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Chapter 710: I have an idea.

Chapter 710: I have an idea.

The fans at the venue went crazy with cheers and loud screams!

At the live game, the fans didn’t reject the blood-and-guts battle, as long as their own team was the one stirring it up.

Tonight, it was the Chicago Bulls that initiated the fiercely contested battle, while the Bobcats struggled to execute their team offense, causing fans on site to feel a headache watching.

Fortunately, they had Zhang Yang!

Whenever the team offense faltered, Zhang Yang would stand up and score.

This round, the team offense finally managed to break through. Felton’s pass to Perkins was absolutely exquisite, but it was swatted away by Ben Wallace with a flying block.

In that instant, the fans on site nearly burst, as a split-second pass led to one of Ben Wallace’s top highlights—potentially making it into the season’s top hundred blocks.

At that moment, bad boy Jack once again stood out, dunking over Big Ben!

As for Perkins, who got crushed under Zhang Yang...the fans ignored him, and that was the best love they could show him.

Seeing Zhang Yang grab the rim to stabilize himself before coming down and spread his arms to enjoy the cheering as he retreated...the little giant picked up the ball: Damn it, good thing I went for the rebound! Indeed, no effort is wasted in this world.

If he had stood in the charge circle with Perkins, not going out to guard Millsap, he would have been dunked on too!

Hinrich received the ball from Yao Ming, glanced at Skiles, but the head coach made no move to call a timeout, so he pushed the pace towards the frontcourt.

They had been playing for almost 7 minutes, time for a timeout, but since the coach didn’t call it, they kept playing.

Hinrich guessed why Skiles didn’t call a timeout—calling one immediately after getting dunked on would hurt the team’s morale. It would be better to play another round, hopefully score, and even if they didn’t, the impact of the dunk would be lessened.

Hinrich had been ready to catch the pass and push for a fast break, coordinating with Duhon.

At 185 cm, Duhon’s short legs ran fast; without Rondo on the floor, Duhon was the fastest guy out there.

But Hinrich hadn’t expected bad boy Jack to be so aggressive, following Ben Wallace into the basket for a putback dunk... With 5 shots and 3 hits, plus 2 free throws, Zhang Yang had already scored 8 points!

There were plenty of energetic players, but to see a player of Zhang Yang’s status, who primarily scored, play so hard, Hinrich, after all these years, rarely saw such fervor.

He glanced subconsciously at Yao Ming—the league’s only superstar center was so eager when boxing out for rebounds. Their teammates told him he didn’t need to work so hard; they could manage the rebounding if he saved his energy, but he wouldn’t listen.

Hinrich heard that Yao and his wife arrived in Charlotte a day early to spend Christmas at Zhang Yang’s place... It seems great people always end up hanging out together?

The Bobcats, the defending champions, were definitely a group of excellent people; and their Chicago Bulls, yes, were also a group of excellent people.

Hinrich pushed forward to the top of the arc, faced with Zhang Yang’s defense, he used a screen to drive in and, against Millsap’s interference, pulled up for a long two-pointer...and made it!

Commentators from various TV stations praised Hinrich for being clutch!

Guys like Nash, Hinrich, and Blake—these slender white point guards—rarely choked in crucial moments.

Just having been dunked on by Zhang Yang, they now needed someone to step up and score to stabilize their spirits, and Hinrich was not soft!

On offense-defense transition, with no timeouts called from the other side, Carlisle also didn’t call any, so they continued the attack!

Zhang Yang actively positioned himself in the high post, leaning on Hinrich, calling for the ball—this was a time when they needed someone to ensure stability.

Hinrich defended closely, not recklessly trying to go around, and when Zhang Yang received the ball and leaned in, he made a fake forward leap. Hinrich knew it was a feint, but still had to press forward.

Zhang Yang turned left and drove past, throwing Hinrich behind him!

Yao and Ben Wallace got into position, ready to set a screen and to disrupt the shot.

Zhang Yang drove to the elbow, didn’t stop, marched into the paint, and only then grabbed the ball in one hand, lifting it to his right shoulder, powering up through his legs!

Having been dunked on just now, the Bulls’ twin towers, upon seeing Zhang Yang’s move, had an instant reflex reaction. Yao and Ben Wallace both aggressively went for the block, turning a defensive circle into a pincer movement, without blocking the space!

Zhang Yang stepped out to the right, then leaped in the other direction behind Yao on his second step, and with the ’devil’s pace’ bonus, his second step was as fast as the first!

As Yao turned to make a defensive play, Zhang Yang was already in the air, pushing the ball toward the backboard mid-jump...a Statue of Liberty Euro step layup that went in!

to 12, the Bobcats continued to lead by 3 points!

In the end, Skiles couldn’t keep his cool and called a timeout first. The referees seemed to look for an excuse to whistle a foul to stop play and quickly signaled an official break—7 and a half minutes had been played, and the advertisers were getting impatient.

Yao and Ben Wallace exchanged glances, both frustrated; right after shifting their positions, they realized they shouldn’t have converged, but that step was purely instinctual, and by the time they reacted, Zhang Yang had already passed them.

Little Giant: Zhang San is actually playing mind games! That’s so sneaky!

On Zhang Yang’s side, he celebrated with high fives from his teammates.

Though he was a bit tired, at 7 minutes and 33 seconds, he had taken 6 shots, including the free throw, he had shot 7 times in

seven and a half minutes... but at least he had gotten the momentum going!

shots, 4 hits, plus making both of his two free throws, Zhang Yang scored 10 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in just over half a quarter!

After celebrating with his teammates, Zhang Yang returned to the bench where Carlisle personally handed him a towel and asked, "Can you keep going?"

Zhang Yang honestly answered, "I might not be able to continue with the one-on-one, but I can handle defending a spot-up shooter and playing a tactical off-ball role."

Carlisle, "That’s pretty much what I thought... Jack, I’ve got an idea!"

Zhang Yang, "Rick, are you French?"

Carlisle, "Huh? I’m not of French descent, why do you ask?"

Zhang Yang, "Nothing, continue..."

Carlisle, "So we do this, and then that."

Zhang Yang, "Huh, Rick, you’re into such wild strategies?

...

Zhang Yang continued to play, and when he saw Yao Ming also staying on the court, he wasn’t surprised.

In November, Yao Ming averaged 33 minutes per game, the same as last season. Skiles appeared to be continuing Van Gundy’s approach to utilizing Yao Ming. After meshing with the team, his playing time in December would reduce to 31 minutes, averaging 32 minutes over the two months combined.

Risking the end of their winning streak and watching the average margin of victory slowly shrink, Skiles firmly cut down Yao Ming’s minutes to ensure that he was healthy and could play more against direct competitors.

The Chicago Bulls sent in Duhon, Sefolosha, Nocioni, Joe Smith, and Yao Ming.

This lineup still meant that every player could defend.

Zhang Yang felt Skiles’ rotation plan had something to it, targeting the phase where he needed a break and wouldn’t continue with one-on-ones by bringing on Sefolosha.

Compared to the other perimeter players on the Bulls, it was Sefolosha, with his height, speed, defensive skills, and awareness, who could truly match up against him, Zhang San.

However, Sefolosha wasn’t an early bloomer; at just 22 years old and only in his second-year season, he was still ’leveling up’ and hadn’t even filled out his frame yet; his physique was similar to Zhang Yang’s. Yet, Zhang Yang had an ’exceptionally gifted’ strength among players of the same size— at 19, he was already rarely at a disadvantage in strength playing as a shooting guard.

During the preseason games where they matched up, Sefolosha’s enthusiasm and defensive skills were solid, but the lack of physical confrontation meant he was overpowered by Zhang Yang.

Although Sefolosha couldn’t stop Zhang Yang’s one-on-ones, when it came to defending Zhang Yang off the ball, he was definitely more effective than the other guys on the team.

The other perimeter players on the Bulls were either too short or not fast enough. Without Ben Wallace cutting off the middle, Zhang Yang could blow up their position with his movements. Now that Ben Wallace was off the court, naturally, Sefolosha had to step up and take on the pressure of defending against Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang internally praised the opposing coach’s rotation plan as well executed, while the opposing coach, Skiles, was filled with question marks.

What was the Bobcats’ lineup aiming for?

Rondo, Zhang Yang, Mike Miller, Hill, and Okafor—facing a Bulls team with Yao Ming, Carlisle switched to a small-ball lineup with one big and four smalls!

After the timeout, the Bulls went on the offense.

Yao Ming was also a bit stunned to see the opposing quintet, but he quickly got excited. No matter what the opponents’ objectives were, this configuration was paradise for him!

Yao Ming got into position down low, received the ball against Okafor, and went for a strong one-on-one!

Hill preemptively moved to collapse inside, joining Okafor to double-team Yao Ming during the drive... to no avail, as Yao Ming, with Okafor beneath him and Hill hanging on, smashed the ball into the basket!

The scene was quite brutal, so brutal that the referees implicitly accepted Hill’s hanging on Yao Ming’s back as not a foul.

After the dunk, Yao Ming turned around, clenched his fist, and celebrated in a low key... when he saw Hill hit the ground and charge at the opposing side! Then Okafor, who quickly picked up the ball to inbound, also whisked past him! His teammates were also furiously sprinting back on defense!

Yao Ming swiftly swung down the fist he held to his chest and chased after Okafor... but couldn’t catch up!

Rondo rapidly advanced to the frontcourt, with Duhon desperately retreating but barely keeping up. Rondo passed the ball to the left side, Hill cut in unguarded, while Zhang Yang and Mike Miller on the wings pinned down Sefolosha and Nocioni.

Joe Smith had to leave the basket to block the left side of the three-second zone, and when Hill passed to the middle... Okafor cut down the center, caught the ball, and slammed it for a two-handed dunk, scoring two points!

Skiles immediately stood up and stepped towards the sideline, one foot even on the line.

Although he lost his cool and called a timeout after Zhang Yang scored two consecutive baskets, he quickly calmed down once the timeout began.

points in 7 and a half minutes for the Bobcats was still an extremely low score; their defense had been effective.

So he continued to play Yao Ming, pairing him with the second-best defensive power forward on the team, ’Little Garnett’ Joe Smith, to continue grinding out a defensive war of attrition, aiming to deplete Zhang Yang’s energy and the Bobcats’ perimeter shooting touch.

If they continued at the pace of the first half, they could secure the victory like they had in the past 11 games, grabbing first place in the early stage.

He hadn’t expected the opponents to deviate from the norm!