Tonight, the tactics tested in the real game by the Bobcats team were two of the three basic types of tactics under Carlisle’s new system—the first, Zhang Yang initiating the offense with a high-post isolation; the second, Felton launching an attack through a pick.
Carlisle’s order of system integration was clear—team offense could have its complications and would be adjusted slowly later, but the star players’ style had to be right from the start; that was fundamental.
Another fundamental tactic was Okafor initiating the offense from the low post, but tonight, facing Yao Ming and Ben Wallace’s twin towers, this part of the tactic was not employed.
Zhang Yang and Felton had not wasted the off-season; the former had refined his fundamentals and skills, making his isolation plays even sharper, while Felton, besides strengthening his shooting, actively expanded his shooting space, steadily improving his capabilities. During training camp, they practiced the basic tactics the most. When they led the offense at the start, their teammates cooperated quite well.
The core Center was hungover and performed poorly, affecting the entire Chicago Bulls’ defensive effort greatly.
To partner with Yao Ming, Ben Wallace had specifically adjusted his style to play further out, which also led their teammates to adjust their defense. When Yao Ming moved quickly, it disrupted the defense, unable to guard against Felton and Zhang Yang driving to the basket. Ben Wallace and Luol Deng had to close down from farther back. Once Zhang Yang and Felton penetrated, they just needed to pass to Hill, who was capable of shooting mid-range or passing, effectively completing the assist play.
After executing two rounds of cooperation, the conditions for Zhang Yang’s high-post isolation scoring and Felton’s perimeter shot off a screen were set.
A few rounds later, Chicago Bulls’ head coach Scott Skiles called a timeout.
After talking briefly with Yao Ming, Skiles, seeing Yao Ming’s uncomfortable expression, didn’t know what to say.
He hadn’t expected that Yao Ming, whom he thought the least of all the league’s stars to need concern from a head coach, could also have such an unreliable moment.
But he had a question and asked, "How come only you are hungover when both of you drank?"
Yao Ming said, "He didn’t drink—if he’s only 19 years old, how could I let him drink?"
Skiles said, "Weren’t you drinking with him at your wedding? I saw it with my own eyes."
Yao Ming said, "In our country, you can drink from the age of 18."
"Do you have to be so law-abiding? Who’s going to know if you drink at home? Getting that bad boy drunk too would be matching, now you’re the only one hungover..."
Skiles just muttered to himself in his heart, he couldn’t possibly say that out loud; it wasn’t right to teach someone to break the law...
Carlisle made some personnel adjustments, Felton and Zhang Yang continued in the backcourt, Hill shifted to power forward, Okafor moved to center, and Mike Miller replaced Perkins to play small forward.
After the substitutions, Carlisle looked toward the opposite side, and as he expected, Yao Ming was substituted out.
It was only preseason, and with Yao Ming not in good physical condition that day, it made sense to rest him, cautiously protecting such a major center from unnecessary injury.
Nocioni was also substituted out, and the Bulls brought in Hinrich, Sefolosha, Deng, Joe Smith, and Ben Wallace in their lineup.
With Yao Ming starting, they played Nocioni, who moved slower, with Yao Ming anchoring the paint allowing Ben Wallace and Luol Deng to roam the perimeter, with Hinrich playing solid one-on-one defense at the top— a stable four-out-one-in configuration.
When it came to the second string, Nocioni and Yao Ming were subbed out together, bringing in Sefolosha and Joe Smith. Sefolosha, in his rookie year, had already shown excellent defensive talent and was very reliable. Joe Smith was a defensively renowned veteran, known as the poor man’s Garnett.
Plus, with the guard who could shoot, defend, and orchestrate the offense [Chris Duhon], the Bulls’ eight-man core rotation, though it was only the first preseason game, was already giving Carlisle a headache.
The opposing bench still had the veteran power forward Malik Allen, sophomore Center Tyrus Thomas, veteran guard Adrian Griffin, and rookie center Aaron Gray, who displayed decent battle readiness in the summer league...
When Zhang Yang returned to the court, seeing the opponent’s second lineup made his head spin—it wasn’t much different from the Bulls’ starting lineup that faced Wade in last season’s playoffs!
However, once he stepped onto the court, he no longer cared about that; such concerns were for the management and Carlisle to lose hair over; playing well in the game was his primary job.
This time he didn’t go to the wing but instead waited at the top of the arc; facing Sefolosha on the wing was Felton!
Zhang Yang had just voluntarily asked to switch and defend Hinrich!
Carlisle hesitated briefly but agreed, as it was one of the things he had wanted to do for the new season—Zhang Yang was 19 years old now, it was time to entrust him with defensive assignments to cultivate his defensive abilities.
That summer, he had reviewed all the game tapes from the Bobcats’ past two seasons, revisiting some key games repeatedly. He noticed the excellent defensive awareness Zhang Yang occasionally displayed when responsible for defending the opposing team’s offensive lead, and his impressive defensive fundamentals already during his sophomore season.
However, in those two seasons, Zhang Yang was still too young, and considering all aspects, having him play purely as a scorer was the more appropriate choice.
But this offseason, during the training camp, Carlisle observed that Zhang Yang’s physical performance was already not weaker than Felton’s. Given such defensive talent, naturally, training Zhang Yang’s defensive ability was on the agenda.