First in scoring

Chapter 434. The shocking collapse

His teammates are counting on Howard to step up and lead the team to withstand this wave of decline.

As a team that relies on mid-range and long-range shots as its main means of scoring, it is common for the team to experience a period of slump in its shooting form. This is when Howard should step up, and it has always been like this.

But this time, Howard quit!
On the offensive end, he no longer moved actively, but instead squeezed to the edge of the three-second zone.

The Bobcats were happy because Howard didn't run but stood still, and Okafor could handle it alone in the low post.

On the defensive end, Howard was still very active in retreating, but he only did his own thing and no longer helped his teammates clean up the mess.

After falling into a positional battle, he squatted under the basket. Felton and Hill cut to the other side for close-range shots. He no longer ran back and forth to defend like before. As long as the players didn't score over his head, he would ignore it and stare at the rebounds...as if Camby was possessed!
This confused all the teammates!
They knew it was a sign that Howard was unhappy, but why?
In the first two games, against the Lakers and the Bulls, Howard was unhappy at times, but those were when they were behind in the score and about to lose. Howard's mentality would explode, his offense would be chaotic, and his defense would be inactive.

But we are still in the lead! And we have always been in the lead, so why are we suddenly unhappy?

Actually, this was mainly because Turkoglu did unnecessary things - directing his teammates to make adjustments.

Howard knew that it was time for him to exert his strength. After his teammates made 6 of 2 shots, he was ready to lead the team to withstand the opponent's counterattack.

But when Turkoglu gave the command, Howard's suppressed emotions suddenly burst out!
There is no need to explain Howard's importance to the Magic. It can be said that without him, 10 of the Magic's 7 main players are functional players. With Nelson and Turkoglu leading the team, they are expected to compete with the Clippers for Griffin's top candidate.

Howard started to play randomly, and the Magic's performance on both offense and defense dropped drastically... The Bobcats' chance has come!

Zhang Yang was also surprised. He thought the plan had failed, but he didn't expect that it would suddenly succeed after he had decided to give up!
The surprise came too suddenly. He seized the opportunity and hit a three-pointer in the transition between offense and defense, sounding the clarion call for a counterattack.

3分13秒钟时间，魔术队5投仅1中，只有尼尔森强投进了一个三分，出现了1次失误……张杨率队打出了11比3的反扑潮！

With Nelson missing a buzzer-beating three-pointer against Felton, the Bobcats overtook the Magic by 62 point with a score of 61 to 1 at the end of the first half!
Zhang Yang played the entire first half, making 17 of 9 shots, including 7 of 4 three-pointers, plus 6 of 5 free throws, scoring 27 points!
...

At halftime, the Bobcats returned to the locker room.

While the players were resting, the coaching staff gathered together for a discussion.

Vincent said to Carlisle, "Rick, you are amazing. Raymond had already begun to deny his plan to influence Howard's mentality, but you chose to insist, and finally succeeded! It's really... weird."

After a few rounds in the first quarter, the Bobcats coaching staff began to discuss why Felton made such an extreme adjustment. After analysis, they felt that the most reasonable possibility was to affect Howard's mentality.

At that time, except for Carlisle who said "very interesting", the assistant coaches all said it was not a good look. And indeed as the assistant coaches expected, after one of the situations of "the bad boys' individual firepower declined" and "the Magic team's pitching group exploded", they quickly fell behind by double digits.

Carlisle responded: "I was also surprised, but I chose to insist not because I thought Raymond's plan would succeed, but because his plan worked."

Vincent: "What does it do?"

Carlisle: "Sam, you need to pay more attention to details. I can count the number of times Howard received the ball in the first half with one hand. He has been separated from the rest of the Magic team. The Magic's running positions have become simpler and simpler. They almost never cut into the inside and shot from the outside. After they started to miss, they shot faster from the outside. Maybe they thought they could make the shot if they were more decisive and determined, but no one cut in.

We were able to launch four counterattacks in half a quarter and scored 4 points just by counterattacks because no one from the Magic team cut inside and Howard couldn't get help and grab offensive rebounds.

Although the plan to disrupt Howard's mentality was not successful at the time, there were other gains, so I chose to continue. "

Vincent: "I see. I was negligent. I was focused on the negative impact of Raymond's failed plan and didn't notice these..."

It was a rare occasion that he didn't argue, because this time he really didn't do his professional job well.

After chatting for a while, Carlisle brought the discussion back to the main topic. First, he cancelled the decision to abandon the implementation of "Felton's plan", but he did not continue to play as he did in the first half. Instead, he made corresponding adjustments based on the actual situation.

The assistant coaches had no objection to this, not even the usually conservative Paul Silas. He felt that it was good to live longer. His view of basketball was refreshed tonight. It turned out that the game could be played this way...

After the half-time break, Zhang Yang and his teammates returned to the court.

Although the score was reversed, he and his teammates became more cautious, ready to go all out on both offense and defense and implement the adjustments made by the head coach.

Although the Beast Project was ultimately successful, the success came too late and was not able to gain an advantage.

The entire Bobcats team felt that the Magic might rise in the third quarter, and Howard should learn from his mistakes and become more courageous. They had to hold on at the beginning of the game.

It was indeed like that. Howard regretted it when he returned to the locker room bathroom alone. He ruined the good situation. From leading by double digits to trailing by 1 point in just half a quarter, he had to take the blame.

But when Howard returned to the locker room after using the restroom, Van Gundy began to lecture him...

Self-blame, guilt, regret...get away!

His brain capacity is limited, and Van Gundy's preaching reminded him of the time when he couldn't catch the ball in the first half and only shot 4 times!
So, in the third quarter, Howard's defensive enthusiasm further declined, and on offense he even ran to the low post to sit with Perkins and ask for the ball to play one-on-one...

The effect of the successful Beast Plan was so dramatic that even Zhang San, the initiator, did not expect it.

Zhang Yang truly understood why wherever Howard went, from the Magic, to the Lakers, to the Rockets... the final result was a mess. This guy is really strong when he is happy, but once he is unhappy, his destructive power to the team is more exaggerated than Camby.

After Camby started to put up big stats, he followed through to the end. He made it clear that he was going to play that way, and if the team wanted to use him, they could use him, and if not, they could send him away.

As for Howard, the contrast is too great. He went from being one of the strongest players in the league to being worse than the brush version of Camby. Camby at least would not sit in the low post and ask for the ball to play as a meat shield.

The score in the third quarter was 31 to 22, and the Bobcats widened the gap to double digits in one fell swoop!

The Magic's situation did not improve in the final quarter, and Van Gundy even replaced Howard after playing for 3 minutes...

Zhang Yang was also replaced halfway through the final quarter. He scored 27 points in the first half and 14 points in the second half. Carlisle deliberately waited two more rounds before replacing him.

This is the experience that Kabal learned from Beal. When conditions permit, making the players happy is conducive to improving his favorability in the players' hearts. At 10:23 pm, the game ended. The score in the final quarter was 26 to 17. The Bobcats defeated the Magic 119 to 101, avenging the last match!
When the final whistle sounded, the scene was quite quiet, and the celebrations of the few visiting fans were particularly loud.

The fans at the scene were celebrating for most of the first half, but they were stunned in the second half of the second quarter. The situation reversed too suddenly. At the beginning of the third quarter, the fans at the scene were still cheering for the home team, but they started booing later. When Howard was replaced 3 minutes into the fourth quarter, some fans began to leave...

By the end of the game, nearly half of the fans had left, and the audience seats were empty. The home team fans who stayed still couldn't believe how they lost. The reversal was too sudden and too clean!
Not only were Magic fans dumbfounded, but commentators from major TV stations were also stunned when they reviewed the game afterward.

However, the commentators received more information than the fans. They could see more footage, including Howard's refusal to high-five Turkoglu and his response after being scolded by Van Gundy. In the end, they attributed the Magic's sudden collapse to internal strife, pointing the finger at Howard...

Someone always has to be blamed for losing a game, and the arrow always hits the biggest target.

Howard is the most talked-about player this season. He is known as the "only supernova in the league who can be replaced by Zhang Yang". Just like Zhang Yang, who was regarded as a "superstar" for the first time last season, he has become the best target of attack when the team loses.

When dealing with such situations, Zhang Yang always took the initiative to take the blame. When being interviewed, he would always scold himself before the reporter started to attack, leaving the reporter with no way out. Although he was still scolded in the end, at least it saved him some trouble and he would not be in a bad mood because of the reporter's questioning.

Howard was different. When he was interviewed in the locker room after the game, he madly refuted and complained in front of his teammates...

...

On the other side, in the Bobcats locker room, the three young players were also talking about Howard.

Okafor is very happy now. He scored 12 points and 10 rebounds, which are better than Howard's 8 points and 8 rebounds. His statistics are better than Howard's, which he has rarely been able to do since his sophomore season.

But he was also afraid. He rarely spoke up, but he was the first to speak after returning to the locker room: "Jack, if you want to do this kind of thing again, don't look for me. Why would I follow you and make trouble?"

Zhang Yang narrowed his eyes and smiled: "Yes, yes, I will definitely call you next time."

"..."

Okafor chose to shut up and just complain.

Even though he was afraid and said no, he guessed he would regret it if Zhang Yang really said he didn't want to play with him anymore.

Felton took over the conversation: "Jack, Emeka is right. Although our strategy was successful in the end, it was so successful that I couldn't believe how the Magic could suddenly collapse because of something like this. I don't understand why, but I know that even you, Jack, would not have expected such a situation. Failure may be the normal situation. When we have any ideas in the future, we must think carefully and it is best to communicate with Rick, Sam and others in advance."

Zhang San was surprised when he heard this. The fat little boss was really becoming more and more mature, and he was happy about it.

Felton's change did not happen overnight, but rather occurred little by little over the past few months since returning from the Olympics.

His Olympic journey was not just about winning a championship, but also about actively learning how those veteran leaders lead a team.

Zhang Yang could clearly guess who Felton was learning to imitate - Kobe, Kidd, Granger, Wade, and the external image of James.

In addition to these people, some seem to be imitating Duncan or Okafor.

However, some of the imitations have gone too far and have begun to lose their "youthfulness".

As an athlete, how can you not have the courage to fight, fight and try? Especially as a ball-holding guard who leads the offense.

Zhang Yang responded: "If we have come up with a solution in advance, then of course we have to communicate with the coaching staff and not do it blindly on our own. But what if we suddenly come up with a solution before or during the game?"

Felton thought for a moment and said, "Rick and his team are excellent. They must have made sufficient preparations for the game. If it is not necessary, we can write down our ideas first and communicate with the coaches after the game. We are not just playing against that opponent. We will have another chance to try in the future."

Zhang Yang nodded and agreed, "Boss, you are right."

Little Duncan: [ヘ]?

No, is Zhang San someone who can be persuaded so easily?
Zhang Yang continued, "How about this, Boss, let's both take a step back. If I have any ideas in the future and I think I must give it a try, then I will give it a try. If I can give it a try or not, then you will make the decision, whether to give it a try or put it on hold, and communicate with the coaches after the game."

Let's both take a step back? That's good. Felton replied, "Okay, it's settled!"

Little Duncan smacked his lips when he heard this: You call it taking a step back? You are indeed Zhang San...

However, Okafor didn't think there was anything wrong with Felton being easily led astray by Zhang Yang. Felton had become more and more "stable" recently, even a little too stable, and he felt that it was time to adjust.

After the chat, the three went to the lounge prepared for them by the Magic team for physical therapy.

There are already some teammates doing physical therapy, but they are all veterans. There are only three young players in the team doing physical therapy.

Okafor didn't like physical therapy in his rookie year, but when he saw Zhang Yang doing physical therapy after playing for more than ten minutes, he started to do it too and never stopped.

Felton was reluctant at first, thinking it was "not young". As he made up his mind to be a "good boss", he began to try. But as long as the game was too tiring, he lost patience and wanted to rest early. However, as time went on, he felt the benefits of post-match physical therapy. He was indeed tired and annoyed at the time, but waking up after physical therapy felt much better than not doing it, especially after a series of high-intensity games in the middle of the season. So he tried to start sticking to it, until he was injured and missed nearly a month in the middle of last season, he really regarded physical therapy as a daily routine on training days and game days.

During this period, Zhang Yang did not take the initiative to guide him. He just asked Felton whether he wanted physical therapy during each treatment. This kind of thing cannot be forced, and saying too much will affect their relationship.

Anyway, Felton is very durable. As far as Zhang Yang remembers, Felton had no serious injuries before he was 30 years old, so there is no need to rush for the time being.

Now that Felton has persisted and started to enjoy the benefits of physical therapy, Zhang Yang is naturally happy for his boss.

Little Fatty started correcting his technique and expanding his scoring methods early on, and also started taking care of his body early on. Zhang San estimated that Little Fatty could at least have a much longer career than he originally had.

After a night's rest, Zhang Yang returned to Charlotte with the team at noon the next day.

After leaving the airport, he did not go home to rest like other teammates, but drove to the Turkish Airlines Arena.

It’s not for training, but there is a big thing that has been delayed for two months and it’s finally done!
In the evening, the Bobcats' press officer Kyle took the initiative to release a message to the media - Zhang Yang renewed his contract, 3+1, and used the 'bad boy privilege'!
(End of this chapter)