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Chapter 642: Pursue, pursue, pursue!

Chapter 642: Pursue, pursue, pursue!

Zhang Yang said he wanted to integrate new breakthrough techniques. Nash thought Zhang Yang turned to them because the butterfly step had failed to develop as planned.

It turns out this unlucky student had already developed the rhythm-driven butterfly step and started tinkering with new techniques!

Is there such a big difference between people?

In ’03, Son of the Wind’s drives held him back in the Western Conference Finals. That summer, he began developing a new attacking technique, the ’momentum-grab step layup’, which took him three years. The first year he used it in combat, his driving field goal percentage plummeted by 7 percentage points. It wasn’t until the end of the 05-06 season that he truly completed his offensive technique adjustment. Then, in the previous season, he achieved a 70% shooting rate on drives, which, coupled with the threat of driving to the basket, enhanced his mid-to-long-range shooting. Only then did the media and fans start describing him as ’getting better with age’ and having ’insane progress’.

When it came to Zhang Yang, he only officially started working on the rhythm-driven butterfly step in August, and within less than three months, he was using it in games!

However, in Nash’s view, Zhang Yang’s move wasn’t as practical as Iverson’s and Hill’s butterfly steps.

The explosiveness and speed of acceleration of those two were so exaggerated when they pulled the ball back hard, their body swaying greatly. Every time they dribbled, they were really looking for a breakthrough opportunity. Opponents had to follow their every move. The moment they didn’t follow, all they could see were taillights.

Zhang Yang’s technique was mainly aimed at defenders who were not calm and were impulsive. It served as a supplement to the conventional rhythm-driven breakthrough. Moreover, Zhang Yang had this direction in mind from the start and wasn’t trying to change his style of play, so he could achieve it so quickly... Nash felt much better after thinking this over...

Consoling himself a bit, Nash took the inbound pass and pushed forward to the frontcourt to continue the attack!

This time, Nash didn’t go for a team offense but direct passed the ball to Stoudemire, close by.

Stoudemire faced up against Okafor one-on-one, drove to the basket, and slammed over Okafor, the whistle blew, 2+1!

Stoudemire walked to the free-throw line, and nailed the bonus shot, completing the 2+1 play!

Since entering the NBA, Stoudemire had been improving his free throws every year: 66% in his rookie season, 71% in his second, 73% in his third... This season, he gradually stabilized around 80% at the free-throw line!

Ingles used Stoudemire as an example when encouraging Okafor, Millsap, and Rondo to practice free throws.

On the Bobcats’ offense, Zhang Yang received a pass from Okafor and, after scoring two consecutive baskets, was pincered in the elbow area and delivered a bounce pass... Mike Miller received the pass and nailed a three-pointer!

Stoudemire’s difficult 2+1 was smoothly erased by the Bobcats!

There is no doubt that going strong on a one-on-one dunk is one of the most difficult ways to score.

With a two-point lead during the official timeout, the Suns players thought they could slow the pace when they returned from the break, tangle with the Bobcats for a few minutes, and then try to pull away toward the end of the quarter. However, their opponents came back from the timeout and cut a straight 7 points... Continue the attack!

In the following minutes, the Suns indeed engaged in a drawn-out tug-of-war with the Bobcats, just a bit tougher than the Suns players had anticipated, requiring them to stay focused on scoring.

Close to the quarter’s end, the Suns’ advantage in team offense started to show again. First, Nash made a close-range running catch and one-step floater to help the Suns take the lead at 37-36.

Next, Zhang Yang caught the ball and turned into a drive, attempting a Euro step bank shot that missed. Marion, who had rotated into the game, grabbed the defensive rebound and passed it to Nash, who retreated into a fast break, and Barbosa scored on a layup.

Following Rondo’s failed drive and floater, the first quarter concluded with the Bobcats trailing the Suns by 3 points at 36-39!

Although they did not play well in the last few seconds, the Bobcats had actually outscored the Suns by 1 point during the five-plus minutes following the official timeout, 18-17 for the half of the quarter.

The Bobcats had the offensive firepower to outdo the Suns over a short time, but in terms of sustained offensive capabilities, the 8-man-rotation Suns were stronger.

The Suns entered the intermission with high morale.

Although they only held a 3-point lead, they’d managed to come out ahead in the quarter after the opposition erupted and reeled off 7 points following the official timeout.

The Suns weren’t too concerned about the margin of their lead; they just kept scoring. Even if they had only one more point than their opponents when the final whistle blew, they would win—a mindset similar to the Spurs’, who believed that as long as they scored one more point than the opposition by the end of the game, they would win, no matter how low their own score was.

But after the intermission, in the Bobcats’ first attack, Felton went solo against Barbosa and sunk a step-back three-pointer, tying the game at 39-39!

On the Suns’ offense, Marion cut in to receive the ball for a layup, scoring two points. Turning back to the Bobcats, the dual point guard duo, with Jarett Jack pushing inside, managed a floater over Diaw, who had moved to center, and the score was tied once more!

During the break, Carlisle felt like he’d seen this scenario play out before and suddenly remembered last season’s finals...

Carlisle thought Zhang Yang had made a good point during the first quarter official timeout—"I don’t want to worry about how good the Suns’ offense is; just play them as if they have a bad defense."

With this strategy in mind, he put Felton and Jarett Jack on the offense, with Alan Anderson, Millsap, and Muhammad upfront to fight for rebounds and protect the rim.

This attempt was remarkably effective! Playing against the Suns, Jarett Jack, who was a jack of all trades but master of none, played like a star player. Together with Felton, the two point guards went back and forth with the opposition!

With 3:19 left, Felton drove close to the rim, lobbed a pass, and Millsap slammed down an alley-oop, putting the Bobcats ahead by 1 point at 48-47. D’Antoni couldn’t sit still, he called for a timeout!

Jarett Jack’s solo play combined with Felton’s one-on-ones and coordination with Millsap resulted in a 12-8 run against the Suns in less than three and a half minutes!

Suspecting that Zhang Yang and Okafor, who played the entire first quarter, would be subbed out for rest at the start of the second, D’Antoni, holding a 3-point lead, also wanted to give Nash and Stoudemire a break.

With neither Zhang Yang nor Okafor on the floor and only the steady Felton leading the team, the Bobcats’ offensive firepower was certain to decline. In D’Antoni’s eyes, Barbosa and Diaw leading the team would be sufficient.

But unexpectedly, Carlisle played such a move, with Jarett Jack’s hot hand, scoring two consecutive goals for 5 points!

D’Antoni made an early substitution, sending back Nash, Raja Bell, Diaw, Marion, and Stoudemire.

Without hesitation, Carlisle benched the well-performing Jarett Jack and sent on Felton, Zhang Yang, Mike Miller, Millsap, and Muhammad.

After the timeout, the Suns attacked.

Stoudemire received the ball close-up and went one-on-one against Millsap, seizing a gap to force his way into the three-second area, rising strong through the contest and scoring with a layup!

Zhang Yang watched this scene and thought of a word — ferocious!

The "Little Overlord" was too powerful, and that was even after his athletic ability had been reduced!

During the transition to defense, Zhang Yang ran to the frontcourt... being stuck to by Raja Bell.

Facing Raja Bell’s rough and sticky defense, Zhang Yang continued to move without the ball, taking Raja Bell on runs to minimize contact.

The commentators, who had just been questioning Carlisle’s decision to substitute Jarett Jack, who was two for two, shut up before the round was even over.

Although Stoudemire was not good at protecting the rim, at least he was a proper big man. With him on, Marion could extend his defense a bit more, and Raja Bell could focus single-mindedly on one-on-one defense. The clinginess and intensity of his defense... were more than Jarett Jack could handle!

People remembered last season’s playoffs when Jarett Jack’s offense, which looked quite good in the regular season, fell apart starting from the first round facing Kidd. Plus, with his defensive weaknesses such as slow speed defending point guards, lack of height against shooting guards, and a tendency to be impulsive at the defensive end... it would have been disastrous had Carlisle not decisively benched him.

With Zhang Yang’s movement drawing away Raja Bell and capturing Marion’s help defense attention, Felton drove in for a close-range floater, scoring two points.

Watching Zhang Yang play against other teams, Nash always found Zhang Yang pleasing to the eye, but competing on the same court, he found him annoying to deal with.

With Zhang Yang’s positioning distraction, Millsap’s wing cover, Muhammad’s cutting threat, and Mike Miller spacing the floor... Felton had better conditions for offense compared to before the substitutions.

The most important factor was Zhang Yang. After the opening attack, he rarely went one-on-one, but his shot attempts still reached a high count of seven times in the first quarter! Felton and Okafor had high synergy with Zhang Yang, and Rondo and Hill had a good vision for passing; any slight chance for Zhang Yang, and they’d get the ball to him, and Zhang Yang would definitely shoot.

Nash felt the pressure increase as he played, but he did not show it. He couldn’t let that pressure transmit to his teammates; they had to keep attacking!

With both teams in this lineup, the Suns quickly regained an advantage. By 10:20 in the second quarter, the Suns led with a 68 to 64 margin, scoring 21 to 16 after bringing back the starting lineup.

Just as the Suns players thought they could maintain a lead of about five points by halftime, the substituted Okafor erupted, scoring twice against Stoudemire in the post, while Barbosa, who had also come off the bench, missed a three-pointer.

to 68, the Bobcats tied the game!

On the Suns’ possession, Nash hit a step-back three-pointer after using a screen, allowing the Suns to regain a three-point lead.

On the return play, Okafor continued to go low, leaning on Stoudemire to receive the ball. This time Marion chose to collapse for the double-team, and Zhang Yang took the opportunity to momentarily shake off Raja Bell with a screen from the substituting Hill, moving to the top of the arc.

After a smart pass from Okafor, Zhang Yang caught the ball just outside the three-point line, turned, and facing Raja Bell who was rushing over after circling around the screen, shot from the top of the arc... and scored a three-pointer!

to 71, the Bobcats tied the game again!

On the Suns’ possession, Nash used a screen to retreat and attracted a double-team from Okafor and Felton before passing the ball to Stoudemire, who was open at the free-throw line on the left side. Stoudemire took the mid-range shot... and scored!

After the transition to offense, Felton continued to lob the ball to Okafor.

Zhang Yang moved up from the left baseline, using Hill’s screen to run toward the top of the arc.

Felton, after passing the ball, ran toward the left baseline, and Hill, after blocking Raja Bell for Zhang Yang, set a second consecutive pick-and-roll to block Nash for Felton.

Raja Bell hesitated just a moment, shifting to cover Felton who was running towards the left corner.

Diaw, guarding Hill, might not have been strong defensively, but he had always made smart defensive decisions, hardly ever dragging down Marion and Raja Bell. This time, he also switched very tacitly, chasing after Zhang Yang... but Raja Bell’s defensive prediction was wrong this time!

Okafor continued to pass it to Zhang Yang!

Although Diaw chased with effort, when Zhang Yang was about to reach the top of the arc, he suddenly turned and cut inside, leaving Diaw desperately trailing... but unable to catch up!

Zhang Yang drove straight down the middle towards the basket, Okafor quickly spread out, and Stoudemire stepped up... only to be eluded by Zhang Yang’s Euro step. Zhang Yang leaped from the right side of the restricted arc, went up with one hand, and slammed the ball into the hoop!

Okafor was grateful he ran fast enough. In the NBA, there are three players who can dunk after a Euro step: Flash, the "Blade," and Zhang San. But only Zhang San would dunk no matter who he bumped into. With the Euro step reaching a dunkable position and taking off without being affected by contact, he would always leap and dunk, and his teammates wouldn’t miss the chance either!

The fans in the stadium went wild, cheering for Zhang Yang’s Euro step to dunk, and as Nash followed up with a step-back three-pointer at the buzzer that missed, the first half ended with the teams tied at 73!

Still maintaining control of the game and with the opponent in the passive situation of having to catch up, this time the score was equalized and the Suns’ players’ mindset was visibly affected!