Chapter 75: The Battle of Oxen and Horses
Both Zheng Yang and Iverson performed well in this game, but in the most crucial moment, that is, the last four minutes, Zheng Yang was the better one.

Whether it was the blood-stained Iverson, the subsequent fast break, or the final winning three-pointer, Zheng Yang performed better than Iverson.

Unknowingly, after just one season of training, Zheng Yang has transformed to his current level, which is something the fans did not expect.

They thought of Duncan of the Spurs, who also performed very well soon after entering the league. In his first year as a rookie, he was selected to the All-NBA First Team and the All-Defensive Second Team!
But then the fans felt that they were not alike, after all, their playing styles are completely different, one is steady and the other is passionate.

They then thought of Michael Jordan, the man known as the God of Basketball. Compared to Duncan, Zheng Yang is more like Michael Jordan.

They have similarities in both playing style and scoring ability, and they are equally confident and proud.

Considering what Pippen once said, fans are already expecting Zheng Yang to become the next Jordan.

As for the real Jordan?

Just leave the stadium when the game is over. The longer you stay here, the more those annoying media will start asking questions.

In the post-match interview, the reporter also asked Zheng Yang if he thought he could become the next Jordan.

Zheng Yang's answer to this is the same as always.

"I have a lot of respect for Michael, he's a great player, but I want to be myself."

……

The day after the game, the headlines of major newspapers were naturally the previously mentioned "Jordan watches the scoring title battle live."

However, in subsequent content, the media mentioned Zheng Yang's answer. After all, most players expressed happiness when they were given the title of "Jordan's successor."

There are only a few people like Zheng Yang who directly deny it.

God knows how upset Jordan felt when he saw this report. He didn't like this young player very much in the first place, and he was not happy that the media regarded him as his successor.

Who would have thought that guy also looked down on this title.

Does this guy know the value of the title of Jordan's successor?
You might not even be able to afford it even if I give it to you, and you still don’t want it?
I want to see how much you can achieve in this alliance!
……

After playing the 76ers, the Mavericks' next opponent is the Spurs.

This is also their first encounter this season!
The battle between the Spurs and the Mavericks has always been the main theme of the Western Conference. After all, the Spurs have Duncan and the Mavericks have Nowitzki. These two players, one for each city and one for each team, became famous at a young age, so they are naturally the objects of comparison that fans often use.

Of course, the historical status of the two is completely different now. Duncan has two championships and two FMVPs, and he has won the All-Star, All-NBA First Team, and All-Defensive First Team.

Nowitzki has only played as an All-Star substitute a few times, has never been selected into the All-NBA First Team, and has never won a championship or Final MVP.

Compared to Duncan, it is indeed far behind.

The Mavericks-Spurs match on the 15th is an away game between the Mavericks and the Spurs.

This season, GDP is still the core lineup of the Spurs, and with the further growth of Ginobili, their combination is even more invincible.

Duncan also fully accepted Ginobili and believed that his presence would help the team win the championship.

He still remembered that when he first met this guy, he was still worried whether his physical fitness could withstand the high-intensity confrontation in the league.

……

Zheng Yang attaches great importance to tonight's game. After all, if the Mavericks want to win the championship this year, their biggest enemy in the West is the Spurs.

In the original history, they were the champions of this season, so Zheng Yang must make full use of every regular season game to familiarize himself with the playing style and technical characteristics of the Spurs players and prepare for the playoffs.

“Hey guys! Although it’s a little early to talk about this now, please don’t forget that our goal this season is to win the championship.

The team outside will be our biggest obstacle in the playoffs. We must make good use of every game to get familiar with the opponent and build up confidence.

Unity, focus, discipline...

Do everything you can and believe that everything is possible!"

In the locker room, Zheng Yang was giving a pre-game speech. He has been doing this job this season. After all, when Nowitzki doesn't come out to speak, no one is more qualified than Zheng Yang.

After all the players gathered together and shouted the slogan together, they ran out of the player tunnel one after another.

Zheng Yang was the last one to run out, and he high-fived the staff and fans along the way.

Although this is the Spurs' home court, there are still fans of Zheng Yang who come to watch the game. Through the media hype and his outstanding performance on the court, Zheng Yang has accumulated a large number of fans.

During the jump ball phase, Dampier lost to Spurs center Rasu Nesterovic, and the Spurs won the first offensive opportunity of the game.

The Spurs' starting lineup is GDP plus center and small forward Bruce Bowen, who has been selected to the All-Defensive Team many times.

Everyone's impression of Ginobili is that he was basically a substitute in the Spurs, but in the first few seasons of his career, Ginobili was still a starter. It was only later that Popovich had to let him play as a substitute and act as a surprise soldier for the sake of the Spurs' system, so he did not receive as many honors in his career as other stars.

Many fans believe that if Ginobili played for other teams, the honors he received would definitely help him become one of the top five super point guards in NBA history.

French sports car Tony Parker dribbled the ball across half court. I vaguely remember that after Nash was beaten by Tony Parker last season, old Nelson arranged Zheng Yang to defend the opponent.

But with the growth of Big Chou this season, Zheng Yang finally doesn't have to defend Tony Parker anymore, and he can focus more on offense.

He was under a lot of offensive pressure in this game. After all, the Spurs had Bowen, who was selected as the best defensive player last season, and Ginobili, who was good at defense.

It's really not easy to break through his defense.

Tony Parker controlled the ball and observed the entire court. The Spurs players ran their tactics in an orderly manner. They were like a disciplined team and rarely made mistakes.

Even though Ginobili is extremely creative on the court, he is still a player with strong tactical execution ability.

After a series of runs, the basketball was successfully passed to Duncan. He took a step forward and hit the backboard at the forty-five-degree position on the right side.

His movements were methodical, just like his serious expression.

Looking back, Jason Terry wanted to pass the ball to Zheng Yang, but Bowen stared at him and didn't want him to receive the ball easily. Considering the opponent's defensive ability, the ball was finally passed to Dampier after the pick-and-roll.

The latter jumped high and dunked the ball directly.

After coming to the Mavericks, Dampier's independent offensive ability declined rapidly because most of the opportunities for singles in the paint were in the hands of Nowitzki.

But his ability to catch the ball is still good, and he does a good job in rolling down the court or slam dunking after the pick-and-roll.

It was the Spurs' turn to attack again. Tony Parker was still the one controlling the ball. He looked at the whole court and suddenly passed the ball to Ginobili who cut into the Mavericks' inside.

Dampier hurried to follow, but Ginobili used a European step that was not quite like the regular European step to score the ball.

Popovich on the sidelines was accustomed to this. He was once surprised that Ginobili could score the ball in various twisted postures.

But you get used to it after seeing it so many times!

After the basketball was scored, Duncan rubbed Ginobili's head while returning to defense, which was his way of expressing encouragement and praise.

But after Ginobili reached middle age and his hair became bald, many fans said that he was rubbed bald by Duncan.

When Ginobili came to China for an event after his retirement, he said: "Yes, blame Duncan, because he is a special person with special magic."

Turning around, the basketball was passed to Zheng Yang.

Zheng Yang is the offensive core of the team. He has been carrying the team's offense this season. Once there is a problem with his offense, the entire Mavericks' offense will have problems.

So no matter how much defensive pressure he faces, the ball must be given to him to attack. It doesn't matter even if he doesn't score, at least let him find his touch.

The defensive strategy Popovich formulated for Zheng Yang was to let Bowen defend him alone.

Bowen is the Mavericks' best perimeter defender and he believes in his defensive abilities.

After getting the ball, Zheng Yang naturally had no intention of playing one-on-one with the opponent. Although he believed that no matter how strong the opponent's defense was, it would at most make it more difficult for him to score, but it would definitely not limit him to only 8 points.

However, the energy consumed by accelerating, stopping suddenly, disguising yourself and then scoring is completely different from that consumed by breaking through directly with the help of a screen.

A game has 48 minutes. If he hopes to have enough energy to stay on the court in the last minute, he should choose the second offensive method.

The quality of Dachou's screen was average, but at least it could help him stop Bowen for a while. At this time, the player defending in front of Zheng Yang was Ginobili.

Zheng Yang didn't hesitate and rushed forward.

Ginobili's speed can certainly keep up with Zheng Yang, but the strength gap between the two is indeed a bit big.

After carrying Ginobili to the paint area, Zheng Yang confronted the opponent again and then made a layup.

Ginobili stretched out his arms and tried to stop Zheng Yang as much as possible, but it was of no avail.

"Hey, why are you so strong? How did you train yourself to do that? I feel like you're about the same skinny as me!"

As he ran over, Ginobili approached Zheng Yang and asked. This guy seemed to have a real soft spot for Zheng Yang and always liked to chat with him during every game.

Zheng Yang was well aware of his chatterbox nature, so he pretended not to hear and quickly ran back to defend.

In the following games, both sides fought back and forth.

After all, there is not much difference in hard power between the two teams. Unless one of the two teams is in poor form and the offense is interrupted, or there is a surprise player appearing on the bench, it is impossible to create a big gap in points.

(End of this chapter)