After returning to Charlotte, the Bobcats faced back-to-back home games against the Clippers and the Chicago Bulls on the 22nd and 23rd.
This season’s Clippers had been completely transformed and had made rapid progress in strength simply because they had a new player - Sam Cassell.
During the offseason, Baylor signed the nearly 36-year-old Cassell with a 3-year, 20 million US dollar contract, and the media thought he was crazy.
Last season, McHale seized the opportunity to send Philip Saunders packing and took over the coach’s position himself, eagerly displaying his long-suppressed coaching talents. He led the Timberwolves, who had achieved 58 wins and reached the Western Conference Finals the previous season, to ninth in the West. It’s worth mentioning that the Timberwolves’ roster had even improved last season, as Szczerbiak, who was out for the 03-04 season, was healthy and played 81 games.
Cassell had played progressively worse each game last season and looked like he was ready to retire at the end of the regular season.
However, once Cassell arrived at the Clippers, he immediately perked up and played at an All-Star level, leading the Clippers to become a strong playoff team.
After Zhang Yang displayed his talent with the Bobcats, Baylor, who had passed on Zhang Yang with the 12th pick, was heavily criticized.
Back then, everyone said that the Clippers lacked everything, so why not compete with the neighbor next door? After all, Jordan had dared to take a huge gamble despite having a lottery talent from North Carolina.
But by December, the Clippers were still securely in the playoff spots in the West, competing with the Grizzlies for fifth place and firmly surpassing the neighboring team... The criticisms died down, and praises for Baylor’s off-season moves became more frequent. By now, as 2005 neared its end, Baylor was even being hailed as the best manager, thanks to Cassell saving his career as a general manager!
As for not picking Zhang Yang... the neighbors didn’t snap him up either, and even wasted their 16th draft pick on ’Little James’ Joey Graham, who seemed to have muscles where his brains should be. He played 8 games in the first month, fouled out 6 times, averaging 3 fouls every 15 minutes, and was already discarded by the Lakers and put on the trading block, just waiting for someone who wanted to take a chance on ’Little James’.
As a talented playoff team, they wouldn’t have had the time to develop Zhang Yang even if they had chosen him. Not choosing him turned out to be a win-win!
In the game between the Bobcats and the Clippers, the two high school players, Zhang Yang and Livingston, were compared.
In his second year, Livingston averaged 5.3 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, and 0.6 blocks per game.
In his rookie year, Zhang Yang averaged 13.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 0.4 blocks per game.
The two had completely different styles; Livingston was an all-rounder, making every ability his main weapon. Such players need a long time to mature. His second year stats might not look as good as his rookie year’s, but he seemed a bit more experienced; Zhang Yang specialized in shooting and guard defense, grabbing rebounds in the right position and doing what needed to be done otherwise... if he could shoot, he would shoot.
Tonight, the two’s performances matched their styles: Livingston played 25 minutes, scoring 4 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, giving 6 assists, making 2 steals, and 1 block; Zhang Yang played 26 minutes, scoring 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Both were substitutes, matched up for a long time, with neither able to contain the other’s strengths.
Livingston couldn’t defend against Zhang Yang’s movement off the ball, counter-attacks, or shooting off screens; he could only watch Zhang Yang shoot and hope the physical play would make his opponent miss.
Zhang Yang was also unable to limit Livingston’s sense for organizing the offense and his vision.
The game ended with the Clippers winning 97 to 89.
Unlike the Lakers, who relied solely on Kobe, the Clippers had a strong roster, with starters Cassell, Mobley, Maggette, Brand, and Kaman and a rotation of Livingston, Quentin Ross, Radmanovic, Chris Wilcox, and Rebraca, making Kobe regret why he hadn’t joined them in the summer of ’04...
On the 23rd, the Bobcats played the Chicago Bulls back-to-back.
The local media in Charlotte weren’t holding much hope for this game; it was the Bobcats’ second back-to-back game, having fought hard against the Clippers the day before, while the Bulls had rested for two days.
Jordan was prepared to keep a smile even if his team had a terrible loss... Of course, this was just the preparation; whether he would actually smile or curse at that moment was another matter.
The result was a surprise!
Three Bobcats scored over 20, leading to a 103 to 88 major victory over the Bulls!
Gerald Wallace took 9 shots and made 7, showing fierce drive. As the game progressed and he made off-ball drives, the Bulls’ interior defense moved up to block him; he was key to the Bobcats’ win, scoring 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks.
Felton made the most of Gerald Wallace’s draw, racking up assists with ease and scoring 20 points with 11 assists, achieving his first 20+10 career game.
Zhang Yang played 28 minutes tonight, making 8 of 18 shots, plus 5 of 6 free throws, scoring a game-high 21 points and 3 assists, driving in on picks set by Gerald Wallace or cutting in following Gerald’s drives, creating opportunities.
On the other side, Chandler, intimidated by Perkins, just attempted to rebound and was smacked hard on the floor, despite his nickname being Tyson. Seeing Perkins’ fearsome and woeful face, he quickly lost heart, taking only 2 shots and finishing with 2 points and 6 rebounds.
Hinrich, Ben Gordon, and Luol Deng, the three young stars, also underperformed, Hinrich making 5 of 15, Ben Gordon 4 of 13, Deng 3 of 10...
Tonight, Jordan attended the press conference, his smile revealing all his teeth.
Bickerstaff’s mood was very delicate.