No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 829 - 353. The Clash Between the Old and New Era

Official timeout ends, Zhang Yang returns to the court, joined by teammates Felton, Pietrus, Millsap, and Perkins.

Zhang Yang is very excited now, scoring 10 points in half a quarter, which is very high even for someone who scored 60 points this season. Yet, he’s playing more easily than when he used to aggressively score five or six points at the start of each game before the All-Star weekend!

"The sole purpose of your tactical positioning is to find scoring opportunities. If you receive the ball and feel it’s an opportunity, shoot. If not, pass to the teammate who’s ready. Try not to hold the ball for long, reducing the resistance caused by holding the ball, while letting the ball flow."

Carlisle told him these words in private yesterday, opening the door to a new world for him... A bit like the tactical role of the Silver Horned King after his post-play matured?

His shooting detail, stability, and distance have gaps compared to the Silver Horned King at his strongest, but he’s confident that his tactical awareness won’t lose to the Silver Horned King. Moreover, he is more confident, faster, and can use screens for positioning - that’s his advantage.

However, he thinks this official timeout will make the defense against him better.

The first half of the quarter was so easy largely because the Chicago Bulls encountered their tactical adjustments for the first time.

On the other side, Yao Ming continues playing, trailing by 5 points at the start. He certainly can’t rest, playing only 7-8 minutes per quarter against most opponents, mostly 7, conserving himself to have the stamina to play more in key matches.

The other 4 players for the Chicago Bulls are Chris Duhon, Sefolosha, Nocioni, Joe Smith.

The game continues, Chicago Bulls on offense.

Duhon and Joe Smith coordinate with a pick and roll; Joe Smith receives the ball and passes to the left side of the free-throw line.

Yao Ming receives the ball at a high position, Pietrus rushes over to defend, but Yao Ming has already lifted the ball, and with a tiptoe fadeaway mid-range shot... it’s good!

The Bobcats are continuously optimizing their style of play; the Chicago Bulls focus on traditional half-court offensive and defensive strategies, slowing the pace and limiting opponents’ chances for fast breaks. After Yao Ming joined, who is adept at traditional half-court play, they seamlessly integrated. Toward the end of the season, there wasn’t a major overhaul of the offensive and defensive systems, but they have been continuously optimizing and adjusting the tactical details according to opponents, adjusting players’ tactical roles based on the matchup.

Yao Ming has already passed the phase where he had the best stamina at the start, and his defender changed from the slightly lighter Brad Miller to the top-notch tank, Perkins. Duhon decisively shifted Yao Ming to a higher position in tactical coordination, using Joe Smith’s impact to push Perkins under the basket.

The opponent uses regular wing cover to compensate for Yao Ming, but Yao Ming won’t be disturbed when shooting against the defense and can shrink the middle in advance. Yao Ming’s passing ability isn’t just for show.

This change was made by Skiles based on the matchup situation after the Christmas classic and two encounters with the Bobcats in the halfway mark.

But this change by the Chicago Bulls was within Carlisle’s expectations. Getting Yao Ming to leave the low post on the offensive side means Perkins has played his role. If they had replaced him with Muhammad, Yao Ming could still freely call the shots in the low post.

This is also why the Bobcats, after careful consideration, didn’t trade Rondo and Perkins for Artest.

As for a deeper defensive coordination, they currently can’t achieve it because this season, they are focusing on perfecting one aspect offensively, only able to defend to the best of their ability.

When the Bobcats attack, Zhang Yang sees the defensive positioning of the opponents and knows they have strengthened their defense against him.

He firmly sets shooting as his primary goal, moving with that in mind.

Felton singles out Duhon, breaking into the inside; Millsap sets a screen for Zhang Yang at the left free-throw line, blocking Sefolosha.

Sefolosha and Joe Smith both rush towards Zhang Yang, limiting his movement to receive the ball.

Millsap decisively chooses to roll down, receiving a pass from Felton in the middle of the three-second area. This is his shooting zone, drawing Yao Ming out to interfere; he lobs the ball high, Pietrus cuts in from the baseline, Perkins blocks the chasing Nocioni, Pietrus receives the ball for a layup and scores!

On the sidelines, Carlisle says to Brad Miller: "Paul’s movement choice and timing in distributing the ball were superb this time, Brad, you’ve trained Paul well, his coordination has improved greatly in these two months."

Brad Miller: "Paul has great talent for coordination, his athletic ability is also outstanding, and his method of coordination is more comprehensive than mine. His significant improvement is mostly due to his own diligence and eagerness to learn. After almost every game, he seeks me out for discussions."

Carlisle: "He’s always been eager to learn, but before you came, his progress wasn’t as fast, Brad, you don’t have to be modest."

However, being able to independently complete his coordination work is due to the simple and fixed roles of his teammates. When he’s coordinating, his direction is clear, with fewer situational adjustments required, still there’s Raymond to help as the main controller. He still has a lot to learn from you..."

On the court, both teams continue with their half-court battles. The Chicago Bulls have invested noticeably more energy in their offense tonight than in the previous two encounters.

In the Christmas matchup with the Bobcats, they steadily controlled the Bobcats’ scoring to just above 20 points each quarter, effectively suppressing the Bobcats. The Bobcats relied on Zhang Yang’s 41 points in a single game to break 90 points.

But in the half-way season finale, they couldn’t suppress the Bobcats’ scoring anymore, as the Bobcats comfortably surpassed 100 points. However, Skiles had already prepared by then, adjusting the distribution of offensive and defensive investments, capitalizing on the Bobcats’ weak team defense, scoring 108 to defeat the Bobcats, who scored 104.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢