Actually, there’s another factor in one-on-one play that Iverson overlooked: when Zhang Yang drives into the 76ers’ paint, there’s no one to stop him, so Iguodala must be on guard against being beaten, while Zhang Yang doesn’t have to worry about that.
Iverson may not have neglected it, just considered it part of one-on-one play; after all, this kind of thing can never be fair.
Iverson took over the offense and now it was Felton’s turn to worry.
With Iverson’s change of direction and breakthrough, Felton managed to provide the first bit of contact, but couldn’t keep up after that.
Iverson closed in, came to a sudden stop and sprang up, his legs acting like they had springs installed. Okafor stepped up to block, but Iverson got the shot off before Okafor’s block could land... and it hit!
When it was the Bobcats’ turn to attack, Iverson actively went up against Zhang Yang; reluctantly, Iguodala had to switch to guard Felton.
Little AI: "I feel that it’s not that the boss despises my one-on-one loss; he wants to step in himself, although there is no evidence."
Felton was ready to take on Iguodala, but the kid, right, posting up Iverson at the free-throw line, is calling for the ball!
It’s not enough to go one-on-one with the sophomore Iguodala, now he wants to challenge ’The Answer’? That’s brave!
Wait, the kid had the guts to clamor for a one-on-one with Kobe...
Felton passed the ball over, feeling a tad insecure at that moment, but he instantly cast that thought aside, calculating mathematically—it’s my little bro, so brave. How does the math go again? Round up, right, round up means I’m also super brave!
The crowd was already cheering when they saw Zhang Yang backing down Iverson for the ball, and the cheers grew louder when Felton lobbed the ball over, chanting "Jack," "The Answer."
In his tenth season, even on an away court, Iverson still had a massive fan base.
Zhang Yang received the ball and carefully protected it, using his wider frame to keep Iverson and the ball apart, as the opponent’s hands were too quick, almost poking the ball away when he caught it.
After securing the ball, Zhang Yang took a couple of dribbles to find his rhythm, then stepped forward, turned around, and took a jump shot...
Iverson had to be prepared for Zhang Yang’s spin and drive, failing to immediately close the gap to restrict the jump. Although he moved in faster than Iguodala to play defense, his interference was less effective than Iguodala’s.
Zhang Yang’s turnaround jump shot hit again!
In the transition from defense to offense, now it was Iverson’s turn to advance the ball aggressively.
Poor Felton, now ’The Answer’, aggravated by the kid, was even angrier than before. What could he, as the boss, do? Just help his little brother weather the storm.
At that moment, the kid came up to the top of the key, gave Felton a pat, and pointed towards Iguodala; Felton, overjoyed, ran straight towards the direction Iguodala was coming from without looking back.
Seeing Zhang Yang head his way, Iverson smiled.
This rookie sure is interesting!
Zhang Yang defended with all his might.
His physicality wasn’t as rough as Felton’s, and he wasn’t as strong at blocking, but his height and arm length gave Iverson the impression that the mid-range and distant shooting spaces were all covered.
This method of ’big guarding the small’ was something Zhang Yang had learned a few days earlier against the Timberwolves: if he couldn’t keep up with the drive, he’d do his best to cover the shooting space.
Iverson didn’t hesitate to abandon the pull-up jumper, driving straight to the basket, confronting Okafor’s jump and converting a layup with his up-and-under move... it scored!
The anxiety hadn’t disappeared, it had simply shifted from Felton’s face to Okafor’s.
The North Carolina genius managed to cover Iverson’s pull-up jumper space, but the effectiveness of the speed interference wasn’t as strong as Felton’s.
Faced with Iverson’s direct drive, even Okafor couldn’t stop it!
As Okafor collected the ball, he glared at Gerald Wallace: Where’s your side defense help?
Gerald Wallace just shook his head.
Does the Prince want to be an on-court spectator?
Hey, that’s not right, so many people are spectators...
Okafor understood, aside from Iverson, the main scorers for the 76ers were shooters, and just standing around watching disrupted their movement rhythm and shooting rhythm.
On their side, with four major scorers, the North Carolina genius was shooting, ’fat boss’ could attack the rim if his outside shot wasn’t going in, he, Duncan Jr., and the Prince were all interior scorers, not needing to worry so much about touch.
What could Okafor do? Just tough it out. The Stone Buddha did the same, shouldering all the hard work.
Zhang Yang and Iverson, both of them fired up, continued their one-on-one.
This was the first time Zhang Yang had gone tête-à-tête with Iverson for an extended period, and the next time he’d face Iverson would be next season, by which time Iverson would be headed off to the Denver highlands. Iverson wouldn’t be so carefree by then... Zhang Yang didn’t want to miss this chance.
The Answer’s thought process was simple—demolish this rookie.
He was even willing to cede shooting rights to Iguodala for practice. He cared about whether they won the game, but if they couldn’t win, might as well enjoy the thrill of playing!
Iverson was definitely a lot stronger, and without side defense interference, just dealing with Zhang Yang’s mid-to-long range disturbance, or blocks from Okafor, Perkins, or Brezec under the basket, he had a very high shooting percentage.
However, Zhang Yang played equally well!
One-on-one was unfair to Iguodala, and the same was true for Iverson.
Now that high-position defenses couldn’t handcheck, Iverson couldn’t stick and use his hands to bump like he used to. The disturbance to Zhang Yang’s shot wasn’t serious, and with Iverson having no backup defense, he also had to guard against the drive himself.
Plus, the 76ers’ wings weren’t stepping in to help with the defense. While the Bobcats had Gerald Wallace with the consideration of the whole game in mind, the 76ers’ reluctance to disturb Iverson’s pleasure meant no one dared interfere.