Seeing Zhang Yang executing a series of moves without creating a shooting chance, the fans at the venue were extremely anxious; when Zhang Yang forcefully took his shot, many thought the ball was doomed, and the bad boy was about to embarrass himself... but it went in!
From anticipation, to tension, to urgency, to reluctance... and then to surprise, the fans experienced a roller coaster of emotions over Zhang Yang’s one-on-one play in just a few seconds, culminating in cheers and screams when the positive feedback hit!
Zhang Yang and his marker, Raja Bell, were both left speechless.
Zhang Yang sprung up like a carp after the shot, quickly retreated to defend, and inwardly exclaimed, "Truly worthy of being the only one in the league to make All-Defensive Team purely based on man-to-man defense."
Raja Bell’s man-to-man defensive tenacity was the strongest Zhang Yang had faced since entering the NBA, surpassing Bowen, Kobe, with Bowen lacking physical capabilities, and Kobe needing to focus a portion of his energy on help-defense.
Being chosen as a first-team defender on a run-and-gun team like the Suns was proof enough of Raja Bell’s exceptional defensive skills.
If he didn’t decide to drive in, Zhang Yang would find it difficult to get rid of Raja Bell’s close defense; if he drove, Marion and Stoudemire on the opposing team would mindlessly double-team him. He was aiming for a score to respond to Coach Nash, so he couldn’t drive in; luckily he was in good touch and managed to force the shot through.
The Suns quickly inbounded the ball and pushed forward; Raja Bell kept pace with his teammates, shocked in his heart: "This XXX has improved way too fast, right? Aren’t geniuses supposed to be this outrageous? I really want to reach out my hand... No, that would be deadly!"
For this basket, Zhang Yang relied on dribbling, pivoting, jumping, leaning back... if he was slow in any link of the chain, he wouldn’t have been able to maintain a complete shooting motion.
Raja Bell clearly felt the difference in Zhang Yang from last season, the one-on-one style was similar, but the movements were more concise and efficient!
Nash advanced to the front court, and continued to play one-on-one against Zhang Yang’s defense; Hill began to collapse from the wing early, and Alan Anderson left Diaw on the left side of the three-second zone, moving toward the right elbow area.
When Nash was double-teamed by Zhang Yang and Hill, Alan Anderson cut off the passing route between Nash and the cutting Marion; Nash then passed to Diaw on the left elbow.
Diaw received the ball, took two steps into the lane; simultaneously, Stoudemire cleared out towards the left baseline; Diaw passed the ball... to the left sideline!
Felton, who had collapsed around Stoudemire, was gone; Raja Bell received the pass and shot a three-pointer... and it was good!
The offense transitioned to defense, with Felton advancing to the frontcourt without passing to Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang didn’t settle into position to receive the ball but ran off with Raja Bell in tow.
Nash did his best to use his height advantage to defend against Felton’s long-range shots at the three-point line; Felton shoved off Nash and drove into the lane.
As Felton reached the free-throw line, Zhang Yang just rounded under the basket; the trailing Raja Bell immediately let go of Zhang Yang and rushed to cover Felton, joined by Stoudemire, and Nash who had turned to chase down; Felton, unusually, enjoyed the attention of being triple-teamed.
Felton couldn’t take the shot now; and Raja Bell’s interference also prevented him from passing down low, but as he drove in, he was ready, pushing the ball parallel along the baseline; Zhang Yang, coming around, caught the pass right on time!
Zhang Yang received the ball at the left elbow, with Marion closing in on him immediately; he didn’t stop the ball and passed it on... not to the face-to-face basket, but to the left baseline!
Okafor stood puzzled under the basket, but as he saw Raja Bell suddenly appear in front of him, he instantly understood and admired Zhang Yang’s defensive readiness, promptly turning around to get ready for the rebound.
Hill caught the ball for a mid-range jumper from the left baseline... and hit it!
Nash wiped the sweat from his brow and thought, "Here it comes, the bad boy Jack’s off-the-ball shooting and facilitating style is underway!"
Zhang Yang’s method of play was the same he, the Son of the Wind, had grown accustomed to during the games against the Bobcats.
Raja Bell might just be the best one-on-one backcourt defender of the past two years, bar none; all the guards skilled in isolation play had a headache facing him, and even he, the Son of the Wind, often got frazzled by Raja in intra-squad scrimmages.
But as Zhang Yang had said, he had plenty of ways to deal with Raja Bell, his one-on-one play was great, his off-ball movement was top-notch, and he was very adept at utilizing both teammates’ and opponents’ positioning, as well as having the ability to facilitate.
In Nash’s view, if Zhang Yang wasn’t playing for the purpose of exerting control this season and purely acted as a finisher and facilitator off-the-ball, his scoring efficiency would be even higher.
Wiping off a bit of sweat, Nash received the ball and pushed quickly; they had defended so well earlier, with a rare triple team forming, yet they couldn’t stop the play, so it was time to attack!
After feeling each other out for the opening couple of possessions, the battle between the Bobcats and the Suns had begun!
On the sideline, Carlisle was speaking to Millsap: "Diaw deliberately went to a spot he’s not good at shooting from just now; Jack’s movement while running off-the-ball created obstacles for Raymond’s drive attack. Both of their movements seemed off, but the results successfully created an open shooting opportunity for their teammate; did you see that?"
After a moment’s thought, Millsap responded, "Diaw’s toss in the three-second zone, his mid-range shots from the free-throw line distance are very accurate; he moved away from his preferred shooting spot voluntarily, decreasing his own threat to better receive the ball. The Suns have good spacing, and he can move back to his preferred shooting area at any time to become a threat. Moreover, he has a strong ability to predict, knowing that Raymond is bound to cover Stoudemire with his top mid-shot ability;
Jack anticipated that a top defensive player like Bell wouldn’t stand by and watch an opponent take an easy shot, deduced Bell’s distrust in Stoudemire’s ability to cover, and prefigured that Bell would definitely try to get in front of Emeka first, and Marion would surely cover him..."