No.1 in basketball scoring
Chapter 630 - 271. Targeted at me? Then I will guard against you to the end!

Chapter 630: 271. Targeted at me? Then I will guard against you to the end!

Out West, the Player of the Week was... Chris Paul!

In the first week, Paul led the Hornets to a 4-0 record, averaging 22 points, 4.5 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2.5 steals per game, with a field goal percentage of an astounding 60% from an average of 15 shots and 9 makes.

Zhang Yang started the season with a 50-point game, while Paul opened with three straight 20+10 games. Throughout the first week, their names were found on the hot news leaderboards daily, but when both were named Players of the Week, the fans were still amazed.

As the Pistons beat the Chicago Bulls, and the Lakers beat the Pistons, these three teams completed a cycle of beating each other. Of the league’s 30 teams, only the Bobcats and Hornets remained undefeated.

The first week had Charlotte’s ’two teams’ dominating both conferences!

And Zhang Yang and Paul both belong to the 2005 class!

It was another day that showcased the value of the 2005 class of players!

During the 05-06 season, Wade was Second Team All-NBA plus Finals MVP, James made First Team, and Anthony made Third Team; at the time James was only 21, Anthony 22, and Wade 23. The consensus then was that the era of the 2003 class dominating the NBA had arrived.

The following year, however, the younger class of 2005 made their mark; Deron led the Jazz Team to a Western Conference Finals berth by upsetting Yao and McGrady, and Zhang Yang led the Bobcats on an underdog journey to the championship.

Now, another superstar from the 2005 class had burst onto the scene, with Paul delivering a star performance right from the start!

In contrast, James’s team had a losing record when the Bobcats managed to contain him, losing all 17 of their encounters; Wade’s Miami Heat collapsed shortly after their championship win; Bosh faced the strongest Eastern conference frontline in over a decade, competing against players like Yao Ming, Howard, Okafor, and others... Meanwhile, Anthony, after three quiet years, suddenly became the most successful player of the 2003 class!

With veterans of the great ’96 generation before them, and the 2005 class of superior guards behind them, in just a year, the class of 2003 suddenly found themselves squeezed in the middle like a layer of cream in a sandwich, squished and reshaped...

On the 8th, it was the Bobcats’ fifth game day of the new season.

In the morning, the Bobcats had a regular practice, the content of which wasn’t closely related to the evening’s opponent; the next three opponents were difficult to prepare for specifically, as they were either in a rebuilding phase or a period of chaos. Even Carlisle, knowing the unpredictability of performances, including his own team’s, decided to forgo targeted preparations and focused instead on refining tactical details and steadily advancing the development of their system.

Just as the 2003 class was hyped at the beginning of the 06-07 season, now the media and fans were going crazy over the 2005 class.

While the outside world was buzzing, to ’the premier point guard of the 2005 class’, things seemed rather melancholic.

At lunchtime, Felton asked his younger brother, "Jack, do you think my talent is really that bad?"

Zhang Yang: "Your talent? Where is it bad? Even if you were the notorious leader of the Bad Boys Legion and single-handedly dismantled the GDP trio, with such a poor reputation, the media still predicts you have the potential to be an All-Star and could possibly be selected during your peak if you continue to improve."

Zhang Yang remembered that in the original timeline, Felton showed little improvement in the Bobcats for five years, sticking to his college basketball style and bad habits, almost completely wasting his growth period.

But in the 10-11 season, under D’Antoni, a coach who excelled at using point guards, he still managed to produce averages of 17 points and 9 assists per game in the first half of the season, leading the team to a decent 28-26 record. In the East, where 37 or 38 wins could secure a playoff spot, the team performance was quite commendable... Unfortunately, after playing two games post All-Star weekend, he was traded by the Knicks as a key piece in the deal for Anthony.

Nuggets’ coach George Karl didn’t favor a point guard like Felton who lacked speed and organizational talent, relying only on tactical plays, so Felton ended up as a backup for the Nuggets and slipped back into obscurity.

Because he had not honed his fundamentals properly during the first eight years of his career, and with a playing style plagued by bad habits and lack of technical progress, his ability sharply declined as his athletic ability waned after turning 30. He became a bench player and gradually faded from the NBA.

Here, the young ’Fat Boss’, had started adjusting his playing habits since his rookie year, and early on polished his shooting fundamentals under Ingles. After his rookie season, he began training with the Legendary Trainer, Grove, proactively broadened his technical skills, and expanded his scoring areas. From the looks of it, Selection to the All-Star during his peak seemed highly likely.

And given Felton’s ’floor-general’ playing style, if he laid a solid foundation and developed his techniques well, he could potentially have an extended prime; the ’floor-general’ approach also minimized injury risk, so even at 34 or 35 years of age, he might still be at his peak.

Felton: "Are you praising me? But now that you mention it, I too feel I’m not too bad. Yet, compared to Williams and Paul, I seem quite lacking. They’re hitting 20+10, Ellis is averaging 20 points this season, even the Dunk King is just a backup for Ellis, and I’m only at 15 points."

Zhang Yang felt quite sorry for Felton; whenever he compared himself to others, regardless of whether he could measure up, he was full of confidence. But when comparing himself with his peers from the same draft class, he appeared especially lacking in confidence.

Zhang Yang: "In terms of stats, you might find it hard to compete with them, but when you face them head-on, you don’t lose out. And Boss, you have advantages they don’t."

Felton’s eyes lit up: "Jack, tell me, what are my advantages?"

Zhang Yang pointed to himself and said, "I’m your teammate."

Felton looked at Zhang Yang for a while, then said, "You’re right, I’m luckier than they are."