This ti, the Big Brother Group didn’t manage to hang out with Rondo because the Kings had a back-to-back away ga and only arrived in Charlotte at noon today.
After entering the venue, Zhang Yang chatted casually with Rondo and sensed that Rondo was in a good mood.
The Kings have indeed been in good form lately. In mid-January, the Kings and the Jazz Team made a trade, swapping Raja Bell for Kyle Korver. The trade didn’t draw much attention and didn’t make much of an impact on the Jazz Team, but it was crucial for the Kings... or more accurately, for this group of Kings players.
Since Rondo used to play for the Bobcats and was a championship team mber, he harbored a strong dislike for Raja Bell, who had once choked Zhang Yang. The duo had minor quarrels every three days and major rows every five days at the start of the season. So dia even reported that Rondo spat at Raja Bell during their argunts, nearly resulting in fights several tis.
This caused chaos for the Kings at the start of the season, leading to a record of only 9 wins and 27 losses in the first two and a half months.
After Raja Bell was sent away, the Kings quickly improved.
This improvent can be attributed to the veteran Stephen Jackson, who inexplicably saw eye-to-eye with Rondo.
This ties back to the way Rondo learned to handle things under Felton’s guidance at the Bobcats—lacking interpersonal skills is permissible, not knowing how to be a leader is forgivable, but the ambition and desire to lead must be showcased.
Martial Saint greatly appreciated this young teammate with talent, ambition, loyalty, and a daring heart.
Stephen Jackson had no experience being the team leader and couldn’t teach how to be one, but he knew how to lead teammates in training and gas, providing significant assistance to Rondo.
Swapping a player like Raja Bell, who only caught and shot and played defense, with Korver, who had honed his movent at the Jazz Team for several years, resulted in a better fit between them. With internal conflicts resolved, everyone focused on playing, and the team’s performance improved significantly. Over the past 30 gas, they had a 12-18 record, not great, given their weak interior play, as Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson underperford expectations, but at least they weren’t at the bottom anymore.
Over the past 30 gas, Stephen Jackson has averaged 20.6 points per ga, putting up a first-rate scorer performance.
Rondo’s personal performance also improved. Although his scoring and rebound stats fell from 14.2 points and 8.2 rebounds pre-trade to 12.9 points and 7.6 rebounds, his assists increased from 8.4 to 9.2, steals from 1.8 to 2.2, and shooting percentage greatly improved from 45.1% to 47%. He even had good showings in free throws and threes, at 70.3% and 30.6%, giving off a ’mini-Kidd’ vibe.
But in terms of ga control ability, it’s purely reliant on talent—either you have it, or you don’t. Rondo doesn’t have the sa capabilities as Kidd, Billups, or Hinrich.
Through pre-ga news browsing and chatting with Rondo upon arrival, Zhang Yang felt Rondo was indeed doing well and improving faster than when he was with the Celtics.
In the original tiline, Celtics coach Rivers initially only used Rondo like White Chocolate from the Miami Heat era—stable in dribbling, precise in passing, good in defense, and able to push fast breaks. It wasn’t until the 08-09 season when Garnett was sidelined that Rivers was forced to try Rondo as the core player. To Rivers’ surprise, Rondo’s talent exceeded expectations, leading to him becoming Rivers’ key developnt target, achieving an All-Star level in the 09-10 season.
Here, Rondo assud the role of the second-to-third lineup ball-handling core in his rookie year, and by his sophomore year, the Kings were grooming him as the ’next Kidd,’ with a growth speed estimated to be about half a year to a year faster than in the original tiline.
But Zhang Yang estimated that this good montum might not last long. Heaven knows what kind of ss the Kings’ managent might stir up. Not even considering far off, at this sa ti last season, the Kings were doing much better; then the team was dismantled in the sumr. Now that things are looking up, but only compared to the early part of this season... All one can do is wish Coach Long good luck.
By 8 PM, the ga between the Bobcats and the Kings started at the Bobcats’ ho court.
At the start of the ga, the combination of Rondo, Korver, Stephen Jackson, Jason Thompson, and Spencer Hawes gave the Bobcats considerable trouble, leading them 24-16 by 8 points.
In this lineup, besides the point guard, the other four players all have mid-to-long-range shooting capabilities, with Hawes even being able to shoot threes. They operated without a clear ’top scorer’ concept, and with Korver’s strong movent skills, he achieved a career-high of 14.4 points per ga during his ti with the Kings. Whoever got the opportunity took the shot decisively, with everyone thinking, ’We’re the underdogs; losing doesn’t matter, winning is a huge bonus,’ and none of them played timidly.
For a team with a record of only 21-45 like the Kings, the Bobcats players indeed took them less seriously, playing quite casually on offense initially. Fortunately, the idea of using physical play to wear opponents down when the starting lineup struggled on offense had beco an instinct. As the ga progressed, both Jason Thompson’s and Hawes’ shooting touches from the periter started to wane. Neither of them excelled at scoring inside, allowing the Bobcats to focus their defense on Korver and Stephen Jackson, gradually gaining the upper hand.
Towards the end of the first quarter, the Bobcats executed three consecutive fast breaks, scoring 6-0 and narrowing the score to 28-32, entering the second quarter down by only 4 points.
However, the Bobcats didn’t leverage this trend to crush the Kings outright; instead, they engaged in a seesaw battle. On the other side, the Kings, led by near-All-Star-level stars Rondo and Stephen Jackson, fought with all their might, while the Bobcats fluctuated between tightening and loosening their ga, almost as if they were boosting the opponents’ confidence, telling them, ’Keep pushing a bit harder, and you’ll win.’
Reviews
All reviews (0)