First in scoring

Chapter 432 431. Cheerful Beast
Before the game even started, people were already expressing their regret on the Internet about not being able to see the 'revenge' in person... Bobcats fans are just that confident.

This is a characteristic of basketball fans in the Carolina area. There are two powerful college basketball teams, North Carolina and Duke, here. It is the 'second hometown' of the basketball god Jordan. The No. 1 power forward in history, Duncan, also grew up on this land. They have always been so confident and always have high demands on local teams.

This kind of confidence is of great help to the Bobcats players, and they often receive positive feedback.

Of course, it is also because they are strong and can withstand the high expectations of the fans.

If the team was weaker, like the Hornets back then, the players would have suffered a lot. The confidence and expectations of the local fans were overwhelming pressure for the Hornets players at that time.

Back in the 2001 playoffs, the Hornets, who were sixth in the Eastern Conference with 46 wins, Mashburn beat Bowen, who was just entering the All-Defensive Team at the time, and swept the Heat, who were third in the Eastern Conference with 3 wins, 0-50.
In the second round, the Hornets met the Bucks, who were second in the Eastern Conference with 52 wins. With their overall strength far inferior to that of their opponents, Mashburn exploded, averaging 25+6+6 per game, and managed to carry the team into a seventh game, but ultimately was eliminated with a score of 3-4.

At that time, the Hornets were weak and had lost Divac. The new player Coleman was a version of him who had gained weight to 130 kilograms due to excessive drinking after the lockout. Baron Davis and Magloire were still in their growth stages... Mashburn tried his best to lead the team to this point, and fans from other places were amazed. The title of "the league's best small forward" was earned in this playoffs.

As a result, when he returned to Charlotte, the feedback he got from fans was: Why did he get eliminated in the second round again?
Who can bear this?

Although many players wanted to leave after the Hornets moved, the biggest pusher for the move was also a player. Mashburn's contract was about to expire in 02. He made it clear that if the team was still in Charlotte after the contract expired, he would choose to transfer...

In addition to being strong enough to withstand expectations, the Bobcats also have another trait that the Hornets did not have back then - the players are thick-skinned.

This is still related to strength. The Hornets have been established in Charlotte for more than ten years and have not won any substantial honors, so they are very sensitive to some "small things".

The Bobcats have already won a championship, and occasionally they would lose a game that the fans were eager to win and get scolded. They would feel bad for a while, but it would soon pass and they would not care about the temporary gains and losses.

So, the next afternoon, when the Bobcats players, who were carrying the expectations of their fans, stepped into the Amway Arena to prepare for the game, the topic they talked about was...

Zhang Yang: "Grant, I heard that the Magic are suing Disney?"

Hill: "Jack, you've seen the news, too. It should be true. I remember in 04 or 05, I did hear that the Magic owner reached an agreement with Disney and Orlando City Hall to build the largest integrated sports stadium in the United States, with a total investment of 11 billion."

Zhang Yang: "11 billion? The Magic team can't be worth that much, right?"

Hill: "They are going to build a new large-scale complex in a joint venture to attract the University of Central Florida to move their football and basketball stadiums here, share the new stadium with the Magic, and host larger events.

The real estate market was booming at that time, and those securities analysts believed that this business could only make money and not lose money. After the news was released, Disney’s stock price rose for several days. I had also planned to invest, but fortunately they rejected me, otherwise I would have suffered a huge loss.

They had just finished the preparatory work in 06 when the property market began to cool. Orlando City Hall and Disney decided to suspend the construction plan. Then the subprime mortgage crisis hit and the new arena fell through. But the initial investment had already cost nearly $ million, all of which was paid by the Magic owner. Over the years, he seemed to have been looking for Disney to share the initial expenses, but Disney kept dragging its feet and finally ended up in court.

Zhang Yang: "After suing the most powerful legal department on earth, the Magic owner probably has no hope of collecting his debts this time..."

...

"A sunny and cheerful boy, my only talent is smiling..."

Watching the players on the opposite side jumping up and down with big smiles on their faces and showing off to their teammates and fans, that magical melody rang in Zhang Yang's mind.

In his rookie year, he personally watched O'Neal's pre-game show and pre-game show during the All-Star Weekend, and then watched Howard... He felt what it meant to "as long as you are not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed", but he, Zhang San, is that someone else.

However, Howard's "cheerful big boy" look is really good at fooling people. He is very popular with the public. He has ranked first in several popularity surveys conducted by the media this season.

Of course, the most important thing is strength and performance. Suo Suo's "innocent" personality was already being built when he debuted, but his popularity was not high in those years. His popularity began to soar in the past two years after he had the strength of both offense and defense.

But when this kind of personality collapses one day, it will collapse completely...

It is the evening of December 12th, at the Amway Arena in Orlando, and the game between the Bobcats and the Magic is about to start.

Zhang Yang noticed that Okafor was also staring at Howard, so he walked over and asked, "Emeka, you are even more fed up with that guy, right?"

Okafor neither agreed nor refuted.

Zhang Yang continued, "We can do this tonight. Do you think it's okay?"

Okafor shook his head: "He is very important to the Magic. Without him, the Magic is nothing, but he is not so important on the offensive end of the Magic. Targeting him, on the contrary, we are more affected."

Zhang Yang also shook his head: "We thought the same thing when we played the Magic last time. Other teams that lost to the Magic also thought the same thing, but the Lakers and Bulls didn't think the same way."

Okafor's emotions finally showed a slight fluctuation, and he said "Hmm?" expectantly.

Zhang Yang: "Like Brown, Garnett and Yao, I think making Howard unable to smile is the key to defeating the Magic. Do you want to try?"

Okafor thought for a moment and responded, "We are just doing an experiment for the playoffs. This is a very necessary thing and has nothing to do with personal grudges."

Zhang Yang took a step away and said, "Yes, yes, Emeka, you don't have to emphasize it... Hey, I can't catch it!"

Okafor retracted his outstretched arm, rolled his eyes at Zhang Yang, and ran to find Felton. Such troublesome matters as internal communication within the team... and important matters, of course, should be left to the boss.

Zhang Yang was in a good mood. There could have been a simpler way to reach a consensus on this matter, but it was quite difficult to see Duncan's big emotional fluctuations. It was only possible when he met Howard. He couldn't help it. He followed Okafor's footsteps and communicated with his starting teammates.

Carlisle saw the starting players gathered together to talk, so he went over to listen... Are there any adjustments? And the goal is a bit strange...

But within the tactical framework, that doesn't matter.

Coaches who often coach talented players have one thing in common - they dare to let their players do it.

This is true for the Zen Master and Adelman, and also for Carlisle, who has never coached a team with a poor lineup since entering the NBA, especially after watching the coaching of old Bickerstaff.

If Carlisle was told in advance about the defensive goals discussed by the starting players, he would most likely not adopt them and would still make the usual targeted defensive arrangements. But if the players had their own ideas before the game, he would not object and would just give it a try.

...

The game is about to start and the starting players of both teams come onto the court.

The Bobcats continued their 'no big center' starting lineup since the start of the season. The Magic's starting lineup has not changed this season, with the five-man team of Nelson, Courtney Lee, Turkoglu, Lewis and Howard coming on the court.

Howard excitedly came to the center circle and stared at the second pick in the same class on the opposite side.

Before, he really didn't like playing against the Bobcats and was unhappy every time.

But after Van Gundy arrived, promoted Turkoglu to the tactical core, and created a 4-1 formation defensive system... the situation was different.

Although they lost the last two encounters last season, they won the first two encounters, so they had a good fight in the regular season.

This season, they won the first game against the Bobcats. And unlike the first two games last season, which were won by luck, the last game was won by real hard work! They played the Bobcats in the second half! They really have the strength to beat the Bobcats... mainly to beat Okafor!
Okafor has always been upset about not being the No. 1 pick, and Howard has always been unhappy with Okafor.

In his rookie year, he had just graduated from high school and his personal ability was not as good as Okafor who had played in college for three years;
In his second year, he caught up, but Okafor had two teammates, Felton and Zhang Yang, and made the playoffs, while he was still playing in the lottery.
In his third year, he was stronger than Okafor and led the team into the playoffs... Okafor won the championship with Zhang Yang.

jealous!
At 8 o'clock in the evening, the referee blew the whistle to start the game and threw the ball into the air.

Howard suddenly jumped up the moment the ball reached its highest point, pushed the ball backwards, and the Magic team attacked first!
Okafor, who lost the jump ball, immediately stepped back after landing. He had to admit that he envied Howard's extremely sharp motor nerves.

When he jumped for the ball, his consciousness pushed his body to react, while Howard's jump was completely instinctive.

Nelson advanced to the frontcourt and passed to Turkoglu.

Howard did not run to the low post to sit and ask for the ball in the first attack like in previous years. Instead, he moved with the position of his teammates, maintained the threat of cutting in, and predicted the second attack route according to the movement of the ball in the hands of his teammates...

His singles ability is stronger than any previous year. He is stronger and can carve out more opponents, but he doesn't care so much about it and no longer needs to use an opening attack to find his presence.

The player guarding the top arc was not Zhang Yang, but Pietrus.

There is about a 10 cm height difference between Zhang Yang and Tekoglu when they are barefoot, and Tekoglu is a technical player who is good at shooting, so he is difficult to defend.

Of course, Pietrus can't defend Turkoglu. Although Turkoglu's personal ability is not at the superstar level, his performance and role in the Magic's system are no different from a superstar. This season, no one can really defend him, and they can only try their best to limit him.

Pietrus's method of restraint is simple and crude - physical combat.

The effect is not that good.

Although Turkey is an Asian country, its sports style belongs to Eastern Europe. Turkoglu is similar to Bargnani. His playing style seems soft and he looks shaky in the confrontation, but it does not affect his playing at all.

Turkoglu successfully used his excellent skills to get past Pietrus and broke through to the free throw line on the left. The other Magic players followed Turkoglu's rhythm and made interlaced runs.

After Lewis helped Courtney Lee to cover in the mid-range on the right side, he moved to the corner. Courtney Lee cut into the inside with Millsap who was switched to defense. Howard was delighted when he saw this, as he had a chance to score, and he followed Courtney Lee's footsteps to cut into the inside.

As Howard expected, Okafor switched to block Courtney Lee's cutting route, and Millsap rushed towards him.

Howard did not dodge, but actively pressed towards Millsap, preparing to turn around and bypass Millsap to enter the three-second zone, cooperate with Turkoglu, and give Okafor an alley-oop slam dunk... He failed to turn!
Zhang Yang retreated to the position first, and together with Millsap blocked Howard outside the three-second zone!
Turkoglu seized the opportunity and used his height advantage to lob the ball over the heads of a group of people on the right sideline of the three-second zone to the right corner. Lewis received the ball and made a three-pointer...and it went in!
Howard was unhappy for a moment as the violent dunk that was about to hit his goal was missed, but he immediately put the emotion aside and turned around to retreat.

During the transition from offense to defense, Zhang Yang felt a little regretful when he ran to the front court - will he let it go tonight! The Magic team's three-point shooting is so accurate...

However, after he got to the high position and received the ball with the help of Courtney Lee, he put his worries aside and attacked!

……

……

The weather is getting colder. I have caught a severe cold these past two days and feel dizzy. I didn't want to talk about this. I have updated very little this year, only about 20 words a month. I want to stick to it, but I haven't updated more than 4000 words for two consecutive days. Let me tell you the reason...

(End of this chapter)