No.1 in basketball scoring
Chapter 757 - 323. Jordan: You just won’t stop, will you!_2

Chapter 757: 323. Jordan: You just won’t stop, will you!_2

In the morning, Zhang Yang left his home early to head to the arena.

After a night’s sleep, he set aside the sadness he felt due to his teammate being traded, looking forward to the arrival of the new players.

Upon arriving at the arena, Zhang Yang saw that there were already many reporters waiting in the square outside the main entrance; Jordan had once again opened the session for media interviews.

Normally, after Christmas, the enthusiasm of basketball fans for watching games and engaging in discussions tends to decline, media coverage weakens, and the NBA’s attention and ratings usually slump to their lowest point before the NFL’s final games.

However, Zhang Yang set the record for the youngest player to score 60+ points in a game, Zhang Yang surpassed James to top the scoring charts, Rondo achieved back-to-back triple-doubles with the second being a 3x15, Zhang Yang scored 40+ points in three consecutive games to defeat James once more, the Knight team won 19 games in a row against the Cavaliers... The Knight team’s recent performance successfully reignited fans’ enthusiasm for watching and discussing the games, and the media rushed to report on them.

Now, just after Rondo had put on a rare performance of 3x15 in this era, he got traded the next day, sparking debate and generating much controversy, as one would expect.

Last night before bed, Zhang Yang browsed the news for a while and saw quite a few comments attacking their trade, mainly focusing on Rondo’s talent.

This was within Zhang Yang’s expectations. If they had waited until the All-Star weekend, when the hype around Rondo’s consecutive triple-doubles had died down, the trade would not have caused much controversy, and it would have been seen simply as trading potential for immediate performance.

Nonetheless, regarding the actual impact of the trade on the team’s strength, the majority of media held a positive view.

Since 2008, experts had analyzed why their offensive performance lagged behind teams like the Warriors, the Nuggets, and the Suns; one of the main reasons identified was the weak ability of the inside players in facilitating plays.

Okafor was steady but not creative in playmaking, rarely passing outside of planned tactics and unable to act as a facilitating core like Duncan.

Mike Miller was one-dimensional in playmaking, only capable of passing from the three-point threat spots on the wings.

Hill’s passing style was not suited for playmaking, and like fitting a square peg into a round hole, at 35+ years old, he couldn’t change even if he wanted to.

Millsap was improving rapidly, but had not yet reached the level of facilitating plays on his own.

When their forwards were tasked with playmaking, they relied heavily on Zhang Yang.

With Zhang Yang on and off the court, the offense was at two entirely different levels. When facing stronger defensive opponents and Zhang Yang was subbed out, their offense often devolved into Felton, Okafor, Jarett Jack, and Millsap taking turns going one-on-one.

Furthermore, even when Zhang Yang was on the court, a part of his focus had to be on accommodating his teammates’ limited ability to facilitate with passes.

Therefore, with the addition of Brad Miller, a center who averaged 3.8 assists over the last four and a half seasons, and 4 assists per game this season, most media believed that the Knight team’s frontcourt strength would definitely see a significant improvement.

And not all media criticized them for letting go of Rondo, whose talent was starting to show; some also analyzed the potential conflict in playing time between Felton and Rondo.

After such comments surfaced, a group of "3 and a half year Knight team old fans" appeared, stating they had more faith in Rondo and questioned why the Knight didn’t trade Felton instead to keep Rondo.

However, this group underestimated the level of affection Felton had among Knight team fans and Zhang Yang fans. With the Knight fans already upset about losing a talented player like the young Kidd, they united and retaliated as soon as someone criticized Felton, demanding the Knight to get rid of him...

When the team was doing well, a player like Felton, with his hearty and outgoing personality, was incredibly endearing.

After changing into his practice gear in the locker room, Zhang Yang noticed there was still time and practiced his passing and ball control for a while.

The unconventional methods that Coach Na suggested really did have an effect!

His front change of direction moves, butterfly step, crossover moves... and other breakthrough techniques became more proficient as the season progressed. Although their practical utility was not as significant as rhythm-driven breakthroughs, practicing them when there was free time and using them to show off during games was becoming increasingly effective, and over time, he gradually felt an improvement in his ball-handling skills!

He saw the potential for his dribbling to break through to the elite level. Aside from the team’s regular training, his passing, which he had practiced less, was also showing subtle improvement and looked set to surpass 85+.

In fact, there was another way—time. Playing for more years would naturally improve ball-handling with experience, as his dribbling had not yet reached his talent’s limit.

But being able to think of a way to accelerate the improvement of ball sense would certainly be even better.

As Zhang Yang practiced his passing and control, his teammates gradually arrived at the arena.

Seeing Jarett Jack enter the training court with a pleased expression, Zhang Yang showed a momentarily odd look.

Zhang San had not expected that Jack, who had been ’shopped around the whole league’ by Joe, would actually end up staying... After practice is over, he’d go offer a stick of incense to Guan Erye and pray for Big Fatty for a bit.

When Zhang Yang’s gaze swept over the corner of the training court, his mood became complicated... He had just remembered that the artist who had not been given a chance to play this season had been traded away.

He wasn’t very close to Herrmann, but he quite liked this teammate, one of the only three cultured people on the team.

Occasionally, when he ran out of books to read, he’d borrow a good one from Herrmann... Now, there were only him and Duncan who were cultured left on the team.

...

The morning’s pre-game meeting and training time were very short. There wasn’t much to prepare for when playing against the last-place team, and moreover, Wade and O’Neal couldn’t play tonight, both sidelined with injuries.

By two o’clock in the afternoon, Zhang Yang was woken up from his nap in Rest Room No. 3 by Felton.

Zhang Yang, "Boss, why did you come so early? And you’re in your training gear too?"

Felton, "Rajon’s gone, and if Lue doesn’t report today, then we’ll only have Jarett as the sole point guard. I’ll definitely have to step in."

Zhang Yang, "Then let him play the full 48 minutes, don’t you care about your ankle?"

Felton, "Thomas said my ankle has basically healed. Although I haven’t done rehabilitative training yet, they’re allowing me to play against the Miami Heat... I feel like you have a bias against Jarett, that’s not good."

Zhang Yang, "No, I really like Jarett, his last name is the same as my English name. I’m worried about you... Did you offer incense to the God of Wealth?"

Hearing this, Felton suddenly remembered the ’curse theory’, and quickly said, "I’ll go offer incense right away! But you don’t have to worry, Lue and Mike Miller have both arrived. I came to get you so you could meet them. Your family’s TV station is waiting to film you meeting the new teammates."

Zhang Yang stood up upon hearing this, groomed himself in front of the mirror, and then left Rest Room No. 3 with Felton. For an on-camera appearance, he couldn’t be sloppy.

Suddenly he felt something was amiss and asked, "Don’t we have three new teammates? Where’s the other one?"

Felton’s expression turned deadpan as he responded, "Pietrus, upon hearing he’d been traded, cried in the Oracle Arena, got drunk last night, and his agent called to apologize, saying he’d report in a couple of days."

Zhang Yang was also speechless and said, "You can’t say he lacks professional ethics, as his attachment to his former team is so strong, which is also commendable."

Felton, "I heard that the Warriors were a very united team. Before last season, they hadn’t made it to the playoffs for over a decade, and that group of players reached the playoffs together, even pulling off a ’We Believe’ miracle. Their camaraderie isn’t inferior to ours when we won the championship. For the past few months, there has been a conflict over the starting position between Ellis and Richardson, and the Warriors’ veterans all sided with Richardson. I saw in the news that the Warriors might have potential internal conflicts, but old Nelson might be able to suppress it."

Zhang Yang chuckled, "That’s interesting. I really want to know what kind of faces Artest and Stephen Jackson would make when they become teammates again. A relieved embrace? Or more intense conflict?"

Big Fatty, "..."

The little brother’s got a big bag of tricks!

Chatting as they went, the two arrived at the training court and saw Tyronn Lue talking confidently in front of the cameras—Zhang Yang smacked his lips.