No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 898 - 382. A star player of the Bobcats! _5

Fortunately, under Felton’s leadership and Zhang Yang’s assistance, with Okafor holding down the fort after three years, the Bobcats had become a very resilient team, not easily defeated.

By the next day, Carlisle had scheduled a morning off and an afternoon preparation session.

But at 10 AM, the members of the Big Brother Group, led by Felton, eagerly started a review session.

Okafor began to speak up more — unsparingly.

"Excluding our opening 13-game winning streak and the 17-1 record at the end of the season, if we also exclude the last two games where we rested, in the remaining 49 games, our record was 31 wins and 18 losses, which is a 50-win level. Of course, we are definitely stronger than that. By the end of the season, compared to mid-season, we had achieved great improvement, achieving 8-game and 9-game winning streaks..."

Okafor tore open issues masked by the record. Originally, if we won, he wouldn’t have said these things. If we had won in the end, the issues masked would have practically disappeared. But we lost, losing even the home-court advantage.

After saying the harsh words, Okafor gave Boss a look.

Felton began to say something positive: "That’s right, we have made great progress subsequently, we are continuously improving and growing, and that is our advantage.

Looking at all the 60-win level teams in NBA history, our process of achieving 61 wins was very special and unique.

Only two teams in NBA history have started the way we did, the Mavericks and Rockets. After their explosive start, they faced a collapse in the mid-season just like us, and collapsed all the way to the end of the regular season, failing to reach 60 wins. So, we are very special, and we need to clearly recognize our shortcomings, but we also must maintain the confidence we should have!"

Zhang Yang... clapped, thinking how much the chubby Boss was sounding like their Zhang San...

After playing good cop and bad cop, the Big Brother Group members formally entered review mode, starting with data analysis.

Zhang Yang scored 7 points and 4 assists in the first quarter, 9 points and 2 assists in the second, 8 points and 3 assists in the third, and 7 points and 1 assist in the final quarter, playing 46 minutes in total, hitting 12 of 26 shots, including 3 of 10 three-pointers, and 5 of 7 free throws, finishing with 32 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, and 2 steals.

Felton hit 7 of 18 shots, including 4 of 10 three-pointers, and made 3 of 3 free throws, finishing with 21 points, 2 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Okafor hit 9 of 17 shots, and 2 of 5 free throws, finishing with 20 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.

Hill, pointing at the data on the projection screen, said, "Our three cores all did a great job last night. Emeka was responsible for basic scoring, mid-range shots, attacking the basket, and his second-chance opportunities were good. Free throws need attention, but last night there weren’t many, so the impact wasn’t significant;

Raymond’s inside shooting wasn’t great, but his three-point shooting was excellent, hitting key shots.

Jack’s performance was impeccable; the last crucial shot missed was not really his problem, as he nearly played the entire game. The reason for that lies with us.

Apart from those three, only Brad scored in double figures last night..."

Brad Miller hit 4 of 7 shots, including 1 of 1 three-pointer, and made 2 of 2 free throws, finishing with 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Zhang Yang voiced a different opinion: "The others’ shooting wasn’t bad from the start. In the first and most of the second quarter, our overall offense was very good. The clear decline came in the third quarter, when shooting opportunities were concentrated on us three, after others actively moved but didn’t necessarily receive the ball. With their stamina dropping without receiving the ball, their touch dropped even faster. Last night Mike only made 2 of 9 shots, and we, the passers, have a lot of responsibility for that."

Hill: "Yes, that’s right. That’s also what I was about to say; this is our biggest problem when facing the Pistons’ defensive system. The Pistons do even better in this aspect of defense during the playoffs."

Brad Miller rarely spoke up: "When this situation arises, I think it’s because we focus too much on controlling the turnover rate. That’s important, but I think we can be bolder. Of course, we can’t blindly and excessively increase ball movement. We are very different from that Kings team; we have better depth but not as many standout players. We need to consider that many players still can’t catch those passes which require high basketball IQ, and we should base our approach on tactics."

Seeing that Zhang Yang, Okafor, and Hill all agreed with this view, Felton responded: "That’s a very good suggestion. In the afternoon’s team meeting, Brad, you should bring it up to the coaches."

Brad Miller: "Uh? No... no need, Raymond, you can say it." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

The nervous demeanor of the Big White Bear rust-belt, once again made the members of the Big Brother Group laugh, as the Big White Bear didn’t know where to place his hands.

This little episode lightened up the atmosphere of the meeting quite a bit.

Everyone began actively suggesting ideas and then discussed which ones were worth suggesting to the coaching staff.

They also discussed some unexpected situations encountered last night and how to respond on the spot if they occur again...

In the afternoon’s preparation meeting, when Carlisle saw the vibrant participation of the Big Brother Group members, he felt much-relieved pressure, despite having lost a few hairs.

Throughout a year of coaching the Bobcats, he often regretted opening the door to Qiao Tu last year and setting off on this ’no return’ path, but he had no intention of giving up at all.

The Bobcats, led by Felton, with their positive and unbreakable spirit, was one of the reasons why!

...

On May 9th, at 9 PM, the second game of the Bobcats versus Pistons series began.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢