Chapter 395 394. One person’s showtime!

When Zhang Yang made his first three-pointer easily without any interference, Bird thought that his trash talk had worked. Zhang Yang refuted verbally, but in action he wanted to prove himself with a trick he had never used before.

But in the next 5 minutes, Zhang Yang returned to his normal playing style, shooting decisively but putting the team first.

Before Zhang Yang launched his counterattack, Big Bird’s opinion of that ball became that Zhang Yang just got carried away by that ball.

After Zhang Yang made this shot, Big Bird changed his mind.

Based on his understanding of Zhang Yang, this guy was definitely not getting carried away, nor was he trying to prove anything to him. He had made up his mind from the beginning to play like this in the fast break!
Big Bird: No, you have a new trick that you are holding back on and are using to hit me?
He’s about to burst apart!

How could a person be so sinister?

What made him even more furious was that their new head coach Jimmy Rogers didn’t call a timeout!
Not calling a timeout casually is a psychological quality that a head coach should have, but calling a timeout in advance when necessary is the reaction ability that a head coach should have.

Celtics legend and championship coach KC Jones took the initiative to take responsibility for the loss of Zhang Yang and resigned.

Jimmy Rogers was the coach of Boston University. After entering the 80s, he led the team to good results and was spotted by the Cardinals, who chose him as the head coach.

His professional ability is acceptable, his tactical qualities are good, his operational ability is outstanding, and he quickly made adjustments to the original tactical system. The Celtics’ overall playing style transitioned smoothly, and there was no collapse in their record.

But his ability to respond on the spot when coaching is quite poor. Look, he was defeated again!
The ball had already been served. Big Bird looked at Jimmy Rogers standing on the sidelines with his mouth open, feeling helpless. He could only shoot one ball. If he made it, maybe it would be able to offset the impact of Zhang Yang’s two three-pointers.

But as soon as Bird ran to the high position in the front court and received the ball, the Knicks players, under the command of Oakley and Zhang Yang, double-teamed him.

Ewing was guarding the basket alone, Oakley was blocking the middle, Gerald Wilkins was defending Bird, and Mark Jackson nearby was directly double-teaming him, and Zhang Yang was also rushing towards him!

Bird had no choice but to pass the ball to McHale who was out.

McHale caught the ball and shot a mid-range shot…which also missed!

He shot the ball too hastily, and there was no one around, so he had enough time to adjust his shooting action, but he received the ball, turned around and threw it directly, as if he had received a hot potato.

The ball hit the basket and bounced out, landing right in front of Zhang Yang who stopped while rushing towards the big bird.

Zhang Yang caught the ball, turned around, and counterattacked again!

The Celtics still retreated quickly. The center was changed from Parish to Buck Williams, and the point guard was Kenny Smith, a third-year player in his twenties. His mobility was much stronger than three years ago.

But this time they had no tacit understanding in defending fast breaks. Before, they did not block Zhang Yang’s three-pointer. This time, Buck Williams, Kenny Smith and Brian Shaw blocked the top arc.

Zhang Yang passed the ball to the wing, Gerald Wilkins received the ball at a 45-degree angle on the left, Buck Williams moved hard and blocked the ball, Gerald Wilkins passed again…

After Zhang Yang passed the ball, he violently pushed Kenny Smith and Brian Shaw away, went straight to the basket from the middle, received the ball and dunked to get two points!
Celtics head coach Jimmy Rogers then thought of calling a timeout, but the 6-point difference had reached 11 points!
6分11秒，张杨7投5中，其中三分球2中2，爆砍12分2助攻，率领尼克斯队以24比13领先凯尔特人队！
Not to mention the opposing coach, even the Knicks coach Stu Jackson was stunned by Zhang Yang.

During the official timeout, Stu Jackson didn’t even notice that the tactical board in his hand was taken away. It was only when the other party said “thank you” that he realized it.

Looking at the tactical board in Zhang Yang’s hand surrounded by his teammates, Stu Jackson said: This guy is quite polite!

Stu Jackson squeezed in and took a look at the running route Zhang Yang drew on the tactical board… Is this the Bulls’ style of play? It’s just reversed… Wow, this guy is addicted to shooting three-pointers!

But he did not stop it. Instead, he wanted to see what effect this tactic would have.

As the head coach, he was very excited during the two rounds before the official timeout.

Zhang Yang played like a Lakers team by himself!
One person’s showtime!

…

Zhang Yang continued to play, and his teammates were Mark Jackson, John Newman, Oakley, and Ed Wiggins.

Grabbing the tactical board will affect his reputation, but what reputation does he have? The media on Kaizi’s side are smearing him every day.

And…what does Zhang Yang snatching the tactical board have to do with Zhang San himself?
He is helping him here! Developing his own unique style of play! A pioneer of a new genre!
As for whether this tactic will be banned ahead of schedule, that doesn’t matter. I’ll just enjoy the experience first.

In fact, he usually wouldn’t do such a thing. He knows what he is good at. He is likely to be better than Carlisle in terms of on-the-spot response on the court. After all, Carlisle doesn’t know much about the world of superstars, but he is unlikely to be able to match the top-level coaches in terms of tactical selection and strategic planning. It’s just that it’s difficult for him to control his wild heart when facing the opponent in front of him and his current personal ability.

Zhang Yang looked at the opposite side: Kenny Smith, Jim Paxson, Brian Shaw, Ed Pinnick, Buck Williams…what a fast lineup!

Obviously, he was here to defend against him.

He felt a little regretful that Bird didn’t continue playing, but time is unforgiving and he was also affected by a back injury that was difficult to completely cure. Bird’s average playing time per game this season was only 35 minutes, a new career low.

The impact of a waist injury on strength is not as great as a back injury. Bird adjusted his playing style and his offensive efficiency is not much different from previous years. He averaged 35 points, 24 rebounds and 9 assists in 7 minutes per game.

But it has a great impact on his physical strength and lateral movement. He cannot play more in the first half, otherwise he will not be able to C in the second half. And his defense has fallen to the bottom. When Bird was on the court this season, his opponents could score 100 points per 110 possessions, which was the bottom level.

In the past, what Bird’s fans laughed at the most about Magic was his bottom-ranked defense when defending guards. Now Bird is even worse. Magic’s defense this year is also the worst in his career, but he “only” allows opponents to score 100 points per 107 possessions.

After the timeout, the Celtics attacked.

Kenny Smith and Ed Pinnick started the offense with a pick-and-roll and passed the ball to Brian Shaw.

Buck Williams cut in, received a pass from Brian Shaw, and made a layup to score two points.

The second lineup that the Cardinals worked so hard to build was indeed very strong. Brian Shaw was the axis, Buck Williams focused on the inside, Kenny Smith focused on mid-range and long-range shots, Jim Paxson and Ed Pinnick were responsible for screens, cutting in to contain the defense, running… and other dirty work. Their playing styles were in harmony and everyone had their own responsibilities, and the game was played beautifully.

Early double-teaming is not allowed, which is very friendly to the supporting forward and guard players. Brian Shaw averaged 7.6 assists per game in the regular season this season, ranking first among players of the same type.

15 to 24, the Celtics narrowed the gap to 9 points.

It was the Knicks’ turn to attack. Zhang Yang came to the left elbow area and noticed the opponent’s defensive movements – as soon as he received the ball, he would be double-teamed. If he got closer to the basket, he might be surrounded by three or four people.

After Mark Jackson advanced to the frontcourt, he passed the ball to John Newman at a 45-degree angle on the left, then ran towards the mid-range direction on the right baseline. Oakley and Ed Wiggins came to both sides of the free throw line.

Brian Shaw defended John Newman at a 45-degree angle, Jim Paxson faced Zhang Yang with his back to the basket in the left elbow area, Buck Williams and Ed Pinnick followed the two opposing inside players on both sides of the free throw line, and Kenny Smith followed Mark Jackson.

Because of the rule prohibiting early double-teaming, the defender cannot leave the defensive target at an arm’s length for more than three seconds, and the Celtics’ entire inside line was hollowed out!

When Bird saw this position, he immediately thought of the new tactics that Bulls coach Doug Collins had created for Jordan after the introduction of the “anti-isolation rule”, and quickly stood up and yelled, “Watch out, Jack!”

In fact, there was no need for Bird to remind him, Buck Williams also noticed it. When Zhang Yang turned right, Buck Williams directly let go of Oakley and moved back to the basket.

Zhang Yang’s right turn was a fake move. He stopped halfway and turned around to run towards the free throw line.

Jim Paxson hurried to catch up, but encountered two “big mountains” at the free throw line. Oakley and Ed Wiggins were “closed” and blocked the free throw line!

Jim Paxson was blocked, and Ed Pinnick was not as fast as Buck Williams. When he bypassed the two people on the free throw line to catch up, Zhang Yang, who received the pass from John Newman at the top arc, had already shot the ball… and it was a three-pointer with a wide open space and plenty of time to adjust!
The moment the ball fell into the basket, the scene was boiling!

For the first time, fans discovered that three-point shots can be so cool!
The Knicks players were also very excited. Just now, when they heard Zhang Yang’s tactical arrangements, they all cursed. How could the ball be played like this?

After the tactics were successfully executed, they cursed again, saying that ball could really be played like this!
They dared to “play” with Zhang Yang and adopt such tactics, thanks to Zhang Yang here who won the three-point king this season and refreshed the NBA history of single-season three-pointers per game and total hits.

However, before tonight, even though Zhang Yang was the three-point king, no one thought it was a big deal, including his teammates, who just thought he was good at long-range shooting.

Because these days people pay very little attention to three-pointers, the current rules allow for too much confrontation, and it is extremely difficult to shoot three-pointers one-on-one. Even Zhang Yang’s performance in three-pointers one-on-one is very poor, with two of his 2.7 three-pointers per game being from running and receiving shots.

But after Zhang Yang made three consecutive three-pointers tonight, their perception was refreshed…

Some are happy and some are sad. The Celtics players are really a little confused.

Big Bird on the sidelines sat back in his chair with a bang. He felt that it was all over. The game had not been played for one quarter, but he seemed to be able to see the ending.

Big Bird: If I hadn’t thought about saving the $100 flight fee that day and hadn’t fallen off the roof…

(End of this chapter)