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Chapter 749 - 319. Scoring Champion, I want it!_2

Chapter 749: 319. Scoring Champion, I want it!_2

Frustration, discontent, depression, fury... Having lost the game, Iverson was gradually overwhelmed by negative emotions until suddenly he found himself flanked by several people.

Zhang Yang, Rondo, Okafor, Millsap... and even Felton in his suit and the ever-interested Hill were surrounding Iverson on both sides and from behind.

Reporters and cameramen set up their gear in front of Iverson.

With one hand on Iverson’s shoulder and the other pointing at him, Zhang Yang declared into the microphone offered by a reporter, "Dear basketball fans watching on TV, I, Zhang Yang, have outscored Allen Iverson tonight by raining down points!"

Iverson watched Zhang Yang’s face light up with excitement... He could feel it, this bad boy so much like him was genuinely happy.

Then the microphone was handed to Iverson. He flashed a smile and said, "My era has long passed, the answer has been rewritten!"

...

The game ended close to 11:30. After taking care of a heap of post-game responsibilities, Zhang Yang didn’t get home until after 2 a.m. He slept in nearly until noon, only rising when his mother came over with his brother and a lunch box to get him up for lunch.

After a satisfying meal, he went to his study to check the news.

Even with the NFL in the midst of the most thrilling part of the playoffs, Zhang Yang still managed to snag the sports websites’ headlines.

On the basketball sites, he completely dominated the news.

"Youngest in history to score 60 points"

"Unbreakable record, 19 years old with 60+ in a single game"

"Iverson: Basketball has a new answer"

"Deadly accurate, bad boy single-handedly fends off Denver bandits in the clutch"

"60 points in a single game, bad boy claims the top spot in scoring"

"Jack: Scoring champion? Of course, I want it!"

"KING’s crew has arrived in Charlotte, the battle for scoring king is imminent"

"..."

"..."

The news all related to his Charlotte team’s last night’s game and tomorrow’s matchup with the Knight.

Leveraging last night’s 60 points, Zhang Yang’s average score per game jumped from 31.9 to 32.7, overtaking James, who was averaging 32.3, to take the top spot in the scoring list.

Catching up wasn’t just the result of last night’s single game—it had been his work over the last 6 games. In the first 5 of those games, he scored 42 against the Spurs, 34 against the Nets, 29 against the Pistons, 35 against the Celtics, and 42 against the Bucks. Except for the game against the Pistons, his scoring in the other four games was above his average and contributed to pushing it higher.

Just like he said in an interview the night before, he wanted to be scoring champion!

Being the scoring champion had always been one of the awards he most wanted, he just never expected to have a shot at it in only his third year of his career. After all, it was usually after gaining experience, around the age of 24 or 25, that a player first performed like a top scorer.

But with the opportunity at hand, he was determined to seize it!

However, his mindset on this matter was stable; he was not impatient.

Once the scoring list became a battle between him and James, with other scorers hitting a high of an average of 27+ points per game, he reviewed the season-scoring performances of all past scoring champions since detailed statistics had been available.

Although the details varied, the overall trends were similar—strong scoring burst at the opening stage, a dip in the middle part of the season that was less pronounced than for other players in the league, and if there were competitors, a spurt at the end of the season to secure the scoring title.

One particular standout was Kobe’s 05-06 season. With a 62-point game in three quarters and a single game of 81 points, Iverson had led Kobe in the scoring list earlier in the season and was stable in the middle, but Kobe surpassed him and created a gap.

In the summer of ’06, when Iverson was interviewed about Kobe’s first scoring champion title he commented, "I thought my average of 33 points was impressive, but he XXX averaged 35 points. Playing against him felt like I was guarding Jordan."

When Iverson spoke about his competitors, it was hard to hear any disparagement from him.

Zhang Yang’s recent six-game scoring spree was essentially compensating for his drop in score after Christmas.

He knew that as the All-Star weekend approached, his scoring would become more difficult. His teammates’ performance, affected by fatigue, would deteriorate, and so would his shooting opportunities, likely leading to a scenario where he had more shots but scored fewer points.

Thinking about these issues in advance would prevent any disturbance to his mindset should his score decline.

Of course, the best way to avoid being affected by a drop in scoring was not to contend for the scoring title at all... or to be comfortably ahead like Chamberlain and Jordan were.

His goal was to be the latter.

The gap between him and those two was sizable for now, so he was making preparations for mental adjustments in advance...

Apart from news about him, Iverson, and James, Zhang Yang also came across reports on Rondo.

Even ten years later, when triple-doubles were made less significant by overuse, it remained a prestigious achievement. Anyone’s triple-double would make headlines or be hot news.

In the current era, a triple-double was one of the strongest stats, superior to scoring 40+ in a game but still slightly less so than scoring 50+.

Yet Rondo’s triple-double the night before with 13 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists, and 2 steals went almost unnoticed.

Zhang San felt a bit embarrassed; his 60 points at 19 overshadowed coach Rondo’s stellar performance.

It wasn’t just Rondo’s triple-double that remained in the background; Iverson’s 44+10, Anthony’s 36 points... all were overshadowed.

Instead, the three-point shootout between role players Weaver and Mike Miller garnered more attention.

The afternoon was free, with no practice scheduled by the team, and Zhang Yang didn’t do extra training. He stayed home reading, revising his thesis, and resting up.

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