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Chapter 707 - 296. You’re telling me their defense is only fifth in the league?_2

Chapter 707: 296. You’re telling me their defense is only fifth in the league?_2

Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Terrence Thomas, Aaron Gray: Let me handle this! I’ll grab the rebounds, cover the defense, take care of the pick-and-rolls...

When Yao Ming first encountered Zhang Yang, he was quite jealous of the treatment Zhang received on the Charlotte team; after truly enjoying the same treatment on the Chicago Bulls, in the first few games of the regular season, he was ecstatic—what kind of days had he spent with the Rockets!

With the contrast, Yao Ming’s ’mother team complex’ toward the Rockets and his ’teammate affection’ for McGrady plummeted rapidly.

Today’s game was taken very seriously by the Bulls as well; the players knew how much attention the game was getting from the flower growers across the ocean. Hinrich timely suggested, "Little Giant, it’s time for you to lead," and once again proposed that Yao Ming be the last to enter the court, which he chose to accept this time.

Tonight was another very important day for Yao Ming, his mindset, his career trajectory, underwent a subtle change once again.

...

Before the game, in the pre-game warmup, facing cameras for interviews, both teams were very harmonious, hugging, taking photos together, as if to say, "Friendship first, competition second."

But as the pre-game preparation time ended, and the starting players from both teams came onto the court, the atmosphere immediately became tense.

Tonight was the last game of the early season for both teams; whoever won would be the league’s leader for the early season. The Bulls players wanted it, the Charlotte players didn’t want to give it.

At 8 pm, the game started!

Okafor outjumped Yao Ming to win the tip-off, Charlotte took the first possession!

The Bulls’ starting lineup: Hinrich, Nocioni, Luol Deng, Ben Wallace, Yao Ming.

The Charlotte starting lineup: Felton, Zhang Yang, Hill, Okafor, Perkins.

Zhang Yang ran forward, and after crossing half-court, he saw it was Hinrich standing between him and the basket and immediately headed toward the high post.

Hinrich: Seeing me on defense made you pick up the pace, what’s that all about?

Felton advanced into the frontcourt and lobbed the ball to the high post where Zhang Yang was backing down the basket, Hinrich tried hard to push Zhang back a bit, but failed; he could do it at the start of the last season, but by the end of that regular season, he couldn’t anymore, though he still had to put in the effort.

Zhang Yang executed the first offense, making a couple of fake moves with his back to the basket.

Hinrich didn’t bite on the fakes, played strong defense, and moved his feet well.

In his heart, Zhang Yang had great respect for Hinrich’s defensive skills; truly a master of technical defense, rhythm offense seemed tough, so let’s ditch the rhythm...

Zhang Yang turned sideways, powered forcefully into Hinrich, used a power move to get one step past, then turned around for a jump shot... and hit it!

Skillful, huh? Then brute force shall break through cunning!

Hinrich’s interference was in vain, and a hint of helplessness flashed across his face. On his way back to receive the ball, he really wanted to complain to Yao Ming.

Just two months since their pre-season encounter, Hinrich once again felt Zhang Yang’s progress distinctly—his post play and strength application had improved even further.

During the past off-season, Zhang Yang had gained a noticeable increase in both weight and strength; at 196 cm tall and weighing 93 kg, he no longer found himself at a disadvantage in strength against most shooting guards, and he actually had an advantage against most point guards.

But why say ’again’? Because Hinrich had the same realization during Zhang Yang’s rookie year... At only 19 and a half years old, this feeling that had persisted for two years and a half was probably going to last at least that long again.

In the first defense of the game, Hinrich felt a sense of urgency for the championship—considering that when Zhang Yang reaches 22 or 23, and players like Felton, Okafor, and Millsap get to 26 or 27, it’ll be nearly impossible to play against them.

On the offensive transition, Hinrich pushed the ball to the frontcourt, the first offense for Yao Ming.

Yao Ming took a low post position for a one-on-one against Perkins, used his strength to nudge Perkins aside, then turned for a hook shot and made it!

Even after reducing his weight to 137 kg, Yao Ming’s strength remained unmatched!

Even Perkins, who was 208 cm tall and weighed 125 kg, couldn’t withstand it.

Having lost weight, Yao Ming’s turn-around steps and shot release speed had improved, he didn’t have to chisel his way under the basket for a dunk, but instead used a quick turn-around hook shot, with Okafor being too late to double-team.

On Charlotte’s offense, Zhang Yang didn’t continue with one-on-ones, focusing on team coordination during regular play to save energy for key moments.

Felton and Okafor initiated a pick-and-roll offense; after splitting, neither of them found a shooting opportunity!

Nocioni and Ben Wallace’s pick-and-roll defense was done very well!

Although Nocioni was a white player, his defense was fierce. Facing power forwards, he showed no fear, actively engaging in contact and defending with a ferocious expression, ready to die for the cause.

Of course, the key to shutting down Felton and Okafor’s pick-and-roll was Ben Wallace. He closely followed Felton’s footsteps and used his reach and sharp defensive anticipation to disrupt the optimal timing for the connection between Felton and Okafor.

Felton, unable to shake Ben Wallace at the elbow area, quickly guarded the ball to find someone.

Hill didn’t disappoint the big guy, moving to the right position in time and using a back-cut to shake off Luol Deng’s defense to receive Felton’s pass successfully.

But after Hill got the ball, he had no chance to shoot; Hinrich promptly helped on defense, locking down Hill’s lower body!

After passing the ball, Felton moved to the right sideline to spread the floor; it was open, but Hill couldn’t get the pass through. Ben Wallace was standing on the sideline of the three-second area, covering the space for Hill’s pass to the right.

Perkins pulled out of the three-second area, but Yao Ming ignored him, squatting under the basket, with Ben Wallace on the sideline of the three-second zone, and Nocioni defending Okafor only needed to prevent a short-range ball reception for shooting, not worrying about cutting in at all.