Chapter 1007: Chapter 419: Emperor-Slaying Tactics, Version 2 (Part 2)
Felton received the inbound pass and advanced to the front court, passing it to Zhang Yang. Tonight he had more demanding tasks to handle, so he didn’t start the ga as aggressively as in previous matches, instead pulling over to the left sideline to play a supporting role.
Zhang Yang was quickly closed in as soon as he dribbled to the three-point line. He sidestepped to create a bit of space, then directly charged forward, boxing out Delonte West, pushing hard for a breakthrough, easily bypassing the opponent, but didn’t get a chance for a stop-and-shoot!
Jas blocked him outside the free-throw line, covering Zhang Yang’s stop-and-shoot space. Marvin Williams moved to the right mid-range area, while Delonte West was chasing and doubling, keeping an eye on the passing lanes of Pietrus, who was looping from the wing to the top arc. Big Z and Mo Williams also moved in sync to guard against weak-side cuts.
The Cavaliers’ defensive formation wasn’t much different from last season, but the old Snow was replaced by the youthful and overly enthusiastic Delonte West, and the power forward was no longer Gooden, who never wanted to stay with the Cavaliers, replaced by the highly motivated 05 draft’s second pick, boosting the overall defense manically to league’s first. So far this season, the Cavaliers have conceded only 91 points per ga, leading by a large margin, with the second-best defense, the Magic, averaging 95.4 points conceded.
However, Zhang Yang did not stop to pass as the Cavaliers expected. Instead, he confronted Jas, breaking through to the right elbow area under Jas’ tight defense. He stopped, took a step left into the three-second area, sprinted forward again, grabbed the ball, switched to his left hand, and under Jas’ interference, he shot with a left-hand layup… scored!
By the ti Big Z moved back from outside the left sideline of the three-second zone, Zhang Yang had already thrown the ball, and Delonte West, following Zhang Yang to guard against his step-back shot, didn’t expect Zhang Yang to head straight to the basket.
The two could only watch as Zhang Yang scored one-on-one over Jas.
TNT sports broadcasted the ga, and Kenny Smith exclaid at Zhang Yang’s beautiful play, with agile and graceful movents.
Barkley, as usual, played the contrarian: “These are just the simplest fundantals, he has just mastered the basic movents solidly and combined them together.”
Kenny Smith agreed and said: “Charles, you’re not wrong, but the ability to react in an instant and connect these fundantal moves so smoothly to complete an offense shows how solid Jack’s fundantals are. That reaction ability also reflects his basketball IQ.”
The two comntators were praising Zhang Yang’s face-up solo skills, and Jas, who had just been scored on, was also surprised.
In just over two months, Zhang Yang’s offense had shown very noticeable improvents!
It wasn’t just his skills and fundantals; his timing sense had also improved. Jas felt this guy was reacting quicker now!
And it was not Jas’ illusion. Zhang Yang had gained Olympic experience, trained for several months, and had preseason and early regular-season practice gas, better utilizing the “art of shooting” training insights.
Unlike before, when he’d go for forceful plays at odds, now Zhang Yang subconsciously looked for better shooting opportunities during one-on-one plays.
Of course, this was only outside of critical monts. In crucial situations, he still preferred to trust his instinct at the ti.
Transitioning offense and defense, Jas was eager to demand the ball from Mo, even before crossing half-court.
Having been scored on by Zhang Yang, he wanted to redeem himself now!
He said it before, he was unprecedentedly strong this year, with four starting teammates, each capable of shooting!
Marvin Williams was traded to the Cavaliers in July, and imdiately the Cavaliers’ coaching staff trained him on three-point shooting all sumr. Last season he attempted only seven threes in 80 gas; this season, he is averaging 2.7 three-point attempts, making 1, with a 37% three-point shooting rate, truly showcasing his shooting talent.
Of course, this didn’t co from nothing; Marvin Williams always had a good long two-point shot. When he entered the NBA with the forward crowd at the Hawks, his shooting opportunities involved stretching out for long shots, and in his rookie year, he shot 39% on long twos. Last season with the Celtics, he averaged 2.5 long twos per ga in 60 gas, with a 45% shooting percentage. The Cavaliers tapping into his three-point ability saw his potential too.
Mo Williams and Delonte Williams both have three-point shooting percentages above 40% at the start of this season. Big Z can also shoot from range. Jas’ offensive environnt is unprecedentedly favorable.
But when Jas advanced beyond half-court and looked across, he saw a surprising situation.
Where’s the little chubby?
It wasn’t Felton guarding between Jas and the basket but Pietrus!
Targeted by the Bobcats for three years, having lost 20 consecutive gas, and had been targeted in last season’s playoffs with the Magic using the ‘Bobcats’ Queen-beheading tactic plus edition’. Jas certainly had to figure out a way to break through, and he did co up with a simple solution: pick-and-roll with Marvin Williams, with a big man who could hit threes made this possible.
This would have relieved Felton’s front defense, but then, the opponent didn’t even use Felton to guard him!
Right on the first attack of the ga, Jas was thrown off by the opponent.
Marvin Williams was waiting for Jas’ call to initiate the pick-and-roll offense, but when Jas reached the top arc, he hadn’t called for a pick, unsure whether to co up or spread out… finally, seeing Jas making a solo breakthrough move, Marvin Williams quickly spread to the right long two-distance, prepared to cut in for the pass or fall back for a three.
Without Felton defending, Jas definitely didn’t opt for a pick-and-roll. Pietrus’ defense focused on physical contact combat, but Jas wasn’t afraid of this kind of small forward with good height and wingspan defense, directly starting off strong!
There was no suspense; Jas easily break through Pietrus into the interior, seeing Felton retracting from the baseline ready to pass, but quickly scanned around, surrounded by people!
Zhang Yang on the left sideline of the three-second zone, Pietrus a step inside the free-throw line, Millsap on the right mid-range, with Okafor and Felton converging under the basket, forming a circle enclosing him, leaving him no first-ti outlet!
Felton closed in earlier, blocking in front of Jas, reaching out to snatch the ball. Jas quickly turned his back to Felton to protect the ball, just as he was about to use the low-post vision to distribute the ball, Zhang Yang, Pietrus, and Millsap had already extended out, returning in front of their defensive assignnts.
Having studied ga tapes of the Bobcats’ season so far, Jas knew this starting lineup of the Bobcats had fast contraction and expansion speeds, but not this fast!
However, this wasn’t the focus, the focus was why was he again one-on-one with little Fei in the low post!
The stance was set, no choice but to play. Jas leaned on Felton, trying to bump him off, but Felton’s 185 cm and 96 kg base was solid as a rock; even with Jas’ forceful post-up, Felton did not budge at all.
Jas could only turn around and force a shot… hitting the right outer rim of the basket, with Felton turning to secure the defensive rebound!
Felton imdiately passed the ball to Zhang Yang, who was starting from the left side of the three-second area, pushing for a counterattack… to no avail.
Two small guards and current unmatched physical fitness Jas, with the only top-tier physical among North Carolina’s four tycoon power forward, Marvin Williams, the Cavaliers’ 4-man defensive return formation, had improved significantly in fast-break defense capabilities compared to previous years.
The genuine excellence of the Cavaliers’ first-rank defense was unmistakable.
So Zhang Yang, upon finding no counterattack opportunity, did not rush, slowed down, patiently advancing, playing positional warfare.
Moreover, he was very excited right now—from Marvin Williams’ earlier positioning, Zhang San anticipated Jas’s strategy, and their defensive adjustnts could still restrict Jas!
Actually, their defense just now had a fatal flaw—unguarded mid-range.
This trick couldn’t even guard Parker. Parker may not be fond of shooting, but his mid-range accuracy barely hit 40%, although he rarely shot, and Parker’s speed allowed him to still have a shooting chance even when closing in near-spot. In near-spot, Parker excelled, with 54.5% shooting accuracy at near-spot since the start of the season, leading the league.
They couldn’t guard Wade either. Although Wade wasn’t renowned for backpage plays, he could manage competently, not being blocked by a shorter Felton.
But the current stage of Jas… lacks both mid-range and back-down post plays!
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