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Chapter 382 - 178. Is this overpraising to death?_2

Chapter 382: 178. Is this overpraising to death?_2

The Bucks had been on the rise over the past few seasons, steadily holding a spot in the Eastern Conference’s top eight last season, but this season, the signs of their star player Reed becoming injury-prone began to show.

In the past four years, Reed played 82, 82, 75, and 80 games respectively, climbing from an average of 15 points to over 25+ points per game, steadily improving his strength and maintaining an excellent attendance record, which was the foundation of the Bucks’ rise.

During the first 49 games of this season, Reed already missed 20 games, averaging 26 points. In the 29 games he did play, the Bucks had a decent record of 15 wins and 14 losses, but his lack of appearances cost him an All-Star reserve spot.

Tonight, in the Bucks’ 50th game of the season, Reed was sidelined again, and it looked unlikely he would play in the remaining two games of the first half of the season.

On February 7th, the Bobcats had their last game of the season’s first half at home, facing the 76ers in their mid-season finale.

At the start of the season, when Zhang Yang was looking at the broadcast schedule, this game was set as a nationwide broadcast, the focus of the mid-season.

He and Iverson were both definitely starting All-Stars, both wearing number 3, both scorers... but after Iverson left the 76ers, the broadcast of this game was canceled early on.

In the final game of the first half of the season, the entire Bobcats team was excited; after this game, they could finally rest for a few days!

The mood of the 76ers players was similar. Although their mid-season schedule wasn’t as tight, they also had 52 games in the first half of the season. Their November and December schedules were tougher than the Bobcats’, and they too wanted to rest, happy to be reaching the final game... except for Iguodala.

When Iverson left, Iguodala was sad, but along with the sadness, he felt happy and excited—the team said they would develop him like Kobe, McGrady, and Carter.

Indeed, the team did just that. A franchise legend, number 10, retired in the 76ers, and the team was preparing to erect a statue for him, a Hall of Fame candidate. Their coach, Morris Cheeks, personally instructed him, spending all day with him, teaching him scoring techniques, defense, and how to organize the offense... All of this excited him greatly, and though he had also been a focus of development before Iverson left, it was never to the extent it was now.

But as soon as Iguodala actually started leading the team, he began to miss Big Brother AI after just a few games...

In his third year, he couldn’t carry a team.

Right now, the 76ers had 15 wins and 36 losses, a whole 10 games behind the Eastern Conference’s ninth seed, but they weren’t as thoroughly terrible as the Celtics, leaving Iguodala perplexed. He wanted to do everything, but couldn’t seem to do anything quite right.

At 9 pm, the game began.

The 76ers played well in the first quarter, tying the game at 28 to the Bobcats’ 29. In the second period, both teams’ offensive efficiency dipped, with the 76ers scoring 20 points while the Bobcats scored only 23.

Trailing by 4 points at halftime, this was the best the 76ers had performed against the Bobcats in their four encounters this season.

In the third quarter, the gap in strength began to show, as the Bobcats outscored the 76ers 22 to 14 in the period, widening the lead to 12 points.

In the final quarter, the Bobcats kept control and didn’t give the 76ers a chance to overturn the game, winning 25 to 21.

Okafor had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Felton contributed 14 points and 9 assists, Wallace scored 15 points along with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block, Zhang Yang had 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block, Millsap added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Rondo had 8 points and 3 assists... The Bobcats easily defeated the 76ers 99 to 83, closing out the first half of the season with a three-game winning streak and improving their record to 34 wins and 18 losses!

After the final buzzer, Zhang Yang looked up at the big screen, seeing his performance of 8 out of 14 shots, 2 out of 3 from three-point range, and 2 out of 2 free throws. Not bad, he thought, his shooting percentage had increased just a little bit.

The best performance from the opposing side came from Andre Miller and Iguodala.

Miller had a decent outing with 18 points and 5 assists, making 6 out of 13 shots and 6 out of 8 free throws, but this back-to-the-basket point guard’s pace wasn’t in line with the rest of the 76ers.

Iguodala, Korver, Dalembert, Willie Green... they all had to move to attack, while Andre Miller was just too slow.

Iguodala managed to grab 15 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal tonight... quite comprehensive, but occasionally when matched against Zhang Yang, he felt weird.

The future Finals MVP was sometimes on point, whether it was scoring, defending, or organizing the offense, while at other times not so much—not like Odom’s situation, but rather disjointed and erratic.

...

After the post-game interview and completing his treatment, Zhang Yang returned to his apartment and immediately crashed into bed.

He had been wound too tight!

The season had been too exhausting!

Lately, physically he was okay, playing 23 minutes in one game and 28 in another—given his recovery abilities, it was like ’resting’ in the middle of the season.

But the mental fatigue continued to accumulate, even through the last two games.

Before, he thought he didn’t care too much about what the team’s record would look like in the first few years of his career, looking to other talented stars who were lottery picks on weak teams as a reference.

But last month, when he was averaging 26.5 shots per game and struggling to maintain a 50% win rate, dragging down the team’s win rate for the first half of the season, he realized he was wrong—he cared a lot about it...

During that time, he would occasionally curse the coach and the damn owner for placing such a heavy burden on him—he was just an 18-year-old kid.

However, when the responsibility of carrying the team surged towards him like a flood, he couldn’t, and didn’t want to, back down; he chose to make his stand and meet the challenge head-on.