First in scoring

Chapter 455 454. Let’s have fun!

Kobe naturally hoped that Zhang Yang would be his successor. He wanted to win the championship again. Moreover, although he would not admit it verbally, he already knew clearly that Howard had left and if Zhang Yang was unwilling to stay, he would never have a chance to win the championship in his future career. When Zhang Yang decided to renew his contract, he put on a leather coat and played the bass and sang for a long time at home.

It's just that he wanted some sense of ceremony for the 'transfer of power'.

Is there any use for this kind of thing? Yes, it does!
If there was no such process, although Kobe's fans were happy that Zhang Yang stayed, there would always be some people who were dissatisfied with Kobe becoming the second after returning from injury. Zhang Yang defeated Kobe in direct competition, became the boss and Kobe became the second. Kobe's fans' recognition of Zhang Yang increased greatly and regarded this as a legacy like Skyhook and Magic Johnson... Most of Kobe's fans also have "old-school" ideas.

After a while, the entrance ceremony began. The away Spurs team entered first, triggering boos from the fans.

For other teams, it would be difficult to have such treatment even in the playoffs, but the opponent in front of them is different. From 99 to 2008, in 10 seasons, the Lakers and Spurs met 6 times in the playoffs!
Although the Lakers had 6 wins and 4 losses in 2 encounters, the Spurs won twice, which just ruined the Lakers' dream of 4 consecutive championships!
In the 99 playoffs, Jordan retired, the Heat were eliminated in the eighth round, Ewing was out in the second round, and the Trail Blazers had not yet acquired Pippen. Whoever won between the Lakers and the Spurs would have no rivals. Then the Lakers were beaten by Duncan, and the Spurs had an 8-1 record in the Western Conference Finals and the Finals, winning the championship without any pressure.

In the 03 playoffs, the Kings played themselves out. Nowitzki on the Mavericks had not yet reached his peak, and their strength was about the same as the Kings. The Spurs and Lakers met again in the second round. The situation was that whoever won would have no rivals. The Lakers were beaten by Duncan again, and the Spurs easily won the championship...

After the Celtics, the Spurs had the best chance in NBA history to win three consecutive championships, but Duncan destroyed it single-handedly. How could fans in the Los Angeles area not hate the Spurs?

And now there is also the grudge between Zhang Yang and the Spurs, the hostility is doubled!
Of course, the team Lakers fans hate the most is the Celtics…

But now the Celtics have dismantled the team and are in a bad state in order to compete for the No. 1 pick. Among the playoff teams, the Spurs are the most hostile team for Lakers fans.

Also, the Lakers are at a disadvantage in this series, and Lakers fans are very nervous...but they are still confident!

When the home team entered the stadium, the fans' boos turned into crazy cheers as they watched Zhang Yang, Jordan Hill, Gasol, Bazemore, and Kobe enter one after another!
Zhang Yang and Kobe are the source of their confidence. In the last game, G4, they played away from home and faced the Spurs who were in good form. They were passive for a long time, but Zhang Yang scored 32 points and Kobe scored 30 points, and they shot the Spurs to death!

...

After entering, Zhang Yang did not go to say hello to Ginobili, with whom he had a good relationship, and the other party did not take the initiative to say hello either.

It has nothing to do with team grudges, but the atmosphere on the Spurs side is rather peculiar. Not to mention the opponents, the team itself looks extremely cold. But the actual situation is not like that. When extroverted players come to the Spurs and open their hearts to get along with their teammates, they will find that most of their teammates are easy to get along with.

But if you are an introvert and not the introverted type like Duncan, you might think that no one on the team has a good relationship with you...

Zhang Yang looked at the player on the opposite side.

Point guards: Parker, Cory Joseph, Osius Jefferson.

Shooting guards: Ginobili, Belinelli, Shannon Brown.

Small forward: Leonard, Danny Green, Damian James.

Power forward: Duncan, Dio, Austin Daye.

Center: Splitter, Aron Baynes, Bonner.

He recalled the information about the Spurs over the past year that he had read when he was looking up information the day before yesterday. After the All-Star Weekend last season, the Spurs were forced to trade him for Howard... and then they also got a taste of the 'Happy Beast Syndrome'.

Howard was unwilling to become a functional player in the Spurs system, responsible for catching rebounds, counterattacks, pick-and-rolls, and defense. Eventually, the Spurs' record dropped from first in the league to fifth in the Western Conference, and they were eliminated by the Grizzlies in the first round.

After the season ended, the Spurs failed to keep Howard as the media predicted. They were willing to offer the seven-year veteran a maximum salary with Bird rights, but he refused and went to the Rockets to sign a maximum salary contract without Bird rights.

After Howard signed with the Rockets, everyone thought the Spurs were finished.

At the end of the offseason, the Spurs' roster was basically the same as it is now, only in December, they traded French forward Nando DeLoach to the Raptors for Shannon Brown and Austin Daye, and none of these three were part of the Spurs' rotation.

In addition to Osius Jefferson, Shannon Brown, Austin Daye and Damian James, the Spurs mainly play an 11-man rotation this season.

Among these 11 rotation players, except for Parker, Ginobili, Duncan and Dio, the others are functional players, including Leonard.

伦纳德常规赛场均13分6板2助攻1.7抢断，入选了二防，但目前同样只是功能型球员，季后赛到现在场均13分6.7板1.7助攻2.5抢断。

The Spurs' highest regular season scoring average was Parker with 16.5 points, followed by Duncan with 15.8 points, and Ginobili with 12.8 points. The highest playoff scorer was Parker with 17.1 points, followed by Duncan with 16.9 points, and Ginobili with 15.1 points.

But it was these 11 people who achieved a good record of 56 wins in the regular season, ranking third in the Western Conference and third in the league, and played the strongest performance in the league in the playoffs, sweeping the Rockets led by Westbrook and Howard 4-0 in the first round, and also suppressing the Lakers in the second round.

It was only then that people realized that the Spurs system was far better than they thought!
In this regard, the media made sharp comments - if Popovich had not acted like a demon, had not thought about PUA Zhang Yang, and had honestly given him the maximum salary, the Spurs last season and this season would have been invincible, and it would even be possible to accomplish what the Lakers had not accomplished from the 11-12 season to the 14-15 season, that is, surpassing three consecutive championships.

His haters also gave him the title of "system player", because the Lakers' tactical system was copied from the Spurs. In the eyes of those people, his selection into the first team and the second team were all thanks to the Spurs' system.

This is "thanks" to Kobe. Kobe's fans accepted him and also drew the attention of 60E's haters to him...

Old Blacksmith: A-choo...someone said I'm handsome behind my back?

While Zhang Yang was sizing up the opposing player, someone was also sizing up him—Popovich.

Regret, a regret that he will never forget even when he is buried. The successive pay cuts of Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker made him feel that everything was under his control. Now he knows that it was not because of his ability in this area, but because he was lucky to meet Duncan. But there is no regret medicine in the world. He set his sights on Leonard. His growth is a little slower than Zhang Yang, but his potential is not worse than Zhang Yang. He has to coax him this time.

...

The game is about to start and the starting lineups of both teams are coming onto the court.

Lakers: Bazemore, Zhang Yang, Kobe, Jordan Hill, Gasol.

Spurs: Parker, Danny Green, Leonard, Duncan, Split.

Zhang Yang was indeed very nervous at first, and even after having some fun with Nash, he found it difficult to relax.

The last time he came to this timeline for training, it was a complete failure. If he fails again, he would be too embarrassed to come here again.

However, once he stepped onto the court, his nervousness quickly faded away, and another emotion that had been suppressed by nervousness took over - excitement!
At 8 o'clock in the evening, the decisive battle between the Lakers and the Spurs in the series will start at the Staples Center!
Jordan Hill defeated Duncan to win the jump ball, and the Lakers attacked first!

When Zhang Yang came to the frontcourt, he encountered Leonard's close defense.

Leonard's enthusiasm was so intense that it was like he was risking his life, which made Popovich frown.

After Zhang Yang left, the Spurs focused their outside line training on Leonard alone, with even greater efforts than when they trained Zhang Yang. Leonard also worked hard, and in the first full season after Zhang Yang left, Leonard was selected to the second defensive line... but Zhang Yang was selected to both first teams.

The media often compares the two players who use similar tactical systems. Obviously, Leonard is inferior to his opponent in all aspects except that he is a little bigger. This makes Leonard always want to prove himself.

Popovich once said to Leonard, "He is only three years older than you," but it was useless. However, Popovich admired Leonard's strong character, which was a bit like Zhang Yang, Kobe and Ginobili.

Fortunately, Leonard only defended more aggressively and did not do anything reckless...

Zhang Yang, despite Leonard's melee, was still able to control his movement rhythm very well.

Leonard is not yet the heavy tank he was after leaving the Spurs. Although his weight and strength are already very good for the small forward position, Zhang Yang's current weight and strength are also top-notch for the forward and guard line, so he can handle it.

Zhang Yang moved to the starting position for the off-ball offense, saw Kobe receiving the ball and launching the offense, and began to run without the ball.

Facing Danny Green's defense, Kobe used his rhythm to get half a body's length of space, then pushed forward directly, blocked the sideways-moving Danny Green, started, pushed Danny Green aside and broke into the inside.

Duncan received the ball in the middle of the three-second zone, Kobe passed the ball to Gasol on the right side of the basket, and Split, who cooperated with Duncan's early movement, actively made up for the position.

After Duncan moved up to cover Kobe, he immediately moved to the left elbow area to block Jordan Hill who was cutting in.

Both his attack on the basket and his pass were blocked, Gasol passed the ball back to the high post, and Zhang Yang successfully ran to the left side of the free throw line at the right time, but as soon as he received the ball, Leonard stuck to him.

At this time, Kobe was being blocked by Danny Green in the mid-range at a 45-degree angle on the right side, and Parker was also double-teaming him without the ball. Zhang Yang and Bazemore in the right corner had space to pass the ball. Split was ready to block the baseline breakthrough, Parker was ready to retreat to the baseline, Danny Green was ready to cut off Bazemore's passing route to the high position after he received the ball, and Duncan was also on guard against Zhang Yang's breakthrough... But!
After being stuck by Leonard, Zhang Yang did not pass the ball or break through. Instead, he carried Leonard, turned around with his back to the basket, and took a sudden step forward.

Leonard had just made a big circle and got close to Zhang Yang, but before he could stand firmly, he was caught off guard and took a big step back.

Zhang Yang turned around and made a jump shot...and it went in!
After being knocked away, Leonard immediately rushed forward, but failed to interfere at all.

The fans at the scene cheered loudly. The ball was powerful but also clever. Although it was just a shot, it made the fans excited.

Budenholzer stood on the sidelines and applauded and cheered for Zhang Yang, but he was very upset at the moment. As expected, his opening tactics were seen through by the teacher.

But he had no choice. The Spurs system was not a simple system. In the summer of 08, Popovich made up his mind to give up Bowen, who had just been selected for the first defense, and started tinkering with the new system. During this period, he replaced many players and constantly adjusted the lineup to find the most suitable one. It was not until the 10-11 season that he could produce a semi-finished product. It was not until the rise of Zhang Yang in the 11-12 season that the team had real strength to compete for the championship and win... He has only been here for a year, and he has been able to achieve this. The media, fans, management, players, and even himself are all very satisfied.

But now he is unable to make more adjustments within the framework of the tactical system. Single-round tactics are fine, but that kind of tactics cannot be played all the time.

Because their system is still lacking something important - the autonomous offensive awareness of role players. Some lack tacit understanding, and some lack ability. This has to do with their chaos last season, which led to their unfavorable recruitment last summer. Kupchak has done a good job and tried his best to find role players who meet the functional requirements, but most of them are 1st-3rd year players who were abandoned by other teams before the end of their rookie contracts. If the system is to be complete, the lineup still needs to be adjusted.

Fortunately, although he was seen through, he had an assistant coach whom the opponent could not see through - Bernie Bickerstaff!
Teacher Popovich, due to his lack of on-the-spot adaptability, likes to think one step further in tactics. Old Bickerstaff does the opposite and subtracts in tactics!
The last comeback was largely based on Bickerstaff’s advice.

However, when Budenholzer saw the replay of Zhang Yang's first attack on the big screen, he always felt that it was a bit weird... It seemed that Zhang Yang didn't even look at the wing after receiving the ball and started shooting directly?

No, no, no, it shouldn’t be. It should be because of Ai’s outstanding tactical awareness that he predicted the opponent’s defensive movements, so he didn’t do anything unnecessary and waste time.

But soon, Budenholzer found out that he was wrong...

In the next 5 rounds, Zhang Yang chose to shoot in 4 rounds!
After running to the receiving point and receiving the ball, he immediately took action and hit Leonard while he was still unstable!

Using his and Kobe's increased long-range shooting threat from the previous game to create opportunities for the wings and players cutting into the basket... This kind of opening offensive strategy will definitely be seen through and guarded against by the opponent. Even without Bickerstaff's "think one step less" adjustment, Zhang Yang will directly give up that step. As long as he receives the ball, even if he is double-teamed, as long as it is not Duncan who comes, he will throw it!
As for Kobe, he was forced to control the game at the beginning, so as not to let his teammates be led astray by Zhang Yang...

Old Blacksmith: I never thought I would end up like this!
(End of this chapter)