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Chapter 217 - 119. A brutal closing stage of the schedule

Chapter 217: 119. A brutal closing stage of the schedule

Gerald Wallace became the fourth active player to achieve a 5x5 stat line.

Jamal Tinsley had done it once, in November 2001 against the Timberwolves.

Kirilenko achieved it three times, in December 2003 against the Rockets and Knicks, and this January against the Lakers.

Camby had it once, in January 2004 against the Jazz Team.

Before this season, people thought Garnett would be the next one to get such stats, as he’d had several games with 5+ blocks or 5+ steals and came close many times, but it was always one steal or one block short.

As Garnett was about to turn 30, with a visible decline in steals and blocks and maturing defense, no longer relying on blocks and steals to intimidate opponents... his chances of getting a 5x5 seemed to become increasingly slim.

Who would have thought that Gerald Wallace would burst onto the scene this season, averaging 2 steals and 2 blocks per game, defensive stats even fiercer than Kirilenko’s and the early Garnett’s.

In scoring, rebounds, and assists, Gerald Wallace was also performing well. By Christmas, there were calls for him to be the next player to achieve a 5x5 in a game, and after waiting so long, it finally happened.

Though there were suspicions of stat-padding, not many cared about that.

Having gone all out once, he himself didn’t want to try again; it was genuinely exhausting.

If he could get similar stats in a normal game, like when playing against the Warriors Team, so be it, but he couldn’t bring himself to chase it again.

And look, even Jack’s view of him changed.

Actually, Zhang Yang was just in awe of witnessing a 5x5 stat line firsthand, as only a few players in an era are capable of such a performance. He remembered that after Kirilenko, it had been many years before French Pippen Batum achieved such stats.

In Zhang Yang’s memory, Gerald Wallace’s fascination with defensive stats was only a recent thing. Later on, his defense became more reliable and significantly more effective; it seemed he even made All-Defensive Team, but his steals and blocks continued to decline after those two years, shifting from aggressive to disruptive predominance, which actually made his impact stronger, even though the stats were no longer as dazzling as when he first emerged.

The Hawks team... Zhang Yang added another name to his little notebook. Those two high school players, once college student Zhang San "grew up," he’d hammer them every time he saw them!

...

After a stretch of 4 games in 3 days, the Bobcats team had two days of rest.

Zhang Yang spent the morning of the 12th resting at home and went to the arena for training in the afternoon.

When he arrived at the training court, he saw quite a few teammates already starting their warm-ups in preparation for practice. Today, the coaching staff had not scheduled team or individual training; everyone had come on their own initiative.

Exercising on their own on a rest day, this kind of thing would have only been done by the rookie group and the striving group last month, in addition to the loner Okafor.

But after the game on February 28th, the teammates’ initiative had significantly improved, and Zhang Yang was once again grateful for King James’ strong support.

The influence of the media also played a role, with plenty of news praising them today.

After a four-game winning streak, they raised their winning percentage to 50%, officially entering the fray and being seriously considered by the media as contenders for the playoffs.

Many players from their team were praised by the media, not just their core four but also other players who were brought into the public eye.

Besides the core four, the only other player averaging double-digit points was Brezec along with Matt Carroll, who had earned some recognition as an excellent three-point shooter after participating in the three-point contest, and the energetically playing Karim Rush and Keith Bogans... all were mentioned in the news.

It is often said that true strength comes from within, that self-approval is more important than others’ approval.

In reality, for most people, external recognition can truly build confidence and motivation to move forward.

Even Zhang Yang, who had firm goals, was influenced by the team environment. In the beginning, he felt somewhat uncomfortable seeing the team like loose sand, filled with cliques, and playing basketball as if just to pass the time, carelessly... But now, with most of his teammates full of vigor, striving together for victory and seeking improvement, he felt greatly motivated.

Looking around, Zhang Yang didn’t see the big man Felton. He went to the locker room, and indeed, the big man would never be caught slacking.

But why did the big man look so troubled? Zhang Yang leaned in to see... it turned out to be the schedule.

Zhang Yang greeted him, and Felton responded before saying, "Jack, our comfortable days are coming to an end. The last 20 games are practically hell mode."

Zhang Yang, of course, was aware of this, a wave of playoff teams was approaching!

Zhang Yang replied, "Big guy, you don’t need to worry too much. We’ll play whoever comes. Beat them, and if we can’t, we’ll just beat the next opponent."

Seeing his little brother wasn’t fazed at all, Felton quickly adjusted his expression. He couldn’t look as if he had been scared.

It’s true, just pulling a serious face could greatly reduce the psychological pressure.

Just as Zhang Yang told Felton, the playoff teams about to face the Bobcats were also very troubled by this opponent.

On March 14th, when the Miami Heat arrived in Charlotte, they immediately went to the Charlotte Coliseum to prepare for the evening’s game.

O’Neal complained non-stop about having back-to-back practice!

But the head coach was a tough strategist, so after his complaints, he had no choice but to practice.

He wanted to win a championship, wanted to dominate over that annoying high school kid, and felt an urgent sense of time pressing; he had a hunch he wouldn’t last two more years.