No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 125 - 89. It seems like he only has eyes for the basketball hoop_3

Chapter 125: 89. It seems like he only has eyes for the basketball hoop_3

But Harrington didn’t care whether Zhang Yang played well or not; what really bothered him was how a high school student, a mere 17-year-old at that, could remain so calm?

On offense, he honestly ran his routes, took shots when the opportunity for catch-and-shoot arose, and continued moving if there wasn’t one. When he received the ball without a chance to shoot, he would protect it with his butt sticking out and pull back, passing to a teammate coming to his aid.

This mindset of striving to avoid mistakes filled Harrington with envy and resentment.

If he had been like that during his rookie year, would he have been disdained by the "big bird" and left to sit on the cold bench?

Moreover, the more Zhang Yang missed shots, the more envious Harrington became.

What was the coach of the Bobcats doing? This rookie was missing so many open shots, yet he wasn’t being benched and thrown into the trash heap?

In his rookie year, he would be benched the moment he missed shots! freēwēbηovel.c૦m

It’s worth mentioning that in Al Harrington’s rookie season, he played an average of 7 minutes per game, took 2.7 shots, and had a shooting percentage of 32%...

Zhang Yang entered the game at the 6:11 mark of the first quarter and was substituted out at 2:16 in the second quarter. In just over 8 minutes of play, he took 8 shots, made 3, and scored 6 points with 1 rebound and 1 steal.

The shooting percentage was quite bad, so bad that Felton, who was subbed out alongside him, complained that the little brother wasted so many open shot opportunities. If he had taken those shots, he was confident he could have made more—the only one on the Bobcats whose mid-range shooting in practice could match Zhang Yang was Felton.

Both were only of decent standard, but Felton’s stability in shooting after contact was somewhat better.

The players of the Bobcats, except for the rookies selected in the draft these past two years, were mostly scraps unwanted by other teams; mid-range shooters were one of the most sought-after player types in this era, and no other team was about to let the Bobcats pick up a bargain.

However, although Zhang Yang’s stats were average, his impact on the game was surprisingly positive.

In those 8 minutes, the two teams produced a scoreline of 14-12. The Bobcats took the lead over the Hawks by 1 point with 25-24!

The Bobcats’ coaching staff had thought they would get crushed during the rotation phase against the Hawks’ forward pack, which could soar even with a mediocre but decent backup level point guard, as had been proven last season.

Bernie Bickerstaff had absolutely not foreseen his guy Jack causing the opposition to crumble...

Of course, it was because the opponent was the Hawks. Last season, the Bobcats did not end up last in the Eastern Conference with their 18-64 record; the Hawks did with 13-69, which is why Zhang Yang could so easily find open positions—there was no defensive cooperation from the other side.

Marvin Williams might occasionally cover effectively, simply because his habits from playing team basketball in college were still present; he actively filled in for all the gaps left by opponents. But give it a year and a half, and perhaps even he might not be able to keep up.

Having ’endured’ the phase with Tyronn Lue ’leading’ the team, Brevin Knight and Okafor returned to the court, and the Hawks sent Joe Johnson to play point guard. The Bobcats’ advantage began to show!

At the end of the first half, the Bobcats led the Hawks 47-40 with a 7-point advantage!

In the second half, Coach Bernie Bickerstaff put Harrington in the game and, after resting Zhang Yang for more than a quarter, sent him back in, this time alongside Brevin Knight.

Seeing Zhang Yang on the court, Harrington continued to target him. He just couldn’t feel satisfied unless he was going after Zhang Yang.

Tyronn Lue, who also entered the game, very consciously turned himself into an advance point guard...

Harrington was currently the strongest player inside for the Hawks, with an average of 18 points and 7 rebounds last season. Alongside the new arrival Joe Johnson, who had averaged 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists with the Suns last season, he was counted as one of the twin cores for inside and outside lines. He needed to lead the offense—what could a reserve point guard like Tyronn Lue possibly do?

Harrington had thought that since the point guard on the other side had switched from what seemed to be the rookie Felton, who was quite friendly with Zhang Yang, to the veteran Brevin Knight, and with Zhang Yang missing so much, Knight wouldn’t pass the ball to Zhang Yang anymore.

But... Knight passed even more actively!

Unlike Felton who cared about whether teammates could score, as long as Zhang Yang could get open and dared to take the shot upon receiving the ball, Knight would pass it to him.

He didn’t care about his teammates’ shooting percentage or the assist conversion rate of his passes. As long as his teammates took the shot after receiving his pass, he had the chance to get an assist!

Seeing Zhang Yang daring to shoot every time he got the ball, Knight began to like the rookie a bit. Moreover, the rookie could keep up with his pace pushing the fast breaks!

Al Harrington: "No, why? Why was my entry into the NBA so miserable, when this high school kid can play so freely and easily?"

...

to 88, the Bobcats eventually beat the Hawks by 11 points, securing their first preseason game victory.

There were some interesting events on the court, like Felton and Marvin Williams, once teammates, competing against each other, Harrington being irritated by Zhang Yang’s calm, and Joe Johnson’s discomfort with Iverson-style play...

To the audience present, it seemed like a scrimmage of underdogs, including times when the Hawks played incredibly poorly while Zhang Yang was on the court.

The following day was a rest day, and the Bobcats had scheduled an afternoon training session.

However, in the morning, Bickerstaff, Ingles, assistant coaches Little Bernie Bickerstaff and Randy Brown, along with Jordan, the upcoming big boss, had already arrived at the arena. The video editor had worked overtime the previous night to cut together Zhang Yang’s game clips.

Zhang Yang had only played for 17 minutes the previous night, and the edited clips were even shorter, so it didn’t take much time for the group to watch them twice.

Jordan, who was about to become the major owner, spoke first: "With so many good shooting opportunities, he didn’t capitalize. He went 6 for 15, made 2 of 3 free throws, and scored 14 points. If I had that many opportunities, I could score 28!"

Bickerstaff couldn’t help but roll his eyes and teased, "Why don’t you come out of retirement then?"

Jordan: "It’s a nice thought, but no, I’ve pledged never to come back. Though, Jack’s shooting isn’t accurate, all those opportunities were created by himself, which is surprising."

Bickerstaff: "I noticed his tactical awareness during practice games, but I didn’t expect he could do even better in an official match."

Ingles chimed in with a reality check: "It was the Hawk’s poor team defense that gave him so many chances, and he only had eyes for the basket..."

As he spoke, he pressed replay, and they all watched Zhang Yang’s highlights again.

Zhang Yang receiving the ball for a shot, retreating when faced with defense, stopping suddenly after one step for a jumper facing aid defense, choosing a post-up and then a turnaround jumper when backed to the basket...

Initially, Jordan had focused on Zhang Yang’s movement, but after Ingles pointed it out, he noticed this aspect and commented, a bit annoyed, "That’s selfish. Even I wasn’t that selfish... But it’s already impressive to find and use opportunities. Nowadays, most rookies don’t even know how to create scoring chances; they just go one-on-one as soon as they get the ball."

Ingles agreed with this view, saying, "The Nuggets Team has a bunch of talented young players, but coaching them to shoot is far more difficult than guiding Jack."

Bickerstaff defended Zhang Yang a bit: "Actually, Jack isn’t as selfish as the video editing makes it seem. It only shows a dozen of his shooting rounds. During this game, his touch rate was really high; whenever he got the ball without an opportunity, he protected it and passed it to his teammates, not acting recklessly."

Jordan, who had watched the game from the sidelines, recalled and said, "That’s right, I didn’t think he was selfish while watching the game; I just thought his shooting was terrible."

Bickerstaff: "So boss, how should we address this issue? Keep letting Jack shoot or reduce his attempts?"

Jordan thought for a moment and replied, "Let him keep shooting. As long as he has the ability to create shooting opportunities and catch the ball, let him shoot, he’s not going to play for an extended time anyway."

Bickerstaff: "My thoughts exactly. However, Jack’s ability to manage his stamina is certainly a problem. In high school, no one matched him in height, speed, or strength, and he could easily play the whole game. Now, you can tell he’s tired after playing continuously for seven or eight minutes. But he’s young; it’s already good that he can do this at 17. Maybe he’ll do better with shorter continuous playing times."

"We’ll have to see for ourselves. If he wants more playing time, he’ll have to work on his stamina. To maintain his chance to play, he must show us his progress. If his shooting percentage remains like this, we’ll have to change his role. He’s also got defensive talent... but I think he’s already guessed our decision."

As he spoke, Jordan walked over to the one-way floor-to-ceiling window and watched the 17-year-old shooting from mid to long range on the training court below.

Shame leads to bravery; it’s hard not to admire that kind of effort.

...

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