Capítulo 1317: Chapter 531: The Imbalanced Sense of Returning to Normalcy (Part 3)

Zhang Yang was quite concerned about the data leaderboard. With two consecutive high volume games and less than 30 points, his average score, which had just risen to 30.6 points, dropped to 30.3, allowing Anthony to catch up.

He was not the type of all-round player, only the scoring and steals data looked slightly better. Compared to other top forwards and guards, he was at a disadvantage. Last season’s average of 4.1 assists was already his career high. This year, with a backup point guard with better passing and Afflalo also able to pass, his assist numbers fell back to just above 3.

It was hard for him to get back to the top of the scoring list, but before he could stay a few days, he dropped again, which made him feel sad.

After a meal at Yao’s with his family, in the afternoon, Zhang Yang returned to Charlotte with the team and eagerly practiced several sets of shooting before dinner in the evening.

On the 19th of last month, after accumulating 100,000 shooting value, he collected the reward for the last of the three tasks in the previous round, randomly increasing the level of experience gains.

The ball-handling rhythm of the Son of the Wind, the post-play rhythm of the Big Bird, the Reaper, he didn’t randomly select any of these. Fortunately, he didn’t get the ‘I age slower’ kind of experience gain that wouldn’t be useful now. Instead, his core strength improved, advancing from primary to intermediate.

The ‘slight’ marker in the effect was gone, and the result was quite obvious. The little one said his waist strength seemed to have improved… Most of the time he couldn’t feel the change, as his core was already good, but after his stamina dropped and he forced a fadeaway or a contested layup, he could feel the difference. It was more powerful than in similar situations before.

Like during the Thunder Team game, he drove in during the final moments, and under Rose’s intense defense, he was still able to use his height advantage for a layup, thanks to the core strength upgrade.

After receiving this reward, a new round of tasks appeared, again with three tasks of 100,000 shooting value each.

He initially intended to gather enough for 100,000 points before the midseason to upgrade another experience gain but failed. With the Texas road trip starting, his training time reduced, especially with five games in four days, he barely had any personal training. In the last six games, he averaged 44 minutes on the floor, and even his recovery ability couldn’t keep up.

During this time, the team had limited training. Before the Texas trip began, his shooting value was 46,000. Almost 20 days later, it only reached 60,000.

After the Christmas game, the Bobcats have three days of rest. The next game is on the 29th, at home against the Toronto Raptors—a relatively easy game. Before the difficult Jan. schedule starting Jan. 9, they only have six games.

After accepting the reality of returning to ‘normal’ performance, his mentality relaxed significantly, fatigue lessened, and he wanted to work on his shooting, accumulating a few hundred points was better than none.

But after practicing several sets of mid-range shots and three-pointers, he stopped his training. With rest time available, the body needs adequate rest.

He rested another day on the 27th, only practicing a few sets of three-pointers during the morning exercise. By the 28th training day, he woke up feeling refreshed, fully reinvigorated.

After a day of preparation, on the 29th, the midseason game day for the Bobcats season arrived. Felton and Millsap, after nearly 10 days of rest, both returned to play.

During practice yesterday, both participated in full training, looking fine, which eased Zhang Yang’s worries.

Since the start of the season, their health has overall been quite ideal. Of the 14 team members, 9 have missed games due to injury, with 1 repeatedly sent down and recalled from the Development League.

Only Zhang San, Okafor, Afflalo, and…Hill haven’t been injured. To be precise, only Hill truly hasn’t been injured. The three of them have had minor sprains or strains but never to the extent that required game absence due to injury.

However, the other injuries weren’t serious, and once it reached a point where a break was necessary, Carlisle would choose to enforce rest for the player.

From Vincent, Zhang Yang learned that Carlisle used to be a coach who admired the ‘play through minor injuries’ approach, a habit formed many years ago from watching Big Bird play.

But after coaching at the Pacers for several years and seeing O’Neal’s minor injuries worsen into serious ones, impacting his athletic ability in the prime age of 26-27, he began to change.

Now, with 70 wins already under his belt, Carlisle has no obsession with regular-season records and strictly controls against injuries.

At 7 p.m., the Bobcats’s home faced the Toronto Raptors challenge.

Zhang Yang played 33 minutes, shooting 10 of 18 from the field, including 4 of 7 from three, along with 4 of 4 free throws, efficiently scoring 28 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals!

Under his leadership, the Bobcats easily defeated the Raptors 103 to 94, improving their record to 22 wins and 8 losses!

The newly recovered Felton came off the bench, playing 18 minutes, shooting 3 of 7, scoring 8 points and 4 assists—overall decent.

Millsap was more explosive, playing 28 minutes, shooting 5 of 7, plus 3 of 5 free throws, scoring 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, with Okafor only playing 17 minutes, clocking out for the night at halftime.

However, the two recovering teammates played well, but the performance of the healthy Collison surprised Zhang Yang.

Collison, looking like he over-rested during the 3-day break, started and played 25 minutes, shooting 3 of 11 and 3 of 5 from the free-throw line, finishing with 9 points and 2 assists.