First in scoring

Chapter 418 417. Isn’t this bullying an honest person?

When the Heat attacked, Wade broke through Zhang Yang and launched an attack.

This time Afflalo retreated more firmly and completed the double team defense on Wade with his teammates. Okafor did not expand out to cover Chalmers, but he cut off the connection between Wade and Chalmers very well. Brad Miller blocked Wade and the basket... The Bobcats did a very good job of 1-3-1 defense this time.

But Wade still found a chance to score. He made a small ground pass, and Beasley seized the opportunity to run back and shake off Felton who was switching defense, and came to the left side of the basket. He received the ball behind Brad Miller and made a layup!

17 to 23, the Heat narrowed the gap to 6 points.

In this ball, Beasley showed his scoring acumen, which had been praised countless times during his college years.

Perhaps because he was demoted to the bench, Beasley felt embarrassed and wanted to get back the starting position. He played very well in the two offensive games after coming on as a substitute.

In the transition from offense to defense, Zhang Yang continued to stay in a high position and initiated the attack, opening up the situation and gaining a clear lead, and then let the great Jack disrupt the battle.

But this time, when he and Wade were fighting for position, he noticed that the positioning of the two opposing inside players was different from the previous two rounds. It seemed that they had changed their defensive style, man-to-man?
His eyes lit up!

From the perspective of tactical execution, this is not in their favor. Their offensive basketball formation is placed in the second lineup, and the strength of the lineup is no longer as good as the starting lineup. He needs to take the lead in launching the offense and attract the defense, so that Brad Miller can mobilize the entire team's offense.

But tonight is the opening game, and I will play against Wade. There are only a few times a year, so what's wrong with a little wave?

After Jarrett Jack pulled away, Zhang Yang decisively started the back-to-the-basket attack.

Wade defended very hard, but he couldn't defend!
Compared to last season, Zhang Yang has become stronger, with more back-to-the-basket moves. Moreover, Zhang Yang has obvious advantages in height and wingspan. He is the type who will definitely throw the ball when he gets a chance. Wade must stick close to him...

Zhang Yang successfully passed Wade and broke into the inside, facing Joel Anthony's defense and made a layup!

If you can't defend, then attack! Wade turned around and continued to play one-on-one... The one-on-one duel between the two No. 3 superstars officially began!
Last season, Zhang Yang and Wade played one-on-one, and the match was quite lively, but Zhang Yang was usually at a disadvantage at the beginning, and then relied on physical strength and teamwork to reduce Wade's efficiency.

But this time it’s different!

Wade at his peak, with his breakthrough ability, no one in the entire league can match him; Zhang Yang has all-around shooting ability, comprehensive skills, and a size advantage over Wade... Neither of them can defend against the other, it's a real blow to each other!
This is very disadvantageous for Wade. His continuous offensive continuity cannot compare with Zhang Yang, and the physical strength gap between the two is even greater this year.

Fortunately, Spoelstra arranged Beasley to assist Wade, and Beasley had a clear advantage when playing against Afflalo.

Talent is very unreasonable. Beasley is only three months away from turning 3, but Felton and others held a 20rd birthday party for Afflalo on the 15th.

But Afflalo is still only a second or third substitute. If the Heat hadn't put Beasley on the bench, Mike Miller should have rotated in at this time, and Afflalo would have to be ranked even later in the order of appearance. And Beasley, when he entered the NBA, had the ability to be the second main attacking point.

Wade and Beasley teamed up to fight Zhang Yang for half a quarter. After the first quarter, the Heat entered the intermission with a 27-point deficit to the Bobcats at 33-6.

In the second half of the quarter, with more than 5 minutes left, the Heat scored 16 to 14. Wade and Beasley slightly defeated Zhang Yang, but the fans at the scene were even more excited and the cheers continued.

Zhang Yang fought one against two, fighting against super giant Wade and talented rookie Beasley and was not at a disadvantage!
张杨单节9投6中，其中三分球2中1，加上3中3的罚球，拿到16分2助攻，高于韦德的单节13分4助攻！

Looking only at the second half, Zhang Yang scored 10 points, while Wade only scored 6 points. He had to add Beasley to gain a slight advantage.

Zhang Yang's teammates were also excited about his performance in this half quarter. As teammates, they could more clearly feel the difference between Zhang Yang's matchup with Wade this time and last season.

Felton met Zhang Yang who was walking back to the bench, gave him a big hug and praised him continuously.

Zhang Yang was very calm. In his opinion, he was not necessarily stronger than Wade. He just had much better offensive conditions.

Wade has to face the Bobcats' team defense. Although the current 1-3-1 zone defense still has many shortcomings, it can still cause considerable restrictions to Wade.

As for the Heat's inside line, if Marion hadn't collapsed, the peak hacker + peak captain Haslem would have been a decent defensive force. But Haslem alone could not support the Heat's inside line. The Heat used one-on-one defense + regular help defense to defend him, and did not double-team him in advance. It was as easy for him to score against the Heat as drinking water.

Of course, he would not tell his teammates about these opinions. On the surface, he would have an expression of "what's the big deal" to convey confidence to his teammates.

On the other side, Wade, who played hard as the C and had a crazy performance of 13 points and 4 assists in the whole quarter, was not in such a good mood. The score difference was narrowed by two points, but he was definitely the one who suffered. He needs a rest now. Chalmers and Haslem also played the whole first quarter. Beasley and Marion will lead the team next... He couldn't even think about it!

But what is coming will come...

After the intermission, Spoelstra replaced the team with Luther Head, Jamario Moon, Beasley, Marion and Sean May.

Before the start of the preseason, this lineup was picked out and analyzed by the media. At that time, people felt that the Heat's third lineup was quite good and was one of the best third lineups in the entire league.

Wade, Beasley, and Marion, if all three perform as expected in the summer, this 2-4 position combination will have a lot of room for maneuver and many possible combinations.

Moon and Hyde, although their abilities are not comprehensive enough, are both very good pitchers and their defense is also on point; Sean May, who played center for the Nets last season, came off the bench 46 times, averaging 8 points and 6 rebounds per game. He was one of the important signings for the Heat this summer, paying a second-round pick in exchange for the last year of his rookie contract.

But Marion collapsed, and Sean May's weight soared to 130 kilograms. You know, he is only 206 cm tall...

The actual playing style of this third lineup is that Beasley swings alone... and is hammered by the combination of Felton, Mike Miller, Hill, Millsap, and Ibaka. Felton alone can suppress Beasley.

Ibaka's performance was mixed. He has excellent athletic ability and can cover a wider area than Millsap and Okafor, but he is too rough and committed two fouls in half a quarter, which means that he will not play too much, otherwise he will be in foul crisis.

His one-on-one defensive performance is also lacking, and Sean May can beat him even with his bulky body.

But the merits outweigh the flaws. As a late first-round rookie, he has such combat effectiveness right out of the box. The commentators are all praising the Bobcats for making a profit in this deal, as they exchanged Muhammad, who was not suitable for them and whom they no longer needed, for a high-quality potential stock.

Wade worked hard for a whole quarter, holding on to the score difference and not letting the game be ruined. He went off to rest for half a quarter, and when he came back, the score was 35 to 47, and the difference had reached double digits.

Barkley joked during the official timeout: "Wade is also going to go through what Kobe and LeBron have gone through..."

What Kobe and James have experienced is having terrible teammates.

Judging from the preseason and tonight's performance, Wade's current teammates are the worst in his career. His rookie year was much better than this. At that time, there were Odom who averaged 15+10+5, Eddie Jones who averaged 17+4+3, the talented pitcher Caron Butler, and the second-highest-paid Brian Grant...

The lineups in the past two seasons were not bad, but they were too old, and they were a continuation of the championship in the 05-06 season, so they do not count.

This year……

Wade had no choice but to fight for his life!

However, this time Carlisle did not play "king vs. king" with the opponent. He replaced the opponent with the strongest firepower lineup of Felton, Zhang Yang, Mike Miller, Millsap and Okafor.

Wade scored 6 points and 2 assists in the first half of the quarter, and tried his best to lead the Heat to 14 points, but the Bobcats easily scored 18 points.

At the end of the first half, the Bobcats led the Heat by 65 points, 49 to 16, and basically secured the victory at halftime!

After the halftime break, the Bobcats started with a 12-7 run to extend the lead to more than 20 points, and the game began to lose suspense...

At 10:24 p.m., the season opener between the Bobcats and the Heat ended.

韦德首节13分、第二节6分、第三节5分、末节9分，出战37分钟，拿到33分7板8助攻2抢断1盖帽，还是没能挽回败局。

张杨首节打满拿到16分、第二节打了7分钟拿到6分、第三节打了10分钟拿到11分、末节打了5分钟拿到8分，出战34分钟，28投16中，其中三分球4中2，加上7中7的罚球，轻松拿到41分4板3助攻2抢断，率领山猫队以116比102轻取热火队。

Wade was worried about losing since the first quarter, but after the game, he became more open-minded about winning or losing. They had no chance of winning tonight. They were suppressed by the opponent in the second and third quarters, and could only barely hold on in the first quarter. They only managed to gain a slight advantage in the last quarter when the opponent's main players had a long rest.

But watching Zhang Yang fully unleash his scoring ability, not having to worry about anything else but scoring, he even had two assists in the first quarter, but in the next three quarters, he only had one assist in total of 22 minutes of playing time. He kept shooting, kept shooting... Wade, who is also a scorer, was extremely envious.

Big Cheeks: Why is Zhang San so lucky that I have to fight with these bastards?

As for his teammates in the first three years of his NBA career, who were the envy of all the big stars... People only care more about their environment when things are not going well...

...

After winning the first game, the Bobcats players swept away the depression in the preseason and the atmosphere after the game was very good.

Zhang Yang heard many complaints in the preseason, but he didn't take them seriously. That's why he thought that those small grievances that didn't involve any fundamental issues could be appeased as long as he won.

During the post-match physical therapy, Hill sighed to the third young player next to him: "Rick is worthy of it. I didn't expect him to come up with this solution to solve the problem of our original starting lineup's slow defense."

Zhang Yang responded, "Rick is not the kind of coach who is willing to take his time and persevere. If the starting lineup can't defend well for a month or two, he will definitely find another way out."

Hill nodded: "Indeed, he always surprises us in this regard, but in this case, the progress of our traditional positional warfare defense will be much slower, right?"

Felton interjected, “I guess Rick may not be ready to go deep into the traditional 1-3-1 positional defense.”

Zhang Yang was a little surprised and asked, "Boss, please tell me in detail why you think this way?"

Felton: "During the preseason, I found that the focus of the training arranged by Rick shifted from traditional positional defense to rotation defense without a big center. The playing time of the two different lineups was also changing. One of our two big centers is too old and the other has a single function. Since Paul and Emeka are the future of our inside line, when the traditional big center lineup's defensive running-in progress is slow, choosing to focus on the formation without a big center is consistent with my understanding of Rick... Of course, this is just my guess. Only Rick knows what he thinks."

Zhang Yang praised: "Boss, I think your speculation is correct!"

Hill also echoed: "I also think your speculation makes sense. From this perspective, the traditional big center lineup's defensive running-in progress will be slower and the impact will be smaller."

Felton was very happy to hear this. He rarely thought independently and came up with his own ideas. The praise from the two gave him a great boost of confidence... But then he became anxious again. Zhang Yang asked, "Boss, what's wrong with you? Are you worried about Rick's operation? His system building ideas may have some hidden dangers, but there may also be more surprises."

Felton shook his head: "I also think his operational thinking is more in line with our current actual situation. I am worried that Brad will be dissatisfied because of the decline in tactical status."

Zhang Yang thought about it for a while, shook his head and said, "I don't think you need to worry about this."

Felton: "Why? He is a player with an annual salary of tens of millions! He is the second highest paid player on our team now. He is capable of being the core of a strong team, but he only played 15 minutes in the opening game tonight."

Zhang Yang expressed his opinion: "He is too old. Playing with us may be his last chance to win the championship. Besides, he is introverted and can endure."

Felton was stunned: "This...isn't this bullying an honest person?"

Zhang Yang shrugged: "No way, look at those people who were pointed at by guns, who is not an honest person?"

Felton: “What kind of world is this!”

Zhang Yang: "Then let me put it another way, Boss. Paul can get more opportunities, grow with us, and quickly become our most capable helper on the front line. Are you happy?"

Felton: "Of course I'm happy. We watched Paul enter the NBA, from being a fringe substitute to entering the rotation lineup and becoming a candidate for the future tactical core. I definitely hope that he can become the new four-core with me, you and Emeka... Eh? Jack, now that you put it this way, I don't think it's unfair to Brad. He was originally a latecomer."

Zhang Yang: "Yes, that's right. Here, he has a chance to win the championship, and he is one of the main inside players. If he misses this opportunity, even if he goes to another team and wins the championship, he may just be a marginal person who clings to someone else, and there is a high probability that he clings to the wrong person... As long as we win the championship, it will be the greatest fairness to him."

Felton felt that what his little brother said made sense, but he felt something was wrong… He thought about it, gave up thinking, put aside his worries and guilt that should not be attributed to him, and just happily be the boss.

Hill and Okafor looked at each other. Hill approached Okafor and asked in a low voice, "Do you think Jack will sell us out in the future?"

Okafor nodded affirmatively, but then shook his head, thought for a moment, and finally responded, "Grant, you don't have to worry at all. You're on the minimum salary, and you won't be able to play for a few more years."

Hill: You three, get out of here!

...

The performance of the Bobcats in the opening game frustrated many fans who were keen on listening to the sound of missed shots. They were still waiting to see the Bobcats' good show, thinking that with the Bobcats' performance in the preseason, they might lose face at the beginning, and then they could mock the fact that Zhang Yang was ranked first by ESPN.

As a result, the Bobcats' offensive and defensive performances in the first game were remarkable!

The Heat were able to score over 100 points because of Wade alone. If it were any other weak team, it would be difficult to score over 100 points.

ESPN's latest evaluation of the Bobcats - the Bobcats are very likely to improve their defense to the upper-middle level of the league in the new season, with the average points allowed per game controlled within 100.

This evaluation is quite high, because the Bobcats were the fourth strongest offensive team in the league last season. If their defense can also be improved to the upper-middle level, they will be fundamentally different from the other three offensive teams.

Kobe's fans are very dissatisfied with this, but the first game was just over and the Bobcats did play well. If you want to find fault, you can only point out that the Bobcats' defensive lineup does not have a big center, and they will be beaten when they meet Yao Ming, Duncan, Stoudemire and other inside killers.

Also... Wade's defense was too poor, allowing Zhang Yang to score 41 points.

Wade's fans had been looking forward to it for an entire summer, but in the end, Wade was the only one left out of the much-anticipated three-star combination, and they suffered a crushing defeat in the opening game. They were already in a depressed mood, and when they saw Kobe's fans attacking Wade's defense, they immediately quit and fought back.

"The Dream Team didn't win the championship with a perfect record. They lost to the Chinese team in the opening game because Kobe's defense was so poor that Jack scored 43 points. He is still the 'best player in the world'. Bah, who has the shame to call himself that?"

Speak with facts, and the counterattack will be most effective.

Next, Kobe and Wade's fans started a war of words, and by the way, they also dragged fans of other superstars who participated in the 03 and 04 Olympics into the war...

When Zhang Yang learned that there was something fun to watch, he went online to watch, and saw that Kobe fans were outnumbered and actually had the upper hand!
I have to say that Kobe's fans at that time were really arrogant to the extreme.

The era of 60E fans being hated by everyone has finally arrived!

Zhang Yang inexplicably felt a little nostalgic...

However, Zhang Yang was somewhat envious of the fact that Kobe's fans were collectively besieged by fans of other stars.

Magic Bird in the 80s, Jordan in the 90s, and O'Neal in the early 21st century, all had times when they were collectively hated by fans of other stars, when their personal abilities were considered the strongest by the vast majority of people...

After a day of rest, on November 11, the Bobcats faced the Pistons at home, and they easily won the victory with 2 to 107. Zhang Yang played for only 96 minutes, made 26 of 15 shots, including 9 of 5 three-pointers, and 3 of 4 free throws, with a super high hit rate to get 4 points, 25 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 block, and clocked out after three quarters.

The Pistons, which had maintained their heyday for seven years starting with Carlisle in 01 and had at least reached the Eastern Conference Finals in the past six seasons, eventually embarked on the road of rebuilding.

Although they won the game, Zhang Yang was not so happy. In the past three years, they met the Pistons in the playoffs, but only won once and lost the other two times. There is definitely no way to avenge this.

He remembered that the Pistons' current wave of reconstruction was far from success. The reconstruction when Joe Dumars took office in 2000 was too smooth, and he had almost everything he wanted. This also made his second wave of reconstruction very anxious and he made many stupid moves. And because Carlisle led the team to rise too smoothly that year, he was very anxious and impatient, and he changed coaches and core players frequently, and finally ended up resigning miserably.

But he remembered that Joe Dumars would continue to thrive in the basketball world and eventually become the NBA's vice president, competing with Shareef Rahim for the next NBA commissioner...

This time, Zhang Yang understood why Jordan was so obsessed with Bird. It was an uncomfortable feeling!
Fortunately, he won at least once, unlike Jordan who never won in his life.

After two consecutive home games at the start, the Bobcats started their first consecutive road trip of the new season.

On the 4th, the Bobcats came to Rutherford Town Air Fieldhouse to play their first away game against the Nets in four consecutive games.

2小时22分钟比赛后，山猫队客场92比98惨遭爆冷，不敌篮网队！篮网队开局3连胜！

张杨今晚打得一般，21投9中，三分球坑了点，6投1中，加上6中5的罚球，拿到24分6板4助攻2抢断……4失误。

The cold touch from the outside and many passing errors on the offensive end were one of the reasons for the Bobcats' defeat.

But more importantly, it couldn't be defended!
The Nets' offense played much better than the Bobcats expected. The Bobcats' not-so-perfect defensive formation was unable to defend against the Nets' positional warfare and rhythm-slowing style of play.

He felt the power of his own big fluttering moth, it was quite fierce!

After trading Kidd, the Nets struggled for a year and it seems that they have successfully rebuilt!
They used their own draft pick to select Gallinari, and used the pick they traded for Kidd to select Ryan Anderson.

Gallinari showed great talent and immediate combat effectiveness in the summer league. In the offseason, the Nets traded Richard Jefferson from the Bucks for three good players, Ramon Sessions, Charlie Bell, and Villanueva, signed former Most Improved Player Bobby Simmons, and dug up high-quality role player Kenyon Dooling from the Magic...

This lineup of role players, led by Odom, who is entering his prime, and Carter, who still averages 20+5+5 per game, has greatly improved in strength compared to last season.

However, the Nets owner is also an ambitious man. The Nets' three consecutive wins at the start are indeed eye-catching. The lower limit has been greatly improved, but the upper limit is also clearly visible. Zhang Yang estimates that the Nets owner's patience may not last too long.

The first loss of the new season came earlier than in previous seasons... The road game streak has just begun. On the 5th, the Bobcats went all the way north to Boston. After a night's rest, they came to the TD Garden on the 6th to challenge the Celtics.

Starting lineup: Mayo, Tony Allen, Josh Smith, Al Jefferson, Gooden; Substitutes: Farmar, Eddie House, Leon Powe, Glen Davis, Mickey Moore, Marbury, Scalabrine...

Anji made up his mind and after a tearful sale, he put together a good lineup. After playing 5 games at the start, he won 3 and lost 2.

Mayo, once known as the 'Super Jordan', scored 5+ points in three of the first five games and currently averages 3 points, 20 rebounds and 20.2 assists per game. Despite being less favored and being criticized by Boston fans, he put in an eye-catching performance and topped the rookie scoring list, far ahead of second-placed Rose, who averaged 2.6 points in the first four games.

The record is okay, the rookies selected are surprising, and Ainge's offseason operations have given an explanation to Boston fans, and he is no longer discussed with Steve Kerr.

The Celtics' current lineup has one advantage - they fight very hard!

Tony Allen became the team's spiritual leader and on-court leader. Al Jefferson and Gooden were both extremely competitive players who played very hard. Josh Smith was also very motivated under someone's guidance. Mayo worked very hard despite being underestimated.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, after the game started, the Celtics gave the Bobcats a very big blow. Relying on Al Jefferson's strong attack in the interior, they once suppressed the Bobcats.

But as Zhang Yang adapted to the intensity of the confrontation with Tony Allen, the Bobcats gradually recovered and narrowed the gap.

However, the Celtics, led by Tony Allen, were incredibly resilient. After Zhang Yang made two consecutive three-pointers to overtake the score at the end of the third quarter, they defended the Bobcats 11 to 7 in the first half of the final quarter and regained a two-point lead.

In the second half of the final quarter, the two teams played very tensely. With 1 minute left, Felton played against Mayo, broke into the three-second zone, stopped suddenly, stepped back to make a close-range shot, and caused Josh Smith, who was defending, to foul, making a 2+1.

Then Zhang Yang pressed the defense and stole the ball from Mayo, then counterattacked and attacked the basket... Josh Smith, who was defending him, fouled again and was beaten 2+1 again.

The Bobcats' backcourt duo scored 6 points in a row at the critical moment and finally secured the victory!

张杨23投10中，其中三分球11中5，加上7中7的罚球，拿到32分7板3助攻3抢断1盖帽，率领山猫队以99比94逆转凯尔特人队，拒绝连败！

Mayo's progress is indeed great, and Zhang Yang, as a defender, felt it very clearly. Mayo scored 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists tonight. His shooting percentage of 14 of 6 shots was also acceptable. Putting aside the 2 of 0 three-pointers, his shooting percentage from mid-range and short-range range reached 50%.

Of course, Mayo's three-point shooting was blocked by Zhang Yang, which was the key reason why the Celtics could not gain a clear advantage even when they were in the upper hand. He averaged 5 three-pointers in the first five games with a hit rate of 2.2%, making him the most accurate three-point shooter on the Celtics team. His inability to make this three-pointer had a great impact on the overall offense.

However, Mayo is indeed different from what Zhang Yang had in mind. In terms of physical condition, Mayo is indeed average and it is difficult for him to reach particularly high heights, but if he can maintain his current level of effort, he can expect to be an All-Star.

After all, he was the one with the highest average points per game in the 08 rookie year, so he still has potential.

On the 8th, the Bobcats came to the FedEx Center in Memphis to challenge the Grizzlies away.

Although they were unlucky enough to not make the playoffs despite having 50 wins last season, the Big Three of Parker, Gerald Wallace and Gasol proved one thing - our thighs are very thick, come and hug them!
(End of this chapter)