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Chapter 722 - 308. Advantages of a Mononuclear Team

Chapter 722: 308. Advantages of a Mononuclear Team

As the game began, both teams’ first offensive plays were definitely led by Paul and Zhang Yang. Fans were expecting a big showdown, but both players missed their initial shots.

However, Paul’s miss was even bigger...

Paul was thrilled to see Zhang Yang miss under James Posey’s defense.

In the summer, when he learned that the team had unexpectedly acquired James Posey, he had been eager to face off against the Bobcats. While Zhang Yang’s off-the-ball offense was challenging for Posey to guard, one-on-one with the physically superior James Posey was sure to greatly limit Zhang Yang.

But as soon as Paul got the ball and moved forward, he realized he was the one who had performed the worst in the opening round.

James Posey had stopped Zhang Yang, Zhang Yang had stopped him...both men had shown great defense from the start, leaving him the only one getting hammered!

Paul’s mood instantly soured, but he didn’t rush to continue playing solo upon reaching the frontcourt.

The Bobcats’ defense was average, but their man-to-man cover and double-teaming were strong. Covered by Zhang Yang, his solo drives were limited to moving inside, where he was surrounded by Zhang Yang, Okafor, and Perkins, making it impossible for him even to pass the ball.

As a space-oriented point guard, limited by his height, he needed a lot of space whether scoring or passing, particularly to avoid being trapped.

However, dealing with strong one-on-one and double-team defenses was straightforward for Paul; he beckoned Chandler over.

Thinking ’it’s still up to me,’ Chandler quickly moved to block Zhang Yang for Paul.

Using the screen, Paul made a swift start. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have confidently pulled up for a jump shot from just right of the free-throw line after getting past Zhang Yang.

Perkins, who came out to deal with the screen-play, couldn’t even manage a slight delay, allowing Paul an easy drive to the basket.

Okafor moved to guard Paul, and Zhang Yang closely followed the cutting Chandler, trying his best to get in front. Paul drove to the right elbow, then passed the ball high up the court.

David West, moving from the baseline to the high post on the right side, received the ball and made a jump shot...and it was good!

The screen was set by Chandler, meaning Perkins had to switch out to defend it, leaving Okafor to stay low on David West because if Paul had passed directly to David West for a one-on-one with Perkins, West, with his speed against the slower Perkins, would have toyed with him.

With the switch to offense, Zhang Yang quickly drove toward the baseline. His matchup against James Posey wasn’t impossible; he had just created a shot opportunity earlier, only failing to score...it wasn’t about backing down, but prioritizing the team.

Facing Paul’s defense, Felton took it upon himself, executed a crossover step, and pulled to the right, directly driving past the shifting Paul!

Paul struggled to defend...and was overwhelmed.

Zhang Yang slid along the baseline to the left side of the free-throw area and sharply cut back towards the basket.

Felton, driving Paul into the right side of the free-throw area, drew Chandler’s help defense, and passed to the left.

Zhang Yang caught the ball, took two steps into the free-throw area, and met the advancing David West with a flying throw shot...swish!

James Posey was helpless; he was a notch slower than Zhang Yang. Among the wing players, he was just first-rate, while Zhang Yang had top-notch speed.

In one-on-one defense, he could rely on anticipation and timing to compete without falling behind, but when it came to no-ball chases, he had to sprint all-out to keep up when Zhang Yang controlled the pace with tempo changes and off-rhythm runs; he could only hope for his teammates’ help in defense.

But the Bobcats’ team defense was weak, yet their team offense was fiercely daunting, managing only that round to mobilize the opponent’s defenses in a way that few teams in the league could match, in James Posey’s view.

For solo plays, neither team’s top scorer was effective that night; both teams launched team offenses that the opposition couldn’t guard. Holding the ball, both Paul and Felton, as if by unspoken agreement, led their teams in fierce team offense battles.

In the starting lineup phase, the two teams were evenly matched until 4 minutes 12 seconds into the first quarter. Felton scored a step-back three-pointer against Paul, putting the Bobcats ahead of the Hornets by 1 point, 12-11!

Hornets’ head coach Byron Scott called a time-out and rotated the lineup.

On Carlisle’s side, lineup rotations were also made. Felton and Zhang Yang stayed on the court, while Mike Miller and Millsap replaced Hill and Perkins, with Okafor moving to center.

Upon returning from the time-out, both teams entered their first phase of lineup rotations.

The advantage of a single-core playing style manifested in the Hornets—stability.

The Hornets’ offense revolved solely around Paul. When making lineup changes, they didn’t need to consider much. If someone wasn’t shooting well or cutting well, simply replacing him with a similarly styled player would suffice.

As long as Paul was capable and in form, the offensive rhythm was almost unaffected by substitutions, needing no adjustments, and the continuity of offense was impressively good.

However, with the Bobcats’ team offense approach, making lineup rotations—especially when replacing strategic cores—required a period of adjustment, however brief.

The Hornets took advantage of the opportunity to score an 8-4 run in the following rounds, leading the Bobcats by 3 points, 19-16, as they went into an official timeout.

After the official timeout, Zhang Yang, taking advantage of James Posey being subbed out for a rest, attacked several times, scoring once, drawing a foul for two free throws and making one, and delivering a three-point assist to the wing, Mike Miller.

Paul also stepped up at this time, making two consecutive mid-range jump shots after using a screen, helping the Hornets maintain a 1-point lead, 23-22 over the Bobcats.

After surviving the Bobcats’ brief counter-attack, the individually threatening Paul led the Hornets in an even more intense offensive play.

In the next 3 and a half minutes, the Hornets scored 13 points to the Bobcats’ 8, extending their lead to more than 5 points.

By the end of the first quarter, the Hornets led the Bobcats by 6 points, 36-30, as they headed into the intermission.