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Chapter 399 - 187. Enemy of the Northern Territory_3

Chapter 399: 187. Enemy of the Northern Territory_3

Bickerstaff: "Being your colleague is really..."

Zhang Yang: "What’s up?"

Bickerstaff: "Boring."

Zhang Yang: "..."

Change the coach! Joe, where are you? Come and change the coach! If all else fails, come and coach for half a year yourself!

...

At 5:40 in the evening, on the main court of the Canada Airlines Stadium, the visiting Bobcats entered the arena first.

The sound of booing filled the air, reaching a peak when Zhang Yang entered the stadium.

Okafor patting Zhang Yang’s shoulder, unusually said, "Jack, your popularity is rising."

Zhang Yang gave Okafor a look, "Ref, come give this guy two technical fouls!"

He replied, "You can keep that kind of popularity."

Okafor: "It’s not like I went up to Kobe with a microphone asking if he was interested in scoring 83 points against the Toronto Raptors."

Zhang Yang: "Canadians are really stingy."

During the roundtable interview on All-Star Game Day, he was constantly asked about his 82 points in the rookie game and topics related to Kobe. He thought it was funny, borrowed a microphone, and asked Kobe if he was interested in scoring more points against the Raptors, which was caught on camera. It caused a little stir initially, but there were many interviews that day, and the heat quickly faded due to emerging news.

Unexpectedly, after they arrived in Toronto, the media brought out that interview clip again.

If the Toronto Raptors were still the terrible team they had been in the past two years, the local fans probably wouldn’t care much, but it had changed after acquiring the young Colangelo and their rise.

They felt that Zhang Yang looked down on the Toronto Raptors, rubbing salt in their wound.

Zhang Yang’s reputation wasn’t great to begin with, and after the media hype, the Toronto Raptors’ fans’ dislike for Zhang Yang even surpassed that for Kobe, who had scored 81 points against them.

About this matter, Zhang Yang didn’t regret it at all. Had he known it would be popular, he would have asked more questions.

Anyway, Raptors’ fans weren’t his fans, and he hoped to earn the "Dragon Slayer" tag one day.

Besides, only the Raptors’ fans were irate, and Zhang Yang saw that other fans were just enjoying the drama, which even boosted his popularity a bit.

After the Bobcats had entered, the Toronto Raptors’ players entered the arena.

As Bosh entered, cheers echoed throughout the stadium.

Zhang Yang believed that this year’s Bosh truly deserved the "Dragon King" title, with an average of 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. After the All-Star weekend, media outlets named him the top Eastern Conference forward.

Although Okafor was the starting power forward and was also listed as a forward in the All-Star voting, the media and fans still regarded him as a center. He spent more than half his game time under the basket, and people preferred to compare him with Howard and Eddie Curry rather than with Bosh.

Thinking about Bosh’s improvement over recent years, Zhang Yang looked towards the Raptors’ head coach, Sam Mitchell.

The coach, who had played over 10 years at the Timberwolves and retired in 2002, became a trainer for the Suns. Working under Philip Saunders for a few years and witnessing Garnett’s growth, he had considerable insights in developing post players. After becoming the head coach of the Raptors in 2004, he set a clear development plan for the then rookie Bosh, who was disorganized in his play.

In just two years, Bosh had evolved from a rookie who played haphazardly to a top power forward who could score an average of 22 points at a 50% shooting rate, fiercely grab 11 rebounds per game, and had decent playmaking ability.

Bosh’s shooting range was even wider than Garnett’s, extending it from under the basket to beyond the three-point line. This season, he achieved a 34% three-point shooting percentage, taking 34 shots and making 12. Although not many, he would truly take and make a three-pointer if left completely open.

Zhang Yang thought the management of the Toronto Raptors was quite miraculous. He said they were lacking because whenever people thought the team had hit rock bottom, they suddenly pulled off some beautiful maneuvers. But when he said they were impressive, they could come up with unexpectedly outrageous moves that would devastate the team.

...

By 6 p.m., as Bosh defeated Okafor in the jump ball, the game between the Raptors and the visiting Timberwolves began.

Toronto Raptors starters: Calderon, Anthony Parker, Morris Peterson, Bosh, Nesterovic.

Timberwolves starters: Felton, Zhang Yang, Alan Anderson, Millsap, Okafor.

Calderon took the inbound pass and advanced.

Normally, Ford would start for the Raptors. Indeed, Ford was much stronger than Calderon, averaging 30 minutes with 14 points and 8 assists per game. However, against some specific opponents, Ford would come off the bench—against the Warriors, Jazz Team, and Timberwolves.

These three teams had one thing in common—their starting point guards were physically strong and could both shoot and drive.

With Calderon leading, the tempo of the Raptors was one word, slow!

When the shot clock dwindled to just 10 seconds, Calderon initiated a pick and roll with Bosh.

Using the screen to take a step inside the three-point line, Calderon saw that Millsap didn’t step up. He grabbed the ball, took a step inside the three-point line for a long two-point shot... and hit it!

Felton wanted to curse. Calderon’s long two-pointer following the screen was compared to Nash. Didn’t they talk about this yesterday... oh, right, Millsap didn’t attend the team building.

Uniting everyone under a common cause was an impending necessity!

Felton patted Millsap on the back and said, "Step up, leave the back to your teammates."

During the transition from defense to offense, Felton pushed forward to the frontcourt, drove in for a close-range floater... The shot was a bit further than he wanted, but with no options to pass, he tried a throw, which missed.

Calderon’s one-on-one defense was average, but his teamwork in defense was too good. Along with teammates on the front line, Bosh and Morris Peterson, they cornered Felton into an uncomfortable shooting position.

On the Raptors’ offensive play, Millsap pressed out on the pick and roll. Calderon successfully broke inside, drawing the defense before passing the ball to Nesterovic. Nesterovic caught the ball half a step outside the left sideline of the paint, took a step and went up for a lay-up... "beep beep beep"...

The referee blew the whistle urgently, mimicking a punching action.

Nesterovic charged with the ball! Offensive foul!

As Calderon broke deep and Millsap was positioned to intercept Calderon’s high pass, Felton rushed to the paint and bravely positioned himself in front of Nesterovic!

Millsap went up and pulled up the floored Felton, deeply impressed.

When Felton had just told him to trust the teammates behind him, Millsap thought ’Gerald isn’t here, there aren’t any teammates at the back’, but since another team leader had said so, he followed the instruction.

Little did he expect that when Felton said ’trust the teammates behind you’, he was referring to himself!

Watching Felton, teeth bared, picking up the ball to pass to Zhang Yang, Millsap felt like he was about to lose his position...

Zhang Yang advanced to the frontcourt, Felton didn’t engage, he ran towards the baseline, leaving the top arc area clear.

The last time he faced the Raptors, Felton struggled against their team defense, and tonight’s attempt confirmed it was still tough. Realizing this, he decided to let the younger brother handle it, focusing solely on defense.

Zhang Yang, facing Anthony Parker’s tight defense, protected the ball well, scanning the opponent’s position, especially guarding against his sudden stop and jump shots... He didn’t hesitate. As Felton moved to the right corner, Alan Anderson on the left initiated an off-ball screen with Okafor, Zhang Yang dribbled with his left hand, turned, and bypassed Anthony Parker, charging down the right!

Morris Peterson rushed up to guard against a stop-and-shoot, but Zhang Yang didn’t stop. He drove into the paint, facing the retracting Bosh, performed a Euro step, jumped to the right rear of Bosh, tossing up a shot... and made it!

The Dragon King guarding the basket, not quite like the Wolf King!