77. A More Arrogant Game-Winner Than the Bird
The cheers of twenty thousand spectators enchanted Zhang Yang.
One of the reasons he had decided to skip a level was his desire to compete on a bigger stage.
However, the defense he had just faced felt a bit off...
When the Chicago Bulls were on the offense, point guard Kyle Macy brought the ball up the court and passed it to Jordan at the top of the arc. Jordan quickly dodged Zhang Yang’s close defense, pulled back a step, drove off, and shook off Zhang Yang to break inside.
Watching Jordan blaze past the encroaching Bird and the Fridge, and then confront the ever-present Chieftain under the basket with a jump and a reverse layup that went in...
No three-second defensive violation affected Jordan in the least!
The Bird and the Fridge should trap faster, just block the middle, no one else but Oakley can shoot from their side... Snap! He remembered!
Defensive three-second zone!
Something felt strange when he heard his teammates discuss defense earlier today, and the opposing team’s defense felt off too, prompting him to recall this bizarre rule from the NBA of the time.
The rule disallows leaving your defensive mark for more than three seconds and forming a double team without the ball.
The purpose of the rule is to favor offense, and it was introduced because, with the evolution of basketball into the 1970s, while teams’ defenses improved tremendously, role players had poor shooting abilities. It often resulted that several defenders would surround a capable shooter and leave others unguarded, but the unguarded players would fail to score.
In the NBA of the 1970s, aside from a few high earners, regular players’ incomes weren’t even as high as that of southern rednecks, and were about the same as what players from later development leagues would make.
Besides team training and games, few regular players would spend time on the court; many had to get other jobs to support their families.
Many players were part-timers, or rather, they played for the love of the game.
Supermarket clerks were popular jobs among NBA players for their fame, which helped sell more products, and the supermarkets paid them commissions akin to ’influencers selling goods.’ Joe Bryant was the most famous supermarket clerk in Philadelphia in the mid-70s.
Since the games were so ugly to watch, this rule was implemented starting in 1981, and it’s been five years since then. No one would specifically mention it in team meetings, and Zhang Yang had only just remembered it.
This rule, Zhang Yang thought, wasn’t a bother at all.
In guarding Jordan, he didn’t even have to consider helping or covering for others.
On the contrary, this rule worked in his favor when he was on the offense!
When the Boston Celtics attacked, Zhang Yang continued to move without the ball, forcing the defense to switch by using McHale’s screen.
As Oakley moved up to guard Zhang Yang who had received the ball, Zhang Yang caught it with his left hand, dribbled between his legs to his right, and charged ahead!
Oakley failed to hinder the drive, sideliner Jordan couldn’t leave McHale unguarded, center Colson was slow to move, and Woolridge, who was guarding the Bird, had to step up to block.
The Bird turned and smoothly entered the paint, ready to pleasantly catch the pass... "Bang"... He hastened his steps, jumping before Colson for the offensive rebound and scoring on the putback.
Turning to see Zhang Yang retreating with a look of disappointment after a missed jump shot, the Bird cursed in his heart: If I pass to you again, I’m a dog!
After a couple more rounds, the Bird chose to "woof woof."
Due to Zhang Yang’s aggressiveness, on the third round, the Chicago Bulls players prepared for a preemptive double team. Noticing this, Zhang Yang immediately abandoned the plan to receive the ball off the screen and instead kept Jordan busy by running and opening up space for the Bird to go one-on-one, thus preventing Jordan from helping to trap.
In the fourth round, when the Chicago Bulls defended regularly, Zhang Yang actively moved without the ball again, demanding it to shoot...
On the defensive end, Zhang Yang’s movements became even rougher; he confronted Jordan before he could even cross the halfway line, and when Jordan was getting the ball, Zhang Yang pulled and dragged him to cause trouble.
Besides being aggressive on offense and unapologetically rough on defense, Zhang Yang also used trash talk to provoke Jordan.
"You passed it? Quick, look, oh man, the guy who claims to be the future best player in the league actually passed the ball!"
"Are you scared of me? Standing there resting, don’t you want the ball, don’t you want to go one-on-one..."
"You got no guts? Passing the ball in a one-on-four situation? Even when the Bird is open, I wouldn’t pass to him..."
A round or two of this had little effect, but after several more rounds, Jordan got pissed; he wanted to crush this rookie!
Zhang Yang’s calm offensive choices had already disrupted the Chicago Bulls’ defensive rhythm.
When Jordan lost his cool and focused on shooting, the Chicago Bulls’ offense severely deteriorated, and the Boston Celtics’ success rate in trapping and covering for Jordan started to improve.
The Bird had to admit, although this rookie was always annoying, he was always smart on the court, but, so damn annoying...
Next to the Celtics’ bench, an old man with a cigar appeared.
Since the newly appointed NBA commissioner introduced the ’new game-watching rule’ in December 1984, only one person could smoke at the game without being escorted out by security—Arnold Auerbach!
When KC Jones saw Auerbach, he moved over and said, "Coach, Jack’s off-ball movement is beautiful, just like art."
Zhang Yang’s off-ball movements in this era indeed could teach many players a lesson in humility.
Auerbach exhaled a thick puff of smoke and said, "Not only that, he’s also handling the pace of the game very well, displaying strong adaptability and autonomy."
KC Jones: "Yes, we tasked him with dominating the early game to prevent Jordan, who’s fierce in opening attacks, from gaining an advantage. I thought he would take Jordan one-on-one, but I didn’t expect him to play this way. He’s done better than the best outcome I had expected. There’s no problem with this game now; the other side is in total disarray. Jordan is hesitating whether to pass, and as soon as he starts thinking that way, the Chicago Bulls have lost hope."