First in scoring

Chapter 472 471. It’s a sure win!
Cursing in his heart, Hinrich didn't stop moving his hands and seized the opportunity to throw the ball into the inside.

After seeing Zhang Yang and Millsap give up the double-team, Yao Ming immediately pressed inward from the baseline, blocking Okafor on the left and right side lines of the three-second zone to demand the ball.

However, although Okafor failed to prevent Yao Ming from getting into position, his resistance still increased the difficulty for the opponent to get into position and created an opportunity for his teammates to double-team. Yao Ming had just received the ball and Millsap, who had intercepted Tyus Thomas and cut in to receive the ball, successfully moved from the left side of the three-second zone to double-team him.

Tyrus Thomas? Yao Ming chose to play one-on-two, turned left and faced the baseline to force a hook shot... but missed! The ball hit the left inner edge of the basket and bounced out.

Okafor protected the defensive rebound and wanted to find Zhang Yang first. Tyus Thomas actively intercepted the ball. Okafor couldn't pass it and had to pass it to Felton. Hinrich stuck to Felton at the first moment and pressed him all over the court. Felton protected the ball and advanced slowly, engaging in a positional battle.

Yao Ming took the opportunity to retreat quickly. He was in a complicated mood - the advantages and disadvantages of the 06 No. 4 genius pick were too obvious.

In this ball just now, if it was Ben Wallace, he would definitely not make the offensive choice of waiting for his little giant to pass the ball. Instead, he would actively move his position to seize the second attack opportunity, or try to distract the opponent's double tower defense.

In other words, while Tyus Thomas' offensive ability is basically the same as Ben Wallace's, his offensive awareness is not as good as Ben Wallace's.

Both the coaching staff and teammates have reminded him of this many times. Tyus Thomas is not stubborn. He admits his mistakes sincerely and actively corrects them in training...but when he gets excited during the game, he forgets everything.

But on the defensive end, Yao Ming likes this young teammate very much.

Although he still has some shortcomings in his abilities and lacks experience, Tyus Thomas is always full of energy and enthusiasm. He never misses any opportunity to contribute on the defensive end, just like he did just now, when he tried to stop Zhang Yang from catching the ball. There is no doubt about his physical fitness. After all, he became a favorite for the No. 1 pick purely because of his physical fitness.

It is precisely because of Tyrus Thomas' defensive strengths that Yao Ming is full of patience with this young teammate - he is only 22 years old and he needs to be given opportunities. If his brain doesn't work well, let him use his body to slowly remember how to play on the offensive end.

Their unkind head coach decided to start Tyus Thomas with the same idea.

Compared with the known flaws of his young teammates, the opening play of the opposing Bobcats was what really surprised Yao Ming - were the opponents preparing to challenge them on defense?
The Bulls' opening strategy was to slow down the tempo and drag the opponent into a defensive battle, but they didn't expect the opponent to take action first!
The improvement in the Bobcats' defense did surprise him. It had only been two months since their last matchup, and the Bobcats' rotation defense and double-team intensity had both improved qualitatively!

However, if Zhang San wants to fight on defense, the little giant is not afraid!
Yao Ming was not the only one who had the same idea. His teammates also discovered that the opponent actually wanted to compete with them on defense, and they all immediately strengthened their defense.

Felton pushed forward to the three-point line against Hinrich's defense and saw Zhang Yang and Luol Deng fighting in the high position, their arms were almost tangled together, Pietrus and Sefrosa, Millsap and Tyrus Thomas were in the same situation, only Okafor was not being fought. Felton's first thought was: Little brother is really strong! He can actually withstand Luol Deng's fight!
Luol Deng was in a very awkward position. His arms and legs looked thicker than Zhang Yang's, but he couldn't gain much advantage in hand-to-hand combat. It was a bit like meeting that power monster on the West Coast who only weighed 95 or 96 kilograms but could fight in hand-to-hand combat with inside players.

Felton passed the ball to Zhang Yang, who received the ball and turned left to rush forward. Luol Deng turned around to defend, but was blocked by Okafor who moved forward tacitly!

Zhang Yang came to the middle of the right sideline of the three-second zone, stopped suddenly, and took a fadeaway jump shot facing Tyus Thomas who was flying towards him... but it missed!
The ball bounced to the middle, and Luol Deng moved into position before Okafor to grab the defensive rebound.

Hinrich received the ball and advanced to the frontcourt, but with Tyrus Thomas 'holding him back', he did not pass the ball to Yao Ming for a low-post single, but continued to play pick-and-roll offense with Tyrus Thomas.

This time he made the decision much faster than in the previous round. After the screen, he immediately passed the ball to Yao Ming who was in the mid-range on the right.

After blocking the opponent, Tyus Thomas cut into the middle as instructed by Hinrich. Pietrus retreated to the middle to block the defense. Yao Ming passed the ball. Luol Deng cut in from the left side, received the ball, jumped, and dunked... He hastily pulled the lever in the air and missed the jump shot!
Zhang Yang rushed into the basket from outside the free throw line and blocked the shot effectively. After landing, he jumped again and secured the rebound before Tyus Thomas!
If you miss the shot, then defend it to the death, and then... continue shooting!
In the next few rounds, both teams missed shots.

The Bobcats showed the Bulls their progress on the defensive end. Two months ago, the Bobcats' defensive system was just a framework and a prototype. After passing the mid-season, their defensive system has become more perfect, and their cooperation and tacit understanding have also been forged in the difficult schedule of 1 games in January.

During the All-Star Weekend, after many discussions, the three bald men rejected the Nuggets' trade request to trade Linas Kleiza, a high-quality swingman, for Afflalo, a backup guard, because they did not want to destroy the defensive system that they had worked so hard to develop. That deal would definitely improve the diversity of the front line defense, and Kleiza also has strong offensive capabilities that their front line does not have, which would help the offense to a certain extent, but it would inevitably affect their lineup rotation, and perhaps the gain would outweigh the loss.

Of course, the Bobcats' defense is still a certain distance behind the Bulls, even the Bulls with Ben Wallace's collapse. But it doesn't mean that they have to defend better than the Bulls or be on par with them in order to compete with them in defense. Their offense is much better than the Bulls'. They just need to suppress the Bulls' offense to be no better than theirs.

After playing for nearly 4 minutes, both teams only had 1 field goal and 4 free throws respectively. Both teams' rebounding capabilities were among the best in the league. They didn't give a single offensive rebound to the other side, and the score was frighteningly low, starting at 4-!

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However, both the Bulls players and the fans at the scene were very patient. They had the little giant, and this kind of game was very beneficial to them, and it would become more and more beneficial as time went on!

Just when the Bulls players were responding calmly and preparing to slowly wear down the Bobcats, Zhang Yang played against Luol Deng alone. With Luol Deng pressing down on him, he turned around and made a fadeaway jump shot!

(End of this chapter)