Zhang Yang faced off against Carter’s defense and once again began dribbling, executing the butterfly step.
This time, Carter didn’t rashly press up but stayed inside the three-point line, guarding against the drive in the same manner one would guard Iverson.
Zhang Yang shuffled the ball back and forth several times, then his left hand forcefully pressed the ball down and he pulled to the right with a quick step.
Carter moved swiftly to the left to block Zhang Yang’s path... rushing up to disturb, but was a beat too slow.
Zhang Yang sidestepped, seized the quickly bouncing ball, and launched himself into the air, nailing the three-pointer!
Only then did Carter realize that the bad boy’s drive wasn’t following the same playbook as Iverson or Hill at all, using only some concepts of the butterfly step, with the core of his breakthrough technique still relying on creating a rhythm mismatch.
It was obvious that Carter had neither watched the Bobcats’ game against the Suns from two days prior nor had he studied the Bobcats’ footage during the preparation stage, which led him to presume Zhang Yang was imitating Iverson to provoke him upon seeing Zhang Yang dribble for the first time, until Zhang Yang pulled a move that neither Iverson nor Hill would use in a drive, and only then did he spot the difference.
This touches on some poor habits developed by talents who have long been on weak teams, such as no one teaching them defense, or them not taking the initiative to study their opponents and think about how to guard against them.
Carter was a case in point, starting out on the Toronto Raptors when they were still a bottom-dwelling team, and although he quickly led their rise, the team collapsed before he got the chance to refine his defense, miring in decline for several years. By the time he joined the Nets, he had already missed the period of defensive growth after mastering offensive skills.
Since joining a playoff contender, over the past two and a half seasons he had made efforts to improve his defense, showing far more zeal than during his time with the Raptors, but his progress was slow considering he was past the prime growth period and the bad habits accumulated during his Raptors days persisted, lacking the initiative to study opponents and understand them.
Zhang Yang had a deep understanding of this; since his first year in the NBA, every time they faced the Nets, Carter was his defender, and after over a dozen encounters in both the regular season and playoffs, the progress Carter made on defense... could only be described as existent.
Zhang Yang retreated to the backcourt, mentally commending Coach Nash.
That morning during their practice session, Nash suggested that while fortifying his attack on the left, he should enrich his scoring methods beyond the three-point line to facilitate breakthroughs, creating a genuine synergy of shots and drives, linking the butterfly step to lateral step-back jump shots, which was Nash’s advice.
The lateral step-back jumper was already one of Zhang Yang’s strengths at mid-range. During the past two rest days, Zhang Yang had practiced combining these two moves and smoothly integrated them. Facing Carter tonight, whose defense wasn’t stellar, Zhang Yang decisively put theory into practice.
Seeing Carter approach, Zhang Yang cleared his mind of distractions and focused on defense; his defensive burden was substantial.
Carter continued to go one-on-one against Zhang Yang, not matching him in speed but overpowering him with strength. Yet without the explosive power of his rookie years, he couldn’t overpower Zhang Yang like Wade or James, getting stuck at the elbow when met with the Bobcats’ defense and forced to pass to Odom, who was positioned high for support.
With Felton closing in from the front, Odom was unable to immediately pass the ball back, Richard Jefferson was tightly covered by Mike Miller, Okafor pulled back under the basket, Odom himself was closely guarded by Hill, leaving him with no choice but to pass to Krstic, who was open... and now was marked by Zhang Yang!
Krstic was no fool; he knew his mid-range shots were weak against resistance. After catching the ball, he turned and backed down Zhang Yang, trying to escape along the baseline... and was stolen!
Zhang Yang seized the moment, reaching in and snatching the ball, launching a counterattack!
Zhang Yang darted into the three-point line, spotting Carter and Richard Jefferson retreating under the basket. He was set for a challenging counter-attack pull-up jumper, but seeing their positioning... he didn’t slow down, charging straight inside. At the free-throw line, he scooped up the ball and took two steps through the middle to lay-up and score!
A frustrated Richard Jefferson thought to himself, "Carter, I’m at the edge of the three-second area to block the Euro step, are you too? Maybe you are, but I have the speed and awareness to guard the Euro step, do you? Shouldn’t you be clogging the middle right now?"
Getting an easy layup out of a two-on-one situation, at this moment Richard Jefferson couldn’t help but long for the guidance of Big Brother Kidd.
However, Richard Jefferson believed Kidd’s move to the Lakers was for the best, mainly because Kidd was less than four months away from turning 35, and at that age, without making a push for a title while still capable, one would only end up ring-chasing later on.
The Nets continued their offense with Carter going one-on-one against Zhang Yang, stopping at the right side of the free-throw line, halting quickly, and rising for a contested mid-range shot against Zhang Yang... and scoring!
Compared to his mediocre-to-poor defense, Carter’s offensive technique, fundamentals, and awareness were all top-notch, coupled with elite strength and excellent leaping ability. If he wanted to score, Zhang Yang could only hope to disrupt as a solo defender, and Carter’s strong shooting ability was impressive. With Zhang Yang’s current resistance, the disruption was quite limited.
But this was exactly what the Bobcats wanted!
In just a few exchanges, the Bobcats had steered the Nets’ offense in the direction they desired.
The trio of Carter, Richard Jefferson, and Odom was strong! Even stronger than the media and fans had analyzed when the off-season trade had just happened.
Mainly because the three of them meshed well together and there was a clear understanding of their primary and secondary roles. Carter initiated the offense, Odom was the tactical core, Richard Jefferson was the finisher, and they all enjoyed their roles without any conflict over ball rights or status.