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Chapter 705 - 295. Little Giant: Actively learning the advanced ideas from the FMVP

Chapter 705: 295. Little Giant: Actively learning the advanced ideas from the FMVP

Yao Ming: "Retaliate against society? That description is vivid."

"The Celtics’ tanking failure and their plan to rob Garnett and Ray Allen went bust. Now sending Pierce to the Hawks really does seem like an act of revenge on society..."

Just when he thought he could relax for a couple of days over Christmas, Ainge suddenly slapped him with a ’Hawks seven or eight-piece set deal’. Where was he supposed to complain about that?

Zhang Yang: "However, Pierce has gone to the All-Star team he wanted. Ainge did do something right for once."

Yao Ming: "Hm? Yangyang, you seem to really dislike Ainge?"

Zhang Yang: "Eh... Maybe it’s because Ainge suggested trading Bird back in the day. I probably look at him through tinted glasses."

Yao Ming: "You really are... straightforward. And right, your post-up game is modeled after Bird. It’s normal that you don’t like Ainge."

Zhang Yang: "..."

Yao Ming: "But aren’t you worried about the Hawks forming a formidable perimeter combination with Bibby, Joe Johnson, and Pierce?"

Zhang Yang: "The Hawks’ perimeter lineup does look intimidating, and I believe the three of them are willing to accommodate each other, make sacrifices, and play well together. But we won’t know how well it will work until we face them on the court.

"Plus, after these two trades, almost all of their playable substitutes have been traded away. Aside from the five starters, only Childress is left. If I’m not mistaken, they are down to ten players. Now they must sign free agents who couldn’t find a job during the offseason or players from the development league before the next game to fill the roster.

"It will be tough for them to strengthen the team through mid-season trades, as they only have draft picks left as trade chips. But they’re out of cap space. If they want to trade for better players using their mid-level exceptions, they’ll have to spend more draft picks, which isn’t worth it.

"Of course, the Hawks did make two impressive trades. I have no idea how they dared to propose trading expiring contracts for Bibby."

"Now that the trades are complete, I’m more curious about where Ray Allen will go. The SuperSonics can’t just let him go like they did with Lewis; they can’t just watch Ray Allen leave when his contract expires, right?"

Little Giant: "A team suddenly emerged that could affect the Eastern Conference landscape, and yet you analyze it with such calm... Is this the confidence of a champion? Envy! I want that too!"

But Yao Ming was also curious about the situation: "To have enough space to absorb him, to offer ample trade assets, and to be a strong team... It seems there aren’t any teams in the East that meet all these criteria. No, wait, your team could!"

Zhang Yang: "We don’t plan to bring him in. His position overlaps with mine. Having him as a pure shooter would be too luxurious for our team. It would be better to strengthen the frontline. The SuperSonics won’t just be willing to trade Allen to the East like the King. They wouldn’t care so much. If a Western team can pay the price, they would probably trade."

Yao Ming thought about the situation of the strong teams in the West and said, "It seems there aren’t any Western teams that meet those conditions either. Playoff-caliber teams with cap space are only the Grizzlies and the Rockets. The SuperSonics really might end up losing Ray Allen for nothing just like they did with Lewis!"

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Yang reasoned that Pierce had successfully gone to an ideal team, and although the Celtics’ frontcourt was overly congested, trading Pierce for Josh Smith and Marvin Williams was definitely a good deal. They couldn’t have obtained better young talent.

So, only the world where Ray Allen got injured came to pass?

With a twinkle in his eye, Zhang Yang said, "Oh! So next summer, we might have a shot at getting Ray Allen? It’s not worth offering a max contract, but signing him without a trade, that’s a different story."

Yao Ming: "..."

What should he do? He felt somewhat uneasy again.

Little Giant didn’t know whether Zhang San was just teasing him or if he really thought that way!

...

The East now had one more team that could contend for a championship with just a few minor tweaks over the next two to three years, and its rise was sudden. But it didn’t affect Zhang Yang, who was happily celebrating the festive season with his family and friends.

Eat when it’s time to eat, drink when it’s time to drink, and play games when it’s time to play games.

Influenced by Zhang Yang, Yao Ming also didn’t pay much attention to the Hawks, cheerfully eating, drinking, and gaming.

Yao Ming felt relieved that Stern had scheduled their Christmas Day game at the Bobcats’ home court. If it had been at their home court and he had seen the trade, there would have been a lot of unnecessary internal strife. The Hawks’ exterior trio had already formed, and his anxiety wouldn’t change that fact.

It was better to follow Zhang Yang’s example, relax when it’s time to relax, and prepare for the rest of the season.

It was another day learning the advanced mindset of a champion player...

Joyful times always fly by, and December 25th, Christmas Day, arrived.

At a little past 8 am, Zhang Yang and Yao Ming set off, each driving to Tuhang Stadium.

The reason they drove separate cars was that, aside from the driver’s seat, the vehicles were stuffed with presents.

Yesterday afternoon, Zhang Yang and Yao Ming went on a shopping spree at the mall together, buying Christmas gifts for their teammates.

Yao hadn’t really thought about it until he saw Zhang Yang buying, so he followed suit... It turned out to be a very fruitful afternoon. He began to understand why someone like Zhang Yang, who talks so much, was so well-liked by his teammates—he really knew how to step up when it mattered.

After arriving at the stadium’s parking lot, the two future national team buddies who had been inseparable for the past two days switched identities rapidly, turning into opponents.

Zhang Yang headed to the home team’s practice court, where most of his teammates were already gathered, chatting about the Hawks team’s recent trades.

Like him, his teammates also viewed the Hawks team’s formation of one of the league’s top perimeter trios with a spectator’s eye. When they talked about it, points about the pressure it created occasionally came up, but no one was scared.

For example, when discussing the ’black seven, black eight theory’ being hyped by the media in the past few days, Felton said, "I really hope we meet the Hawks team in the first round. It would make us focus and tighten up from the start, just like last season against the Nets when we met Kidd. I think our fast start in last season’s playoffs had a lot to do with the pressure Kidd brought."

At 9 a.m., the Bobcats had a half-hour closed-door preparation meeting. Why closed-door? Well, because today the Bobcats opened up parts of their preparation phase for filming and interviews.

The game between the Bobcats and the Chicago Bulls was not only exploding in attention domestically, but also garnered very high interest in the United States.

The Bobcats, the defending champions; the Chicago Bulls, after snatching Yao Ming, were considered the only super team in the East.

The Bobcats started the season terrifyingly, with a 13-game winning streak and a 16-1 record, and although they had lost a bit more in recent games, their 21-4 record was still top of the league.

The Chicago Bulls, on the other hand, had a moderate start with 9 wins and 5 losses, but as their team dynamics improved after the integration period, they took on the title of ’the only superpower in the East.’ On the 21st, the Chicago Bulls beat the Mavericks at home, racking up 11 straight wins with a record of 20 wins and 5 losses, ahead of the 20-6 Hornets, and the 19-6 Lakers, ranking them second in the league, just behind the Bobcats.

This Christmas showdown was seen by American media and fans as a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals, generating immense excitement.

Not to mention back home in China where the Christmas clash featured the first-ever ’Chinese Derby.’ It didn’t matter that both teams currently ranked first and second. Even if both their records were outside the top eight in their respective conferences, like in late December 2005, it would still be an incredibly hot event domestically.

The fervor for this game was so high that another Christmas clash hardly gained any discussion.

This year the NBA officially arranged only two Christmas clashes, the other being the ’nemesis battle’ between the Spurs and the Suns...

As evening arrived and warm-ups were finished, Zhang Yang and his teammates headed to the entrance of the home team’s tunnel at 7:30 p.m.

Even before the players entered, Zhang Yang could feel the fervent atmosphere in the stadium.

After winning the championship last season and starting with a 13-game winning streak this season, the Bobcats fans truly gained a sense of unity!

Although this unity wasn’t particularly strong, they needed to earn more honors and continue to perform well to possibly catch up to the likes of UNC and Duke in the hearts of Carolina region basketball fans. To surpass those two teams was an even longer journey, but Zhang Yang was thrilled to take this first successful step.

At 7:40 p.m., the entrance ceremony began promptly with the away team, the Chicago Bulls, making their entrance first.

Each Bulls player was greeted with endless boos upon entry, and Yao Ming, as the last one to enter, enjoyed the Bobcats fans’ ultimate passion, receiving a peak in booing!

When Yao was with the Rockets, the Bobcats fans liked him as much as anyone else; a giant center, after all, who doesn’t love that? Especially since the Rockets never seemed likely to make it to the Finals, so there was no playoff rivalry.

But Yao’s move to the East was a different story. No one wanted a superstar center like him as an opponent in the playoffs, especially since Yao went to the formidable Chicago Bulls... The day Yao joined the Bulls, he became a ’nemesis-in-waiting’ in the eyes of the Bobcats fans.

However, the fervor of the Bobcats fans wasn’t solely due to the potential playoff encounter; there were other reasons.

Firstly, there was the current standings — the Bulls with a 20-5 record and the Bobcats at 21-4.

If the Bobcats lost this game, they would have to relinquish the league’s top spot they’d been holding for nearly two months!

Then there was the Bulls’ 11-game winning streak, making them the second team this season to have at least 10 consecutive wins, the first being the Bobcats with their 13-game streak at the start.

Naturally, the Bobcats fans didn’t want the Bulls to surpass their 13-game winning streak, and to end the Bulls’ streak, Yao Ming, the star of the Bulls, naturally became the target of the Bobcats fans.

So far this season, Yao was averaging 25.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 blocks per game, ranking him second in scoring among inside players, just behind Stoudemire’s average of 26.2 points.

When it was the Bobcats’ turn to enter, the crowd gave them a warm cheer and encouraging shouts. As Zhang Yang made his last entrance, the cheers seemed to almost pierce through the ceiling.

Back in China, fans watching on TV were also extremely excited at this moment, though they had a unique reason for their excitement—both championship-contending teams were featuring Chinese players as their last to enter the court!