No.1 in basketball scoring
Chapter 211 - 117. All four point guards are petty!

Chapter 211: 117. All four point guards are petty!

Defeating the Cavaliers, the Bobcats gained a lot, they had an unprecedented unity, and their cohesion was greatly enhanced, with some players also beginning to change their mental approach.

Like Matt Carroll, initially, he was also a youngster chasing his basketball dreams, having been the third-best high school player in Pennsylvania’s history, the first two being Kobe Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain. His college years were glorious, and upon graduation, he was honored to have his jersey retired...

But when he went undrafted in the NBA Draft, he wandered around until he finally found his footing in the NBA last season by running and shooting off passes from Brevin Knight. Last summer, he received a 2-year, $2.29 million contract extension. His attitude towards basketball had shifted from pursuing his dream to taking more shots to put up numbers and secure another contract, assimilated by Knight’s philosophy of play.

In the game against the Cavaliers, he didn’t play much, only 14 minutes, scoring 6 points, grabbing 2 rebounds, and blocking 1 shot, but in that pre-game media environment, facing the fourth-ranked team in the East, a team much stronger than theirs, he and his teammates pulled together to overcome their opponents... His long-dormant passion seemed to reignite.

He suddenly realized that he was originally a catch-and-shoot player first and foremost. Instead of growing numb from shooting just to pad stats, why not shoot for the sake of winning with his teammates?

As for Melvin Ely, his change in mindset wasn’t as significant as Matt Carroll’s.

Matt Carroll is a rare asset for the Bobcats, capable of catching up and shooting threes in fast breaks. As long as he maintains his current level, even if he takes forced shots that miss while being tightly guarded in his quest for stats, the team can’t really hold it against him.

Ely is different; he can be replaced. He also enjoyed the pleasure of defeating the Cavaliers, but once the joy faded, his goal of striving and working hard was still to secure the next contract, to avoid becoming unemployed after his rookie contract ended. He learned from his agent that due to his previous slacking and fish-touching with Brevin Knight, his reputation in the free market was terrible, and if the Bobcats let him go, he might really be unable to secure another contract.

Basketball fans in the Carolina region, who originally followed the Bobcats solely because it’s Jordan’s team and has North Carolina players like Zhang Yang and Felton, now developed an interest in the team itself.

As a newly established team, the Bobcats seem to be quite different from those teams that were established in the past 20 years.

Zhang Yang noticed the changes in his teammates, and while browsing local fan forums online, he understood the fans’ change of heart... Charlotte’s Zhang San here thanks Cleveland’s LeBron!

The media and fans are also bustling.

Those fans who dislike the media’s excessive hype around James, who are annoyed by some overly arrogant James fans, feel this is their victory, frantically dissing James and those fans.

The media have also shifted their target, extensively highlighting James’s 18 misses and his reluctance to take critical shots...

Even ESPN has turned its guns to criticize James’s performance.

However, after every news piece criticizing James, ESPN would always add a line in the hope that the KING will work on these deficiencies in the future.

That’s right, hope!

James has many flaws now, he cannot post up, unable to move even a 185 cm guard, he cannot hit threes, missing four consecutive three-point shots in the second half, passing the ball at the last moment to Damon Jones... But he is still young! He’s only 21 years old, he has boundless hope, his talent is visible to the naked eye, and he is the most hopeful among the new generation of basketball players to become number one in the league.

Guided by ESPN, a less ’perfect’ James, with his flaws exposed, seemed more real and sparked more curiosity among fans, creating new expectations for James.

Actually, the strategy is similar to how people were ’persuaded to accept the new style of layup’, focusing on age, potential, and future hope.

The hype for this game came quickly and soared high, but it also faded fast.

The previous fervor was stirred up because there were skeptics, there were rebuttals, then arguments ensued, attracting a lot of onlookers.

Just as Zhang Yang told Felton, those attacking and slandering their fans of James are just a tiny fraction of the extreme among all James’ fans, most spectators were purely there for the spectacle. Now that the Bobcats had won, those vehemently denying that Felton had effectively guarded James shut up. The group that dissed James and his fans had their fun for one night without a response, and lost interest. The onlookers saw no more excitement, and the fervor quickly cooled down.

This game, which appeared to be a fierce clash between the two teams, resulted in the rare win-win situation postgame. The Bobcats reaped significant benefits, and on James’ side, apart from being ridiculed for one night, there wasn’t much damage under ESPN’s manipulation. Instead, he garnered even more attention...

The next day, March 1st, a new month arrived. At noon, the league announced the latest monthly awards, and fans’ attention shifted there.

Gerald Wallace and Tony Parker won the Eastern and Western Conference Player of the Month awards, respectively.

Gerald Wallace played 7 games in February, with 6 wins and 1 loss, averaging 20 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.7 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game.

Parker played 10 games in February, with 8 wins and 2 losses, averaging 20 points, 3 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game.