No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 175 - 104. When it comes to being annoying, you’ve got to look at the little brother_3

The team battled against teams like the Bucks and the Magic, oscillating around the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, showing a struggling strength, but the other three opponents were really beyond their reach.

Playing against the league-leading Pistons and the top team in the West, the Spurs, they were thoroughly beaten.

The Bobcats had previously taken advantage of internal conflicts within the Pacers to beat them twice.

After trading away Artest for Peja, the Pacers, with players like the younger O’Neal, Stephen Jackson, and Jamal Tinsley... made a concerted effort to cooperate with Peja, aiming to prove they could still perform well with a different perimeter scorer. United as a team and drawing on their experience playing with top-notch shooters, they quickly meshed and went 9-6 in the 15 games before facing the Bobcats again.

The Pacers could not possibly return to their pre-Auburn Palace incident strength of 6-1, but they could still contend for the title of the strongest team in the East outside of the top three.

Against the Bobcats, who had taken advantage of their weakness and beat them soundly before, the Pacers exacted a bloody revenge.

Finally, January 22 arrived, and it was time for "Little Cannon" to bring some warmth!

During the five-game losing streak, Zhang Yang, Felton, and Gerald Wallace each fought hard for victory every game but failed to win. At last, they encountered an opponent with an even worse record, and the trio went into a frenzy mode.

Paul felt helpless against the desperately eager trio as he was facing an opponent who was urgently trying to win because David West was injured!

Paul had to give it his all, making 7 out of 18 shots, including zero out of four three-pointers... His three-point shooting percentage for the season was already below thirty percent, and now it was even worse. Along with 12 out of 12 free throws, he scored 26 points, with 6 rebounds and 7 assists.

Besides him, only two players on the Hornets scored in double figures. P.J. Brown snagged 13 points off easy baskets, and Rasual Butler scored 11 points.

J.R. Smith, seeing Zhang Yang getting hot again, wanted to go on a scoring spree... But in his sophomore year, with his abilities being what they were, whenever the opponent paid close attention and chose the right defensive approach against him, his erratic playing style only hurt himself and his team, as evident from his shooting percentage since entering the NBA a year and a half ago at just 39%. Tonight, Smith played 15 minutes, made 2 out of 7 shots, including 1 out of 5 three-pointers, and scored 7 points with 2 free throws.

Whenever J.R. Smith was on the court, he was basically facing Zhang Yang’s defense, and for Smith at that time, encountering the defensively composed Zhang Yang was like meeting his nemesis.

For the Bobcats, Gerald Wallace had 16 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks, Felton scored 22 points with 6 assists, Zhang Yang had 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists, Eli scored 9 points with 11 rebounds, Brezec had 18 points and 8 rebounds, Matt Carroll contributed 11 points, and Karim Rush added 10 points with 5 assists... Six players scored in double figures as the Bobcats defeated the Hornets 107-92, ending their losing streak!

After the game, Felton went to show off to Paul again, and this time Zhang Yang followed, expressing his thanks to Paul for the "warmth" and suggesting that if Paul wasn’t happy about the loss, he could punch him and take a screenshot for a meme... Paul turned around and walked into the visiting team’s tunnel without looking back.

Felton gave Zhang Yang a thumbs up, acknowledging that when it comes to irritating others, his younger brother on the court still had the touch.

...

After defeating the Hornets, the Bobcats’ record improved to 17 wins and 24 losses.

They had played 41 games already, passing the halfway point of the regular season.

That night, back in his apartment, Zhang Yang analyzed his personal progress and areas in need of improvement over the half-season.

It had been nearly 4 months since training camp started, and the most "obvious" improvements were his three-point shooting and passing, with passing breaking 60 earlier in the month and three-point shooting also hitting 60 during the losing streak, finally getting rid of those two weaknesses.

His mid-range shot improved to 79, hitting a plateau, while layups reached 83, which was a quick progression; strength increased to 79 as his weight reached 90 kg, with speed at 92 and jumping at 84 remaining unchanged, and stamina rose by two points to 84. Technically speaking, the improvement wasn’t visible on the stats board, but he could feel a significant change, being able to use moves such as the Euro step, spin moves, and stride attacks in game situations, unlike when he was first unable to employ them in set plays.

Drawing on the experience from the five-game losing streak, Zhang Yang readjusted his training plan, something he had been constantly revising throughout the season.

From a team perspective, with a win rate just over four in ten, Zhang Yang felt this was probably the best performance they could deliver at the moment. There was no hope for a significant immediate improvement in the team’s strength, and they could only wait for Okafor’s return.

Trading to strengthen the guard line was an option, but he noticed the team had no intentions of trading and indeed didn’t have many valuable assets, except for him, Felton, Gerald Wallace, and only then Brezec and Perkins could be considered as valuable assets.

Perkins had been traded in to serve as a meat shield, to reduce Gerald Wallace’s injury risk, and to allow Okafor not to worry about dealing with Howard.

As for Brezec, the team already lacked inside scoring options, and without him, they would only have Melvin Ely left as a scoring option inside. Trading Brezec for a perimeter player of equal trade value would most likely not be as good as not trading at all... However, if Okafor could come back and stay healthy, that would be a different matter.

From a personal standpoint, Zhang Yang didn’t actually want the team to trade for a guard because that would reduce his chances to train... People are selfish by nature, and he was no exception. Of course, if it really could strengthen the guard line, he wouldn’t refuse it.

Passing the halfway point of the regular season schedule didn’t mean any break, as the All-Star Weekend was the true "mid-point" of the season. People’s view of the "season" refers to the 7 months from training camp to the end of the draft, and since the All-Star Weekend takes place in February, it’s considered the middle of the season.

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