No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 169 - 102. Rookie of the Month!_3

However, he still has plenty of time to enhance his talent and develop more skills, he will certainly be much stronger than his counterpart from the timeline of 10 years ago!

Zhang Yang checked the forums, not many were badmouthing him, and there were plenty praising his talent, which surprised him, but also left him feeling a bit lost.

Carter and Wade’s fans no longer cared about him, their attention had turned to quarrels with fans of other top guards.

The battle had spread, not just among the guards, but forwards, swingmen, Yao Ming and O’Neal’s fans were all debating who was stronger.

The flame war on December 27th that crashed the forum’s servers kicked off another round of ’star comparisons’.

This was something the NBA loved to see. The NBA officials were also deliberately encouraging fans, making them argue more fiercely, because where there’s controversy, there’s viewership and money to be made...

Among the rookies, there were comparisons, but no quarrels, Paul was far ahead in strength; even Zhang Yang and Frye, who performed well, couldn’t touch Paul at all.

The next day, the Hornets narrowly defeated the Hawks team on the road with a score of 95 to 89.

The Hawks team was again aiming for a top-three position this year, having scooped up Joe Johnson, who averaged 20 points per game, along with the high school talents Harrington and Josh Smith improving in strength. They even switched to a head coach with championship experience, Mike Woodson... But from the team’s strength and record, no progress could be seen.

Their offense was still terrible, Woodson’s legendary defensive prowess wasn’t showing through either.

Joe Johnson playing as a combo guard, scrambling together scoring and organizing offense, that move could only be made by Woodson. Although Johnson averaged 20 points and 6.5 assists, his organization of the offense was a mess, and when it came to defending point guards, he could barely contain any team’s starting guard. Tonight, he was utterly broken by Felton.

Gerald Wallace penetrated the Hawks team’s interior tonight, racking up 23 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks.

Felton was also fierce, achieving a career-high 25 points, he was quite happy with being named the Rookie of the Month, but envy and jealousy were still present. As long as he wasn’t talking back in practice, everything else he said sounded great, and he didn’t want to vent his negative emotions on his junior, so they were unleashed on the opponents instead.

Zhang Yang turned in a standard performance tonight with 4 out of 11 shots, including 0 out of 2 three-pointers, plus 5 out of 6 free throws, totaling 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. His number of shots had drastically reduced, and his shooting percentage was low, but he successfully ’attracted’ the defensive attention of Harrington and Josh Smith.

As for Josh Smith, he didn’t have much to think about with regards to Zhang Yang, the main issue was Harrington. Harrington was green with envy over the treatment Zhang Yang received in his rookie year. Media analysis pointed out this was the reason why the Hornets traded away Brevin Knight — to clear more playing time for both rookie guards.

And Harrington, the new Walker, only played 21 games in his rookie year, totaling 150 minutes...

Since the team was performing poorly anyway, Harrington would just focus on Zhang Yang whenever they encountered the Hornets. That was his whole game plan.

But sadly for him, he discovered he couldn’t lock down Zhang Yang anymore, as he could in the preseason games. Just three short months had passed!

He felt even more jealous!

...

On the 4th, the Hornets beat the Celtics team on the road with a score of 109 to 102.

Watching Perkins push Al Jefferson around mercilessly, Rivers felt like he had been duped by the Hornets.

In terms of trade value, giving away Brevin, in his prime, capable of nearly averaging a double-double with points and assists if given enough ball-handling responsibility, made more sense than a third-year high school player like Perkins who still struggled to make layups.

But in practice, it’s a different story!

Brevin shined in good times, leading the team to some beautiful offense when they had the upper hand.

But when they were down or the game was tense, all Brevin could contribute were his stats. Don’t even think about him lending a helping hand in times of need.

And as it happened, what the Celtics team needed was a player who could turn the tides and organize the team’s offense.

Moreover, Brevin’s defense was excessively poor. Tonight, Zhang Yang and Felton, and even Bernard Robinson, would each take turns going one-on-one against Brevin whenever they encountered him. Felton scored 17 points and had 6 assists, Zhang Yang had 15 points and 3 assists, and Robinson tallied up 10 points and 3 assists... The backcourt trio together scored over 40 points!

But for the Hornets, Perkins was truly useful! His toughness on interior defense, his awareness in judging the movement lines of penetrating and advancing players, and his strength in stand-up defense was very suitable for Gerald Wallace. It was somewhat reminiscent of Okafor weighing 127 kilograms at the start of the season.

With Perkins coming off the bench, Wallace not only defended more easily, but his defensive efficiency increased as well.

Having taken down two bottom-feeders, the Hornets’ record improved to 14 wins and 18 losses, and the team’s young players were surging with momentum!

On the 5th, the Hornets flew from Boston to... Oklahoma City, the temporary home of the Hornets.

Tomorrow, their fourth opponent in a five-game road stretch — the Hornets!

This game was broadcast by several TV networks, enjoying the attention reserved for high-profile matches.

Both teams performed better than expected this season, with the Hornets at 13 wins and 19 losses, far better than the media’s predictions at the season’s start. Back then, the Hornets, like the Bobcats, were seen as contenders for the number one draft pick, with jokes that they deserved to be teams from the same city.

Now, both teams had become rising powers in the eyes of the media and fans.

Both teams had extremely talented rookies: Paul, JR Smith, Felton, Zhang Yang.

Both had stars who were overlooked early in the season but rose rapidly: David West and Gerald Wallace.

The Hornets had a rookie year Center averaging over 15+10 who was sidelined for weight loss, with the potential to improve further upon his return, while the Hornets had quality role players and prospects obtained from trading away Baron Davis and Magloire, hopeful to turn these assets into strength-enhancing trades.

The once mocked ’Charlotte Twin Bears’ had now become the ’Charlotte Rising Giants’ in people’s eyes!

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