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Chapter 250 - 129. Even if my great-grandmother coached the Knicks, they wouldn’t be in last place.

Chapter 250: 129. Even if my great-grandmother coached the Knicks, they wouldn’t be in last place.

Today, Zhang Yang practiced three-pointers and mid-range shots for over an hour... Finally, he’s accumulated 100,000 Shooting Value!

The day before yesterday’s game against the 76ers ended, and he was just a few hundred points short.

This time, accumulating Shooting Value was much slower than in previous months, almost half a month longer than expected.

During this period, he increased his rest time, reducing the number and volume of training sessions. In the early to mid-season, he used to practice extra almost every day, be it one hour or two, there was always time for more.

But by mid-March, he started feeling an increase in fatigue after games and training, not recovering as well after a night’s sleep. He knew his body needed rest, so he took it.

Random Shooting Talent +1, this time added to his mid-range shot.

20,000 Shooting Value rewarded him with the basics of defensive sliding, a very practical skill. He might start next season or continue as the sixth man, but he wanted to defend even better to relieve pressure from his wing and interior teammates.

Currently, his one-on-one defense is purely against shooting, not penetration, so he can defend the perimeter shoot effectively.

He definitely needs to strengthen his defensive basics in the offseason. He knows how to practice sliding, but if he can quickly solidify the basics, he can move directly to the subsequent stages of training.

He’s added 3 points to his mid-range Shooting Talent now, the talent cap definitely exceeds 90, whether it breaks 95 or not is unknown, anyway, the goal is to keep ’grinding’ his talent.

A new task arrived, as expected. Having already added 16 points to his talent, the new task to increase his physical attributes requires 100,000 Shooting Value, and the additional task... also 100,000 Shooting Value, to improve Larry Bird’s Post-play Rhythm from beginner to intermediate!

Train! Play games! That’s all that needs to be considered, just shoot and it’s done!

...

At 6:40 in the evening, at Madison Square Garden’s court, Zhang Yang stood outside the player’s tunnel, high-fiving his starting teammates as they ran out from the tunnel.

The atmosphere was electric, and Zhang Yang was also very excited. Only when playing here did he truly understand how special that feeling was... yeah, the fans here are just like the rumors said!

When he had come out with the substitutes, the crowd was already cheering, and the starters were greeted with cheers too, including Brezec and Keith Bogans... Seeing it firsthand was still incredible.

When the home team players made their entrance, the booing had started even before the spotlight hit them.

The Knicks players were booed one by one, especially Marbury, once hailed as the ’Son of New York’, who received the loudest boos. But they were all used to it, with not a hint of discomfort.

The lighting technician even gave Larry Brown a spotlight moment, and the crowd chanted "Fire him!"

Rumors had it that the Knicks were indeed planning to fire Larry Brown. Last summer he had received a gargantuan 5-year, 60 million US dollar contract, and to be fired after one year would be quite the payout.

Both the New York fans and the Knicks left Zhang Yang in awe, but seeing Larry Brown, Zhang Yang remembered that in a couple of years, the over-60-year-old Bickerstaff might retire, and this senior was likely to be invited by another senior to take over as the head coach... what a headache.

By 7:00 pm, the game started.

Zhang Yang sat courtside, watching as Felton, Keith Bogans, Gerald Wallace, Okafor, and Perkins, his five teammates, took the court to compete against the opposition.

This lineup was often used by Bickerstaff during the starting phase when they needed to tough it out on defense.

But why say head-to-head competition?

Because the opposing team was using a strategy of taking turns for individual plays with their starting five.

The Knicks’ starting lineup of Marbury, Francis, Jalen Rose, David Lee, and Eddie Curry, even with Keith Bogans and Perkins starting, could not be stopped by their Bobcats, and they needed Felton, Gerald Wallace, and Perkins to contribute offensively. However, having these two start could impose more limitations on the opposition’s one-on-ones.

Zhang Yang complained to the boss visiting for the game: "Larry Brown has been coaching the Knicks for a year, and with all those scorers, he came up with this tactic? That’s a really easy 60 million over 5 years."

Jordan nodded in response, but then realized and said, "Those Knicks players are all troublemakers, none of them take orders well, no one can manage that bunch of retirees, and with the Assassin working against Larry, it’s understandable."

Zhang Yang: "I think even my great grandmother could do a better job than last place."

Jordan: "..."

He realized his junior didn’t seem to have much respect for his senior...

On the court, the Knicks were playing rather well offensively.

A lineup worth nearly 200 million in salary and luxury tax, they might have stronger individual skills than the Mavericks!

The Knicks had already secured the last place in average assists per game, with the Mavericks just above them. But even the Mavericks’ play looked better, as their isolation and ball distribution tactics were more appealing. It might be what Larry Brown wanted as well, but the Knicks players only played iso, always choosing to shoot over passing if they could.

Yet with such tactics, the Knicks’ three starting perimeter players all had around 45% field goal percentage, and their center Little Shark Curry even boasted a 53% shooting rate!

By the official timeout at 6 minutes 13 seconds in the first quarter, the Knicks had scored 14 points!

The efficiency of scoring was almost on par with the Suns.

But the Knicks’ defense was nowhere to be smelled...

Felton, taking advantage before his little brother came on, went on a "swish-swish" rampage for half the quarter, 3 out of 5 shots, including hitting 2 out of 4 three-pointers, scoring 8 points and 1 assist. Together with Okafor’s 3 points, Gerald Wallace’s 6 points, and Perkins’ 2 points, the Bobcats lead the Knicks by 5 points, 19 to 14, going into the official timeout!

Bickerstaff called Zhang Yang’s name, and he shrugged off his warm-up jacket and bolted for the court, his fun time was about to begin!

Felton: Happiness is over... Why did I have to say anything!