New York is just New York, a game with not even a sliver of suspense. The post-game interview is even busier than when they secured the top spot in the East by defeating the Pistons.
The next day at noon, the Bobcats returned to Charlotte, and in the afternoon, they faced another wave of interviews.
Zhang Yang, being the most popular player on the Bobcats in both Rabbit and Hawk countries, was naturally the busiest, his face almost frozen in a smile.
Initially, he maintained his professional demeanor, trying to come up with different ways to answer when the same question was asked by various media outlets. After all, part of his salary was for doing just that.
But later on, he just gave up, adopting an "it is what it is" attitude and phoning it in.
The most frequently asked question by domestic media was about the championship, now that they were the top in the East, domestic fans were definitely concerned about that.
However, after experiencing the ’Houston Collapse Event’, fans had a real understanding of the NBA’s actual state and knew how exaggerated the disparity between the Western and Eastern Conferences was. The reporters asked their questions much more conservatively than when they hyped up the Rockets... but it seemed that even the conservative questions had many pitfalls.
Hyping up the championship topic evidently generated much more heat than straightforward reporting did. The domestic media reported that way initially not just because there was extra money in it, but also because such reporting attracted more traffic and allowed for greater speculation.
Now that there was no extra money, they had to create topics even more inventively.
Zhang Yang’s answer was cautious and serious: "Every team entering the playoffs aims for the championship, but whether they can win it or not, we’ll only know after the games are played. Starting from the first round, we will give our all and take it seriously. The Supersonics were the league leaders in the 93-94 season but were eliminated in the first round, and the Pistons managed to win the championship when nobody favored them. We won’t underestimate any opponent, and we won’t fear any either."
The domestic media, which tended to lead with their questions, were frustrated. Was this kid really just 18?
Most domestic fans were quite satisfied with Zhang Yang’s unassuming yet dignified response, which was neither arrogant nor unduly humble.
After a busy afternoon, Zhang Yang collapsed onto the couch in his apartment, feeling truly that the interviews were more exhausting than the games... where he played less than 20 minutes each.
He figured Yao Ming was probably having a great time now.
Firstly, the Rockets’ lineup was so poor it couldn’t get any worse.
When domestic fans realized the Rockets had managed 52 wins despite such a weak roster, Yao’s personal capabilities received greater recognition, and both his endorsements and fees increased.
And he didn’t have to keep awkwardly answering questions about winning the championship in front of the domestic media... it was Zhang San’s turn now!
Carrying the expectations of the domestic fans was something he was quite happy about.
He didn’t mind the pressure; his approach to the game was quite pure.
But for some reason, he felt like he was at a huge loss!
Zhang Yang muttered to himself, "I was wrong, I was really wrong. Why did I say the Rockets had only three players like Yao, Mai, and Ba? If I hadn’t said that, our people wouldn’t have realized the truth, and those reporters wouldn’t have focused their attention on us. I wound up taking the bullets for Women’s Day... what a loss, when I get back to the country he definitely owes me a foot wash..."
After lying down for a while, Zhang Yang got up to check the news, media, and experts’ analysis of the first round, hoping to pick up some useful information.
Upon opening the NBA’s official website, the headline read that the Bobcats and Mavericks secured the first places in the East, and the first tile block was about records and rankings.
The second edition tile below, the first piece of news was about the Best of the Month award.
This had been announced in the morning, and there were awards for the Bobcats too, as Rondo received his second Rookie of the Month trophy.
The season saw six Rookie of the Month awards in the East, with three players each grabbing two.
Adam Morrison dominated the early two months, scoring more fiercely than Roy, averaging 20 points like clockwork, but he began to decline before even Christmas and fell off completely entering 2007, plagued by injuries and lack of stamina.
Rondo first achieved an average of 5+5+5 per game in January, securing the Rookie of the Month in the East.
During February and March, Bargnani of the Raptors came into prominence, averaging 14 points both months to secure Rookie of the Month.
In April, although Bargnani still had an average of 11 points, being the only rookie in the East averaging double-digit points for the month, Rondo reclaimed the Rookie of the Month with averages of 8.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.5 assists over eight games.
In the West, only two players received the Rookie of the Month, Roy with five awards and the Timberwolves’ Randy Foye with one.
Player of the Month was Arena