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Chapter 682 - 288. Offensive basketball has started!

Chapter 682: 288. Offensive basketball has started!

The Mavericks were on the offensive again, and Roy was ready to be demolished by Zhang Yang.

But to Roy’s surprise, Zhang Yang went to play off the ball!

Zhang Yang used Okafor’s screen on the wing, went around the free-throw line, and cut through the middle.

After receiving the ball outside the right three-point line, Mike Miller passed it directly to the middle, where Zhang Yang, facing Aldridge’s defensive recovery under the basket, jumped and scored a layup over Aldridge!

During the transition from defense to offense, Roy went one-on-one against Zhang Yang, continuing with his method of rhythmic fluidity, frontal change of direction + static strength for positioning, and aggressive drives.

Although Roy lacked explosive power, his static strength was solid, his front change direction technique was robust, his rhythm excellent, and his shooting skills comprehensive, with solid fundamental shooting technique... Before 2009, even top defensive talents like Kobe, Wade, Billups, and Battier found him a tough matchup.

As his skills constantly improved, Zhang Yang became more dominant offensively with increasing frequency, but on defense, as his defensive capabilities gradually improved, he actually became more composed.

In the past, his occasional hot-headed defense was due to his mind knowing what to do but his body not keeping up, leading to frustration. Now that his defensive capability had improved, he could handle more situations and chose to focus on what he could effectively accomplish.

Defensively against Roy, Zhang Yang had two goals—use his arm’s reach and quick jumping ability to cover mid-and long-range shots, and use his speed advantage to try limiting his opponent’s breakthrough speed.

This signaled to his teammates on the wing and inside— "I can only do so much, the rest is up to you guys."

Having won a championship together, the synergy between the twin towers on the inside and Zhang Yang was perfect. Just as Roy seized an opportunity during a change of direction to push forward for positional advantage, Millsap moved from the left elbow to the middle, and Okafor shuffled to the right side of the collision zone, preparing to join Zhang Yang in trapping the play.

But the synergy between the ’06 twins was also strong!

Aldridge and Millsap moved simultaneously to the tip of the free-throw line on the right, blocking Zhang Yang, who was guarding Roy!

Millsap quickly moved from behind Aldridge about a meter away to the right side of the key, switching to guard Roy.

After setting the screen, Aldridge cleared out, and Zhang Yang was forced to switch and move around front Aldridge.

Utilizing his strong static strength, Roy settled his feet and stepped back twice, taking a mid-range mismatch shot against Millsap and scoring a long two-pointer!

The score was tied 4-4!

When it was the Mavericks’ turn to attack, Roy focused on solo defending, but Zhang Yang did not receive the ball for a one-on-one; instead, Felton drove and passed back to high post Millsap, initiating an offense that created a receiving opportunity for Mike Miller on the wing.

Zhang Yang continued to go off the ball in the middle, and after Okafor blocked Roy, Pulzbila chose to switch defense. After receiving the ball from Mike Miller one step outside the free-throw line, Zhang Yang faced Pulzbila’s tight defense just outside the free-throw line.

Roy moved to the middle three-second area, ready to help defend in case Pulzbila got passed.

But Zhang Yang, facing Pulzbila, jumped not to shoot, but to pass!

Okafor moved to catch the ball near the left baseline and took a jump shot... and scored!

Roy, witnessing this, sighed inwardly: Worthy of being the youngest FMVP in history, he saw right through our plan and didn’t fall for it!

In these two offensive plays, Roy played very individually, seemingly focusing only on the basket, not because he particularly wanted to challenge Zhang Yang, but simply to draw him into a one-on-one duel.

Indeed, the Trail Blazers’ strategy tonight was to wage a war of attrition against the star players.

Very few teams dare engage in an attrition war with the Mavericks, a team that managed to exhaust teams like the Pistons and the Spurs in the playoffs to win the championship, with nearly half of their players on rookie contracts and one of the deepest rosters in the league.

The Trail Blazers dared, with a roster depth even superior to that of the Mavericks!

Their incorrect play choices at the start of the season led to three consecutive losses, meaning most of their preparations during training camp and preseason were in vain. Yet, they could still quickly adjust, and while McMillan’s coaching ability was secondary, the key was the considerable financial investment in the Trail Blazers’ deep roster, ranked among the top in the league, comparable only to teams like the Mavericks and the Knicks, ensuring McMillan’s strategies didn’t go awry.

Roy, far from being annoyed by the two aggressive offenses that were disregarded by the opponent, thought such calm and rational offensive choices truly deserved the title of "top player of the new generation."

In fact... Zhang Yang simply chose to play off the ball according to the Trail Blazers’ outside lineup.

Carlisle was a strict coach, and although he had relaxed a bit, he was still significantly stringent compared to most coaches, especially regarding off-court affairs. However, during games, he was very flexible, granting players a high degree of freedom to choose their tactics according to the situation.

The opposing wings were Blake, Roy, and Webster, among whom the high school player Webster had the most outstanding athletic ability.

However, even Webster was not known for his leaping ability. His main advantage during the draft as a high school player was his stronger, more substantial, and more agile build compared to many NBA forwards and guards, making a significant difference from other high school wing players in the draft... Perhaps it was precisely because of these differences that he was the highest-drafted high school wing player of the 2005 class, playing to a differentiated strength.

Of course, the fact proved that drafting high school players has to go to extremes, either pick someone like Zhang Yang, Lewis, and Louis Williams who have shown amazing technical talent during their high school days; or opt for those like James, Howard, and Josh Smith with full physical attributes, as players like Webster don’t have much advantage in the NBA.

Facing such perimeter combinations, for Zhang Yang, playing off the ball is too advantageous, consuming much less energy than going one-on-one with Roy or Webster.

When the Trail Blazers had the ball, Roy also gave up on ball handling and passed it to Blake, initiating the offense with a pick-and-roll with Aldridge.

His one-on-one play was more exhausting than Zhang Yang’s, as he felt that the Bobcats defense was too extreme. Perimeter was just man-to-man, internal help came from inside, and there was an immediate close-range double team if things didn’t settle—Carlisle’s defensive adjustments based on the actual situation of the team: defending threes, protecting the basket while selectively giving up the past two years of integrated inside-out defense centered around Gerald Wallace.

The Bobcats implemented a triple core strategy of Felton—Millsap—Mike Miller, creating catching opportunities for Zhang Yang and mid-close range shooting and cutting chances for Okafor.

With Blake in control, the Trail Blazers then started traditional pick-and-roll coordination.

Both teams triggered an offensive battle, the intensity quickly escalated, both teams played fiercely, making the match highly entertaining to watch, and the enthusiasm of the live audience gradually stirred up, creating a rising atmosphere.

Passing midway through the first quarter, the official timeout was taken, with the score at 18-16, the Bobcats leading by two points!

This progress in the game surprised the spectators—our team could actually play like this against the Bobcats?

Yes, tonight’s game, Trail Blazers fans had no confidence in winning.

The players and the fans have different assessments of a team’s strength.

Trail Blazers players, having seen the Bobcats’ performance in the last seven or eight games, didn’t think they were as strong as their record suggested.

But in the eyes of the fans, the two teams are not at the same level, most predictions before the game foresaw the Bobcats overwhelming the Trail Blazers. Even the Trail Blazers fans didn’t think they had much chance to win, the record gap of 15-1 to 10-7 was too big, which was one of the reasons why the atmosphere was not very enthusiastic at the venue,

Yet, the result was their team holding their own against the leading Bobcats from the start!

The Bobcats’ gameplay also appeared very different from what the Trail Blazers fans remembered.

The previous Bobcats—regular time war of attrition, defense first, crucial moments Zhang Yang taking over the game, Zhang Yang’s one-on-one, was the most noticeable tag of the Bobcats.

Tonight’s Bobcats—aside from the first attack, Zhang Yang nearly became a pure off-ball finisher!

Starting without falling behind, Trail Blazers fans were pleased, but some die-hard fans consistently following the team also had grievances—completely unable to defend!

Trail Blazers had averaged 96.4 points against in their last 10 games, ranking seventh in defense during this period, but tonight they gave up 18 points to the Bobcats in just half a quarter.

After the official timeout, both teams made personnel adjustments.

Zhang Yang, Felton, and Millsap came off for a break, while Rondo, Hill, and Muhammad entered the game, focusing the attack around Mike Miller’s mid-range shots and Okafor’s drives to the basket.

This Trail Blazers team was unstoppable!

McMillan recognized the mistake and reconstructed their play style after that, the Trail Blazers did perform well in defense, but compared to the Rockets, there was still a big gap.

The intensity of the contest was much less than the Rockets, with much lower consumption for shooters and slashers.

Most importantly, the Trail Blazers’ perimeter rotation and switching were slow, while the Bobcats’ offense revolved around mid-range shooting, precisely countering the Trail Blazers’ defense.

McMillan’s main emphasis during the official timeout was on defense, but he lagged in adjustments on the offense, which led to the Trail Blazers neither defending well against the Bobcats nor performing well in offense in the first few rounds after the timeout.

In 2 minutes and 41 seconds, the Bobcats made a 9-4 run, extending their lead to 7 points, 27-20!

McMillan called for another timeout immediately, showcasing the young coach’s trait of recognizing and correcting mistakes quickly, realizing they couldn’t defend; he reflected on himself and substituted Blake, Roy, James Jones, Aldridge, and Frye with the ’Five Guns’ lineup.

At the beginning of the season, using the ’Five Guns’ lineup as a core rotation, the Trail Blazers were hammered by their opponents every starting phase to the verge of despair—this lineup had fierce firepower but terrible defense, the opponents always managed to outscore them even more fiercely.

But this lineup in rotation was different...

In the last three minutes of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers scored three three-pointers, added with one drive to the basket, and a fast-break dunk by Travis Outlaw who rotated on the floor at the end of the quarter, replying with a 13-9 run against the Bobcats!

At the end of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers narrowed the gap to three points, catching up at 33-36!