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Chapter 406 - 190. I hope Xiao Fei Lao Da is tough enough!

Chapter 406: 190. I hope Xiao Fei Lao Da is tough enough!

Zhang Yang notched a triple-double, Okafor had a double 20, and both of them consecutively stepping up, the Bobcats became the hot topic of discussion among fans these days.

Just in the morning, the media had finished saying Okafor wasn’t as good as Rasheed Wallace, but come evening, Okafor slapped them in the face... that brought the heat of the topic, didn’t it!

In response, the media said, please continue!

If Okafor had simply gotten a double 20 and led the team to victory, the heat clearly wouldn’t be this high; this is exactly what the media were looking forward to.

Getting slapped in the face, just look at ESPN, stirring up the most dirt about Zhang Yang, and when Zhang Yang broke a record, they hyped it up more than anyone.

It’s just a pity for the Mavericks, who achieved their third 10-game winning streak of the season, only to have their thunder stolen by the tag-team eruption of Zhang Yang and Okafor.

It could also be that the Mavericks have had too many winning streaks this season, and the fans have grown accustomed to it.

Look at the Suns, who dropped to third in the West after a 7-game losing streak and were overtaken by the Spurs, that’s quite the hot news item, isn’t it.

It’s definitely not Zhang San and Duncan’s fault; it’s the Mavericks not being up to snuff.

The next morning, the Bobcats left Detroit and continued southward.

But there were two fewer players heading south — Matt Carroll and Othella Harrington.

On the plane, the teammates were buzzing about the two who hadn’t joined them on the trip to Atlanta; with the trade deadline tomorrow, it was certain those two were on their way out.

Zhang Yang now understood why Gerald Wallace was sidelined with an injury, and it was Alan Anderson who started, not Matt Carroll.

Bickerstaff had chosen Alan Anderson to hold onto for the long term between the two.

Currently, Alan Anderson’s shooting ability lagged behind Matt Carroll’s by a clear margin.

This season, Matt Carroll’s three-point shooting percentage was a high 44.1%, the highest on the team; he averaged 2.2 three-pointers per game, also the highest on the team, and was even ranked 13th across the entire league; averaging 10.8 points per game, the fifth highest scorer on the team, and the only bench player to average double figures in scoring.

But Matt Carroll had one big flaw — he’s ferocious with the wind, a god at bullying the weak, a pitfall against the wind, invisible under stress, like a poor man’s Peja.

His movement without the ball was also average; most of the time, he was just a spot-up shooter. It’s only because Zhang San could create plays, Gerald Wallace had a strong attacking force that could compress the defense, and Rondo was great at finding open players that Matt Carroll could shoot an average of 2+ three-pointers per game.

Alan Anderson, this season, with a 39% three-point shooting rate, averaged 0.9 three-pointers per game. To produce such performance, given the wide-open shots, was indeed mediocre, but he was only a sophomore. He had improved a lot over these two years, and importantly, he didn’t flinch in tough games. Besides his three-point talent, he also had the ability to drive to the basket and defend positions 1 through 3.

In terms of pure shooters, they still had Herrmann with a 43% three-point shooting rate and Jumaine Jones at 39%; looking at the roster composition and tactical operations, losing Matt Carroll wouldn’t cause too much impact.

Of course, their overall long-range shooting ability was bound to be affected. In most games, no other shooter on the team could match Matt Carroll’s impact.

There’s also the aspect of the fast break, which left Zhang Yang wondering who to hit up for chase-down three-pointers... Should he do it himself? That would mean his three-point ability needed to continue to improve, and Rondo’s dribble break capability as well.

Trade would inevitably come with growing pains. When Bickerstaff told him a trade was coming, he was already mentally prepared. Having an extra ball-handler on the perimeter was necessary for the playoffs.

Also, Herrmann and Alan Anderson, two first and second-year players, needed to be developed. Simply put, that means giving them playing time and the greenlight to shoot, just like how they were developing Perkins.

Zhang Yang saw Big Baby feeling sad about his junior leaving and didn’t go over to comfort him. These kinds of things, he needed to get used to.

Unless they won the championship, in which case there would be calls for "keeping the champions," "maintaining the championship core," etc., as long as the team had the intention of striving upwards, there would inevitably be player turnovers. Even with a championship win, it would just mean fewer departures.

However, Zhang Yang’s composure only lasted until they reached the hotel in Atlanta...

...

On February 24th, 2007, the Bobcats completed a three-way trade with the Trail Blazers and the Spurs, sending out Matt Carroll and Othella Harrington, and receiving Trail Blazers’ Jarett Jack and Spurs’ Eric Williams.

Eric Williams was purely an addition, or let’s say a ’negative asset’, used to balance the trade value, a 34-year-old with a $4.3 million expiring contract who had only played 16 games at the beginning of the season, averaging 2.6 points per game.

Without taking on Eric Williams, they wouldn’t have been able to trade for Jarett Jack with just Matt Carroll.

But none of that mattered; Zhang Yang rushed to the head coach’s room and demanded, "Bernie, didn’t you say we were aiming for Dixon? How did it change to Jack!"

Bickerstaff, with a wily look of an old rogue, turned the laptop towards Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang took a glance... fuck! Someone had sniped their deal!

"The Raptors used a first-round pick along with Fred Jones; our chips couldn’t compare with theirs. They wanted us also to throw in a first-round pick, but after discussing with the owner, we declined. Besides, Jack is stronger than Dixon. Jack, don’t be so picky," Bickerstaff said while looking the other way, his son couldn’t bear to look and turned his head away.

Zhang Yang huffed in frustration, "Change the head coach! I can’t take this anymore! Hurry up and make the change!"

Bickerstaff, with the thickest skin on the team, made an evasive reply, "Change, change, change, definitely, but we have to wait until the end of the season, right?"