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Chapter 721 - 307. Tyson, step aside, I want to have a one-on-one with Jack.

Chapter 721: 307. Tyson, step aside, I want to have a one-on-one with Jack.

Paul drove to the parking lot of the New Orleans Arena, parked his car, and got out, only to see a bus just coming to a stop. His heart skipped a beat, wanting to drive away... but it was too late.

The bus doors opened, and Felton, dragging Zhang Yang, rushed toward Paul.

Little Cannon: This little fatty must have been mocked by Zhang San and wants to drag me down with him!

As Paul expected, the first thing out of Zhang Yang’s mouth was, "Chris, I heard you got robbed by three nightclub ladies last night, and they took a ring worth tens of thousands?"

Paul bristled on the spot, angrily retorting, "You’re the one that got robbed by nightclub ladies, it was a robbery gang! They hired those nightclub girls as bait to lure us out and rob us!"

Zhang Yang: "Actually, saying that nightclub ladies kidnapped your little brother and threatened you for money doesn’t sound so stupid... ah, no, I mean it sounds a bit smarter."

Paul: "..."

Felton: "..."

A few seconds later, Felton hugged Paul, who was lunging at Zhang Yang: "Calm down, Chris, you can’t beat Jack."

Paul: "I don’t care, you heard him, he called me stupid! I want to fight it out with him!"

Felton: "No, no, you heard wrong, he just misspoke."

Paul: "I’m going to take you all on..."

After a bit of commotion, the three headed towards the staff entrance.

Paul complained about the security in New Orleans, saying the three of them had called the police the previous night, but the officers asked them to produce the receipt for the ring and watch, and withdrawal proof for 2000 US dollars in cash. Unable to present these, the police refused to file a report.

In this land of freedom where all are equal, the police didn’t treat them specially because they were NBA players; everything proceeded according to process... it wasn’t the first or second time something like a professional athlete being robbed had happened. Big deal.

Hearing Paul’s complaints, Zhang Yang wondered if his desire to request a trade in a couple of years, having no attachment to his career with the Hornets, was all because the Hornets had hastily moved back to New Orleans from Oklahoma City?

The security situation in New Orleans was almost as bad as in Baltimore, and with American efficiency, it likely wouldn’t improve much in the coming years.

As visiting players, teams from the East only come here once a year, and most teams from the West twice; even if they clashed in the playoffs, at most, it would be five times.

But for Hornets players, even if they only came back for training camp and left right after the season ended, they would still need to spend at least three or four months here each year...

...

After the morning’s pre-game preparation training, Zhang Yang received good news, another award!

Last week, the Bobcats won all three games, with Zhang Yang scoring 41, 28, and 34 points respectively, averaging 34.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 2 steals, winning the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award.

In the West, the Player of the Week went to Kobe. The Lakers won all four games last week, overtaking the Hornets with 24 wins and 6 losses, claiming the top spot in the Western Conference. Kobe averaged 25.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 3.5 steals over the four games, with a shooting percentage of 52.9%.

Since entering the NBA, Zhang Yang had rarely seen Kobe put up such numbers in a single week, and to see him win four straight games with such stats was a first, the so-called Rational Kobe?

In the afternoon, Zhang Yang couldn’t get in his nap, as he had to give several interviews.

The game tonight between the Bobcats and the Hornets was scheduled as a marquee game before the season started—the New Year’s Eve battle for the American audience and the New Year’s first game in China.

At that time, the selling point was only the "face-off between the three ’05 class geniuses," Zhang Yang and Felton versus Paul.

When the media analyzed the schedule in September, they viewed the game as leveraging Zhang Yang’s popularity to introduce Paul as a top new-generation talent to the fans.

Nobody could have foreseen that Paul, in his third year, would surge in power, entering the ranks of MVP-caliber players and leading the Hornets to dominate the top of the Western Conference from the start of the season for as long as eight weeks until they fell to the Chicago Bulls at home after Christmas, suffering their 7th loss of the season and were overtaken by the Lakers.

Even though they were surpassed by the Lakers, the Hornets still had a record of 23 wins and 7 losses, ranking second in the West and fourth in the league.

The Bobcats in the East and the Hornets in the West were the most dazzling teams early in the season. Outstanding performances by players from both teams turned the match from a high-profile time slot to introduce new players into a true phenomenon-level hot-ticket event.

In the evening, after finishing the warm-up, Zhang Yang and his teammates entered the court together, greeted by a barrage of boos from the away fans.

Once Zhang Yang arrived on the court, any discomfort caused by the city evaporated, and he got into game mode.

As the home team players entered, Zhang Yang felt the pressure upon seeing the opposition’s lineup.

This Hornets team was even stronger than the ’07-’08 Hornets team he remembered.

Ainge had failed to form a big three and, holding a bunch of role players, naturally wouldn’t spend chips to bring back a defensive ace like James Posey to strengthen the wing defense; Pat Riley had already determined they lacked the strength to compete for a championship and began clearing out those high-salary players. High-quality role players like Anthony Walker with an 8 million dollar salary, and James Posey, who had two more years on a 14-million-dollar contract, were all on the chopping block, and the Hornets got Posey for just a second-round pick.

At that time, teams like the Bobcats, Pistons, Magic, Raptors, and Cavaliers had all made trade offers to the Heat, with more substantial chips than what the Hornets offered, like a first-round pick, which the Bobcats were willing to part with, but all were refused.

With the addition of James Posey, the Hornets jumped from the 55-win caliber Zhang Yang remembered to a level competent for 60 wins.

Zhang Yang considered the current layout of the Western Conference... Damn, could the kid possibly make it to the Western Finals floor?

...

At 8 p.m., Chandler defeated Okafor in the jump ball, and the game between the Bobcats and the Hornets began, with the Hornets having the first possession.

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

The Hornets’ starting lineup: Paul, James Posey, Peja, David West, Chandler.

Zhang Yang retreated to the top of the arc; he was to start the evening guarding Paul.

As Paul crossed midcourt, his eyes lit up upon seeing Zhang Yang in front of him!

If it had been Felton guarding him, he would have been thrilled, playing with a lot of effort, always eager to prove himself against the likes of Big Baby, Beefy, and the Beard, whom some say he couldn’t outplay one-on-one.

But matched up against Zhang Yang, he was even more excited!

Zhang Yang, despite his gap in media resources, where he might never reach the top spot as he was a foreigner, had replaced James as the player his peers, who entered the NBA at the same time, most wanted to beat, ever since winning the FMVP.

In the 05-06 season, the Bobcats’ Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Okafor... these players felt a craving to defeat James when they saw him, similar to how Paul felt now when seeing Zhang Yang.

Chandler came out to set a pick for Paul who waved him away with a flick of his hand, "Tyson, move aside, I want to go one-on-one with Jack!"

Zhang Yang, out of caution, glanced at Chandler who indeed moved away before he refocused on defending against Paul.

Paul, hunching slightly, dribbled quickly, then suddenly pulled off a through-the-legs dribble, and changed direction to drive!

Zhang Yang predicted Paul’s driving direction but didn’t step up to confront him, letting Paul drive in while tightly following his steps.

Inside, Perkins and Okafor shifted their positions. Seeing this, Paul pulled up on the right side of the free-throw line and jumped... Zhang Yang lunged to block the shot!

Paul quickly leaned to the right, his strong core controlling his body, avoiding Zhang Yang’s block and getting off the shot... but the difficult, twisted body jump shot clanked off the rim!

Perkins boxed out Chandler while Okafor secured the defensive rebound.

Once Paul landed on his feet, he quickly closed down Zhang Yang to prevent him from receiving the ball and counterattacking from a high-post position but peeled back to play defense when he saw Okafor pass the ball to Felton.

This defensive play by Zhang Yang took Paul by surprise.

He had seen numerous news reports saying Zhang Yang’s one-on-one defense had greatly improved this season, but without having faced him directly, he didn’t take it seriously, thinking at best Zhang Yang had gone from being a defensive black hole who could only guard shooters, to not being a dead weight - which was already significant progress.

But on this play, he felt like he was facing James Posey’s defense in an intra-squad scrimmage and an enhanced version of it!

Posey defended him the same way, allowing him to drive, with the inside players blocking his close-range shots and rim attacks, chasing him on mid-to-long range shots, but James Posey just couldn’t keep up with the speed of his pull-up jumpers!

The game switched to offense-defense, and Felton advanced the ball to Zhang Yang who had positioned himself high up the court.

Paul murmured, "Where’s the so-called king of the court?"

After sneering at the star player’s position on the court, Paul followed Felton to the left corner, his nimble steps reflecting his delightful mood...

Once Felton created some space, Zhang Yang dribbled and pivoted back a step. James Posey immediately closed in on him, aggressive and fierce... Zhang Yang felt he didn’t have a chance to shoot!

James Posey, at 203 cm tall, with a wingspan of 219 cm, and weighing 99 kg, had Zhang Yang at a complete physical disadvantage in every aspect.

But Zhang Yang did not rush and kept his cool while protecting the ball. Suddenly, he smacked the ball hard, making it rebound quickly, with his right hand raised high to catch it.

The moment James Posey saw this, he closed in to stop Zhang Yang’s shot... but the ball didn’t reach Zhang Yang’s raised right hand’s height; with his right hand raised, his left hand reached the ball first and slapped it to the right, his body pulled to the side in a forceful step.

James Posey, pressing forward, missed entirely, and as Zhang Yang lateral-moved and grabbed the ball, he jumped and released a long two-pointer... no good!

Chandler grabbed the defensive rebound, and Zhang Yang quickly slapped his hands together and retreated on defense.

That cross-step jump shot Marbury was so fond of sure was still a bit too difficult.

Against a regular opponent, there’s no need for such a move, but when facing someone like James Posey, using this move would mean not enough power in the drive or lift-off, making the jump shot feel hard to control.

Zhang Yang recalled watching Marbury’s videos; that move seemed only to bully the weak.

Still not enough shooting fundamentals!

An 85+ mid-range shot, if used in a conventional way, wouldn’t look much different from a 90+ shot, but the difference becomes stark against top-tier defenders or when executing high-difficulty shooting techniques!