No.1 in basketball scoring
Chapter 675: Jack Durant 285

Chapter 675: Jack Durant 285

A new month had arrived, and on December 1st, Zhang Yang slept until after 10 a.m. before waking up. He quickly washed up and headed to the arena.

After finishing the game last night, it was almost 11:30 p.m. Battling with McGrady for points, excluding fouls resulting in free throws and failed offenses, he had taken 30 shots, exhausting him considerably. The post-game interview lasted until almost 1 a.m... It was 3 a.m. by the time he finally lay down and fell asleep.

Originally, he had planned to sleep until noon and then get up for lunch. The reason he got up so "early" to go to the arena was that the team’s PR officer called to tell him he had won an award: the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Month for the first month!

Arriving at the arena, he faced the cameras with a businesslike smile and received the Player of the Month trophy from the league official, muttering a few courteous words... and that was it.

Of course, Zhang Yang was happy to receive the award, but not as pleasantly surprised as the first time he won Player of the Month last season.

He had actually forgotten about it, mainly because the media and fans had been debating over the Player of the Month award during the previous days, focusing primarily on the Western Conference. There were discussions about the Eastern Conference Player of the Month too, but except for a very few extreme fans, there wasn’t much controversy...

After receiving the award, Zhang Yang saw that it was not even 11 o’clock yet, too early for lunch, so he decided to get in some extra shooting practice.

He had grown accustomed to the tedium of training, and welcomed it for the improvements it brought to his in-game performance.

But practicing alone this morning felt oddly lonely, and last night’s game had been truly difficult. It was a tight struggle the entire time, and they did not dare to relax until the final seconds... against a man who had scored 13 points in 35 seconds.

Lunch was a solitary affair too; Zhang Yang didn’t care about appearances anymore and simply went to the rest area’s coffee table to eat while browsing the news on his computer.

While checking domestic basketball sites and forums, he couldn’t help but remark, "Staying up so late at night."

A hot topic among domestic fans at the moment was the debate over whether Zhang Yang or McGrady had the stronger scoring ability.

Although McGrady’s popularity soared to phenomenal levels in China thanks to Yao Ming, he already had many fans there before being traded to the Rockets. He was a back-to-back scoring champion during the "iron-blood era," with exceptional stylistic flair and strong visual appeal, unlike now where it’s mostly just "jab jab jab" and then pull up for the shot...

McGrady’s fans asserted: McGrady clearly outshone Zhang Yang in the first 35 minutes of the game.

Zhang Yang’s fans responded: Zhang Yang scored one point higher.

Both sides’ fans stood firmly by and fiercely argued their positions.

In China, it was well into the wee hours, yet the fans of both players waged war on the internet...

Zhang Yang browsed for a while before turning his attention to the news about Yi Jianlian.

Last night, Yi Jianlian played for 23 minutes, 4 of 10 from the field, plus 1 of 2 from the free throw line, scoring 9 points, grabbing 4 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block... While the score was not in double digits, the evaluation was highly positive.

A shooting percentage of 40% seemed weak, but given that both teams’ overall percentage was under 40% last night, and Zhang Yang’s own was also 40%, McGrady was only a touch higher at 41.3%.

For a rookie power forward primarily focused on pick-and-pop and cutting for the occasional dunk, Yi Jianlian’s performance was indeed commendable.

Factor in his Chinese nationality, and it was normal for domestic news to give him some hype.

After wasting half an hour surfing online, Zhang Yang managed not to find many discussions about the actual game they played the previous night; indeed, the game itself was not pretty to watch, something like 80-something to 80-something...

In the United States, the topic of last night’s game between the Bobcats and the Rockets wasn’t very hot. The Spurs vs. Suns game was the main event promoted here yesterday. The Bobcats versus Rockets game was only hot because of Zhang Yang’s butterfly step that faked McGrady out of his shoes and resulted in a three-pointer.

After the announcement of the Player of the Month awards, it also sparked a lot of discussion and controversy among fans.

In the West, amidst a battle of stars, the last laugh was had by—Boozer of the Jazz Team.

The Jazz Team, with a record of 12 wins and 4 losses in 16 games, saw Boozer averaging 24.5 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3 assists, earning him the Western Conference Player of the Month, beating out Kobe with his average of 27 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists; Paul with his average of 23 points, 12 assists; Deron with his average of 21 points, 10.7 assists; McGrady with his average of 27 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists; Nash with his average of 18 points, 11 assists; Parker with his average of 24 points, 7 assists; and Iverson with his average of 26 points, 7 assists...

As for Boozer’s award, the fans of Kobe, Paul, Parker, Nash, McGrady, and Iverson were all quite dissatisfied, and what Zhang Yang saw were fans of each star arguing.

As the internet has become more widespread and expressing opinions more convenient, the hostility has also grown more intense.

By comparison, things were much more harmonious in the East.

Zhang Yang, in 15 games, averaged 31.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.33 blocks, with a field goal percentage of 47.9%, three-point percentage of 40.1%, and a free throw percentage of 90%, leading his team to a 14-1 record. There was no controversy over his award.

Even fans of other stars who were in contention for the award only expressed regret.

James, in 16 games, averaged 34.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2 steals, 1.1 blocks, with a field goal percentage of 46%, a three-point percentage of 30%, and a free throw percentage of 69%, leading his team to a 9-7 record.

Yao Ming played 16 games, averaging 25.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2.2 blocks, with a field goal percentage of 54%, and a free throw percentage of 85%, leading his team to a 11-5 record.

Howard, in 16 games, averaged 20.8 points, 15 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, shooting 61% from the field and 55% from the free-throw line, leading his team to a 10-6 record.

Even ESPN commented—James, Yao, Howard all performed well, but Jack, averaging over 30, with a 14-1 record and twice weekly best, dominated November.

Zhang Yang, outperforming Yao Ming, James, and Howard, made the 2006 draft class take the hit.