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Chapter 370 - 171. The Wild Mid-Season_3

Chapter 370: 171. The Wild Mid-Season_3

Okafor’s playing time wasn’t the only thing that had decreased; his shooting percentage and defensive performance had also sharply declined compared to the early season.

Gerald Wallace played in 12 games, averaging 30 minutes, scoring 13.5 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, dishing out 2.3 assists, and making 2.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. His performance hadn’t declined too much, but the numerous times he was sidelined due to injuries and the decrease in playing time were concerning.

With more playing time, players like Matt Carroll, Jumaine Jones, and Alan Anderson showed improvement, but their improved performances could not offset the negative impact of the decline in Okafor and Gerald Wallace’s play.

Felton and Rondo’s performances were steadily improving. Felton attended all 17 games, averaging 17 points, slightly higher than in the early season, and 8.1 assists per game; Rondo averaged 6.3 points, 6 rebounds, and 5.7 assists over these 17 games.

The Los Angeles media summarized—

Pros: With the team’s two main scoring frontcourt players in decline and Point Guard teammates on the rise, Jack acting as the team’s primary shooter and scorer and increasing his shot attempts wasn’t a bad choice. In 9 games, he averaged 26.5 shots and 12.4 makes, and a shooting percentage of 46.8% was quite impressive. He took a large share of the shots, drawing more defense to him and creating better opportunities for cutting and perimeter role players.

Cons: Three-point shooting was not consistently reliable, mid- to long-range shot attempts were too high at over 30%, and there was insufficient killing power inside. Averaging 26.5 shots but only scoring 30.8 points per game was due to too few free throws.

Zhang Yang found the Los Angeles media’s evaluation fairly objective, as it pointed out both his strengths and weaknesses.

Seeing Felton’s performance... When he first entered the NBA, he could never have imagined that the most stable teammate in the future would be the chubby big boss!

As for Rondo’s stats, Zhang Yang joked—did Rondo ’Director’ snatch away the rebounds that little Duncan fell short on?

But Rondo scoring more than rebounds and assists was indeed good news.

As for the Los Angeles media saying his 46.8% shooting percentage over the past 9 toughest games was impressive, he felt this was them sugarcoating for ’Ironsmith brother’, whose shooting percentage stood at 46%.

Zhang Yang also saw some local media blindly praising his performance, so much so that it was too cringeworthy to watch—coming from New York.

During this period, he had made considerable progress, such as painstakingly increasing his stamina rating from 88 to 89, just one step away from the coveted 90 stamina.

Though he missed many three-pointers, he had made progress there too, from 77 to 78.

With a significant increase in shot attempts, the number of isolation plays naturally increased, and his skills were also advancing...

...

After completing the 4 games in 5 days, the Bobcats left Charlotte early on the 23rd and hastily embarked on a three-game road trip in the West.

But this time, the Bobcats’ players were in good spirits!

After defeating the Trail Blazers the night before, Bickerstaff told them that until the All-Star weekend, they would have no back-to-back games!

Zhang Yang, seeing his teammates relaxed, didn’t foolishly let the chubby boss dampen their spirits.

It’s true that there were no back-to-back games, but starting from tomorrow, there would be 8 games in 15 days—a game every other day, which wasn’t really much better.

Yet, some things are better left unsaid. Feeling a little better definitely beats playing with the mindset that ’the schedule is tough’.

After resting for a night at a San Francisco hotel, the Bobcats headed to the neighboring Oracle Arena in Oakland the next morning to prepare for battle.

The Warriors had a new head coach this season; college legend coach Montgomery had had a rough time in the NBA and went back to college. The ’Crazy Scientist’, Nelson, after falling out with Cuban, took a similar position to Bickerstaff’s with the Warriors, as both general manager and head coach.

It’s worth mentioning that Bickerstaff was the first person in NBA history to serve simultaneously as a general manager and head coach.

Under Nelson, the Warriors’ record had improved a lot, but overall, they were still average with a 21-21 win-loss record. Making the playoffs in the competitive West was quite tough; they were currently fighting for a spot with teams like the Lakers, Hornets, and Clippers. The Nuggets, who had acquired Iverson and welcomed back Anthony, were rising fast in the West and chasing from the tenth spot.

The Warriors were a very troublesome team for their opponents; their role in the West was somewhat equivalent to the Wizards in the East, albeit slightly stronger than the 20-win, 23-loss Wizards.

The Warriors were also a high-scoring team, especially since acquiring Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson from the Pacers in what seemed like a steal at the beginning of the month, which made their scoring even more ferocious. Their season average had soared to 106.6 points per game, even more fierce than the Wizards’ average of 106, but their points allowed were higher too, at an average of 107 points per game. Their strategy was simple: ’if you don’t kill me, I’ll kill you.’

Halfway through the season, the Warriors’ most aggressive performance in the first 43 games was winning both games against the Mavericks, one a 117-100 thrashing, the other a 107-104 nail-biter, during which Monta Ellis scored a 3+1 over Josh Howard in the final moments to snatch a 103-104 lead, hailed as the most domineering buzzer-beater.

There was also the fact that they had won all their three matches against the Hornets, with Baron Davis playing exceptionally well against Paul, averaging 30 points and 7 assists in those three games.

Facing such an opponent, the Bobcats dared not take lightly.

After a day of preparation, at 7:40 p.m., the players from both teams entered Oracle Arena.

As soon as the lights dimmed and the spotlight fell on the visitors’ tunnel, the fans already started chanting "Jack", ’badboy’, and some Chinese-speaking fans directly shouted "Zhang Yang".