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Chapter 690 - 291. Begin with a roar

Chapter 690: 291. Begin with a roar

After Zhang Yang switched to a one-on-one scoring strategy, the Bobcats finally slowed down the trend of the widening score gap and stabilized their scoring.

However, in terms of efficiency, Zhang Yang’s shots were higher. If he passed directly to a wing teammate for a direct shot, it was okay; but if the ball was passed to a high post like Millsap or Hill, it was tough for them to quickly pass the ball to an open teammate, causing the ball movement to stagnate.

The Jazz Team was too adept at handling playmaking forwards. Not just the second-year Millsap, but functional passers like Mike Miller and the veteran Hill, even Duncan, Garnett, Gasol and others found it tough when facing the Jazz Team.

By the end of the first quarter, the Bobcats were down by 13 points, 20 to 33, with Zhang Yang racking up 6 points and 1 assist in the last part of the quarter, leading the team to score 10 points in 4 minutes. During this period, they played 10 to 11 against the Jazz Team, narrowly avoiding the Jazz Team from widening the lead to more than 15 points.

Entering the break between quarters, Carlisle no longer pursued team offense and decisively switched back to the three-core ball-handling attack strategy.

As a young coach, McMillan possessed the admirable quality of ’knowledge to correct mistakes,’ and naturally, Carlisle did too.

With the head coach’s tactical support aimed at the opponent’s defense, when Zhang Yang and Felton teamed up to lead the attack on the court, it wasn’t as tough as at the end of the first quarter. In those few minutes, Zhang Yang was literally fighting for his life; now, they could finally play tit-for-tat against the Jazz Team.

But Carlisle was still inwardly troubled. He said to Vincent beside him, "We’re back to last month’s old strategy."

Vincent replied, "Yeah, it’s been so many years, yet the Jazz Team still suppresses the triangle offense."

Indeed, the Bobcats were currently developing and perfecting team offense. The core concept was the triangle offense, and on Zhang Yang’s suggestion, Carlisle had also incorporated elements of the Princeton offense, using the offensive frame threat, playmaking points, and wing shooters to facilitate wide-range ball movement, creating one-on-one opportunities for Zhang Yang, ideally mismatch opportunities.

Carlisle said, "We’ll talk about the offensive system later, let’s just focus on playing well this game. Right now, we can only rely on their individual skills..."

A major function of tactics—using team collaboration to reduce the offensive pressure on core players.

Typically, the less time the ball stays in the hands of core players, the greater the role players can perform, offering more help to the core players; the longer the ball stays with core players, the less significant the role players become, placing greater pressure on core players and leading to exhaustion of their physical and mental energies in regular offense and defense, affecting critical moments...

In the second quarter, the Bobcats, trailing by 13 points, fought fiercely. Zhang Yang, Felton, and Okafor decided to play tough, supported by either Muhammad or Millsap cutting in for layups, and Mike Miller or Alan Anderson ready for standstill shooting. The Jazz Team indeed couldn’t hold off, and the Bobcats won the second quarter by 4 points, 32 to 28, reducing the deficit to 9 points at halftime, trailing 52 to 61.

In the third quarter, the Bobcats continued their fierce offense. With no other choice because of the 9-point gap and facing a top team capable of nearly a 70% win rate in the Western Conference, they had to seize every opportunity to catch up.

But the game didn’t go smoothly, and the Bobcats managed to reduce the gap by only 1 point at the start of the second half, 9 to 8. Shortly after, the Bobcats’ offense stalled!

Having deployed the star tactic at the end of the first quarter, even with the young core driven by boundless energy, they couldn’t withstand such manufacture facing the iron-clad Jazz Team.

In the middle of the third quarter, the Jazz Team seized the opportunity and launched a 14 to 6 run, extending the lead to 16 points, 83 to 67!

The onslaught by the Jazz Team hit the Bobcats hard, but under Zhang Yang’s leadership, the Bobcats didn’t give up and launched a counterattack. Then Sloan began ’playing rough,’ focusing solely on defense, disregarding offense. With a 16-point lead and 15 minutes to go, that was enough time for him to wear them down.

Under Zhang Yang’s leadership, the Bobcats launched wave after wave of counterattacks, but even though they fought fiercely, their offensive performance failed to match that of the first half. The energy of the three core players was hugely depleted, and the pace of catching up was slow.

With just over two minutes left in the last quarter, Zhang Yang forcefully scored a three-pointer and caused a foul driving into the paint, scoring a 5 to 0 run against the opponents and narrowing the gap to 4 points, seemingly about to create a chance for a turnaround... Deron, using a screen, countered Millsap’s switch defense with a three-pointer, reopening the gap to 7 points. Immediately after, Kirilenko made a steal, and Deron scored on a fast-break layup, countering Zhang Yang’s 5 to 0 run, crushing the hope Zhang Yang had created.

At 10:24 PM, the final whistle sounded.

From the end of the third quarter to the fourth quarter, a 15-minute span, the Jazz Team scored only 27 points but also limited the Bobcats to 34 points. Utilizing their 16-point lead from earlier, the Jazz Team steadily defeated the Bobcats 110 to 102, handing them their second defeat of the season!

...

In the early morning, at the hotel where the Bobcats stayed, Felton leaned on the balcony railing of Zhang Yang’s room, blowing in the cold wind and staring at the frozen lake below, looking half dead.

Zhang Yang brought out two cups of honey milk and handed one to Felton, who gulped it down quickly.

Zhang Yang, on the other hand, sipped his slowly. Already unable to sleep, drinking it the way Felton did would make sleep even more elusive.

The second defeat was bound to come sooner or later; Zhang Yang had psychologically prepared himself for it, but it still felt painful when it actually happened.