Capítulo 1302: Chapter 526: Starting with an 8-Game Winning Streak!

The Trail Blazers nearly ended the Bobcats’ winning streak, trailing 70 to 80 by the end of the third quarter.

Fortunately, in the final quarter, Zhang Yang launched into ‘brainless attack’ mode, dominating the inside guarded by Aldridge and Camby; Perkins and O’Neal took turns protecting the rim, blocking access to the basket, subsequently affecting the Trail Blazers’ offense from the outside… The final quarter saw a massive reversal of 27 to 12.

Zhang Yang played joyfully in this game, scoring 14 points and providing 2 assists in the final quarter, outscoring the entire opposing team and matching them in assists.

Yet there was some regret; if Oden could play, even if he showed no improvement over last year’s rookie season, the Trail Blazers could boost their strength by a whole level. Center, is the shortest plank on the Trail Blazers’ barrel.

Looking at the Trail Blazers’ lineup, Zhang Yang could analyze the intended roster structure for this season—Andre Miller, Roy, Mike Miller, Aldridge, Oden as the core group, supported by Jerry Bayless, Fernandez, Batum, Juwan Howard, and Camby as backups. Even without the chance to break out of the West, they should have a 55-win strength, comfortably reaching the second round in the West.

But Oden… In May when he got injured, the Trail Blazers’ doctors said he needed 12 to 16 weeks to recover and could catch training camp. However, once camp arrived, the doctors stated he needed another 12 to 16 weeks.

If you add the time for recovery training, Oden’s season is essentially over.

And Zhang Yang recalled, Oden truly was done…

Thus the Trail Blazers were left with only Camby and Pulzbila as centers; Pulzbila was originally just a backup center, a pure defensive blue-collar player with career averages of 3+6, now he became the main substitute.

Camby… Though his stats appear as top-tier blue-collar, averaging 8.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks, his impact on both ends… you could say Aldridge is truly resilient! Despite pushing so hard on the Trail Blazers, he remains uninjured.

Currently, the Trail Blazers, when they explode, have a very high ceiling; Roy, the fourth quarterback in the league, and Aldridge, one of the rare few who can elevate the ceiling from the interior, but the floor is frightfully low; they might not even make the playoffs in the West, with Nash’s resurgence after O’Neal, and the fierce coming of the Duro Twins…

The Toronto Raptors… Long-necked Raptors: I am opting out of my contract, I won’t renew!

Bosh’s remarks before the season were truly decisive; the Toronto Raptors couldn’t even put him on the shelf for sale, no team would be the big-headed fool. To get him, they’ll just wait until next year to compete in the free market.

Moreover, due to the Raptors’ bizarre operations over the past few years, Bosh shouting about not renewing to leave didn’t invite much criticism, in fact, he gained the support of Carter’s fans.

By November 12th, the Bobcats’ winning streak was snapped, losing to the Pacers 95 to 102, stopping at an 8-game streak.

Tonight, the Bobcats’ wing support shooting was inaccurate, the Pacers’ young talents defended boldly, daringly leaving spaces and crazily double-teaming Zhang Yang, coordinating with Hibbert to encircle the three-second area, by the final three minutes of the last quarter, their advantage reached a maximum of 16 points, leading 87 to 71.

Zhang Yang struggled through most of the game, finally finding his shot in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 points and adding 2 assists in over 8 minutes, leading the team to a 24 to 12 run.

However, Granger remained steady throughout the game, confidently securing 20 points during regular time. With only 40 seconds left and the gap reduced to 4 points, he stepped up, facing Hill’s close defense and sinking a step-back three, extending the gap back to 7 points, destroying the Bobcats’ efforts over half a quarter and securing the 7-point advantage to the end.

In this game, Zhang Yang’s biggest takeaway was—Big Bird is amazing!

From kicking Carlisle to the curb to rebuilding, to now only two years later, the Pacers transformed from chaos into a playoff-caliber strong team!

Signing Jim O’Brien, a player development expert who once cultivated ‘Offensive Chameleon’ Pierce and ‘Swiss Army Knife’ Walker, as head coach, Granger and DeRozan’s talents were fully excavated.

Granger was averaging 24 points per game so far this season, down from last season, but his shooting percentage rose from 44% to 47%, leveraging DeRozan’s isolating to attract defensive attention, his wing perimeter efficiency surged, averaging 2.5 three-pointers per game at a 40.6% hit rate, ranking fourth in the league, only trailing Zhang Yang’s average 3.3, Ray Allen’s 2.8, and rookie Curry’s 2.6.

Sophomore DeRozan has opened the season averaging 17.2 points per game, surpassing Dunleavy and Murphy to become the Pacers’ second scorer. He can score in solo plays from beyond the arc to the basket and has earned the title ‘Little Kobe’, though his field goal percentage has decreased from a rookie 43% to 41%, within tolerable limits for a second-year player just 20 years old with doubled attempts.

Moreover, thanks to Big Bird’s promotion, DeRozan’s self-discipline and effort are well-known, and his ambition to surpass Harden and Zhang Yang isn’t a secret, often highlighted in Pacers’ promotions.

Sophomore Hibbert also showcased his potential as a top-tier rim protector, and has piqued interest, averaging 10.7 points, 7.7 boards, and 2 blocks in 25 minutes per game.

The new trio was constructed and yielded results within just two years!

Big Bird had another masterful move—extending Granger’s contract in advance with a 5-year 60 million deal far above his market value back in the summer of ’08.

Back then, Zhang Yang, preparing at the Olympic training camp, saw news of Big Bird being scolded.

Looking back now, if Big Bird hadn’t offered a contract lucrative enough for Granger to sign it without hesitation, and had the decision been delayed until the start of last season when Granger performed close to averaging 25 points per game, even before he stabilized that performance midway through the season, it wouldn’t have been settled with a 5-year 60 million deal; many teams would have openly offered to give Granger a max contract.

Enduring criticism appears in saving nearly 25 million expenses, and allows around an extra 5 million salary cap room annually!

Also, exchanging Little O’Neal for Ford, scouting Murphy and Dahntay Jones, signing Brandon Rush and Earl Watson with high salaries… were all highly commendable moves. To say Big Bird had any shortcomings over recent years, it would be their draft picks.

In ’09, a rich draft year, Big Bird used a lottery pick to select North Carolina’s Hansbrough; Zhang Yang’s white peer, whose immediate combat ability is decent, but his physical fitness wasn’t outstanding in college. Once in the NBA, he’s too slow to play power forward, and matches Hibbert slow with slower… Can only try converting to center but measures at only 206cm tall, a noticeable drawback.

However, this doesn’t affect the Pacers’ strength much; Hansbrough is only the third-choice at the center position anyway, just a wasted draft pick is all.

In Zhang Yang’s view, the biggest issue currently for the Pacers is—how the head coach’s impact is waning, even becoming negative during games.

One important factor that allowed him to lead a 16-point comeback down to 4 was Jim O’Brien’s panicked response as Zhang Yang heated up; aside from calling a timeout to disrupt momentum, there was no positive impact… if not for Granger’s critical three-pointer, he would have yet again led a massive final quarter reversal.

On our side, Zhang Yang felt the pain from losing Mike Miller.

This former teammate, underwhelming in the playoffs unlike the tough-minded Korver, and gentle not resembling a typical white player, was undoubtedly one of the strongest off-ball shooters during the regular season.

‘Regular-season type player’ does not imply irrelevance in the playoffs, it’s about using them correctly.

For the Grizzlies, who were only marginal playoff contenders in the West and first-round material, Mike Miller indeed wasn’t very useful.

But for the Bobcats, it’s a different story.

Helping the team achieve a better regular season record and higher playoff seeding has a huge impact on the playoffs itself.

Jordan, Bickerstaff, Carlisle didn’t intend to trade away Mike Miller during the offseason; without him in last season’s regular games, they’d have won 3-5 fewer games, and couldn’t have achieved as many as three streaks of 10+ wins.

Yet facing a scenario where the Chicago Bulls might ignore O’Neal’s wishes and forcibly trade, they had no choice but to make that deal.

When winning, nobody remembered Mike Miller; once the wing shooters faltered in a loss, someone started reminiscing his contributions.

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Sorry for no update yesterday; I was vomiting and had diarrhea, leaving me completely drained. Luckily my sister was there, sent the little one to the hospital, didn’t even have my phone, couldn’t even post a leave request. I started writing as soon as I got home from the hospital at noon.

Spent all last night sleepless, only managed three to four hours after dawn, now planning to take a nap while Xia prepares dinner, then continue writing after eating!