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Chapter 376 - 175. What it feels like to play against the Lakers on the anniversary of scoring 81 points - Part 1

Chapter 376: 175. What it feels like to play against the Lakers on the anniversary of scoring 81 points - Part 1

Coach Nelson didn’t call a timeout when his team was being hit with consecutive fast breaks, which puzzled the commentators at the court channel. Zhang Weiping analyzed that the Crazy Scientist might have some ideas in mind.

Zhang Heli actually guessed right this time!

Even though the point gap widened, where Coach Nelson saw Zhang Yang defending Ellis with such dedication, he thought using Ellis’s brainless aggressive attacks to deplete Zhang Yang was a good idea. He always liked to seize ’opportunities’ that others would never consider.

Ellis’s competitiveness and impulsive nature, in Nelson’s eyes, could all be put to good use.

If the Bobcats could go on an 11-4 run in three minutes, his Warriors had the same capability.

But after entering the halftime break, the Crazy Scientist suddenly realized—tonight, the bad boy Jack didn’t even need to take 25 shots; he could even be used specially to defend against Ellis!

Felton hadn’t been worn down, the team’s offensive rhythm was still there, and Rondo could break through the focus on one-on-one play. The Bobcats should just play their team offense; there was no need for Zhang Yang to take over 20 shots. Zhang Yang just needed to make good catch-and-shoot plays and execute on the fast break!

No wonder Bickerstaff had Zhang Yang play throughout the first quarter and even let him take on the task of defending the main opponent.

Coach Nelson was impressed by Bickerstaff, a former adversary.

In the 88-89 season when Nelson switched from the Bucks to the Warriors, leading his team to the playoffs, defeating the Jazz Team in a first-round upset and making it to the second round, he was feeling proud. Yet when he saw the neighboring Supersonics also pull off an upset against the Rockets Team, his sense of achievement evaporated instantly.

Without enough chess pieces, bringing in Barnes and Azubuike over the summer was targeting selected players, while they didn’t go after other quality role players. Mainly because after so many years of the Warriors being lousy, they didn’t have much appeal to quality players with good reputations. As versatile as Coach Nelson was, faced with the current situation, he was out of options.

So they might as well give it their all on the offense! In case the opponents’ shooting turned cold and their own exploded, they could still win.

That’s why Coach Nelson loved playing offensive basketball; no matter what, there was always some hope.

...

Coach Nelson still brimmed with passion, making substitutions and setting up tactics.

But that sliver of hope was indeed too flimsy, and in the time that followed, the Warriors never managed to narrow the gap to single digits.

Bickerstaff was not one to sit idly by. Spotting that Felton and Zhang Yang had independently adapted and broken the opponent’s plan in the first quarter, he obviously held on tight to the advantage his players had created.

With most of the team’s scorers in good form tonight, he started to focus on team offense in the second quarter, the whole team worked together to firmly press down on the Warriors.

Zhang Yang took the initiative to defend Ellis because in the first quarter, right before the official timeout, he had done a good job of restricting Ellis and felt confident about imposing limits. Otherwise, he would have left the task to Rondo.

But the main reason was seeing his teammates in a good offensive state and hot shooting hands today that he chose to set aside scoring to take on the defensive role.

Mood has a big impact on performance. Over the past half a month, the whole team had been under the pressure of a ’tough schedule, so many back-to-backs,’ where sometimes, even if physically they were okay, the offense would play frustratingly. Now, with less scheduling pressure, their mood and attitude improved a lot, which naturally enhanced their condition.

The largest lead was 21 points, and they finished with a 15-point advantage. The Bobcats triumphed over the Warriors with a score of 121 to 106, taking the victory in the first game of their three-game Western trip! This improved their record to 29 wins and 16 losses!

With a big center inside and a hefty guy outside, Baron Davis had a rough night, shooting 6 for 16 from the field, including 1 for 5 from three-point range, and 2 for 2 from the free-throw line to finish with 15 points and 5 assists.

He wishes he could play against Harris, Terry, Stackhouse, and Barea every day... He specifically checked the team handbook after the game, and it turned out they wouldn’t play the Mavericks until the end of the season, which he found hard to endure.

Ellis started off well, scoring 12 points and adding 3 assists in the first quarter, but he ended up shooting just 9 for 26 from the field, including 2 for 9 from three-point range, and 5 for 6 from the free-throw line, tallying only 25 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal.

"If I took 25 shots a day, I could score 30 points too..." Ellis rushed into the players’ tunnel in embarrassment after the final buzzer; those were his words during an earlier interview with the local media, which often praised Zhang Yang.

Stephen Jackson had 16 points, Harrington scored 12 points along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists, Biedrins tallied 11 points and 14 rebounds, and Richardson had 14 points... These players did quite well, but with the team’s second leading scorer also flopping, even their best efforts couldn’t send the team’s score soaring.

For the Bobcats, Okafor had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Felton added 18 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 assists, Rondo chipped in with 6 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists, Gerald Wallace finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks, Millsap had 10 points and 12 rebounds, Jumaine Jones had 8 points, and Matt Carroll contributed with 9 points...

Zhang Yang went 7 for 14 tonight, including 1 for 3 from three-point range, and perfect 6 for 6 from the free-throw line, notching up 21 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks—an unusually high hit rate of over fifty percent for him these days.

It’s just a pity that a certain small forward grabbed too many rebounds, or he would have had 20+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ assists.

This was a team victory, and the Bobcat players were all thrilled, gathering together to celebrate noisily after the game.

The Bobcat coaching staff was happy too, but not just because of the win.

Bickerstaff patted Ingles on the shoulder, "Chip, look, Jack can always adjust his play style on the fly."

Ingles shook his head with a smile, "I underestimated him... No, I didn’t understand his talent deeply enough. His inner strength is so powerful, to pick up something and then set it down with such resolve, that’s a rare gift! It’s a very rare gift for an athlete!"

...

This match generated a lot of buzz back home after the game.

Ellis, sporting a sour face in front of the camera, was a sight domestic fans found familiar—it was much like when Dampier, who claimed to be the second-best center in the Western Conference after O’Neal, was seen alongside Yao Ming.

Yao Ming was reserved and didn’t say much, preferring to let his actions do the talking. Afterwards, he never let Dampier score in double digits over him, not even once.

Speaking with action feels badass, but the fans still found it lacking as Yao Ming would at most blurt out "damn it" or "vegetable" during a game, which foreigners wouldn’t understand anyway.

Zhang Yang was different; all the trash talk he said to Ellis was leaked by the gossipmongers.

Scoring an efficient 20+ points while defending Ellis to the brink of despair, the fans watching the live broadcast were ecstatic. And after seeing the leaked content of Zhang Yang’s trash talk, those fans were even more fired up.

In the States, the excitement was also high, with the main focus being on the ’high school genius showdown’ between Zhang Yang and Ellis. Zhang Yang shut down Ellis, showing a glimpse of his defensive talent and fundamentals, and his trash talk became a topic of discussion, though it didn’t carry the unique emotional undertones of the domestic fans.

The next day at noon, the Bobcats flew from San Francisco to Los Angeles and took a day off without any scheduled training.

On January 26, the Bobcats arrived at the Staples Center to take on the Lakers on their home court.

Their three-game West Coast road trip was being broadcast live in its entirety by the CCTV, and their next opponent was the Nuggets Team, which had gained immense popularity back home after acquiring Iverson.

At 8:40 PM, after both teams had entered the court, Zhang Yang and Kobe were invited to the scorer’s table for a photo op.

Just like there’s a significant difference between players who’re gods and actual gods, the difference between players who’re snakes and actual snakes is also substantial.

In front of the camera, Kobe was very friendly during the interview, answering questions. Although he had a rough relationship with the media in the States, he got along well with the court TV media because Weiping Bryant was the one conducting the interview on site.

After the interview, Zhang Yang said to Kobe, "You don’t have to deliberately stand to my right now."

When they had been called to the scorer’s table earlier and were facing the camera, Zhang Yang was on the left, Kobe on the right; then Kobe, sly as a snake, had moved to the camera’s left side.

Kobe looked down at his jersey number, then remembered he had changed his jersey.

He asked, "324 doesn’t have any special meaning in your country, does it? 243 doesn’t either, right?"

Zhang Yang replied, "If I really had to say, it does."

Kobe said, "Are there so many numbers that need to be avoided in your place? I’ll have to take note when I visit Beijing next year."

Zhang Yang said, "It’s not about avoidance... Are you preparing for the Olympics? Not afraid of ending up like Iverson and Wade?"

Kobe squinted his eyes and glanced at Zhang Yang’s jersey number. "I don’t wear number 3."

Zhang Yang said angrily, "Number 24 is equal to eight 3s. You’re going to lose eight times!"

Kobe said, "...Is that what you meant by special meaning, that 24 is 3 times 8?"

Zhang Yang stammered, "Er... doesn’t 3 times 8 equal 24?"

Kobe was speechless...

Recently, Kobe and Jordan had participated in an event together, and Jordan mentioned during a casual conversation that whenever he talked with Zhang Yang, the topic would always go in strange directions. Kobe didn’t understand at the time but now he got it...

The live interview segment finished, and Zhang Yang chatted with Bynum for a bit.

Bynum was in a much better mood this season than last. He had become the Lakers’ second-choice center, sharing the court time for the center position with Kwame Brown under normal circumstances. Brown would start and play just under 30 minutes, Bynum under 20 minutes. But like tonight, when they needed Brown to stretch out his defense, he could play as a starter.

He didn’t need to shoulder any pressure. All he had to do was score an average of 8 points, grab 5 boards, and block 2 shots per game to be praised to the heavens by the media and fans.

Moreover, he had discovered that as long as he didn’t mess with his hairstyle to provoke the bald guy, he wouldn’t get scolded.

Zhang Yang wanted to say, "Maybe it’s because you’ve been training hard that Bald Kobe stopped scolding you, it’s not really about the hair," but he thought better of it.

From Bynum’s words, it was clear he had gotten used to training hard under Kobe’s strict guidance, completely unaware that the scolding he had received was not because of his hairstyle in the first place.

Based on Zhang Yang’s understanding of Bynum, saying anything would be useless. The guy definitely wouldn’t listen and might even harbor resentment.

So, better not to interfere. Respect his thoughts.

Zhang Yang returned to the bench and listened with his teammates to Bickerstaff’s final preparation before the game.

Zhang Yang was excited to play against the Lakers. The last time they faced off, he missed the game due to injury and suspension, and he regretted not being part of the team that beat Kobe who scored 58 points.

But at this moment, he and his teammates were very cautious, very focused.

Last year on this very day, Kobe scored 26 points in the first half and 55 in the second half on this court!

Not only was this game broadcast live by the court TV, but multiple American TV stations were also showing the game.

The hottest topic of discussion was—how many points would Kobe score tonight?

Zhang Yang guessed this matchup was specifically arranged by the Jewish boss for him to ride on Kobe’s popularity, or they wouldn’t have chosen this particular date. However, he felt that they shouldn’t do it again next time as he was already pretty popular midway through the season.

By 9 PM, the game between the visiting Bobcats and the Lakers, broadcasted in both China and the United States, tipped off!

The Bobcats’ starters: Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Okafor, Perkins.

The Lakers’ starters: Smush Parker, Kobe, Odom, Kwame Brown, Bynum.

Bynum won the tip-off against Okafor, and the Lakers had the first possession!

Kobe had just received the ball at the frontcourt when a double-team came at him!

The Bobcats’ defensive priority for the night—ambush Kobe!

Facing the double-team of Felton and Gerald Wallace was something Kobe had expected. Ever since the 62 points in three quarters a year ago, opponents would double-team him brainlessly if they had the chance. He was used to it; today was the anniversary of the 81 points, so it was bound to happen.

He wanted to pass to Smush Parker... XXX, at least make a move!

He had no choice but to take on the two defenders, turn towards the weak side, and after a couple of hard pushes, leap up and make a long pass to Smush Parker on the opposite sideline.

Death himself took the shot from three-point range... and missed!

Perkins boxed out, and Okafor secured the defensive rebound.

Turning to the Bobcats’ offense, Zhang Yang had barely crossed half court before Kobe stuck to him. After guarding the ball and passing it to Felton who came up to support, Zhang Yang ran off-ball, with Kobe closely trailing. Whenever he stopped, he would be marked tightly, feeling as if a plaster had been stuck to him.

Zhang San exclaimed, "What are you doing? I wasn’t even part of the double-team!"

Kobe responded, "I don’t care. You double-team me; I’ll go after you. And don’t think I didn’t see you trying to sag off to block my drive!"