Nash and his teammates celebrated on the court amidst the cheers of the fans, marking a victory the comntators called ’great.’ They ended the Bobcats’ 19-ga winning streak, handing the Bobcats their 10th loss of the season!
Though he knew it was just a false jubilation, facing five consecutive away gas, the role players were worn out, and even the top three stars were unable to carry the team. Tonight, Zhang Yang was 32 shots for 11 closer to the God of Basketball... Their victory was a fluke, and even if they luckily won one ga, the record was only 34 wins and 28 losses, tying them with the ninth-place Rockets in the West, with only a 45-win percentage. This was already their limit, in the wildest period of the Western Conference, they didn’t even have a chance to make the playoffs, the eighth place Hornets currently had 38 wins and 24 losses.
But because of this, his celebration with his teammates was even more intense at this mont. This ga was truly the ’greatest’ achievent of their season, preventing the Bobcats’ 20-ga winning streak and exemplifying the phrase—making the best of a bad situation.
The top three felt stood still for a while, after losing the ga, feeling frustrated but with emotions beyond just that.
Felton looked up at Okafor’s expression, shifted his gaze down a bit, and turned to see Zhang Yang’s expression, then said, "Finally, it’s over."
His tone revealed ’a sense of relief’ without reservation.
Okafor replied, "Yes, it’s finally over, we can start preparing for the playoffs."
Zhang Yang: "Boss, it’s up to you."
Even if he’d heard it a thousand tis, the word ’boss’ coming from the younger brother always motivated the little chubby boss, who imdiately ran to comfort the teammates who were dejected with their streak ending...
After finishing post-ga chores, in the early hours, Bobcats players appeared at a mber-only nightclub in the suburbs of Phoenix City, taking over the place to celebrate their 19-ga streak again.
The night before in Minneapolis, they also celebrated briefly, but didn’t even go to a nightclub, that ghost town was really not fun, no wonder the Lakers ran away as soon as they received municipal assistance to build a new stadium in Los Angeles.
Also, at that ti they didn’t know how long the winning streak would last, it wasn’t the right ti. The night they beat the Kings in back-to-back gas for their 18th win, they just opened Boss Qiao’s prized wine in the locker room.
Now the winning streak was over, just like Okafor said, the Chapter of the streak was done, they could truly raise a glass to it.
Joining the celebration were Nash, Stoudemire, and O’Neal, with Nash recomnding the location. His connection in the area allowed them to take over the nightclub.
O’Neal, a social butterfly, was having a blast with Jordan, mingling with the Bobcats players.
Stoudemire was at the card table, throwing money around, sothing he loved doing for over a year.
Nash, unlike his usual care-free deanor in these closed spaces, sipped his drink in the corner, discussing upcoming gas with Zhang Yang...the Bobcats’ upcoming gas.
Nash: "Jack, the most important thing for you right now is to cut off this long winning streak from the rest of the season, and restructure your gaplay as if you’re starting from the regular season."
Zhang Yang pondered for a mont and said, "I also think there’s sothing wrong with our gaplay, like regarding adjustnts, the coaching team made a lot of plans during the All-Star break, and we’ve been trying hard to adjust in training, but when it cos to the actual gas, none of the training seems to work, and our tactics are getting worse."
Nash: "Because adjustnts bring fluctuations in strength, but you’ve been winning consistently, during gas, whenever adjustnts negatively impacted performance, you’d choose to abandon them and stick to habitual play..."
Zhang Yang: "Oh, yes! Path dependency!"
Nash: "Tsk tsk, being a master’s student, you’ve summarized well, I’ve been observing your gas, in the last nine gas, the ’dependency’ has beco more severe. In the last two or three gas, everyone has been relying on you, Raymond, Eka, whenever there’s an issue, they turn to you. Back in January, every player was active, trying to solve issues. That beautiful scene has disappeared recently."
You guys hit the All-Star break right after 10 wins in a row, it should have been a good ti to adjust, streak shouldn’t have been an obstacle, but the schedule wasn’t friendly. You first t Yao, then faced Howard back-to-back. You prioritized winning in these three gas over adjustnt, setting the tone for later gas. Adjustnts couldn’t be made, then ca five consecutive away gas, every day spent on airplanes or courts, ’dependency’ deepened."
Zhang Yang nodded and replied, "I’ve discussed this situation many tis with Eka, Raymond, and Grant, every discussion was in-depth, but couldn’t pinpoint the cause. It’s still Steve, your experience is valuable."
Nash: "This issue, in my first two years at the Phoenix Suns, we faced it too. We kept improving, but once our record reached the top of the league, our progress halted, it happened the first year, and again the second year. It wasn’t until ’07 that I realized the issue; that year we gave up fighting the Mavericks for the league’s top spot. Last season we did better, but unfortunately..."
Seeing Nash talking about things he’d rather forget, Zhang Yang said, "Steve, you endured so much to learn these lessons, and now you’re sharing them with for free?"
Nash’s sense of unfairness vanished, he smiled wryly at Zhang Yang, waved his hand, and said, "You haven’t taken enough advantage of ? This doesn’t make any difference."
Zhang Yang: "Then let exploit you more, help analyze how to solve the current situation."
Nash’s deadpan look appeared, but continued, "I’ll try to help analyze, but specific actions have to co from you."
Now, you, Raymond, and Eka need to get your teammates involved in ’winning’ again, make them do more, even if it ans facing disadvantages in gas, you should persist till the last monts when you stand out, not how everyone hands the ball to you when faced with any problem."
This is harder than it was for us; we only had eight people rotating, but you sotis have 12 key players. Your potential may be higher than ours..."
Zhang Yang nodded in agreent and said, "I got it, I’ll discuss it with them after I go back...and then?"
Nash: "That’s all for now, future situations will tell what else needs to be analyzed."
Zhang Yang: "Thank you so much for your help."
Nash: "You’re really not polite!"
Zhang Yang: "Refusing help is unwise."
Nash: "Aren’t you curious why I’m helping you now?"
Zhang Yang: "Maybe to prevent Kobe from continuing to win championships?"
Nash laughed heartily and said, "I like your answer!"
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