However, despite being hamred for half a quarter, the Spurs did not collapse. By the final quarter, Ginobili, alongside Conley, Richard Jefferson, Matt Bonner, and Duncan, led a strong counterattack!
Guy was the Spurs’ scoring king, with an explosively high efficiency, mainly using long-range shots and fast-break attacks, yet still maintaining over a 50% shooting rate.
But the true backbone of the Spurs remains the Magic Knife and the Stone Buddha.
Under Ginobili’s lead, in the final quarter of regular ti, the Spurs scored 34 to 26 in a single quarter, bringing the score to 115 to 116, narrowing the gap to 1 point!
At the crucial mont, Zhang Yang stepped up, posted up high against Guy, turned around for a fadeaway jumper, and scored, also drawing a foul!
Guy relied on his jumping advantage, attempting to block rather than interfere with the shooting angle. After Zhang Yang released the ball, Guy’s slap landed squarely on Zhang Yang’s wrist. Even in critical monts, the referee must blow the whistle.
Zhang Yang made the additional free throw, widening the gap to 4 points, leaving the Spurs with only 8 seconds. The Spurs called a tiout to play fast, hoping to score and then make a tactical foul, but Ginobili’s pull-up three-pointer against Zhang Yang missed. Okafor secured the defensive rebound, and the Spurs’ coback in the final quarter was thwarted, unable to execute the prepared tactical foul, concluding the ga.
Shooting 12 of 25, including 4 of 10 from three-point range, plus 7 of 7 from the free-throw line, Zhang Yang scored 35 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals, leading the Bobcats to narrowly defeat the Spurs 119 to 115, improving their record to 28 wins and 8 losses.
Handing the Spurs their sixth loss of the season, the Spurs dropped to second in the league because their head-to-head record in the Southwest Division was inferior to the Cavaliers’ in the Central Division.
In this ga, Zhang Yang felt a rush of exhilaration; almost being overturned but finally pinning the opponent down was a terrific feeling.
However, looking at the Spurs’ stats, he was still speechless.
players appeared, 11 scored, and 7 scored in double digits, with the highest being the Magic Knife’s 18 points. Both Duncan and Guy scored 15, and there were four others who scored 12 or 13 points...
Thinking about tonight’s defense, Zhang Yang also had a headache, completely unable to identify the defensive focus! The Spurs indeed centered their offense around Guy and Ginobili’s scoring, but anyone could beco the main offensive point.
On the Spurs’ side, the players mainly defending Zhang Yang, Magic Knife, Guy, and Richard Jefferson were also troubled.
Watching Zhang Yang’s ga footage from earlier this season, they could already feel that Zhang Yang was more daring than when they faced him last season. However, in direct confrontation, Zhang Yang was even bolder than they imagined!
What’s the deal with shooting 10 threes on a whim? Is this a ga that necessitates risky shot-taking? Shouldn’t it be a ga pursuing offensive stability?
Knowing the opponent is going to shoot, defending against it, yet the opponent still manages a 4 out of 10 performance from three-point range, as defenders, they genuinely felt a bit hopeless.
After this ga, the level of attention the core players of both teams have for each other increased even further.
...
By the 14th, in a tough fight at ho against the Kings, the Bobcats narrowly won 104 to 102, with Kevin Martin’s last three-pointer missing, allowing the Bobcats to narrowly pass through the checkout.
Rondo, Kevin Martin, and Stephen Jackson as starters on the outside, supplented by Ben Gordon, Korver, Udrih, and Caspi as substitutes on the outside, this season, the Kings’ backcourt depth is comparable to a championship-contending team.
Unfortunately, they’re a bit lacking on the inside. Hawes hasn’t lived up to expectations of becoming the next Brad Miller, only averaging 8.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists; Jason Thompson from the 08 draft also only averages 8 points and 8 rebounds.
The substitute inside players are a group of not-so-prominent players. This year’s second-round pick, Jon Brockman, averages 2 points and 4 rebounds; Adonal Foyle averages 1.7 points and 3 rebounds, and there are no other players.
But Rondo was strong! Averaging 10.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 10.8 assists, and 2.2 steals!
With Rondo leading this group of outside teammates, when they start hitting shots, they are not afraid of anyone, but they suffer against anyone inside. In the first month, they climbed to seventh in the West, but later fell back due to the lack of interior depth. In the West, there are no strong teams without powerful inside players. After narrowly losing to the Bobcats, the Kings’ win rate dropped to fifty percent, at 18 wins and 18 losses.
Judging by the players’ performances, Zhang Yang believes the Kings have the condition for a rise.
With veteran outside players, middle-generation, and young main core all present, coupled with shooters who have mastered positioning after training for a few years with the Jazz, like Korver, and good outside structure. As long as they stabilize their current performance, in the sumrs of 2010 and 2011, it’s very likely they could attract a top-tier inside player to join, like Howard, who’s agitating for a team change. He imitated the 3 1 extension from the 03 generation in 08, allowing him to opt out early in 2011.
But it seems like the Kings’ managent has a bit of an issue. Last sumr, they finally had a smart mont, put together such a backcourt group, and achieved so results too, but now they want to make so bold moves!
Last season, the Kings didn’t tank because they lacked a draft pick. When they traded to get Rondo in the 07-08 season, they gave the Bobcats their 08 lottery-protected pick. They didn’t make the playoffs and ended up with the 12th pick, selecting Jason Thompson.
The pick protection extended to top-five in 09, making it unlikely for the Kings to finish in the bottom five last season, so they played as usual. In the end, the Bobcats selected Collison.
Now that they have draft rights, after a fiery start, their record’s dropped, and the Kings’ managent is getting active again. There are rumors that the Kings want to dismantle their current backcourt setup, exchange it for draft picks, and then tank to pick so talented players in 2010.
Zhang Yang feels that the Kings’ managent seems to lack strategic stability, showing not a trace of patience.
Coach Long’s path as a boss is truly fraught with hardships, yet unavoidable. The four-year, 60 million renewal contract is already signed, and even if they didn’t sign it, the Kings had mother team matching rights.
In the first half of January, the Bobcats only had six gas. Though there were strong opponents like the Spurs, the schedule was generally light. However, challenging tis arrived in the latter half: From the 16th to the 31st, 9 gas in 16 days!
On the 16th, the Bobcats were defeated 99 to 104 by the Hawks on the road, ending their 8-ga winning streak, unable to surpass their opening streak, and bringing their record to 29 wins and 9 losses.
They then returned ho to play the Grizzlies, Suns, and Trail Blazers, winning all three gas.
Playing against the Suns, the Bobcats claid the most exhilarating victory, slaughtering them 125 to 99!
Nash looked at his side’s stats of 90 shots, 33 made, including 8 of 24 from three-point range, and compared it to the opposite side’s 81 shots, 46 made, including 10 of 20 from three, leaving him unsure how to play this ga.
The main factor was his own poor showing from three, going 0 for 4, leading the charge like on the railroad, exuding the spirit of the class of 96.
However, the Bobcats encountered trouble in their match against the Trail Blazers—O’Neal got injured and would be out for two weeks.
While it’s foreseeable for O’Neal to miss gas due to injury during the regular season, he happened to sprain his ankle and fall straining it while playing the Trail Blazers... Zhang Yang feels the Trail Blazers truly are cursed!
After completing the three-ga hostand, the Bobcats embarked on a grand five-ga road trip, first slaughtering the Warriors 121 to 90, followed by a marathon race against the Nuggets, where they narrowly lost 108 to 112, accumulating their 10th loss of the season. Later, they narrowly defeated the Kings 103 to 96, with Zhang Yang hitting a buzzer-beater three-pointer to narrowly defeat the Timberwolves 94 to 92, but in the final ga against the Suns on the 31st, they were avenged 114 to 109...
After finishing the first competition month of 2010, the Bobcats’ record stood at 35 wins and 11 losses.
...
The morning after finishing the ga against the Suns, Zhang Yang went early to Nash’s ho to eat and drink and tease his daughter. By noon, he received good news—he won an award!
In the previous two months, he eagerly watched his phone on the first, waiting for calls from the team or his agency, but to no avail. This ti he was so engrossed in teasing the daughter that he forgot about it and ended up winning the award.
Despite only achieving a 3-2 record during the final five-ga road trip, the Bobcats still recorded an overall 12-3 in January, surpassing the 12-4 record of the Cavaliers, and tying with the Spurs who also recorded 12-3!
During the last five gas, Zhang Yang averaged 34 points, increasing his average from the first 10 gas of January of 29.2 points to 30.8 points, plus 7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 3 steals, beating out Jas’ 27 points, 7 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks to win the Eastern Conference Player of the Month Award!
Jas’ streak of winning player of the month twice was interrupted.
On the other side, the award went to Paul, who averaged 22.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2.6 steals in 15 gas, leading his team to 10 wins and 5 losses.
Looking at the data on his phone’s browser, Zhang Yang could only say that Brother Cannon was truly amazing before his major injury, showing significant progress every year since the 07-08 season... but could his leg handle it?
The good news didn’t stop there. At 12 o’clock, the NBA All-Star starting vote live stream revealed Zhang Yang topping the list with 3.09 million votes, defeating Jas’ 2.95 million votes and Kobe’s 2.88 million votes, once again being elected the All-Star Vote King!
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