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Chapter 360 - 168. Basketball Holy Land Fans Switching Sides Again (10,000 characters)

Chapter 360: 168. Basketball Holy Land Fans Switching Sides Again (10,000 characters)

to 5, tie!

Zhang Yang squandered several games, yet he really managed to bring out his touch.

In the last game, he felt very good, but though the Nets didn’t double-team or help defend against him, Carter was there guarding him one-on-one. Over the last two years, Carter’s defense had been very dedicated, and his defensive efficiency doubled compared to the three years before his major injury with the Raptors. His fundamental defense was on point, and his shooting percentage of 47.8% was good but not explosive.

Tonight, just a couple of extra steps meant an open shot... keep swinging, keep risking!

The number 3 on the other team is on fire again tonight? Marbury, also wearing the number 3 jersey, excitedly pushed forward to the frontcourt, just in time!

Lately, he felt like he was back in the 03-04 season when he was initially traded to the Knicks.

Back then, the Knicks had several lousy players, but they also had Alan Houston, McDyess, Muhammad, Kurt Thomas, Tim Thomas, Mutombo, and Shandon Anderson, several teammates who craved victory, and he led them from a 14 win 21 loss record to the playoffs.

During those 47 games, he led the team to a record of 25 wins and 22 losses, averaging 19.5 points and 9.3 assists.

During the recent 8 games, their backcourt had Nate Robinson suspended, Francis injured, Jalen Rose bought out, and they were missing the isolation player Renaldo Balkman on the front line and Jerome James, the lazy and disappointing center affecting his teammates’ morale; the team instantly felt different.

In these 8 games, Marbury averaged 21 points and 9 assists per game with a shooting percentage of 45%, compared to only 15 points and 4 assists, with a shooting percentage of 39% in the prior 22 games.

Not yet 30 for another two months, his spirit wasn’t dead; the fire reignited!

Advancing to the frontcourt, Marbury began to duel with the opposite number 3; at that moment, dueling didn’t mean shooting each other, but organizing the offense like he used to do with the Timberwolves and the Suns.

Marbury drove to the free-throw line, not waiting for the triangle offense to set up, suddenly passed the ball.

Eddie Curry this time asked for the ball further out, not that he couldn’t push in; it was intentional. As Marbury broke through, Eddie Curry swiftly turned right towards the front of the basket, caught Marbury’s pass and slammed the ball into the hoop with one hand!

The moment Little Shark slammed the ball, Okafor retreated back under the basket...

Running back to receive the inbound pass, Zhang Yang was speechless. The probability of defending that play was minuscule. Little Shark wasn’t the type to get intimidated, and even Little Duncan sometimes didn’t need to be so Duncan-like – and there he was, just a part of the background again.

Zhang Yang took the inbound pass and pushed to the frontcourt, passed to Felton, and continued running, looking for shooting opportunities.

The two number 3s battled in their own ways!

Zhang Yang was the scoring arrow. There was a subtle change in his role in the tactics; previously, although he also ran looking for shooting chances, his tactical position was as a decoy, frequently shooting from mid to long range to affect the defense and create better shooting opportunities for his teammates; now, although his playing style looked unchanged, he no longer moved to easily defendable areas that needed help defense but instead his teammates moved to positions that attracted defensive attention.

However, one thing remained, his most frequent shooting area was still mid to long range. Once he got his shot going, the impact on the opponent’s defense was significant and still created better offensive spaces for his teammates, though there was a change in the order of shooting rights.

The differences were subtle, not everyone could notice them. Bickerstaff was initially worried Zhang Yang hadn’t realized this, but before he could mention it, in the morning’s first training session, Zhang Yang had already switched to his new tactical role.

When Zhang Yang was tired and needed a break, he would idly move along the wing to pull open the space, and Felton along with Gerald Wallace knew it was their time to utilize their individual skills to score, maintaining the offensive momentum.

On Marbury’s side, as the outside line offense organizer leading the overall team offense, Frye taking shots and coordinating, Malik Rose setting screens and cutting into the basket, Little Shark catching and finishing, Big Q catching and shooting threes, they executed the triangle offense very well. When Marbury needed a break, Little Shark handling one-on-one situations put Perkins and the rotating Muhammad through the wringer.

Both teams’ scores were rapidly increasing, and the Knicks took the initiative first!

Even though the Bobcats’ coaching staff and players, seeing the Knicks’ recent record of 5 wins and 3 losses, were alert and the coaching staff tried hard to prepare and the players trained vigorously, the preparation time was too short. They had rested the previous morning for the last four days of three games, flew to New York at noon, and attended official events in the afternoon. Weary from travel, they lacked the mind and energy for preparation yesterday, and the players had real preparation time only this morning. They hadn’t even seen a complete recent game video of the Knicks. Combined with the Knicks’ really good recent offense, averaging 106 points over 8 games, a firepower higher than the Wizards of the same period, only second to the Suns, the Bobcats completely failed to defend against the Knicks from the start.

But in the starting phase, the Bobcats didn’t fall behind, it was only after the teams entered the first phase of lineup rotation that the Knicks took control.

After the official timeout, Crawford replaced Malik Rose, Big Q moved to small forward, David Lee replaced Eddie Curry, Frye moved to center.

When Crawford played as the sixth man, Marbury’s tolerance for him greatly increased, actively creating space for Crawford, as Crawford’s playing time coincidentally was when Marbury needed a rest. With Big Q and Frye both able to spread the floor, Crawford came in and could showcase his individual offensive skills, playing excellently.