After Zhang Yang finished the interview, he heard the reporter calling him ’Pumpkin Jack’ on cara...
He didn’t expect that choosing the best-made headgear would earn him another nickna that linked with his previous one. He ran to the second row across from the technical desk and found his dad, asking him to check if the Pumpkin Jack trademark was registered, if not, get it registered quickly.
If it gets registered, and this nickna becos popular, he could proactively propose to create a series when talking about endorsents, making so extra cash.
However, his dad provided another idea—buy land, plant spring corn, and harvest it to grow pumpkins in June and July.
Zhang San: Wherever you go, can’t forget about farming, you rogue bunny!
He thought this idea was feasible, as there’s no worry about selling corn in this area, with a high demand for corn syrup.
After sorting out pre-ga matters, Zhang Yang went to say hi to Wade.
Since their collaboration at the All-Star weekend, the two had gotten a lot closer, but Zhang Yang thought it was unlikely to bring Big Cheek over to their side. Unless the strategist no longer wanted Wade, with Wade’s personality, he wouldn’t switch teams, and his relationship with Jas was too good. If he were to team up, it wouldn’t be with Zhang San.
Regarding this, Zhang Yang didn’t have much regret; he was eagerly anticipating facing the Three Giants of 361.
Ten minutes later, the pre-ga preparation ti ended, and the starting lineups of both teams took to the court.
Miami Heat: Chalrs, Wade, Jas Jones, Marion, Haslem.
Bobcats: Felton, Zhang Yang, Pietrus, Millsap, Okafor.
During the entrance ceremony, both teams were surprised by the opponent’s starting lineup.
Zhang Yang could understand the opponent’s starters.
Chalrs, though exploded by Harden in the NCAA finals, with average athletic ability, lacks enough solo play capability in the NBA, still an older rookie at 22. The age isn’t the issue; it’s mainly because he played four years in college and leaned towards a technical style, making his playstyle rigid, and was only selected in the second round.
However, whether in sumr league or preseason, he demonstrated excellent situational awareness and outstanding long-range shooting capability. It’s said that during last season, he took the initiative to broaden his shooting range, and by sumr league, he had adapted to NBA-range three-pointers. In preseason, he displayed very stable spot-up shooting capability and even hit a crucial shot against the Celtics.
On the defensive end, he was very impressive, with a very solid foundation, capable of stealing with both hands, and rarely out of position.
It was only natural for Chalrs to replace Luther Hayes as the starting point guard in preseason for the Miami Heat.
Beasley was the starter throughout the preseason, only to be suddenly benched during the opener, and Zhang Yang guessed it wasn’t due to his preseason performance.
As a top pick, over 7 preseason gas, he averaged 31 minutes, scoring 14 points and grabbing 6 rebounds per ga. This performance wasn’t outstanding but not bad either, better than Bogut or Bargnani in their rookie preseason, quite average overall.
It should be about his attitude towards the ga and the constant off-court troubles, prompting the strategist to temper his temperant. Last season, after the regular season ended, the strategist stepped down as head coach out of accountability, but he’s still present on the bench during preseason and tonight, even during pre-ga planning, the head coach rely hands him the strategy board as he personally guides the head coach on pre-ga arrangents.
The dia also joked that the strategist once again handed the tough task of rebuilding to the video analyst, planning to step in after the rebuild to reap the rewards.
Jas Jones, a second-round pick from the class of ’03, last season posted a 44.4% three-point shooting percentage alongside Roy, averaging 1.6 three-pointers per ga. His forte also includes solid defense, capable of defending both the three and four positions, with stable shooting. He secured a 2-year, $9 million deal with the Miami Heat in the offseason.
With White Chocolate retired and the strategist intending to curb Beasley’s troubleso tendencies, pairing Wade with these two as outside collaborators was a good choice.
On the Miami Heat’s side, as the ga was about to start, neither the coaching staff nor the core players could understand why the Bobcats had chosen this starting lineup...
At 8 PM, the referee blew the whistle, Okafor bested Haslem in the jump ball, and the ga began.
Felton advanced to the frontcourt and, after his teammates got into position, imdiately began breaking through, bulldozing Chalrs into the paint.
The weight difference of 10 kilograms, with Chalrs being 3 centiters taller, he truly couldn’t hold his ground. While his defensive fundantals were solid, Felton’s brute-force approach rendered his close-up defense useless.
Felton drove to the right elbow area and passed to the left side of the key.
Zhang Yang, using Millsap’s off-ball screen, shook off Wade, cut into the paint, and received the pass.
Haslem, defending very actively, went to block Felton’s close-range floater, then imdiately turned to rush towards Zhang Yang to defend the basket.
Zhang Yang threw the ball to the right, where Okafor had positioned himself a step inside the free-throw line, caught it, and slamd it into the basket, brushing aside the moving Haslem!
An incredibly beautiful interior pass to interior pass play!
The strategist exclaid in surprise upon seeing this play: "Celtics’ play?"
Next to him, Miami Heat’s new head coach Erik Spoelstra asked: "Do the Boston people have this play?"
Riley shook his head: "It’s not the current Celtics’ play, but the one from over 20 years ago. The Celtics often played like this—post-up McHale, with mid-range shooting and passing capability, giving Big Bird a screen. Point guard Johnson used footwork to break through opponents, forming a dual basket attack with Big Bird, compressing the opponent’s center under the basket, creating scoring opportunities for center Parish or Walton... I rember now, the opponent’s Carlisle was a backup player on that Celtics team, never thought he’d use this tactic."
Reviews
All reviews (0)