No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 1206 - 492: Fortune Favors the Bold, Cowards Go Hungry
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The Bobcats and the Hawks faced off in Game 1, kicking off the second round. ππ³ππππ¦π£π―β΄π£π¦π.π€ππ
On the 9th, the next day, two series started: Bulls vs. Cavaliers, and Lakers vs. Nuggets.
The media that gathered in Charlotte mostly left early this morning. By the time Zhang Yang arrived at Tuhang Stadium near noon, there were significantly fewer cameras inside and outside the stadium compared to the last rest day, which was the day before yesterday.
This was expected. In the series between the Bobcats and the Hawks, the biggest highlight was the pre-game award ceremony of Game 1. After that, although the series still had plenty of attention thanks to Zhang San, it didnβt attract mainstream media teams for coverage as Game 1 did; a follow-up team was sufficient.
Yao Ming vs. James, Kobe vs. Iverson, the Cinderella team, in terms of topics, each of these matches outshone the Bobcats vs. Hawks series.
However, when Zhang Yang woke up this morning and browsed the forums, he found that last nightβs post-game buzz was actually not low.
They staged an exciting seesaw battle, launched a comeback, and eventually countered the overcomer...
After the game, a bunch of "β63 Hawks old fans" expressed their regret that the Hawks ultimately failed to complete the comeback.
The rhetoric of these people felt very familiar to Zhang Yang... Clearly, this was the same group that, during the first round, was hyping the Heatβs potential upset, making Wade fans feel as if the whole world was supporting them!
This time, their cosplay seemed much more professional, not because their βskillsβ had improved, but because...
When they had hyped the Heatβs upset before, only Wadeβs fans, followers playing along, and the occasional fan found such praise amusingly awkward.
But this time, lamenting the Hawksβ failure to counterattack in the first game did look somewhat convincing. Even the casual fans who favored neither team felt sorry for the Hawks, while being equally shocked by Zhang Sanβs critical 8 points.
Itβs still a matter of strength. The Heat were the weakest among all playoff teams, but the Hawks genuinely had championship potential. Their three major stars on the perimeter could all handle tough battles, Horford was quickly maturing, and the role players werenβt bad, though the head coach was somewhat lacking. During the years following Jordanβs second retirement, reaching the finals wouldnβt have been difficult for them.
Itβs just that Zhang Yang felt that these "β63 Hawks old fans" would be crying their eyes out in the bathroom this time. Their cosplay was far more professional than before, yet the effect was worse! It put more pressure on the Bobcats and did less to boost the Hawksβ confidence compared to the first roundβs awkward hype.
Because the fansβ post-game focus and the hottest topic were about a few of Zhang Sanβs trash-talking comments...
Not the ones he said in the end like "not one of you can fight" or "hope they can bring me more fun." Those were initially quite popular but mainly excited the Bobcatsβ fans for just a moment.
What truly caught fire was what he said to Pierce after a miracle shot 2+1 against Joe Johnson β "Luck doesnβt favor fools."
He had heard Pierce say he was "too lucky" and thought of this line to provoke Pierce, and it worked. He didnβt remember much of what happened next, but he didnβt expect this comment to carry post-game buzz.
Out of curiosity, he checked through the most-replied posts from last night to this morning...
Initially, fans were simply teasing Pierce for taking the comment personally, foolishly going one-on-four, and putting on the "fool" label himself.
Then, a debate about whether "clutch shots" rely more on skill or luck suddenly erupted.
Zhang Yang didnβt see the point in arguing about this, yet the debate raged on until morning... and the "luck faction" was prevailing!
Fans of Zhang San, Kobe, Carter, Ray Allen, Ginobili, Anthony... all skilled in clutch situations, couldnβt out-argue the "luck faction."
That group seemed to have their own "basketball logic," and every "argument" fit within their logic, countering anything said with "arguments" youβd never expect.
Even fans suggesting "clutch shots are fundamentally based on skill, combined with luck" got rebutted by the "pure luck faction," citing "the argument" that Wade had barely made threes this season but still hit a three-point buzzer-beater... Zhang San felt for Big Cheek, as he couldnβt even fish in peace.
The topic extended further, sparking a new morning topic β a star playerβs historical status, achievements, and their relationship with luck.
Baylor, Double Killers, Barkley, Ewing, Miller... despite being retired for so many years, were dragged into the discussion, mocked for being foolishly unlucky.
Simultaneously, others said Russellβs 11 championships resulted from good luck during an era with barely over ten teams, Magic Bird had lucky strong teammates, Jordan had luck because Larry Bird declined early due to injury, the Shaq-Duncan combination was lucky after Jordanβs retirement... Even Zhang Sanβs 06-07 championship was dissected as having numerous lucky points and labeled the championship with the most "luck factor."
Zhang Yang felt a bit annoyed seeing this at first, as it essentially denied the teamβs efforts in that postseason, but there was no way to refute it.
Thinking calmly, he guessed the person behind this extended topic aimed to diminish the influence of the "championship" in fansβ minds, boost the influence of stats, and when someone wins a championship, hype it back up or combine it with data to create something new... and thatβs it. "No title equals Kobe," "one title surpasses Duncan and Shaq," "two titles surpass Magic and Bird," "three titles are historically unbeatable"? Anyone who controls the media narrative can do it, right?
