[Zhang Zhiyuan scored 46 points, 14 rebounds and 17 assists, leading the team to defeat the Warriors.]
[Davis expressed his love for the Clippers, but was ruthlessly rejected by Zhang Zhiyuan.]
[A different star, Zhang Zhiyuan has to take his own unique path to win the championship. 】
The next day, sports news.
A large triple-double made fans exclaim, this kind of data is too exaggerated, even Jordan didn't get it.
As for Zhang Zhiyuan's rejection of Davis joining the Clippers, fans were even more surprised.
Before the Clippers didn't make reinforcements, fans thought it was because the new owner of the Clippers was stingy.
Only now do I know that Zhang Zhiyuan doesn’t like to team up with stars and prefers to lead the team alone, which is completely different from Garnett’s choice.
I have to say that this choice is quite heroic, and more and more neutral fans choose to like him.
On the 18th, the Celtics defeated the Pacers.
During the post-game interview, the reporter asked Garnett: "Zhang Zhiyuan said that he doesn't like to be in a group and wants to lead the team to win the championship with a single core. What do you think?"
"..."
Garnett just wants to curse.
He felt that he had been wronged. He had just rejected Zhang Zhiyuan at the beginning. Did he need to hold such a grudge?
Last season, I focused on the entire season, and now I’m here again.
"I don't want to discuss things with that guy. His single-core championship is his business and has nothing to do with me. Besides, I don't think he can win again."
Garnett said.
The same question was asked to Kobe.
Kobe said with a dark face: "Let's wait until he wins the championship with the Clippers before saying this. Winning the championship is not as simple as he thought."
Faced with this problem, James said: "Everyone has his own different way of winning. There is no difference between good and bad. You can't say that the Bulls have the Big Three and Jordan's championship is not great."
"If you don't win a championship with the Cavaliers in the future, will you join a team like Garnett?"
the reporter asked.
"I will win a championship with the Cavaliers."
James.
Zhang Zhiyuan's words triggered a discussion about teaming up in the league, but the topic only became popular for a few days. After all, the phenomenon of teaming up in the league is not serious yet, and it only involves the Celtics and Lakers.
The topic slowly turned to Zhang Zhiyuan's data.
On the 19th, the Clippers defeated the Menglong team. Zhang Zhiyuan scored a triple-double of 31 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.
On the 22nd, the Clippers lost to the Magic. Zhang Zhiyuan scored a near-triple-double with 38 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists.
On the 23rd, the Clippers defeated the Pacers back-to-back. Zhang Zhiyuan scored 34 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, recording his sixth triple-double of the season.
The alliance was shocked.
After only playing 12 games, Zhang Zhiyuan scored 6 triple-doubles.
If this trend continues, will there still be 40 triple-doubles in a season?
Good guy, there are only 7 players with more than 40 triple-doubles in the history of the league. If Zhang Zhiyuan can really get 40 triple-doubles in a season, it will definitely be a crazy performance.
In view of his crazy performance, the media's latest mvp prediction improved Zhang Zhiyuan's ranking and ranked him third, second only to Kobe and James.
This prediction made Kobe very uneasy. He was robbed of an MVP by Zhang Zhiyuan last season, and he planned to get it this season.
I have never won an MVP, so I am really embarrassed to compare with Jordan.
Originally a smooth plan, the Cavaliers' record soared. With the same record, his data suffered greatly compared to James.
Because Kobe can only score, but James is very versatile, with a lot of rebounds and assists.
I thought I would be a competitor this season, but after more than a dozen games, Zhang Zhiyuan joined again.
The Clippers' record is equally excellent, and Zhang Zhiyuan's statistics are even more exaggerated. Kobe is completely incomparable.
If this continues, can I still get the mvp?
Kobe was very anxious.
In the game on the 24th, Kobe took more shots and was more active in grabbing rebounds.
However, his positivity does not make the team's defense better, but actually makes it worse.
In the end, the Lakers lost the game and their record became 10 wins and 3 losses, only half a game ahead of the Clippers.
After losing, Artest was very angry. He didn't understand why Kobe always huddled under the basket and took away his defensive area.
Gasol could guess more or less, but he had no way to clarify and could only communicate with the coach.
Jackson was even more angry. He made an appointment with Kobe to talk alone.
“Do you want numbers or do you want to win?”
Jackson asked straight to the point.
"There is no conflict between the two. Only with good data can you win, right?"
Kobe chose to act stupid.
"Kobe, you know what I mean. You and Zhang Zhiyuan are not the same type of players. There is no need to compare with him. You have also obtained beautiful statistics. In 2006, you averaged 35.6 points per game, but what's the point? The media therefore
Improved your rating?
The championship, only the championship is the most important. You must obey the tactical arrangements and play reasonably. Only in this way can we hope to win the championship. Although our current lineup is very luxurious, it is all performance.
Our strength may not be much better than the Celtics and Cavaliers, we must unite as one. If you let your teammates all have opinions, it is impossible to win the championship."
Jackson persuaded him earnestly. He knew where Kobe's heart was, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Zhang Zhiyuan is so good, and those who insist on competing with him will inevitably be depressed.
Kobe was silent, he understood what Jackson said.
However, it would be difficult for him to let go without fully defeating Zhang Zhiyuan.
"Kobe, give me a promise, otherwise I will choose to resign."
Jackson said.
Jackson submitted his resignation after Zhang Zhi left the team, but the team repeatedly tried to persuade him to stay and the team quickly strengthened, so he chose to stay.
But now that Kobe refuses to accept the arrangement and has little hope of winning the championship, Jackson wants to quit.
He doesn't want to bring a luxurious lineup but fail to win the championship, which will lower his evaluation.
"Please, Phil, don't say such angry words."
Kobe said.
"This is not an angry comment, I am very serious."
Jackson said.
Kobe was very angry. He felt that his status in the team had not improved much after winning the championship, and Jackson was even more authoritarian than before.
He didn't like this feeling, but he had to compromise.
In any case, Jackson has rich championship experience, and it is difficult to find a better coach than him in the league.
"Ok, ok, I will focus on winning the championship."
Kobe gave in.
The media's predictions not only made Kobe unhappy, but Paul was also unhappy.
Paul didn't like Zhang Zhiyuan in the first place, but now that he was outdone by Zhang Zhiyuan in MVP prediction, he felt really unhappy.
On the 25th, they will challenge the Clippers away from home.
Paul plans to treat this game as a playoff game, not only to win, but also to prevent Zhang Zhiyuan from getting a triple-double.
He is very confident to do this because the Clippers have officially announced that Maggette will miss two to three games due to injury.
Without Maggette, Paul doesn't think the Clippers have any resistance.
25th, Staples Arena.
When the Hornets entered the stadium and saw the packed auditorium, Paul felt very uncomfortable.
He had long thought about leaving New Orleans, and Los Angeles was where he wanted to come.
As a result, before he could take action, the Clippers were robbed by Zhang Zhiyuan, leaving him with one less choice in the future. After all, he would never join forces with Zhang Zhiyuan.
At the beginning of the game, the Hornets started Paul, Russell, Peja, David West, and Chandler.
They have retained the lineup from last season, are still strong, and are one of the teams expected to compete for the championship.
The Clippers' starting lineup is Livingston, Zhang Zhiyuan, Powell, Al Thornton, and Kaman.
The two teams jumped the ball, and the jumping man gave the ball to his team without any suspense. Kaman only jumped symbolically, and the right to attack first was not important anyway.
The Hornets attack first, and Paul controls the ball and advances.
Livingston is under a lot of pressure. He is too tall and has trouble defending Paul.
Moreover, the outside media are still saying that he is dragging down the team. If he is beaten by Paul again, he will have to face even more doubts.
Paul broke through and Livingston quickly moved sideways.
But then Paul changed direction, and Livingston suddenly had no choice.
Either stretch your hand to pull, stretch your legs to trip, or just watch Paul pass by.
Livingston chose the latter.
Thornton was on defense, and Paul lobbed the ball in the direction of West. West took off the ball and hit the ball.
This offense was too easy, and the Clippers' defense could not be seen.
However, the fans at the scene didn't pay much attention to it. The Clippers' defense was like this anyway, and they were used to it.
The Clippers attacked, and Paul yelled for defense. He didn't want to give Zhang Zhiyuan a chance to perform.
But he is too naive. If Zhang Zhiyuan can be guarded by shouting, other teams will not have a headache.
Zhang Zhiyuan thrust hard, and Russell took a step back.
Then Zhang Zhiyuan started a breakthrough, but Russell was too slow to keep up.
When he got to the basket, West didn't dare to cover up easily. He could only watch Zhang Zhiyuan layup and score.
The Hornets attacked, and Zhang Zhiyuan chose to switch defense with Livingston.
In comparison, Livingston is more suitable for guarding the second position.
As for Zhang Zhiyuan, he is of course more suitable for the second and third positions, but he obviously suffers from the first position, so he has no choice but to switch to this position.
Although Zhang Zhiyuan is much taller than Paul, according to common sense, he should be far less flexible than Paul. However, when Paul really started to break through, he found that he couldn't make it.
Paul was forced to pass the ball, and Russell hit Livingston, but he didn't take any advantage.
In the end, the Hornets' attack failed and no points were scored.
The Clippers counterattacked and Zhang Zhiyuan was double-teamed by Paul.
Zhang Zhiyuan distributed the ball, and Livingston started the breakthrough after receiving the ball, reaching the basket and scoring.
After several rounds, the two teams were evenly matched, and the Hornets didn't seem to have an advantage.
Paul had to give up his pre-game thoughts and decided to focus on winning. He should not try to prevent Zhang Zhiyuan from getting a triple-double or deliberately prevent Zhang Zhiyuan from getting data.
Halfway through the first quarter, Russell was replaced and James Posey came on.
This is the most important signing for the Hornets this season. Posey was brought in to increase forward defense, mainly to target star players such as Kobe Bryant and Zhang Zhiyuan.
The Hornets attacked, Posey fell to the bottom corner, Zhang Zhiyuan was forced to follow, and Paul's breakthrough became much more comfortable.
I saw him break through from the front, rush to the edge of the paint area, make a jumper, and score.
This is a position he is good at, and he shoots very comfortably.
If Zhang Zhiyuan is not attracted to the bottom corner, it will be difficult for Paul to get a shooting opportunity in this area.
It's a pity that Zhang Zhiyuan can only guard against one.
When the Clippers attacked, the Hornets chose to shrink their defense. Everyone else was inside the three-point line. Only Posey followed Zhang Zhiyuan and defended alone.
Zhang Zhiyuan made a shot in front of Posey. He had no better choice. There were a lot of people under the basket, and his ability to play tactics against his teammates was not very good.
Taking action against Posey, Zhang Zhiyuan received some interference and the ball missed.
The Hornets counterattacked and Peja missed a three-pointer.
Dunleavy called a timeout and replaced Livingston with Tony Allen, eliminating the point guard.
Anyway, with Zhang Zhiyuan to control the ball and organize, it doesn't matter whether he has a point guard or not.
Adding a three-point point can also better break the Hornets' zone defense.
The Clippers attacked, Tony Allen fell to the bottom corner, but the Hornets still retreated inside. Zhang Zhiyuan passed the ball, and Tony Allen hit a three-pointer.
"Prevent coming out, guard against coming out."
Byron Scott yelled from the sidelines.
There is no best tactic, only suitable tactics. When the opponent adjusts, your own side must adjust accordingly.
The Hornets attacked, but Paul encountered some trouble in advancing, and Tony Allen chose to press.
This kind of candy-like defense also gave Paul a headache, and his advancement speed was much slower.
After halftime, Paul did not break through easily again, and was a little worried about Tony Allen.
Paul passed the ball to West, who made a mid-range jumper.
The ball missed and the rebound was picked off by Kaman.
Zhang Zhiyuan could only watch from a distance. He wanted to win this game, so he didn't dare to shrink to the basket to pick up the rebound.
Until now, he has only had 1 rebound, which is very miserable.
If he plays a few more games like this, he will not be able to complete his task of averaging a triple-double for the season.
When the Clippers attacked, the Hornets changed their defensive strategy and defended from the outside.
But this gave Zhang Zhiyuan room to break through, and he was not polite and started directly, passing Posey.
Posey's defense against shots is pretty good, but after all, his speed is much slower than Zhang Zhiyuan's. It's really powerless to prevent Zhang Zhiyuan's breakthrough.
Zhang Zhiyuan went to the basket, Chandler made up the defense, Zhang Zhiyuan passed the ball to Kaman, Kaman took off and dunked, scoring two points.
After the first quarter, 31 to 29, the Hornets led by 2 points.
However, this advantage is not an advantage at all.
Their real advantage is the substitute time, which is the time when Zhang Zhiyuan rests.
In the second quarter, Zhang Zhiyuan did not play immediately and needed to rest for two or three minutes.
Peja and Russell, two substitutes with the Hornets, launched a crazy counterattack, and the Clippers substitutes were defeated.
Dragic is still too young, and Jordan has no one to feed him cakes. He can only eat cakes when Zhang Zhiyuan is present.
Three minutes into the second quarter, the Hornets already led by 7 points.
"Shet, I can't stand it anymore. Please make some trades with the Clippers. At least add to the bench lineup, okay?"
Seeing the performance of the Clippers' bench, Barkley said he wanted to vomit.
He really didn't understand why Zhang Zhiyuan could tolerate such a group of teammates. Was he a masochist?
