he can attract more defensive attention from the opponent, help his teammates attack, and may even help his own defense.

Just like against the Eagles, Harrington insisted that Childress single him out.

Childress was very active at the beginning, but he didn't want to continue playing later. He was not very good at singles, and as long as the opponent could defend him, he couldn't play singles, but he couldn't beat Harrington...

Even if the opponent can beat Zhang Yang, his teammates know that he will be targeted in this regard, so it will be easier for them to assist and defend. Moreover, there is no guarantee that their team's back line will be better at defense than him.

Brevin Knight is a piece of shit, and Felton is too short to defend against tall guys.

Kareem Rush is highly motivated and has strong team defensive cooperation ability, but is poor in one-on-one defense. His athletic ability is not as strong as his younger brother Brandon Rush who is still in college. He cannot keep up with the faster opponent in one-on-one defense.

The team's good defenders include Alan Anderson, Gerald Wallace, Keith Bogans, Brezek, Okafor...all of them are frontcourt players.

Zhang Yang felt that this method of attracting firepower was feasible!

He is not afraid of pressure and will accept being targeted. He is an active defender and he would feel uncomfortable if he is not active. Since his physical strength has been exhausted, it would be better to put some more pressure on him so that he can better train his defense.

But how to expand the opponent's targeting and become the opponent's target?
Felton tactfully suggested: "When you are interviewed, if the reporter asks you what you think of a rival star player, just speak like you did when you were practicing with me."

A question mark popped up over Zhang Yang's head at that time. He felt that there was something wrong with the fat boss.

But the boss had given the order, so he just did it. It was definitely not something he wanted to do.

But the feedback he got was very different from what he had imagined.

After the reporter interviewed Zhang Yang, he went to interview Iverson and told Iverson what Zhang Yang had said.

Iverson responded: "That's cool. To be the best No. 3 in history, he has to win at least one MVP. Young players should have such ambitions.

Does he have a hope of surpassing me? Of course he does. After hearing about his buzzer beater against Yao Ming, I bought a video to watch. His performance was shocking. He always made the right moves. Even if the shot didn't go in, he would not be discouraged in the next attack. He had a very good awareness and always seized the counterattack opportunity. He also had a very good sense of rhythm when he broke through, and had a talent for attacking with the ball.

He has a very strong mentality. I see a bit of myself in him. He can shoot the buzzer-beater after missing four consecutive shots. This requires great courage. He has the qualities to become a great player. "

As a basketball superstar who was a popular star and was selected as an All-Star starter in the year he retired, Iverson's words once again heated up the heat of Zhang Yang's buzzer-beater which had just cooled down.

During the pre-game warm-up in the evening, Gerald Wallace joked with his younger brother: "Iverson said you will be a great player like him. I feel the pressure. I have to be careful not to be surpassed by you."

Zhang Yang: "He's not angry at all. Isn't he the kind of arrogant player?"

Gerald Wallace: "Iverson is very arrogant, but his arrogance is towards the superstars who entered the NBA at the same time as him. His arrogance is towards those veteran superstars. He always praises the talented newcomers more. And it is a happy thing to be the one that a talented player like you wants to surpass."

Zhang Yang: "Gerald, do you like Iverson?"

Gerald Wallace: "I admire him. When I chose to play basketball, I watched a lot of NBA game videos and wanted to find someone to learn his basketball attitude. Iverson's tenacious fighting spirit attracted me, and I decided to become a tenacious player like him."

Zhang Yang: "Is this why you chose the No. 3 jersey? Should I give it back to you?"

Gerald Wallace waved his hand: "It doesn't matter. I don't have any special love for basketball stars. At most, I just admire them. Since you like them, I'll put them on for you."

Zhang Yang: "Why did you choose No. 45? Is there any player you admire who wears No. 45?"

Gerald Wallace said in a tone of speaking to a child: "I'm telling you, you can't tell anyone... Michael often wanted to teach me how to play basketball. I didn't want to learn from him, but I was worried about offending him. It happened that day when I asked you what number you wanted to choose, you said No. 3, so I changed my number to No. 45, which he wore when he came back after his first retirement. I told him that I admired his courage to come back in the middle of the season after retiring for a year and a half... Of course I really admire him, he is the greatest player in basketball history."

Zhang Yang sweated a little. Playing under Jordan was really a hard job. He had to praise him even when talking in private, for fear of being retaliated against.

...

At 7 pm, the Bobcats' away game against the 76ers will begin.

Zhang Yang failed to provoke Iverson's anger, but tonight's game did not require him to do so. The 76ers played really badly tonight!
Iverson performed well, throwing the ball nearly 30 times, 21 of which were successful, making 9 goals, plus 15 of 11 free throws, scoring 29 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.

With so many shots, he still has a hit rate of 43%, which is really amazing.

但韦伯被曾经的替补队友暴揍——杰拉德-华莱士15投9中，加上10中6的罚球，拿到24分7板2助攻3抢断2盖帽，同时还将韦伯防得17投仅6中，韦伯靠着8中8的罚球，才勉强拿到20分。

奥卡福防守表现极好，虽然进攻只有14投6中拿到14分，但有15板3盖帽。

The two core players of the opposing team missed 23 shots, and Brevin Knight took off, scoring 8 points and 14 assists.

The core of the inside line was strangled, unable to attack or defend, Iverson alone was unable to carry the team on the outside, Iguodala and Korver were both weak...

103 to 89, the Bobcats easily defeated the 76ers and started with two consecutive wins!
Zhang Yang didn't encounter any decent defense tonight. Iguodala defended Gerald Wallace, Samuels and Korver couldn't keep up with him, Iverson defended him and he took the ball and shot directly towards Iverson, Willie Green could keep up and had a good attitude but he didn't have enough defensive talent and disappeared after a wing screen...Except for Iverson, Zhang Yang didn't see any trace of the 76ers when they reached the finals in 01. The defense was completely gone.

Zhang Yang seized the opportunity and came off the bench to play for 19 minutes. He made 9 of 5 shots, 3 of 3 free throws, and scored 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block, creating very good conditions for Gerald Wallace to run back and cut into the basket. He also did a good job in counterattacks and fast breaks to attract defense. He also got his first assist in a counterattack and his first block in his career, which was given to the man with the same jersey number as him. He blocked it with a mindless double-team.

He also discovered one thing - without Yao Ming squatting under the basket, the frontcourt duo of Gerald Wallace and Okafor are really powerful!

After the game, Zhang Yang took a photo with Iverson, marking the end of his first match against Iverson.

On the 4th, the Bobcats came to the United Center in Chicago to challenge the owner's former team, the Bulls.

Recently, news came out that Jordan has acquired 67% of the Bobcats shares owned by Robert Johnson, and has become the actual boss of the Bobcats. He is still continuing to acquire the remaining shares. Once the owners' meeting votes in favor at the end of the year, he will officially become the owner of the Bobcats.

At this time, the Bobcats played the Bulls away, which attracted the attention of the media and fans.

As the most talked-about rookie at the beginning of the season, Zhang Yang was interviewed by the media after arriving at the United Center.

Playing against his boss's old club, Zhang Yang regained his humble character: "The Bulls are a very lucky team. They had Michael Jordan for 12 years. They were the greatest team in those 12 years. It is my honor to play against the Bulls, but unfortunately they no longer have Michael Jordan."

This may sound fine to others, but it is very harsh to some players on the Bulls.

What they heard was that without Jordan, the Bulls were no longer great, and it was not an honor to play against the Bulls without Jordan.

But they couldn't refute this statement. It sounded like there was nothing wrong with it. After Jordan retired for the second time, they didn't make the playoffs for six consecutive years. During those six years, their best year was not as good as the worst year when Jordan returned to the Wizards when he was almost 6 years old.

Moreover, Zhang Yang's words were humble and polite. If they responded with harsh words, it would make them appear to be uncultured.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the Bobcats' away game against the Bulls will start.

After Jordan retired, the Bulls rebuilt for 6 years and finally rose under the leadership of Kirk Hinrich last season and returned to the playoffs.

The starting lineup includes Hinrich, Nocioni, Luol Deng, Michael Sweetney, and Tyson Chandler, and the bench includes Ben Gordon, Chris Duhon, Malik Allen, Othella Harrington, Darius Songaila, Eric Piatowski... Except for the main players who are all very young, the Bulls' lineup has no obvious flaws except for the future salary pressure. The future is limitless. Now it is already a strong team in the East and is very solid on both offense and defense.

Facing this opponent, the Bobcats fell into a disadvantage from the start.

However, Jordan came to watch the game on the road tonight. The pressure he put on the players while sitting on the bench was greater than that brought to the opponents. Coincidentally, he helped the players withstand the pressure brought by the strong opponent.

It is well known that Jordan had a bad relationship with the Bulls management.

The Bobcats players played very hard tonight. Although they were suppressed at the beginning, they did not let the Bulls widen the gap and kept the difference within 5 points.

The turning point came in the 9th minute of the first quarter when Zhang Yang replaced Kareem Rush.

After he came on the court, he was immediately targeted by several young players of the Bulls.

Overseas players like Nocioni, older and more mature players like Othella Hannington and Malik Allen will not be affected by what Zhang Yang said in the interview.

But the narrow-minded Hinrich, the young and energetic Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Chris Duhon, and Tyson Chandler, the high school second pick who was also a high school rookie but was called a fake and a glass man in the first three years of his career and only showed satisfactory performance in the last two years, have set their sights on Zhang Yang.

During positional warfare, the team strengthened the cutting off of Zhang Yang's receiving route and the speed of defense when he received the ball. When defending against counterattacks, they also focused on Zhang Yang, the rookie who was praised by Iverson for his counterattacks.

Of course, they did not defend as chaotically as the Hawks, but rather had a more focused defense system.

But this has affected their defense.

The Bulls have good defensive players in every position, and their team defense is no worse than that of the Rockets, but they don't have Yao Ming who can guard the entire inside of the basket by himself.

Gerald Wallace seized the opportunity and led Felton, Okafor and Voskuhl to continuously attack the inside and score. From the last three minutes of the first quarter to the first four minutes of the second quarter, the Bobcats created a climax. The score went from a 4-point deficit to a 4-point lead, winning 3 points in 7 minutes!
After the timeout, Hinrich saw Zhang Yang, who was defended to only make 3 of 1 shots, happily high-fiving his teammates to celebrate. He realized that they had been fooled by the rookie!

He had thought before that Zhang Yang's words might have been unintentional, and he might have simply been praising Jordan's greatness and accidentally offended them... Of course, an accidental offense is still an offense, so he led a few young teammates to target Zhang Yang.

Only now do I realize that this wasn’t just a 17-year-old high school student who offended them accidentally; he did it on purpose!

Seeing that his teammates didn't seem to notice the rookie's "sinister intentions", Hinrich didn't point it out. He didn't have the time, so he directly told his teammates not to target Zhang Yang anymore. He was the absolute leader of the team, and his teammates had to listen to him.

But it was too late. The Bobcats had already gained momentum after an 18-11 run and fought back and forth with the Bulls in the following time.

Zhang Yang played for another 14 minutes in the last three quarters. Although he was no longer able to affect the opponent's defense like he did at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter, he did not fall behind. He made 5 of 2 shots in the positional battle and scored 4 points. After grabbing the rebound, he made a counterattack and caused a foul. He made 2 of 2 free throws and scored 14 points and 6 rebounds in 3 minutes. He played the role of an off-ball shooter and a counterattack pioneer, and did not make any mistakes on defense.

At the last moment, Hinrich stood up and hit a three-pointer, helping the Bulls to overtake the Bobcats by two points with a score of 99 to 97.

No one dared to shoot the crucial ball, Bickerstaff called a timeout and put Zhang Yang on the field!

This time, Zhang Yang did not run out of shooting opportunities. He had just scored a buzzer-beater a few days ago, and the Bulls were keeping a close eye on him.

Gerald Wallace, who scored a game-high 20 points tonight, was also the target of the Bobcats' defense.

These two guys were being closely watched, but there was still one player on the Bobcats who dared to shoot!

Felton took the opportunity to break through to the right side of the three-second zone at close range, turned around and made a small jump shot...it went in!
99 to 99, the Bobcats dragged the game into overtime!
However, in overtime, the difference in lineups was still revealed.

Okafor's physical strength has seriously declined this season. He played for 36 minutes in regular time, couldn't hold on in overtime, and his defense declined.

Gerald Wallace and Felton were quite brave in overtime, with the former scoring 4 points and the latter making a three-pointer, but they were the only two who scored for the Bobcats.

Zhang Yang played for 21 minutes in regular time and was not substituted in overtime.

On the Bulls side, Jordan Ben Gordon, who was on the bench, scored 7 points in overtime alone, plus a three-pointer from Hinrich and a tip-in from Chandler...

加时赛11比7，比分110比106，公牛队4分险胜山猫队！

In the end, the Bobcats lost because of the lack of depth in the lineup. The players were very unwilling to accept this, but they had no choice. The opponent had 11 players in rotation, and every player was strong. Although they had 12 players in rotation, why did they have 12 players in rotation? Wasn't it because except for a few main players, the strength of the others was extremely poor?
However, with the Bulls in good shape, they were able to drag the game into overtime. Their performance was good enough. Jordan on the sidelines no longer had a serious expression, but a cheerful one, and he was obviously satisfied with their performance.

张杨今晚8投3中，其中三分球1中0，加上2中2的罚球，拿到8分5板1助攻1抢断，第一次得分不上双，有点难受……

Little did he know that something even more distressing was that Kirk Hinrich, who would later be named the most stingy player in the class of 03, had already set his sights on this humble high school rookie.

The Bobcats players had no time to lament the overtime loss. The next day, November 11, they had just returned to Charlotte and faced the second game of a back-to-back home-and-away game against the Celtics.

This is a weak opponent, and the predicted strength is about the same as their Bobcats. After the Celtics sent away one of the twin stars, Anthony Walker, in the summer of 03, the Celtics became a weak team.

However, the Bobcats started with 2 wins and 1 loss, playing well, while the Celtics were a real bottom team, losing three games in a row at the start.

Both teams were playing their second back-to-back game and both had just arrived in Charlotte from other cities at noon today. After the game started at 7 pm, both teams played very poorly on defense. In the first three quarters, the two teams played with a score of 81 to 81, with an average of 27 points per quarter!
But in the final quarter, the Bobcats found their defensive feel, and Gerald Wallace and Okafor stood up.

奥卡福护住篮框，杰拉德-华莱士在末节将前三节16投10中拿到26分的皮尔斯防得4投1中只拿到3分，凯尔特人队单节得分也暴跌至16分。

The Bobcats relied on the counterattacks of Brevin Knight, Zhang Yang and Matt Carroll to continue scoring in the final quarter and scored 26 points.

107 to 97, the Bobcats defeated the Celtics, improving their record to 3 wins and 1 loss, giving the Celtics a 4-game losing streak!

张杨前三节出场时间不多，打了10分钟拿到5分，末节打了8分钟拿到8分，10投5中外加3中3的罚球，拿到13分4板1盖帽1抢断！。

Pierce, who loves live broadcasting, is now in the worst stage of his career. His personal ability is at its peak. He scored 20 points with 11 of 29 shots in back-to-back games.

But his best teammate Ricky Davis, in order to get 20+ in a single game, threw 26 times and made 26 of 10 shots, including 7 of 1 three-pointers, plus 2 of 1 free throws, and got 22 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Because Ricky Davis is in his contract year and is willing to do anything to get data.

...

After the back-to-back games, the Bobcats got three days of rest. The next game will be on the 3th, at home, so the Bobcats had a day off.

Zhang Yang had already developed a good habit of doing physical therapy after training and games. As he was young and recovered quickly, he continued to appear on the training ground at 10 a.m. the next day.

After he got up and pooped this morning, he weighed himself and converted it into kilograms, which was about 89.5 kilograms.

Height... He hasn't grown yet, he's still 193 cm. The upper limit is 196. He will either grow a little bit every year or two, or he will suddenly grow 3 cm one year. He is not in a hurry.

He didn't go out of his way to gain weight. He is only 17 years old. If he takes the initiative to build muscle and gain weight, it will affect his development. It would be a loss if he loses those 3 centimeters in height. He can just wait to grow some weight.

However, since the start of training camp, with team scrimmages, official games, and flying everywhere... he eats more than before.

He didn't deliberately gain weight, so even though he gained nearly 4 pounds, he didn't feel the weight gain very deeply, and his speed wasn't affected much. Since he gained weight while practicing shooting, his shooting didn't feel affected at all.

But he recalled the shots he took after encountering confrontation in the preseason, and the difference between the shots he took after encountering confrontation when playing against the Celtics yesterday was obvious!

The Celtics' defensive strength is similar to that of the Hawks, which is terrible, with no one to make up for the loss when their off-ball players break away from the defense.

The main defender on him last night was sophomore Tony Allen. Tony's defense is not that good now. He lacks skills and basic skills. He is still in the training stage, but he is very fierce in confrontation and can compete with Harrington who plays power forward.

At that time, Zhang Yang had a great impact when he ran out to catch the ball and shoot after resisting Harrington's melee.

But last night, Zhang Yang made 9 of 4 shots after being physically challenged by Tony Allen, either by catching the ball and shooting or cutting into the basket!
Such changes are influenced by many factors.

The improvement in the passing and receiving tacit understanding with teammates may be the most important thing. His passing and receiving coordination with Brevin Knight, Felton, Gerald Wallace, and third point guard Kevin Polson are better than before. His teammates understand his running habits and receiving habits better than before, and he also understands the angles and force habits of his teammates when passing the ball.

His three-point shooting ability has improved, which is relatively minor.

One of the reasons is that the 17-year-old's body is more accustomed to the confrontation in the NBA. The more games he plays and the more confrontation he faces, the more he will naturally get used to it.

The increased strength or core strength brought about by this nearly 4-pound weight increase should also play a role.

Regarding this matter, Zhang Yang feels that an old saying is right - being able to eat is a blessing!
Four games into his rookie season, Zhang Yang was a little confused. What does a 4-3 start mean? Moreover, if Okafor hadn't played poorly on defense in the overtime against the Bulls, allowing Ben Gordon and Chandler to score 1 points in the paint, they would have won four straight games.

Indeed, none of these opponents are top teams. The strongest team, the Bulls, is still in its growth stage and is only a strong team in the Eastern Conference playoffs... A team with a 50% winning rate is considered a strong team in the Eastern Conference.

When Yao Ming and McGrady were together, the Rockets were a 50-win team. But if one of them led the team alone, it would only be on the fringe of the playoffs.

If the Bobcats won these two opponents or played them evenly, it wouldn't be considered an upset.

The 76ers and Celtics are both weak teams, so it's normal for them to win.

But the key is that they are stable!
Originally, after Okafor gained 9 kilograms, the defense could not be expanded in the preseason. Zhang Yang thought their defense was over. As a result, after Gerald Wallace entered the full-strength state in the regular season, he defended the short and medium distances alone, averaging 4 steals and 2.5 blocks in 2.5 games. His performance in connecting the inside and outside defense was comparable to Garnett and Kirilenko!
Gerald Wallace and Okafor played very strong defense in this era when there are not many outstanding three-point shooters. When playing against the 76ers and Celtics, the Bobcats were able to win as long as they had enough physical strength. The two led the team to play with some of the feeling of the Spurs.

However, in Zhang Yang's impression, shouldn't they be aiming for Adam Morrison, Jordan's beloved Bird's successor, with the No. 3 pick this season?

Even if they can't beat the strong Western playoff teams and the top Eastern teams with their current performance, the Eastern Conference playoffs only require a record of 36-40 wins in recent years, so they may be able to make the playoffs!

Zhang Yang is not belittling himself. He believes that with his current ability, he may be able to help the Bobcats win 5 or 8 more games. However, the leap from getting the No. 3 pick to the playoff level, and such a big improvement at the beginning of the season, is definitely not his credit.

Puzzled and confused, he chose to train hard. Since there was a chance to make it to the playoffs, he might as well do it!

On the other side, in the owner's office, Jordan and the coaching staff were also wondering.

They didn't have any expectations for this season at the beginning. Letting Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Okafor and Felton level up was their top priority this season. As for the record, winning or not didn't matter, losing more would be the best, and then selecting a talented power forward or getting a high draft pick in a trade would be great.

How did they only have 3 wins and 1 loss? If they hadn't started the game against the Bulls with Felton and Brevin Knight as the starting point guards, and hadn't fallen behind at the beginning, they might have won 4 games in a row.

They also discovered that the frontcourt combination of Gerald Wallace and Okafor was much better defensively than they expected. With such a cornerstone combination, it will not be easy to give up this season.

After some discussion, Bickerstaff suggested, "Why don't we go for the playoffs? If we force ourselves to tank, I'm worried that it will make the players develop bad habits."

Upon hearing this, colleagues realized that the "team member" Bickerstaff was referring to was specifically Zhang Yang.

Gerald Wallace has a strong mentality and Okafor is mature, so there is no need to worry about these two losing their momentum even if they play badly.

Felton, to be honest, up to now, Jordan and the coaching staff are not very satisfied with him and can only make do with him.

His talent doesn't seem to be as good as Deron, and his combat effectiveness is not as strong as Paul.

Jordan said publicly that he would never regret choosing Felton, but it is hard to say what he really thinks.

Only Zhang Yang can make them pay attention to this aspect.

Although Zhang Yang has shown strong stress resistance, ambition and hard work, he is only 17 years old after all, which is an inherently worrying age.

Jordan nodded and agreed decisively: "Let's go for the playoffs! The Bulls have been playing badly for 6 years and haven't drafted a rookie with Jack's talent. If we can make the playoffs, it will be the first step towards our success. If not, it will be good to get a lottery pick and start fighting."

The Bobcats management and coaching staff had just made the decision to adjust their season goals 180 degrees when an unexpected event occurred.

The team medical team sent a message that Okafor was injured!

...

After playing back-to-back games against the Bulls and Celtics, Okafor felt discomfort in his ankle when he returned home last night. He still felt uncomfortable after a night's sleep. He called the team doctor to his home for a check-up and the doctor confirmed that he had a mild fatigue strain of the ankle soft tissue and would need to miss at least a week.

Zhang Yang had just finished his morning training when he heard the news from Bickerstaff who had hurried out of the conference room. His confusion was suddenly resolved, but a feeling of pain followed.

It turns out that the Bobcats selected Adam Morrison this season because of injury!

He said that with the 127 kg Okafor's rim protection performance and Gerald Wallace leading the team with 2 steals and 2 blocks per game, both of them are extremely competitive players. Even if the team takes the initiative to play badly, they will not have the third-to-last record in the league.

Zhang Yang was worried that Okafor would get injured when he heard that he was 208 cm tall and weighed 127 kg and would play about 35 minutes per game.

He also heard the team doctor remind Okafor of the potential injury risks posed by his weight.

But as the regular season began, Gerald Wallace and Okafor performed so well that he gradually forgot about it.

Now it's just a back-to-back game and Okafor's injury comes!
However, he was powerless to stop or change this kind of thing. He could only adjust his mindset and continue to do what he should do...

On the 9th, the Bobcats will face the Jazz at home.

The Bobcats can still play without Okafor.

Bickerstaff put Felton back on the bench and sent out the starting lineup of Brevin Knight, Kareem Rush, Gerald Wallace, Jumaine Jones and Brezek.

With the normal starting back line, the Bobcats' offense has improved. Jumaine Jones, who mainly relies on catching the ball and long shots, is actually more effective offensively than Okafor after he gained weight.

Okafor's mid-range and close-range jump shots this season have been severely affected by his sudden weight increase of 9 kilograms. In the first four games, his hit rate dropped to 4%. He averaged only 41 of 12 shots and scored 5 points. His offensive performance was not as good as that of Brezek, who had a hit rate of 13.2%. Replacing him with a shooter who can open up space will be beneficial to Gerald Wallace and Brezek's offense.

The Bobcats' offense improved significantly tonight.

But the defense plummeted!
Gerald Wallace can connect the inside and outside defenses because he has a 127 kg, top-notch rim protector named Okafor under the basket. Without Okafor, his defensive effect would be at least reduced by half!
Tonight they scored 105 points against the Jazz, but were outscored by 114 points.

布泽尔今晚在内线大杀四方，16投11中，加上10中9的罚球，拿到31分13板5助攻！

杰拉德-华莱士23分11板2助攻3抢断、布莱文-奈特12分9助攻、费尔顿打德隆小爆一场拿到18分5助攻、张杨表现也不错9投4中拿到11分……进攻火力虽好，但都成了无用功。

Zhang Yang felt Okafor's role in their team and was looking forward to Okafor's quick return, but he didn't expect that this was just the beginning!
On the 11th, the Bobcats played against the Mavericks at home. Not long after the game started, Gerald Wallace rushed out of the baseline and fell while shrinking to make up for the defense. He injured his left elbow and left the court directly...

All of a sudden, the Bobcats' two strongest players were gone!
Zhang Yang cursed! He finally understood why the Bobcats were able to select Adam Morrison this season!
The team suddenly encountered a huge change. Zhang Yang's mentality exploded for a while, but he quickly calmed down.

Now that things have come to this, let's try to make things go in a positive direction.

What else can he do now?
That's swing!

Increase the intensity of the shot... No, it's the strength of the shot!
He can't change the team's situation, so he's just going to seize the extra shots and swing as hard as he can!

The team's defense was already like that, so he took the initiative to ask Bickerstaff to defend the wing shooter, reduce physical exertion on the defensive end, stay on the court more, and swing more.

Bickerstaff agreed to his request, and now he doesn't have to worry about whether to give up or make a push for the playoffs. He doesn't need to trip up his players to win.

Starting from playing against the Jazz, to the Mavericks, Spurs, Heat, and Magic, the Bobcats suffered a five-game losing streak until the home game against the Pacers, when they ended the losing streak with a 5-103 victory.

The Pacers' internal strife has come to light. Stephen Jackson accused Artest, Artest mocked O'Neal, and O'Neal requested a trade...

After 10 games, the Bobcats have a record of 4 wins and 6 losses.

第11场山猫队以99比95再胜步行者队，战绩来到5胜6负，重新逼近五成胜率。

Then, they lost to the Timberwolves, Celtics, and Wizards in succession.

到了11月30号，山猫队靠着费尔顿20分6助攻、布莱文-奈特13分11助攻、张杨16分、奥卡福11分11板的表现，以98比80击败联盟倒数第一的尼克斯队，终结连败。

After the first month, the Bobcats went from 3 wins and 1 loss at the start to 6 wins and 9 losses.

The worst-case scenario Zhang Yang had anticipated had occurred. Since the match against the Jazz, Gerald Wallace and Okafor had never played together again! Occasionally, they were both injured at the same time.

At first, Zhang Yang was very upset, but as time went on, he became numb to the injuries of the two.

But after the game against the Knicks, Okafor had a physical fight with Eddy Curry, and the next morning there was news that he had knee discomfort. Zhang Yang really couldn't sit still and had to persuade him!
Neither of their injuries were serious. Okafor's injury was mainly fatigue, and he recovered after a few days of rest. Gerald Wallace defended too hard and was often bumped into.

There's nothing we can do about Gerald Wallace, that's his playing style. If he doesn't fight so hard, he wouldn't be Gerald Wallace.

But Okafor’s problem is really due to his weight!
On the afternoon of December 12st, Zhang Yang came to Okafor's home carrying a fruit basket.

After a few polite greetings, Zhang Yang got straight to the point: "Emeka, lose weight!"

……

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(End of this chapter)