No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 823 - 349. Liberate Jack!

The progress made has turned the Bobcats players from passive to active when it comes to further adjusting and optimizing the tactical system, making training more enthusiastic.

But this only suppressed the negative emotions.

Practicing basketball, like studying or working, has a common point — it requires long-term effort to yield returns.

Students, office workers, enjoy playing games, watching movies, using other ways to gain satisfaction, to alleviate the negative emotions of long-term unrewarded effort.

Basketball players, not talking about off-court, generally on-court, gain similar satisfaction by ’bullying the weak’, alleviating negative emotions.

Garnett abuses opponents verbally, Jordan and Payton enjoy beating up rookies, Big Bird loves to show off... these are similar situations.

The most direct way is to take pleasure in crushing the weak.

The Trail Blazers had a 29-23 record before the All-Star weekend, with a win rate of 55%, but after the All-Star weekend, they faced a four-game losing streak and only managed a 5-5 record in the next 10 games.

Highlights included Roy scoring 35 points with 7 assists leading the team to defeat the Spurs, showcasing the talents of players who joined the NBA after 2003.

But talent is just talent, and in the eyes of the Bobcats players, the Trail Blazers are just a weak team post-All-Star weekend with a 5-9 record, they want to take this opponent for amusement, in others’ eyes, it’s called ’arrogance’.

The desire to be happy is human instinct, but the difference between humans and animals is that humans can control themselves when needed, resisting the temptation of ’compensatory satisfaction’, moving towards ideal goals, and ultimately gaining the truly desired reward.

Felton didn’t think that deeply, he just realized that due to arrogance they almost lost to the 34-32 Trail Blazers, felt he should say something, and didn’t want similar things to happen in the future.

Felton learned from Zhang Yang and Carlisle, first self-critique then warn teammates, this approach was quite effective, achieved the effect of ’leading by example’.

The short meeting lasted only a few minutes before it ended, some young Bobcats players directly sneaked away, while others, like the veterans, stayed for treatment.

Zhang Yang naturally stayed behind, he said to Felton, who was also staying for treatment: "Boss, you worked hard tonight."

Felton lifted his rounded chin: "As the boss, it’s my responsibility."

But then he showed a conflicted face: "I actually had a strange thought just now."

Zhang Yang: "Want to share?"

Felton: "I suddenly thought, if we had lost this game, it might have been good, it would’ve instantly awakened us, sounded the alarm, made us aware not to be arrogant, and spared me from self-reflection."

Zhang Yang: "..."

Felton: "Originally, we reversed and won, I was also happy, but I found that after we were down by 11 points after three quarters, and you led the team in the fourth quarter to defeat the Trail Blazers, the unwillingness in teammates after three quarters was gone, instead seemed more arrogant, so I gathered them for a meeting."

Zhang Yang: "Uh...kind of reasonable, no, seems unreasonable, anyway, we must strive to win every game, and not have the thought of ’losing is better’."

Felton rolled his eyes at Zhang Yang: "Of course I know that, I was just saying."

Watching Felton’s conflicted expression when he was alone with teammates away, Zhang Yang thought: Being the boss is really tiring, having to take care of this and that, whoever loves doing it can do it, I’ll just be my franchise star.

...

The next day, Zhang Yang left Charlotte with the team, heading to New York to continue the regular season journey.

On the 22nd, away game against the Knicks Team, won 116 to 101, achieved the 50th victory of the season!

Zhang Yang shot 4 of 11, scored 12 points, grabbed 6 boards and dished 12 assists with 2 steals.

The Knicks Team’s defensive strategy, even their boss’s TV station’s commentators were criticizing them, causing New York fans to miss the scoring show of Bad Boy Jack.

However, Zhang Yang also took advantage of the Knicks Team’s defense to achieve a season-high with 12 assists.

Unfortunately, the Knicks Team’s new twin towers Randolph and David Lee were too strong on the offensive rebounds, Okafor, Brad Miller, Millsap, Perkins rotated and gave their all to protect the board, yet the Bobcats still lost in rebound count 42 to 44 against the Knicks Team.

He grabbed 3 offensive rebounds tonight, but only managed 3 defensive ones, barely reached double digits assists but missed out on a triple-double.

On the 24th, the Bobcats visited the Cavaliers Team.

In the opening phase, the Bobcats’ team offense almost stunned the Cavaliers, Cavaliers had done quite enough defensive preparation, but the Bobcats controlled the running details much better than the last encounter two months ago, and their tactical adjustments were not within the Cavaliers’ anticipation.

The score in the first quarter was 32 to 23, Bobcats led by 9 points.

Nevertheless, Cavaliers, led by James, managed to hold on, firmly executing a physical consumption battle, gradually cooling down the Bobcats’ shooting streak.

Carlisle didn’t blindly adjust; instead of clashing defensively with the Cavaliers, he stuck to tactical cooperation, utilizing the stars’ threats and their ability to create scoring opportunities for teammates. Even if they missed, they kept playing, viewing it as a good training opportunity.

The Bobcats, too, are a resilient team. In the second quarter, they only scored 21 points, and in the third quarter, just 15 points. During these quarters, they took many shots but didn’t score much, relying mainly on individual plays and offensive rebounds to score. Yet, in the final quarter, the players finally found their rhythm and supported the main scorers, with the team totaling 28 points.

On the Cavaliers’ side, relying on the defensive counterattacks of James, Hughes, and Daniel Gibson, they scored 22 points in the second quarter and 26 points in the third. However, without counterattack opportunities in the final quarter, they only scored 22 points.

In the final moments, Zhang Yang hit a quick floater from a high post, gaining a 1-point lead.

Then James’s crucial breakthrough layup was disrupted. After Zhang Yang secured the defensive rebound, he was fouled intentionally, making both free throws and expanding the lead to 3 points.

The Cavaliers couldn’t take a shot in their last possession with the final 2.8 seconds... the game was declared over.

Zhang Yang scored 4 points in the last moments, finishing with 32 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. The Bobcats edged the Cavaliers 96-93.

James made 12 of 29 shots, including 2 of 7 from three-point range, and 9 of 12 free throws, with 35 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Though they lost, James wasn’t as upset as he had been in past years; he’d learned self-regulation — the loss wasn’t too bad, and it was the smallest point difference of the season, even smaller than the 7-point loss in the previous overtime game.

Besides that, he was slightly pleased to have continued to narrow the scoring gap with Zhang Yang.

In 17 games after the All-Star weekend, Zhang Yang averaged 29.3 points, lowering his season average to 32.1 points.

James also had several games post All-Star weekend with scores below 30, dropping his average to 30.9 points by March 8th. But as mid-March came around, he started scoring more frequently again.

He hadn’t hoped much for the scoring title initially, but with Zhang Yang acting more as a team player, his scoring declined. James seized the opportunity, raising his average to 31.6 points, now only 0.5 points behind Zhang Yang.

With over ten games remaining, there’s still hope!

On the 26th, the Bobcats arrived at The Palace of Auburn Hills to face the Pistons. After a challenging defensive battle, the Bobcats defeated the Pistons 109-102, ending their two-game losing streak against the Pistons this season and achieving their second 8-game winning streak this season!

Zhang Yang scored 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Felton added 18 points and 5 assists, Okafor 13 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks, and Hill, against his former team, scored 14 points and a team-high 6 assists... With six players scoring in double figures, the team displayed a beautiful offensive synergy.

On the 27th, Zhang Yang returned with the team to Charlotte and received good news: he won an award!

Last week, he averaged 26.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 5.5 assists, 2 steals, 0.5 blocks, with 4 victories, earning the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award.

This was his fifth time winning Player of the Week this season, tying with James for the most in the league this season.

The Western Conference’s winner was Paul, who led the Hornets to 3 victories last week with averages of 19.7 points, 4 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2.3 steals.

Upon learning of Paul’s win, Zhang San felt that this week’s award was deliberately set up by those Jewish gentlemen, as the Lakers also went unbeaten with the Wolf King averaging 20+10+5 this week, including a triple-double. Still, Paul’s performance matched Garnett’s, and winning was justified.

In the evening, the Bobcats faced the Pistons again in a tough back-to-back; this would be their toughest back-to-back of the season.

Another difficult defensive battle ensued. Last night, the Bobcats used varied tactics to win the third quarter by 10 points, laying the foundation for victory. This time, they fell in the duel, losing 104-110. Their regular-season record against the Pistons was finalized at 1 win and 3 losses, failing to level the series.

The Bobcats’ winning streak, which began in mid-month, also came to an end, freezing at 8 wins.

In the post-game coaching meeting, Carlisle reviewed Zhang Yang’s stats: 11 of 20, including 2 of 5 from three-point range and 5 of 6 free throws, scoring 29 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals...

With such good form, yet only 11 shots were taken. Coach knew the bad boy was suppressing his shooting instincts to allow for more tactical play, helping his teammates instill muscle memory, not just a mental grasp of the team’s tactics.

He said to the assistant coaches, "Tonight we made a grave error by failing to promptly adjust our playing style further."

Vincent, upon hearing this, joked, "Are you anxious, Rick, because we didn’t manage to gain an advantage over the Pistons?"

Coach: "Do you dare to backstab a brother, huh?"

After teasing a friend, Vincent returned to seriousness, "We’ve had a good run recently with 8 consecutive wins, and though we ended tonight, we demonstrated great tactical synergy. Despite some areas not yet reaching a satisfactory level, we’re running out of time in the regular season to address those.

Some extremely detailed aspects can’t be worked out just through training, like adjusting the offensive pace; it takes that 1% inspiration that strikes in a game or practice—when it comes, it comes."

Paul Silas chimed in, "Sam is right; with 11 games remaining, it’s time to prepare for the playoffs.

One more thing, our team play is strong, but we’re not playing the games for which we built this system."

The veteran coach doesn’t talk much; unless asked, he doesn’t express random opinions. He knows his role, but speaks when needed.

Carlisle understood the veteran coach’s point, declaring, "Let’s free Jack then, let Jack unleash his offensive firepower within the system we designed for him!"

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