First in scoring

Chapter 442 441. Set a new record for votes!

The loss to the Spurs was due to the Bobcats' own reasons. They were badly beaten by the two opponents before Texas, two tense battles with single-digit score differences. In addition, in the last game of the five-game road trip, the Bobcats players had physical problems and were affected by injuries. Not only did Millsap not come to the away game, but Pietrus was also injured after the game against the Rockets and missed the game against the Spurs.

But the Spurs' offense was stronger than the Bobcats expected, and they beat the Bobcats 35 to 26 in the first quarter.

The day before the game, when Zhang Yang was reading the Spurs' scout report, he discovered that the Spurs, who had 15 wins and 12 losses before Christmas, had quietly gone to 20 wins and 12 losses.

After ending the Bobcats' 12-game winning streak, the Spurs won six consecutive games, bringing their record to 6 wins and 21 losses, tying the Mavericks who just lost to the Grizzlies!

The starting combination of Conley, Finley, Gay, Dio, and Duncan, plus main substitutes such as Ginobili, Roger Mason, Kurt Thomas, Bonner, George Hill, Udoka, and Oberto, the Spurs' 12-man rotation lineup, has really succeeded in running-in on the offensive end!
However, it is quite different from the "Spurs system" in Zhang Yang's impression. It is mainly based on Duncan's move to the center position to increase the speed of the whole team, and the team offense is carried out around the offensive organization ability of Conley + Dio, Ginobili + Hill. In general, it is still star basketball.

But some things have been revealed. Many players of the Spurs have become functional. The most obvious one is... the star player Duncan, who has averaged 21 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 blocks per game so far this season. His assists per game is a career low, but his scoring and shooting percentages are both the highest in the past four years. His efficiency has also rebounded from 4, a career low last season, to 23.1, which is equivalent to his career average.

Duncan played more simply, and his personal defensive efficiency also improved to a certain extent, which was directly reflected in the block data, from 1.9 blocks per game last season to the career average of 2.3 blocks per game.

Gay is no longer being trained to become the next McGrady or someone else. His shot percentage has increased, but his ball possession rate has decreased. He is often regarded as the first option for long-distance and cutting, and his one-on-one play has also become simpler - strong shots.

Zhang Yang guessed that Popovich's idea was that since this guy just dribbled the ball a lot and then shot against the defense when playing one-on-one, it would be better for him to play faster to avoid a situation like McGrady's in the past two years - he was dribbling and his teammates all stopped.

In terms of overall performance, Gay has slightly declined compared to his sophomore season last season. It is not yet known whether this is the pain period of fundamentally adjusting his playing style or he is not suitable.

The reason why a genius like Gay can choose a functional style of play is mainly because a higher-level genius and the core of the team, Duncan, chose it first and successfully functionalized it.

The Spurs are completely different now, and their offense has begun to transform, but it is not without cost - from losing 97 points per game at the beginning to losing 99.6 points per game currently, their average performance is already below the league average.

Even though the Bobcats were in such poor overall condition tonight, they still scored over 100 points.

It is obvious that the Spurs are not as well prepared to change their style of play as they were in the 2010-2011 season in the original time and space.

It may be due to the different lineups, or it may be due to the different overall structure of the NBA...

Zhang Yang also noticed a rather outrageous statistic. With Duncan earning a maximum salary of 2060 million and Ginobili earning nearly 991 million a year, the Spurs' total salary this season is 6331 million, which is more than 800 million below the luxury tax threshold.

This means that in two or three years, when both Gay and Conley need to renew their contracts, Popovich will be fully capable of keeping salaries below the luxury tax threshold by reducing the salaries of Duncan and Ginobili, who are two or three years older.

In the past, Zhang Yang's focus on Popovich was on his coaching ability, but now he realizes that this coach seems to have some business capabilities as the executive president of the Spurs.

...

At noon on the 6th, Zhang Yang returned to Charlotte with the team. When he got home, he found that his parents and younger brother were there, and they had prepared noodles with soybean paste for him.

When he first transferred to Compton High School, his parents would prepare noodles with soybean paste for him every time he went home.

This is a custom in my hometown. When someone in the family goes on a long journey, the family will prepare a bowl of steaming hot noodles with soybean paste for him when he returns home.

But when he was in 11th grade, his parents started their own business and it stopped happening.

Now, Zhang Yang guessed that it was because of the bad market environment that his parents' company's market development had stagnated or even shrunk. Did they have time? No matter what the reason was, he ate very happily.

If such a thing happens, it is a blessing. If not, it is also normal. Everyone is busy these days, and he doesn't have much time to spend with his family. He stays in the team for eight or nine months a year, and has commercial endorsements and training for the remaining three or four months.

In the afternoon, he played baseball with Xiao Wukong for a while. His younger brother was quite athletic and was only half a month away from turning 4, but he was already very good at swinging the small baseball bat. However, this made him quite depressed. He was still thinking about taking his younger brother to play basketball, maybe they could play True Brothers Basketball in the future.

Even if I can't play in the NBA at that time, CBA should be fine. If that doesn't work, I can form a team and play basketball.

Unexpectedly, the unlucky Goku actually liked baseball at the beginning.

On the bright side, at least it's not football. Fortunately, their family is living in America to do business instead of training eagles.

Even though it was a pain in the ass, he and his brother had a lot of fun playing baseball. Even though he wasn't an expert at the game, he knew a little bit and could teach little Goku the basics.

After resting for an afternoon, on the next day, the 7th, the second rest day for the Bobcats after returning from a five-game road trip, at around 5 a.m., Zhang Yang came to the Turkish Airlines Arena to train with Felton.

It was mainly Zhang Yang who practiced and Felton who taught - step-back shooting training.

As the saying goes, there are specialties in the art industry.

Over the years, Felton has become a veritable step-back shooting expert.

Zhang Yang can also step back and shoot, but his method of using it is not as comprehensive as Felton's. He basically only uses it when turning around and stepping back in the high post, or when stepping back after a fake breakthrough at the top of the arc. Moreover, his step-back shooting action is basically limited to the "Hamblen-style" step-back that he accidentally learned when he went to the Lakers for a tryout.

In his rookie year, his step-back shooting was actually quite comprehensive, but not strong enough, so he focused on strengthening the 'Hamblen-style' step-back move. The others, without practice for a long time, naturally degenerated. Moreover, over the past few years, his physical condition, shooting style, playing habits, etc. have undergone tremendous changes. If he wants to expand again, it is not as simple as picking up the old skills. It is not much different from developing a completely new one, and he also has to 'forget' the past feeling.

He was very comfortable with the 'Hamblen-style' step-back shot and would continue to use it, but it was not enough.

This move requires too high a feel for the hand, and it can even be said to be purely a matter of feel.

When facing defenders with good physical fitness and fast defense, and you have to shoot, using this trick to create shooting space is very good and useful.

But sometimes when the opponent's physical fitness is not that good and the defensive reaction is not that fast, you have to use a step-back shot, and this move actually increases the difficulty of the shot.

Before the start of the season, Zhang Yang planned to learn step-back shooting from Felton to enrich his step-back shooting skills, but the team had a large amount of training before and he had no time.

Now, the team system has basically taken shape, and the next step is a testing period. The adjustment period is expected to be after the All-Star Weekend. The team's training volume has been reduced. For example, during the two rest days after returning from five consecutive away games, the coaching staff did not arrange any training, just pure rest.

By the middle of the season, Felton's personal training volume also decreased. Last year's mid-season injury affected the team's performance, so this year he was much more cautious.

So Zhang Yang seized the opportunity to ask the boss for advice, and Felton... agreed without hesitation. When he returned to Charlotte yesterday, he wanted to take Zhang Yang to the gym.

Xiao Fei: It’s finally my turn to teach the younger brother how to play basketball. It’s not easy for me to be the boss! Years of hard training and accumulation have finally paid off!
After a morning of coaching and training, Felton went from being excited at the beginning to feeling a little annoyed.

"Jack, you learn too fast. Even if you only practice two times a week, two weeks? Three weeks? You may not even use it this month, but you've learned everything I know!"

This boss is really hard to lead...

After complaining for a while, Zhang Yang consoled him, "I already know how to step back and shoot, so I have the basics. And you taught me well, breaking down the technical details very finely. You have experience on the court, and you taught me practical things, so I naturally learned quickly."

When Felton mentioned this, he immediately became confident and said, "Of course, I'm not bragging. There are few people in the entire NBA who have studied the step-back shot more thoroughly than me. After all, my talent is not as good as yours and James. In studying the technique I am good at, I must work harder than you."

In front of players of the same class, Felton generally would not admit that he was not as talented as others. The only ones he could admit that were the two No. 3 players, Zhang Yang and Paul.

Zhang Yang took advantage of the opportunity to make a fadeaway jump shot: "You are worthy of being my boss. You have a thorough understanding of life. However, I can't use it right away after learning it. I still need a lot of training. When the time comes, I will have to rely on you to help me train and adjust the technical details."

Life, thorough... When Felton heard these two words, he patted his chest and said, "No problem, leave it to me!" The two were going to have lunch and come back to continue training. When they went back to the locker room to change clothes and were about to leave, they saw Sanbalu talking and laughing with a tall man passing by the training ground.

Zhang Yang: "Eh? That seems to be Howard (Juwan)? Is our team going to fill the 15th player?"

Felton: "We have had a lot of injury problems recently, haven't we? Rick previously tried to increase the playing time of the second and third position players to deal with the impact of Paul's injury, but Michael got injured after the increased playing time. Serge also hit his knee when playing against the Hornets, but luckily he's fine. But these problems made Rick start to think about whether increasing the playing time of role players and letting substitutes start to deal with the injuries of the starters is a good option. I heard that it was Bernie who gave the suggestion to share the risk of injuries. When we went to Dallas, Bernie and the boss had already started trying out forwards and guards."

Pietrus is an excellent role player with excellent athletic ability, good defense and shooting ability, but he is physically weak and fragile. In his junior season, he averaged 19 minutes per game, scored 9.3 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal, and played in 75 games. But in the year when the Warriors lost the first round, he averaged 26 minutes per game. Although his statistics improved to a career-high 11+5, his shooting percentage dropped a lot, and his appearances also plummeted to 54 games.

Zhang Yang thought about Pietrus's information and felt that his teammate's injury might indeed be caused by the increase in playing time. In the early stage of the season, Pietrus only played for 15 or 16 minutes per game, and Mike Miller and Hill were the main substitutes for the third and fourth positions.

Millsap was injured and Ibaka was almost injured. He had discussed this with Felton before. They both felt that it was caused by the sudden increase in the intensity of the two players' games.

Millsap used to be a substitute, and during this season's training camp and preseason, he was preparing to be a substitute. But suddenly he was promoted to the starting lineup. Although he played well, the players he faced were stronger than when he was in the second lineup, so it must have been more difficult for him.

Ibaka's move from La Liga to the NBA has greatly increased the difficulty of the game. He only played 8-11 minutes per game before. As the third power forward, he often faced the opponent's weakest power forward, so he could rely on his athletic ability and cutting awareness to score.

Recently, the topic of starting suddenly came up, and problems arose.

Ibaka tried to dunk over Chandler when playing against the Hornets, but Chandler anticipated it and moved into position. Ibaka tried to dunk over Chandler but failed to knock him down. He fell down and hit his knee on the floor. He was replaced immediately. Fortunately, the pain was only for a while but he was fine. He continued to play in the second half, played for 24 minutes and scored 8 points and 8 rebounds. There was no problem with the X-ray after the game... But he still needs to pay attention to issues such as lack of ability and experience.

Zhang Yang understood the situation and teased Bi Tu, "Our general manager doesn't seem like a good person! He spreads the risk of injury to players outside the team. Lord, please forgive my evil general manager."

Felton laughed and scolded Zhang Yang, then said, "Didn't you say that there is no absolute fairness in this world? This is to give opportunities to those players who have a hard time finding jobs! If he can gain a foothold in our team, it will be a rare opportunity to compete for the championship!"

This boss learns these weird things so quickly!

Zhang San remembered that he seemed to have said something similar when discussing Brad Miller being forced to play as a substitute and feeling resentful but definitely not complaining...

Regardless of this, it's a good thing that the fat guy has this idea. He can be a saintly person and strictly demand himself, but he can't be a saintly bitch and demand others to do things that he can't do himself, especially in work that concerns his own interests. This suggestion from Bibal is undoubtedly beneficial to their Bobcats.

Zhang Yang changed the subject and said, "During the preseason, we were looking for a third point guard, but we didn't expect to end up signing a forward."

Felton didn't feel anything was wrong because of the sudden change of topic. He responded, "Yes, Jarrett's style of play is too tough. He rushes to the end every time he attacks. Although it is very imposing, it is always worrying to watch. I didn't expect him to be so healthy all the time."

Zhang Yang: "Uh, boss, you should worry about yourself. Jarrett has not had any injuries since joining our team, but you have been injured for almost a month."

Felton was startled and spoke faster: "Yes, he is the starting killer. I should worry about myself. Wait, could it be that we have been looking for a third point guard not to prevent Jarrett from getting injured, but to prevent me from getting injured? No, Jack, wait for me in the parking lot. I will go to burn incense to the God of Wealth first! The God of Wealth will eat lunch first!"

...

On January 1, after two days of rest, the Bobcats ushered in the 8th game day of the regular season.

During the pre-game meeting in the morning, Carlisle introduced the new member, Juwan Howard, to the players.

Yesterday afternoon, the Bobcats officially announced the signing. It was a short 10-day trial contract, but not many people paid attention to it, and it didn’t even make it to the front page of sports websites.

Juwan Howard is no longer the billionaire he used to be. He was sent to the Mavericks in a trade last season. He played in all 50 games after joining the Mavericks, but only averaged 7 minutes per game, and only played for a few minutes in the transition period of each game, or in garbage time. He only averaged 1.1 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. However, his high salary of 688 million last season and his salary this season is as high as 738 million... Then he was pardoned by the Mavericks using the Houston clause last summer to reduce luxury tax expenses.

During the offseason, Juwan Howard had been seeking to join a championship-contending team, but no one was interested. In the end, he had to settle for the second best and joined the Hawks, but on a non-guaranteed contract. Before Christmas, the Hawks cut him before the agreed contract became permanent. His stats looked okay, with 6.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, but his average playing time was 18 minutes per game and his shooting percentage was only 38%. Therefore, even the Bobcats, the most talked-about basketball team in the middle of this season, signing Juwan Howard did not attract the attention of others... Even the Bobcats fans felt that this was not a signing worthy of attention.

Tonight's opponent is a bad team. The pre-game meeting ended quickly, and the pre-game training just involved running two laps of tactics with Juwan Howard.

After the team training, most of the players chose to rest. Zhang Yang was going to practice the routine step-back three-pointer, but when he went to the small training ground, he saw his new teammates practicing long two-point catch-and-shoot. He stopped and watched for a while...

31, 32, 33...67, 68...75, 76.

Zhang Yang counted 76 balls in a row, all of them went in!

He looked at the blackboard, where the trainer recorded Juwan Howard's full-intensity two-point catch drill, five angles, 5 balls at each angle, a total of 20 balls, all scored! The 100 balls he didn't see before also went in!

He asked Mike Miller and Hill who were also standing by and watching: "Juwan's mid-range shot is a bit strong, can you guys do it?"

Mike Miller: "I can hit all of them, but I need to practice a few sets to get the feel for it. I hit all of them in the first set of training, and it seems like I have never hit them."

Hill: "I may not be able to hit all my shots even after practicing for a whole day. Juwan was the most accurate mid-range shooter in my class. How can I compare to him? Person (Wesley), Marshall (Donyell), and Rose (Jalen) are also not as good as him."

Zhang Yang nodded and said, "Neither can I. It seems Rick agreed to sign Juwan not only to fill in his playing time and reduce the risk of injury, but he can also help our offense at certain moments."

Hill: "Of course, Juwan is a very good player. Other players, at his stage, have declined in ability, been amnestied by the team, and can no longer play like before. They may have lost their passion for the game. They try out everywhere and perform very hard just to make more money. But Juwan is different. As long as he can play, you can always see his love for basketball. Last season, he was with the Mavericks and only played a few minutes in each game, but I could still see him running at full speed in every round. He is my role model."

Zhang Yang thought about it and it seemed to be the case.

The media and fans have been attacking Juwan Howard. In fact, it is mainly because his salary is always higher than his ability. After he was selected as an All-Star in his sophomore year and got a sky-high contract extension of 96 years and 7 million in the summer of 1, his performance has declined year by year. He was said to be overpaid and incompetent and had a junk contract, but his attitude towards playing has always been good.

Like in the 06-07 season, when Yao Ming was still on the Rockets, Juwan Howard could be said to be Yao Ming's most capable inside assistant... Of course, it cannot be measured by an annual salary of more than 600 million. In this day and age, this salary is enough to sign players of Marvin Williams and Gooden's strength.

When other inside players placed all their hopes and pressure on Yao Ming, Juwan Howard was always trying to do better. Although he did not succeed, his attitude was completely different from that of other inside players.

but……

Zhang Yang said to Hill: "Compared to this, Grant, you are greater than Juwan. You have been out for six consecutive seasons. No one can stand on the court again after being out for six consecutive seasons and continue to fight for his dream like a teenager. Anyway, I can't do that. You are the real role model."

"Hey, Jack, that's exactly what I've been waiting for you to say!" Hill returned to his usual frivolous self.

...

In the evening, Zhang Yang scored 32 points and led the Bobcats to a 111-95 win over the visiting Bucks, contributing to the Bucks' tanking efforts.

After 4 games, Zhang Yang scored more than 30 points again. In the Southwest Division trip, he scored less than 4 points in 30 games, and his average score dropped to 31.3 points. He was surpassed by Wade's 31.5 points after two games, and dropped to second place in the scoring list. Thinking back to the three teams in Texas, the shadow is really there!

The returning Millsap performed well, scoring 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.

In this game, the Bobcats re-displayed their recent excellent form and were not affected by the torment by the three Texas teams.

Newcomer Juwan Howard came off the bench and played for a few minutes in garbage time, scoring 2 points and 2 rebounds. It was hard to say whether his performance was good or bad, but it was obvious that he enjoyed the game.

At noon on January 1, the NBA officially announced the data of the first phase of the All-Star starting lineup voting as of 10 noon on the 9th.

After 14 days of voting in the first two weeks, Zhang Yang received more than 175 million votes, ranking first in the league, breaking the first-stage vote record of 114 million votes set by him last year, and was far ahead of the second place James with 98 votes!

(End of this chapter)