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Chapter 357: Infinite Firepower_2

Chapter 357: Infinite Firepower_2

He knew that the guy wouldn’t possibly respond with the standard answer prepared by the PR officer. Those geniuses were all so proudly unruly.

He still preferred the more reserved Chinese players like Yao Ming, but Yao Ming was hard to promote!

With that terrible lineup of the Rockets, he didn’t even know how to boost them.

It was manageable before when he could cooperate with the Rockets to publish boosted articles in China, but now the Rockets’ bluff had been called, sponsors were heavily dropping out, the viewership in China had plummeted significantly, and Chinese fans were calling for Yao Ming to change teams... He had to start promoting Zhang Yang earlier than planned.

Just as Stern was about to slam his hand on the table again, a sound from the TV made him exclaim...

Zhang Yang continued, "Although I don’t regret hitting Raja Bell that day, I don’t think it was a good thing. On the contrary, I believe what I did that day was very disgraceful, contrary to the spirit of sportsmanship, so I was suspended. I support the league’s decision to suspend and fine me."

"It’s just, I am a bad boy, I can tolerate opponents playing dirty and trash talking, but I will never forgive actions like those of Raja Bell. Slapping him was already letting him off easy."

Listening to the applause and cheers coming from the TV, Stern’s thoughts suddenly changed.

Although prone to violence, vindictive, petty, and somewhat crafty, he was spirited, reasonable, principled, and could discern right from wrong...

In opening up the Chinese market, not all players need to be the ’nice guy’ types like Yao Ming; this controversial figure might also be fit.

Stern thought of that player in Los Angeles who had been heavily promoted before. He was about to give up on him after 2003, but that guy’s popularity in China had ended up surpassing even Yao Ming’s.

The downside is that with such a player, you never know what he might do, but what opportunity doesn’t carry risks?

...

On the morning of December 31, the Bobcats arrived at Madison Square Garden to prepare for the battle.

At 9:30 AM, the Bobcats held a pre-game meeting, with Bickerstaff representing the coaching staff to arrange the game strategy, explaining tactical details and adjustments.

Making different game plans for different opponents is quite normal; most of the players were listening carefully and didn’t notice anything unusual.

But Zhang Yang, who was very sensitive to tactics, noticed a problem.

Over the past three games, he shot over 20 times, but many of those shots were his own opportunities found within the tactics, not the primary option in those tactics. Although he had the highest average score in the team, his assigned role was that of a mid-range distractor, a tactical piece. Today’s tactics, however, underwent some subtle changes focusing more on him shooting!

Not just him, experienced players with high basketball IQ like Muhammad and Derek Anderson also noticed this subtle change.

This was quite unusual. If you simply needed a player to shoot more during a game, just planning more tactics around that player’s direct attack would suffice—that’s a tactical adjustment on the spot. However, adjusting tactical details indicated an overhaul of the offensive system, which was much more complex and demanded much more energy in preparation.

They noticed the change, but since the coaching staff did not outright say it, they wouldn’t blab about it either, just listened; one was a blue-collar player, the other one hardly had a few chances to play, why bother worrying about it.

A rookie also figured out the deal, but he was even less likely to talk about it since he was originally a man of few words, and after all, how did it concern him who took more shots?

When it came to tactical training class, today’s offensive tactics received an adjustment, and the two training sessions were even more complex and demanding than usual, but the Bobcats players were all seriously and diligently involved.

The last day of the year, everyone wanted a good closure, and a win would put them back at the top of the Eastern Conference, even if it might be briefly surpassed within 24 hours; at least they would temporarily be back at the top.

Jordan also arrived in New York last night, and he would be watching the game on-site today.

After watching for a while how Randy Brown and Bickerstaff were leading the team in training, Jordan said to Bickerstaff, "You’re still as decisive as ever. We just made the decision the night before last, and you’ve already adjusted for the next game. That’s worthy of you."

Bickerstaff replied, "If a decision is to be made, the sooner the better. It can reduce the scoring pressure on Emeka and Raymond and create more opportunities for our wings, helping us smoothly through the mid-season physical crisis. Since Jack has the talent in this area, then it’s his responsibility to take it on."

"Indeed, I didn’t even realize his talent in this area was so great..." Jordan remarked.

The ’talent’ both men were referring to was Zhang Yang’s ability to recover physically.

After the game against the Nets, Jordan and the coaching staff had an overnight meeting discussing the physical crisis that began with the game against the Pistons.

Having played 30 games, most of the main players were having physical reserve issues to some extent, with situations like the collective slump against the Nets not uncommon.

Whether it was Felton or Gerald Wallace leading the team, it was a team style that fought hard regardless of winning or losing, so these kinds of situations were normal.

But there was one player who was exceptional!

Although Jordan felt speechless about being blamed for Zhang Yang’s reckless shooting, he discovered something; Zhang Yang threw more than 20 shots the previous day until he was half dead, but the next day, back-to-back, he could still shoot over 20 times...

This endurance had been demonstrated by Zhang Yang since his rookie year, a highschool rookie who played in all 82 games, the first to do so in nearly 30 years, with the previous one being Moses Malone, a high school rookie drafted in the third round of the ABA league in 1974, who had full attendance in his rookie year.