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Chapter 657 - 279. Winning streak of ten from the start! _6

Chapter 657: 279. Winning streak of ten from the start! _6

Carlisle: "If I had Bibby, Martin, Artest, and Miller in a quartet, I’d also think I could lead the team to a championship in the future."

Zhang Yang: "Can the coach of the Kings really compare to you? Forget it, that’s not important. What’s our strategy moving forward?"

This is pretty important, you could compliment me some more... Carlisle thought to himself, but he still had his pride, so he said, "Jack, what do you think?"

Is this passing the buck? Forget it, after all, Zhang San’s important role in the game is as a scapegoat, so might as well take this one too... Zhang Yang replied, "Go offensive, we actually had the opportunity to play a better offense in the second quarter, but we restrained the pace wanting to defend well. We neither defended well nor played well in offense, fortunately, our long shots and drives got better in the second quarter."

Carlisle: "I’ll take your advice..."

Watching Carlisle take out the tactical board, which had several tactical diagrams clipped on it, the first one was an offensive tactic... Zhang San rolled his eyes, Carlisle was indeed passing the buck!

Mother of... Is this still the same Carlisle who had a too straightforward personality, was excessively strict with others and himself, and had poor relationships with the management and players in Pistons and Pacers?

How he’s changed!

...

Coming back from halftime, the third quarter began.

At the start of the game, Dalembert had bested Okafor to win the jump ball, so the Bobcats took the offense first in the third quarter.

Zhang Yang waited on the right wing for Rondo to push forward. Iguodala was guarding a step inside the three-point line, Rondo passed the ball to Zhang Yang after crossing midcourt.

Before Rondo ran inside the three-point line, Zhang Yang caught the ball, turned around, and shot a three-pointer directly...

Iguodala didn’t react in time. By the time he lunged to disturb, Zhang Yang had already released the ball.

Not just Iguodala, even Rondo hadn’t expected Zhang Yang to shoot like that!

Rondo: "Bro, although the coach planned for us to push the offense, that shot of yours was... too good!"

Zhang Yang caught the ball, turned around, and hit a three-pointer, Rondo assist +1!

During the 76ers’ offense, the Bobcats still couldn’t defend well. Andre Miller played a low one-on-one, passed the ball, and Iguodala received it on the flank; he cut in, attracted Okafor’s defense, then lobbed to the other side, and Thaddeus Young made a layup.

In the offensive transition, Rondo, like the previous play, passed to Zhang Yang right after crossing midcourt. Zhang Yang turned around and lifted his hands, Iguodala immediately lunged at him.

Clearly, Iguodala’s focus on defense wasn’t enough, and he was not committed enough; he fell for such a fake move!

Zhang Yang pulled back the ball he had lifted, drove forward, turned around, bypassed Iguodala, and burst into the lane, performing a Euro step layup that scored, racking up 5 points, and starting an offensive frenzy!

The 76ers still performed well offensively in the third quarter, continuing their first-half performance and scoring 28 points by the end of the quarter.

But on the Bobcats’ side, Zhang Yang played 10 minutes and scored 20 points... 8 out of 13 shots made, including 2 out of 2 three-pointers, plus 2 out of 2 free throws!

With Rondo’s traveling layup scored, the third quarter ended, and under Zhang Yang’s lead, the Bobcats explosively scored 40 points!

to 86, the Bobcats took a 3-point lead over the 76ers entering the final quarter!

Into the final quarter, the 76ers’ offensive performance declined significantly, partly because they were leading by 9 points at halftime, but then the third quarter saw them being overtaken after the Bobcats scored 40 points, breaking their spirit.

There was also Iguodala, who exploded with 27 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in three quarters only to fade in the fourth, scoring 0 points, grabbing 0 boards, and dishing out just one assist...

In the final quarter, the only pillar for the 76ers was Reed.

He shot 10 for 5, including making one of two three-point attempts and both of his free throws, fetching 13 points in just 9 minutes of play this quarter, displaying extreme efficiency by Louis Williams.

However, his teammates combined only scored 10 points, mainly because the 13 points he scored were purely his, without a single assist, failing to play the organizational role in offense that Iguodala did.

After all, it was Reed’s first year rising up, and his ability to organize an offense had not yet matured.

The Timberwolves also saw a significant decrease in scoring in the final quarter compared to the third, but they still scored slightly more than the 76ers, with Okafor adding 8 points, Rondo 6 points and 5 assists, Zhang Yang 5 points, Felton 2 points, Mike Miller 3 points, and Hill 2 points, bringing the team’s total to 26 points.

Zhang Yang scored 8 points in the first quarter, 8 in the second, 20 in the third, and 5 in the fourth, shooting 16 out of 32 from the field, including 3 of 5 from three-point range, plus making 6 of 8 free throws, scoring a total of 41 points!

Along with Felton’s 20 points and 5 assists, Okafor’s 16 points and 10 rebounds, Rondo’s 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 11 assists... The Timberwolves came from behind to beat the 76ers 115 to 109, clinching their 12th consecutive win!

...

With single-quarter scores of over 20 points, a single game score of 41 points, and a comeback, Zhang Yang and the Timberwolves continued to dominate in all the major media.

Zhang Yang saw in the news that he scored 20 points in a single quarter and 41 points in the game under the tough defense of Iguodala, and he was baffled—couldn’t these media outlets see that Iguodala this season was recklessly focused on scoring, and his defensive performance had significantly declined?

Indeed, this season Iguodala has reached new career highs with an average of 2.2 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. But impulsive steals often lead to losing position, and he frequently misses his defensive assignments on the wing due to going for rebounds—can this really be considered good defense?

But considering last season Camby won the Defensive Player of the Year Award... why wouldn’t good defensive stats count as good defense?

After a day of rest, on November 26th, the Timberwolves faced the challenge of the visiting Timberwolves at home.

As the players entered the arena, Zhang Yang chatted with Bynum for a bit.

When Bynum first entered the arena, Zhang Yang was taken aback!

That hair volume—it’s no wonder he was so unhappy when Kobe forced him to shave his head.

After switching teams, the joy on Bynum’s face was visibly apparent, with no one to control him, and he played quite well.

Since the start of the season, the Timberwolves had played 14 games, with Bynum averaging 31 minutes, 16.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks. The month wasn’t even over, and he was already considered a front-runner for the Most Improved Player Award, turning 20 just last month and praised as having the demeanor of a superstar.

The performance of the Timberwolves was also unexpectedly good, with a record of 6 wins and 8 losses, currently tied with the Kings at eleventh in the Western Conference.

Tellem wouldn’t miss this opportunity for hype, tying Zhang Yang and Bynum together again for promotion—the new version of a Kobe and junior O’Neal pairing.

Letting Bynum ride Zhang Yang’s coattails, Bynum’s already well-recognized talent grew even more esteemed.

Zhang Yang didn’t mind his agent using another person from the same agency to ride his coattails; it’s just, who else could it be if not junior O’Neal, especially as a favorite for the Most Improved Player Award...

While making small talk with Bynum, Zhang Yang just wanted to give Bynum a big thumbs up! The nickname really didn’t arise by mistake!

When Bynum talked about his performance after changing teams, he was brimming with pride. Regarding his sudden surge in his third year, he believed it was all his own doing. No thanks to the Lakers’ nurture or Kobe’s mentoring, having no gratitude wasn’t important. Mainly, Bynum expressed strong dissatisfaction about being "exploited" by Kobe during his time with the Lakers, and now that he had switched teams, he wasn’t afraid of Kobe anymore and spoke very loudly...