No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 123 - 89. It seems like he only has eyes for the basketball hoop.

Brevin Knight, Karim Rush, Gerald Wallace, Okafor, and Brezec, the starting five, fought tough battles against the opposing Joe Johnson, Royal Ivey, Al Harrington, Josh Smith, and Zaza Pachulia.

Zhang Yang had an idea for his new thesis—the Importance of a Regular Point Guard on a Basketball Team.

He was curious about which genius coach had put Joe Johnson as the point guard. Looking at the opposing bench, Mike Woodson?

If he remembered correctly, Woodson had been Larry Brown’s... defensive assistant for the past five years.

No wonder he was using Joe Johnson like Iverson, requiring him to score as well as orchestrate the offense.

Zhang Yang got to play sooner than expected. Halfway through the first quarter, after the score was tied at 11-12, he and Felton were substituted in.

Alongside were Gerald Wallace, Jack Voskuhl, and Brezec.

Voskuhl, a second-round interior player from the class of 2000, wasn’t strong offensively or defensively. However, his name could still be seen in the NBA’s historical foul data—having outdone Kurt Thomas, Eddie Curry, and Kenyon Martin in fouls, he held the title for the most fouls in the 03-04 season.

After the announcers broadcasted the Bobcats’ lineup changes, cheerings erupted from the crowd, chanting "Raymond," "Jack," and "Marvin."

In the preseason, the venue wasn’t full. About two-thirds of nearly twenty thousand seats were filled, mostly by clusters of UNC fans. Few wore Bobcats jerseys.

Felton disdainfully said to Zhang Yang, "I get it if our school’s fans cheer for Marvin, but why are they shouting your name too?"

Zhang Yang: "I’m a North Carolina player too!"

Felton: "Since when did you become our North Carolina player?"

Zhang Yang: "Aren’t I a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Business School? And a basketball player too?"

Felton: "Does that count?"

Zhang Yang: "Just say yes or no!"

"..." Felton rolled his eyes and responded, "Fine, it counts, but why do more people shout your name than mine? And why are most of them female classmates?"

Zhang Yang: "Maybe because I’m younger, they have overflowing maternal instincts. There’s a type of fan called ’mom fan,’ very scary. You don’t need to envy that, I can bear this terrifying ordeal alone ... oh look, that young lady’s figure is quite nice, she’s wearing my number 3 jersey."

Felton: "..."

He should never have engaged in conversation with his younger brother before stepping onto the court!

Zhang Yang looked at the opposing side; Tyronn Lue, Josh Childress, Al Harrington, Marvin Williams, John Edwards, and others took the court... the Hawks team really had a surplus of forwards.

Proper guards were only the coach Lue and the contemporary Jordan.

On the sidelines, Bickerstaff and Ingles watched Zhang Yang anxiously.

Internally, things were fine. Okafor was cold and disdained to engage in petty stuff but was nice to those who valued education; Gerald Wallace was kind and gave up the number 3 jersey to Zhang upon hearing he liked it, opting instead for another of his favorite numbers, 45; he wasn’t very fussy about that. Felton had Zhang Yang’s back... plus, the team clearly looked after him. Except for the occasional teasing from Brevin Knight, Zhang Yang wasn’t really targeted because of his status as ’the youngest high school rookie in history.’

But players from other teams weren’t so friendly.

The two coaches guessed right; Harrington took the initiative to speak with his teammate Childress about switching to guard Zhang Yang.

As soon as the referee blew the whistle to resume the game, Harrington immediately stuck close to Zhang Yang, applying pressure.

Harrington, who had also entered the NBA directly from high school, had endured the hardships meant for high school players. Seeing Zhang Yang, who was also from high school, he exemplified what it meant to tear someone else’s umbrella because he had been rained on.

Zhang Yang didn’t give Harrington too many chances for close combat and immediately started moving fast, with Harrington chasing earnestly.

Harrington’s teammates found it amusing; they hadn’t seen their teammate defend with such effort even during last season’s regular games.

However, although Harrington was one of the fastest players at the power forward position, his speed was a disadvantage at the small forward spot, and even more so at the shooting guard position. He chased with all his might while Zhang Yang didn’t even speed up to his fastest.

On Felton’s side, after receiving the ball, he forcefully charged at Tyronn Lue, who couldn’t withstand it. Marvin Williams quickly moved to help, striking a heavy defensive blow at his old teammate, positioning himself perfectly with the actively chasing Tyronn Lue to encircle him.

Zhang Yang wasn’t running thoughtlessly. He noticed Marvin Williams’s movements, intentionally ran towards the same side baseline, and, as soon as Felton got trapped, he accelerated towards a higher position, looping around the neglected Voskuhl in the left side of the three-second zone, shaking off Harrington to arrive at the left side of the free throw line.

As soon as Felton was encircled, he glanced sideways at Zhang Yang and immediately passed it over.

Zhang Yang caught the ball and shot a mid-range jumper. Harrington, who had gone around Voskuhl to catch up, was too late to interfere and could only watch as Zhang Yang... missed the shot.

Childress secured the defensive rebound.

Harrington, who had felt a bit ashamed from being shaken off, instantly perked up and started ’schooling’ Zhang Yang: "Youngest kid, how can you miss an open shot? It’s going to disappoint your coach, and if you keep missing, you won’t get any more chances to play."

While keeping an eye on the position of the ball on the opposite side, Zhang Yang replied, "Thank you, fellow high school rookie predecessor, for reminding me with your tragic experience. But you don’t need to worry about me. I’m highly valued on our team, and they’ll let me keep shooting even if I miss."

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