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Chapter 633 - 272. Mr. Na is elated with the spring breeze.

Chapter 633: 272. Mr. Na is elated with the spring breeze.

The next day, on the 9th, at 7:40 p.m., Zhang Yang and his teammates stepped onto the court at Tuhang Stadium once again for a back-to-back game against the Hawks team.

After entering the arena, Felton went off to have a lively chat with Harden, who had come to the game.

The ignored Zhang San: "The two fatties ditched me again!"

That night, Harden and Carmelo Tatum were at the game, which Zhang Yang had paid for the tickets. Both were NCAA registered players and could accept an invitation from a friend to watch an NBA game in person. Zhang Yang was their high school classmate, and if the NCAA were to investigate, a report could pass.

NBA teams giving away tickets would not be allowed, otherwise, Jordan really wanted to give tickets to these two juniors.

Especially Harden, a top 10 high school player in the nation and one of the top talents from the crowded class of ’07.

Zhang Yang went over to Tyronn Lue and Carmelo Tatum, who were posing for a photo, and after they were done, Zhang Yang approached them. He casually greeted Tatum, as they met once or twice a month, either him returning to school or Tatum visiting Charlotte, so no formalities were needed.

Then he politely greeted Tyronn Lue. After the pleasantries, Zhang Yang said, "Lue sir, are you going to be guarding me tonight?"

Tyronn Lue reacted fiercely, "No! Why would I guard you? You wish."

Zhang Yang said, "Then who else do you have to guard me? Johnson’s lateral movement is slow, he can’t even guard my shots; Childress is too thin, last year he almost couldn’t handle my drives, let alone now. Who else do you have? Are you going to have the forwards guard me? Only your speed can keep up with me..."

While talking, Zhang Yang glanced towards the opposite bench. The Hawks team, without considering roster structure, were bursting with talent, with 206 cm geniuses like Marvin Williams and Shelden Williams, who squandered their abilities as if they were free, never begrudging the waste. Even Josh Smith, with top-tier physical gifts among forwards, was mishandled by them, having played every position from 1 to 5 over the past three years.

If there’s anything to be said for the way Josh Smith was developed... there is. Josh Smith, who showed two-way, max-contract potential in his rookie year, was trained into a multimillionaire. In the offseason, the Hawks team extended his contract early, starting at $10 million for 6 years, $72 million, saving a lot of money. Had Josh Smith performed like Okafor, it would have cost them a hundred million for 6 years.

Josh Smith’s current situation is such that he can play any position from 1 to 5 above the average starter level of other teams, but at whatever position he doesn’t outperform the opposing starters, and this season he started with striking stats of 15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks on average per game, but watching him play, you can tell he has no clear advantage over anyone else, neither on offense nor defense, failing to have the impact of a star.

This year, the Hawks only had one true point guard among the ten main rotation players, which was the Tyronn Lue right in front of him.

This season, Tyronn Lue aged another year, but instead of decreasing his playing time from last season, it increased. Last season he averaged 24 minutes per game; this season, he’s averaging 26 minutes in the first four games.

It’s clear that Hawks head coach Mike Woodson has realized the importance of a point guard and has stopped trying to copy Larry Brown’s strategy of playing combo guards.

But the Hawks management seemed like they were just messing around at the draft when they picked Al Horford. There were leaks that the Grizzlies were all set to pick Horford, completely unprepared that they would end up getting Conley, instantly completing their rebuild.

Just as Zhang Yang speculated, Mike Woodson already wanted to resign.

Seeing Conley’s stats of 8.2 points and 5.5 assists per game in the first four games, Mike Woodson was envious.

It’s not that Horford was bad; he had 8 points and 8 rebounds along with 2 assists and 1 steal in his rookie debut, showing great potential on both ends, but they already had too many forwards with such height and talent, too many to develop, so they had to let them go or waste their potential. After all, there is only one ball, and there are only so many shots and ball-handling opportunities, not enough to spread among so many talents.

Without the ball, they could only rely on playing off-ball, hustling, and defending. After getting used to this style of play, all those 206 cm geniuses became laborers.

Hearing Zhang Yang jokingly criticizing his teammates, Tyronn Lue wasn’t angry, there was nothing worth being upset about, he replied, "So what if I can keep up with you? Even if you shoot in front of me, I might not be able to bother you, so I definitely won’t be guarding you. But we will definitely stop you."

Zhang Yang had a bad feeling, protesting strongly, "No, Lue sir, you can’t do that, you’ve targeted me for two years now, again?"

Seeing his reaction, Tyronn Lue couldn’t help but laugh, "Who told you to be the youngest FMVP in history..."

...

to 93, the Bobcats defeated the Hawks team, which had been in chaos for years, without much suspense.

Felton scored 25 points with 4 assists, smirking ear to ear, Jarett Jack had 16 points and 3 assists, and Mike Miller scored 15 points. The Bobcats’ main shooting guards all performed well... except for Zhang Yang, who scored 11 points and brought down 6 rebounds and dished 6 assists on 7 shots and went 3 for 3 from the free throw line.

The Pacers merely doubled in advance, but the Hawks team spared no face, directly applying limitless doubles on him.

It’s been two years of unlimited double-teams, so what’s one more time?

Moreover, this was a rare occasion where the Hawks players had a common goal in a game. Though they had won 1 out of the first 5 games, it was against the Miami Heat, tied for last in the league with the Pacers. In that game, their offense and defense were all over the place, with no cohesion, but tonight they finally looked like they were "doing something big" together.