Zhang Yang ran straight to his tactical position in the frontcourt after getting there, having faced off against Prince so many times before, there was no need for probing or creating threats like they used to in the regular season games against the Pistons. Once he started moving, the Pistons’ defensive focus shifted to him.
The Pistons’ defense had a significant feature—delaying capabilities.
This was where the Pistons differed from the other two big defensive teams.
The Rockets and the Spurs had different defensive focuses. The former was good at switching defenses, and the latter excelled at help defense, but both were based on trapping.
The Pistons, on the other hand, were adept at disrupting the movement of players without the ball, using screens and so on. This season, with young Noah added to the starting lineup, their ability to delay was even stronger.
Zhang Yang’s speed was among the top tier for shooting guards and small forwards, and he could barely cope with the Pistons’ interference. He finally made his way around to the left side of the paint, only for Jarett Jack to fail in passing the ball out promptly under Billups’s close defensive pressure!
By the time Zhang Yang received the pass from Jarett Young, Prince had already closed back in on him.
Zhang Yang relied on a step fake to turn and then turn again, but it didn’t fool Prince. He went for a forced turnaround jump shot... and missed.
At this moment, Zhang San felt the same as Bibby back then—"I might as well have just gone for the one-on-one."
You really couldn’t blame Jarett Jack, though. After all, he was just a third-year reserve. Against someone like Darrell Armstrong from the Nets, who was already on his way out of the NBA, he could play thrillingly well. But facing Billups, one of the top three defending point guards and an All-Defensive Team player... Man, this question was out of his league!
In the first three possessions, Zhang Yang instructed his teammates to adjust their positions, testing out all three tactics that Jarett Young could handle as the main playmaker... After a series of maneuvers, the Bobcats were down 2-5 at the start, trailing by three points.
Once again on offense, Zhang Yang and Okafor exchanged glances as they ran forward. Confirming through eye contact, they promptly kick-started their alternating one-on-one mode, with Jarett Jack and Mike Miller stationed on the wings waiting for catch-and-shoot opportunities, and Muhammad ready to finish inside, finally opening up the offense.
After four more possessions, each team scored six points, with the Bobcats tying the Pistons at 8-11.
Now it was the Pistons’ turn to attack.
Billups went for a one-on-one penetration against Zhang Yang, unable to shake him off. He then passed back to Noah, who had moved to the free-throw line. Noah, receiving the ball, passed it to Hamilton on the wing, coming off a screen... and Okafor slapped it out of bounds.
During the dead ball, Carlisle decided to sub in Rondo earlier than usual.
The substitution’s effect was... mediocre.
After Rondo came on, he improved the chase-down defense against Hamilton somewhat, but that was about it. He could stick with him for 10 seconds, but Hamilton could still get his shot off with stability even after running for 15 seconds!
On the offensive end, Rondo’s passing was much better than Jarett Jack’s, but the lift it provided to the entire offense was very limited.
After two more possessions, Zhang Yang and Okafor once again initiated their one-on-one ball distribution mode.
Under this strategy, there wasn’t much difference between Rondo and Jarett Young. Rondo’s open shots were hit or miss, not as reliable as Jarett Young’s, but his movement and decision-making were better, helping with ball transition, whereas Jarett Young could only stand still and wait for the ball to come his way for a shot.
Clearly, this wasn’t enough to satisfy Carlisle.
Carlisle sighed, "It’s still not enough. Against strong defensive teams, he needs his teammates to open up the offense so he can organize it well. He still lacks the ability to initiate the offense on his own."
Vincent chimed in, "Rick, Rondo is still young, only in his second year. You can’t be so demanding of him; he’s already performing better than 95% of players his age."
Carlisle responded, "I know, give him another year or two, and he’s bound to become the player I’m looking for. But I don’t have that time. I want to push him, see if he can grow quickly like Jack... sigh."
Vincent asked, "Jack’s a rare talent in NBA history... Wait, what do you mean, Rick?"
After trying for half the quarter, the Bobcats still had to rely on their stars.
Carlisle had anticipated this before the game started; Saunders’s ’Delaying Flow’ defense was designed to force opponents into one-on-ones.
With Billups and Prince, two All-Defensive Team-caliber players, they could match up against any perimeter scorer. With Rasheed Wallace and McDyess also excelling at defense, even the rookie Noah’s one-on-one defense was passable.
Zhang Yang running pick-and-rolls with either Muhammad or Millsap against Prince, Wallace, or McDyess could barely maintain a shooting percentage slightly over forty percent.
Okafor, in the low post against Wallace or Noah, had a slightly bigger advantage.
Under their two leaders, the Bobcats and Pistons went back and forth for quite a while.
But as the game deepened, the absence of Felton started to show its impact.
Going from last season’s Eastern Conference Finals Big Four to Big Three was one thing; the remaining trio had improved their individual offensive abilities over the past half-year, and with either Hill or Mike Miller providing support shooting, the three-player-led offense performed even stronger than during last season’s conference finals.
But now that the trio was down to a duo... Facing the league’s fifth-ranked Pistons, Zhang Yang and Okafor couldn’t hold on.
The score was 24-24 at the end of the first quarter, 18-19 in the second, with the Bobcats trailing by one point at the half 42-43. In the first half of the third quarter, the Bobcats led with 20-16, overtaking the Pistons by three points, but only managed six points in the latter half, allowing the Pistons to gain 12 points. At the end of the third quarter, the Bobcats were behind 68-71 to the Pistons.