Felton, during an exclusive interview, was asked about the crucial play handling topic in the ga against the Nuggets Team the day before yesterday.
He replied: "My thought at that ti was quite simple - I aid to avoid what the opponent hoped to see.
Allen knew he couldn’t steal from again, his continuous rush was definitely intended to scare , hoping I’d panic and make a mistake by hastily passing the ball. I didn’t do anything special, just protected the ball well and passed it to Jack at the right ti. Everything after that was up to him, he never disappoints us..."
Upon hearing this, Zhang San had one thought: Little Fat Boss is getting more charismatic, is he preparing to play a few more years in the CBA after retiring from the NBA?
...
At 8 PM, the away ga between the Bobcats Team and the Jazz Team began.
Just like last ti, the two teams started the match with a fierce defensive battle.
Deron faced trouble when single-handedly attacking Felton. With his 191 cm height and 95 kg weight, he had a dominating weight and strength advantage against most opponents at the Point Guard position, but against Felton, who was 185 cm and 96 kg, his strong attacks didn’t work well.
Deron was skilled compared to Felton, aning both their performances were stronger against other players, but their direct confrontations never matched their usual levels, mutually restraining each other.
The Jazz Team’s killer move, pick-and-roll offense, also struggled against the Bobcats Team as Millsap and Okafor, along with Hill and Ibaka on the bench, displayed above-average pick-and-roll defense abilities. Okafor, who shifted positions with Millsap to guard Boozer tonight, was particularly outstanding, combined with Zhang Yang and Pietrus’s switching and supplentary defenses... the Jazz team’s offense encountered hindrance right from the start tonight.
The Bobcats Team faced similar challenges, with the Jazz Team connecting inside and out using Kirilenko, pairing Deron and Ronnie Brewer in the guard line, and having Okur for rim protection, effectively countering the Bobcats Team’s offensive system.
The difference was that last ti neither team’s coaches wanted a slugfest on defense, whereas tonight, only Sloan wore a worried expression.
Because the Bobcats Team was intentionally battling defensively tonight!
Carlisle originally planned to devise strategies to break the Jazz Team’s defense, but from their last encounter until yesterday, he contemplated multiple tis during his spare ti how to address the Jazz Team’s defense, yet found no effective solution.
Sloan’s defensive setup around Kirilenko was arguably the most restraining against their Bobcats Team across the league.
Until yesterday, at the hotel in Salt Lake City, Carlisle called the assistant coaches and core players to his room for a small eting, and still had no way to counter the Jazz Team’s defense; the assistants and core players naturally were at a loss too.
As he contemplated burning the midnight oil to call so elderly help, Zhang Yang suddenly suggested - "If there’s no solution, just give up, after all, tomorrow will be the last ga against the Jazz Team this season."
Zhang Yang’s remark enlightened Carlisle.
He realized he seed to be overthinking, and recalled that when he initially took over the Bobcats Team two sumrs ago and began preparing the new system, he never included ’countering the Jazz Team’s defense’ into the offensive system requirents.
Just like the Bad Boys said, only facing the Jazz Team twice in a season, there’s absolutely no need to complicate the system for this opponent; players like Kirilenko aren’t found anywhere else in the league, and no other team can replicate the Jazz Team’s defense.
If the ghost scenario really occurred where the Jazz Team broke through the West in the playoffs and their Bobcats Team broke through the East, eting in the finals... Carlisle would welco the challenge, for he had confidence in winning a series despite being restrained.
Deron Boozer were a significant step below Stockton Malone, and in a seven-ga series, sending Zhang San onto the court to recklessly charge could be enough to crush the Jazz Team.
This fixation was purely because Sloan was one of his ntors during his assistant coach days, and he wanted to prove himself in front of this great coach, unconsciously trying to perfect every aspect, forgetting the initial rationale for excluding the Jazz Team when preparing the system.
After coming to this realization, Carlisle no longer obsessed over how to break the Jazz Team’s defense; this morning’s preparation was almost entirely defense-related.
Ending the first quarter, the score was 19 to 16, with the Jazz Team leading the Bobcats Team by 3 points.
In the second quarter, the Bobcats Team began to rebound, achieving a 19 to 17 score, narrowing the gap to 1 point by halfti with a score of 35 to 36!
After halfti, the third quarter started, Zhang Yang’s ti arrived, as he ca on and hit three consecutive mid-range shots, single-handedly scoring 6 to 2, helping the Bobcats Team to surpass with a score of 41 to 38!
In the following 10 minutes, under Zhang Yang’s leadership, the Bobcats Team held the Jazz Team down firmly, delivering a score of 20 to 17. By the end of the third quarter, the Bobcats Team had extended their lead to 6 points, leading the Jazz Team 61 to 55!
In the final quarter, the Bobcats Team had no opportunity to further widen the score. They managed to score 26 ’high points’ in the third quarter due to Zhang Yang’s impressive 8 out of 5 mid-range shots, scoring 13 points single-handedly. But by the fourth quarter, he was too drained to continue carrying the team.
Despite this, the Jazz Team could not significantly reduce the deficit, failing to lessen even a single point difference, since the Bobcats Team was the better-prepared defensive side. They managed to keep the score held, prevented from widening only by their defensive system’s substantial restraint on the Bobcats Team.
During the final quarter at 11 minutes 49 seconds, substitute Korver ran his route, using a screen, receiving a pass from Kirilenko, turning around to attempt a three-pointer... but under Zhang Yang’s switching and defensive interference, it bounced off the rim!
Boozer tried to rush the board to no avail, Hill used Okafor’s box-out to secure the defensive rebound, and the Jazz Team lost their last hope.
At 10:24:37, the final whistle sounded on ti.
First quarter: 5 points, Second quarter: 8 points, Third quarter: 13 points, Final quarter: 8 points, Zhang Yang made 13 out of 28 shots, including 1 out of 6 three-pointers, along with 7 out of 7 free throws, scoring 34 points!
Thanks to Zhang Yang’s 9 out of 16 mid-range shots, the Bobcats Team narrowly defeated the Jazz Team 81 to 76!
Sloan would feel disheartened again tonight; although without detailed stats in front of him, he counted Zhang Yang’s mid-range attempts topped at least 15, with close to 10 successful shots!
With the defense intensity tonight and the score, it could virtually be said that Zhang Yang single-handedly shot their Jazz Team out!
saw the ergence of Jordan, 96 saw Kobe, and 05 now Zhang Yang... Is the heavens intentionally antagonizing him, producing a player every 10 years who counterplays him?
At this mont Deron was also ntally frustrated, but his focus was on Felton, not Zhang Yang.
Little Fat made only 5 out of 13 shots tonight, including 1 out of 4 three-pointers, along with 1 out of 2 free throws, scoring just 12 points, 4 assists, and 1 steal.
Whereas he, Big Fat, made 10 out of 25 shots! Scoring 25 points and 7 assists! Although the shooting percentage wasn’t ideal, it was far superior to the Jazz Team’s total of 31 out of 82 and better than Felton!
Yet it was still his defeat!
Typically, national broadcast gas feature interviews post-ga with the winning side.
But in Bobcats Team vs. Jazz Team national broadcasts, when the Jazz Team loses, reporters invariably approach Deron first...
Just as the reporters expected, Deron sourly remarked: "With a teammate like Pumpkin Jack, anyone playing Point Guard for the Bobcats Team can easily win a match."
When the reporter relayed Deron’s response to Felton, Felton’s emotions went from bewildernt to speechlessness, then decisively replied: "Deron is right, our Bad Kid is indisputably the best. I wish Deron one day finds teammates he is satisfied with too."
Onlooker Zhang San: Holy! Boss has also made progress in trash talk! But this tone and deanor seem familiar? I can’t recall who else speaks so sarcastically?
After defeating the Jazz Team, the next day, February 1st, the arrival of a new month, at noon, Zhang Yang flew with the team to the last stop of the four away gas – Angel City, Los Angeles.
Upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport, heading towards the hotel, the information officer shared good news with the team – Zhang Yang and Okafor both received last month’s Eastern Conference Player of the Month award!
But over in the Western Conference, the Player of the Month award surprised Zhang Yang – Duncan and Ginobili!
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