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Chapter 739 - 314. It seems like nothing is wrong_4

Chapter 739: 314. It seems like nothing is wrong_4

Zhang Yang: "Well... don’t mention it, Grant. This year’s draft is particularly strong in guard talent. If the Celtics get a top-five pick and keep Josh Smith and Al Jefferson, and then select a guard that suits them both, it’s not impossible to trade those forward talents for role players and rise again."

Hill: "Your thoughts are pretty close to mine..."

By 7 PM, the game between the Bobcats and the Celtics started.

Having lost narrowly in their first encounter and barely won the second, tonight was their third.

With Pierce traded away, Rivers finally embraced tanking and deployed the ’Hawks strategy,’ using Josh Smith as a point guard...

Zhang Yang shot 22 times and made 14 of them, including 4 out of 6 three-pointers, plus 3 out of 4 free throws, scoring 35 points in three quarters and then clocking out.

Not playing in the fourth quarter, Zhang Yang kind of missed "Baldy."

If "Baldy" were there, maybe, just maybe, he could have let him go in and score an easy 5 points in a lead of over 30 points?

It’s hard to tell—last season, no one expected them to win 56 games plus the championship. They hadn’t seen it coming either. As a sophomore in the league, no one could criticize Zhang Yang for scoring freely, nor would they blame "Baldy" for sending him in.

But now they were the defending champions, and Zhang San was the Finals MVP...

Zhang Yang felt the weight of ’honor’; it took away a lot of the fun, and a lot of the points...

In the end, with Zhang Yang’s 35 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block, Mike Miller’s 31 points, 4 assists, Rondo’s 8 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, Hill’s 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, Millsap’s 7 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and Okafor’s 11 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists... the Bobcats slaughtered the Celtics 122 to 83, improving their record to 27 wins and 8 losses.

Watching Josh Smith playing point guard tonight, scoring 16 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 turnovers, Zhang Yang remembered the scouting report, which noted that the talented player who could learn anything averaged 6.6 assists per game for the Celtics, but also 4.6 turnovers—roughly one turnover every 1.5 assists, clearly not suitable to be a point guard like Odom.

He suddenly doubted his own predictions about the Celtics’ team-building strategy. Even if Smith was being used this way as part of a successful tanking strategy, could it really be turned around?

Or was Josh Smith not even part of Ainge’s team-building plans? Or had Ainge overestimated Smith’s talent?

If using Josh Smith like this was genuinely part of the core strategy for building the team, the Celtics were in for a lot of fun.

Having easily won the first game of a back-to-back, the next afternoon, Zhang Yang flew with the team to Milwaukee, rested in the afternoon, and then went straight to the Bradley Center to warm up and play the game.

The Bucks still had a decent core lineup, so the Bobcats didn’t dare to take them lightly, but tonight, Reed was out!

to 93, the Bobcats won by 13 points over the Bucks, securing their 28th triumph of the season.

Rondo finally got a double-double, scoring 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Zhang Yang finally exploded, playing 44 minutes, making 15 of 28 shots, including 2 of 5 three-pointers, and free throws 10 out of 11, scoring 42 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.

With the defensively strong Reed absent, the Bucks’ high-quality role players had cleared out the perimeter, and Zhang Yang went wild from the outside.

After completing the back-to-back, with home and away games, on the 14th noon, Zhang Yang returned with the team to Charlotte. The Bobcats received two days’ rest, and today Carlisle did not schedule work, letting the players rest well.

But Zhang Yang went to Tuhang Stadium with the team for extra shooting practice.

Carlisle said, "Jack, you just played a back-to-back, take some rest."

Zhang Yang: "I feel fine, both games were quite easy, and I have some time today to practice more. Tomorrow during the pre-game preparations, I won’t practice extra, I’ll rest well."

Baldy: "No extra practice during pre-game preparations, and that’s enough rest for you, huh? Who talks like that... But why do I like it so much?"

Since he had his ’rest plan,’ Carlisle didn’t stop him. Indeed, for Zhang Yang, not practicing on a game prep day practically meant resting.

Although Zhang Yang’s physical endurance still lagged behind some physical freaks, unable to match players like Hamilton, Kobe, and Iverson, among the new generation of players, only James was better, and his recovery ability was not necessarily inferior to Kobe or Iverson.

Among the players Carlisle had coached, only Hamilton’s recovery ability could compare to Zhang Yang’s.

He thought about Hamilton who used to walk his dog in the mornings on training days till the dog was exhausted, then go to the arena to get ready for the game. Not practicing on game prep days equaled rest, seeming perfectly normal.

Carlisle returned to his office and discussed with the coaching staff possible new tactical adjustments they might need. This time, if adjustments were needed, they had to be better prepared!