The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 140 - 40 No Future

In the years when the Lakers dominated the Western Conference, teams were trying very hard to accumulate big men to deal with Jabbar and the Lakers’ formidable front line.

Apart from their starting big men Edwards, Nance, and Adams, the Suns had Morris Lucas sitting on the bench—the second hero of the Portland Trail Blazers’ 1977 championship.

As backups, Charles Jones and Rick Robey were also on the bench, ensuring the principle of always maintaining enough height on the court to face the Lakers.

Looking at the effects from the previous season’s Western Conference Finals, it wasn’t bad, as they managed to drag the talented Lakers to a sixth game, which was decided in the final moments.

The Suns’ last attack missed, and they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 99:97, ending their Cinderella-like playoff run in 1984.

McLeod believed that by game five and six, the Suns had found a way to deal with the Lakers; they just lacked some luck and made their lineup adjustments too late.

In the first four games, under Johnson’s leadership, the Lakers unleashed a tidal wave of offense; Johnson had a single game with 24 assists, many players scored in double figures, and they led the series by a large margin, 3:1.

But in game five, the Suns successfully cut off the connection between Johnson and the others, forcing the Lakers into isolation plays with Johnson and Jabbar and managed to snatch the series back in Los Angeles.

In game six, they were one basket away from forcing an overtime. Had they won in overtime, they could have taken the series to a seventh game, where anything could have happened.

A significant adjustment made by McLeod when they were 0:2 down was to promote the tough forward Morris Lucas to the starting lineup, with Kyle Maxi coming off the bench.

His and Larry Nance’s frontcourt combination caused massive problems for the Lakers at both ends and forced Pat Riley to start James Worthy in the sixth game, barely defeating the Suns to enter the finals.

After halftime, McLeod followed the same strategy, starting Lucas and replacing Adams with him at the small forward position, effectively creating a duo of powerhouse power forwards with Larry Nance.

Lucas, known for his fiery temperament and character, faced off with Darryl Dawkins with fists in the 1977 finals, which became a blemish in NBA history.

This forward with a notorious temper not only fought in the NBA finals but also, during the ABA days, he once grabbed his coach Hubie Brown by the collar, telling him to speak to him respectfully in the future; he glared at the referee and threatened, "If you call another foul on me, I’m going to kill you," which made the referees afraid to call fouls on him afterwards; in his rookie season, he punched "The Train" Gilmore in the chin during a game, knocking him unconscious on the floor.

This forward, infamous for his ferocity, had mellowed out quite a bit over the past two years—at least he wasn’t hitting people so much. With the Suns, his physical condition improved, he returned to the All-Star game, and became an important part of the team.

What Larry Nance was most acclaimed for was his dunking; in the first Slam Dunk Contest, with his stunning performance, he defeated Dr. J, Irving, and captured the first-ever dunk contest title.

But Nance was capable of more than just dunking; in fact, when Gan Guoyang entered the draft, the scouts’ report used Larry Nance as a template for him.

Because Nance is also 6’10" with an impressive wingspan and has a good mid-range jump shot after pick-and-rolls, he can drive to the basket and his dunks are extremely ferocious.

Defensively, he’s the Suns player with the most blocks, quick on his feet, and outstanding in help defense. In the 1984 Western Conference Finals, he twice blocked Jabbar’s shots, causing Jabbar to furiously dunk in retaliation during the following possessions.

In this way, Gan Guoyang did seem very much like him, especially in the second game where Gan Guoyang scored 41 points relying on fast breaks, a style that was identical to Nance’s fast-paced play.

However, when the two of them faced off on the court, although both Nance and Gan Guoyang were 6’10", Gan Guoyang was clearly much bigger than Nance.

Gan Guoyang had the frame of a center, with broader shoulders and a more solid build, while Nance was thinner, narrower, and crucially, Nance had too small of a butt.

In the second half, Lucas and Nance partnered in the frontcourt; this was a smaller lineup that Coach McLeod hoped would handle Gan Guoyang on both offense and defense, while also making the team’s offense sharper.

The Suns increased the pick-and-roll plays between Nance and the guards, initiating the offense with variations after the single screen, Nance surely had a hand in mid-range shooting.

On the defensive side, the Suns tried having Trail Blazers veteran Morris Lucas match up with Gan Guoyang, hoping to use strength and physicality to teach the youngster a lesson.

Although Edwards was tall, his defense was truly mediocre; such a tall man with a wingspan, yet not even a single block in a game, and he also couldn’t keep up with the pace.

Lucas was stronger and more robust, with thick upper limbs and a fierce disposition. Some young players, knowing his reputation, would be very cautious when facing him.

Then, at the start of the second half, Gan Guoyang holding the ball, powered past Lucas into the paint, slammed a one-handed dunk, and even drew a foul from Lucas...

Lucas was stunned for a moment, then yelled at the referee, "I committed a foul? How did I foul!"

Tonight’s referee was Jess Kersey, who told Lucas he pushed someone, counting the basket and adding one free throw.

Gan Guoyang high-fived Thompson and Parkson, stepped up to the free-throw line, and made the bonus shot.

Both Thompson and Parkson really felt a sense of satisfaction inside, especially Thompson, who had been bullied by the Suns’ front line just the year before in the playoffs.

In that series, Thompson performed terribly, his stats heavily suppressed compared to the regular season, and the Oregon media heavily criticized him, specifically for the team’s decision to let go of Lucas in favor of Thompson.

Lucas was infuriated; in the following offensive possession, he received the ball, turned, and attempted a jump shot over Thompson, but missed, and Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound.

The Trail Blazers launched a counterattack, but Nance was smart; instead of rushing to the offensive rebound, he quickly fell back on defense and disrupted Parkson’s layup.

With the ball back in the Suns’ possession, Nance wanted to take on Gan Guoyang. After cooperating with the guard, he received the ball on the wing, drove towards the basket intent on dunking inside the paint!

Gan Guoyang came over to help defend, and the two collided in mid-air, with Nance being knocked to the ground. The referee called a foul on Gan Guoyang.

The Trail Blazers’ perimeter defense didn’t slow down at all; Gan Guoyang faced the opponent’s acceleration head-on. It was fortunate enough he wasn’t posterized.

While Nance was shooting free throws, Gan Guoyang gave Parkson and Vandeweghe a scolding. The two veterans didn’t dare say much, as their performance on the court said it all.

Gan Guoyang almost single-handedly matched up to the Suns’ frontcourt without falling behind. By the third quarter, Gan Guoyang began to increase his intensity on the offensive end.

Again in the low post against Lucas, after receiving the ball, Gan Guoyang faked a shot. He then quickly turned on his heel, creating space, then took a step and leaped to slam the ball into the basket with one hand!

Nance thought to help defend, but it was too late. Gan Guoyang dunked the ball with his right hand, making it difficult for anyone to block.

Lucas was furious, slamming the ball hard and shouting at Nance, "What are we doing!"

Nance was somewhat helpless, thinking it was already good enough if he could make two points from penalties.

Last season, the two established a solid connection on the court. Before the second-round game against the Jazz, Lucas said, "No one can make me angry."

People worried he might lose his temper in the playoffs, but Lucas believed that he had mellowed with age and, like Walton, had taken up vegetarianism, which improved his temper.

However, in the game against the Jazz, he was upset by the young Thurl Bailey scoring 26 points and 13 rebounds against him. In the second game, Lucas pushed Jazz guard Rickey Green out of his way after a basket and almost caused a conflict.

At that time, Nance told Lucas, "Let me try pushing someone too."

The Suns’ aggression was stirred up during the game, and they managed to hold the Jazz to a 37% field goal percentage, securing the victory.

In this game, Lucas tried the same tactic when Gan Guoyang received the ball during a pick-and-roll with Valentine. When Lucas couldn’t keep up with his footsteps, he pushed Gan Guoyang directly.

Little did he know that Gan Guoyang withstood Lucas’s shove, scored the basket, and after landing, he staggered but remained standing.

Turning around, Gan Guoyang asked, "Did I just bump into someone? I didn’t commit a foul, did I?"

The referee blew the whistle, calling a foul on Morris Lucas. Gan Guoyang was awarded an and-one.

"Oh, sorry, did I bump into you? I didn’t feel anything. Really sorry, senior." Gan Guoyang even apologized to Lucas.

When Lucas was substituted off the court, he was so angry that he kicked over the beverage cooler at the bench. He even threw away the ice pack handed to him for his knee.

Eight minutes and fifteen seconds into the second half, Gan Guoyang’s score had risen to 26 points, with 16 rebounds. The Trail Blazers lead by 11 points at 71:60.

McLeod finally gave up, sending Edwards back in to play a regular lineup with Nance, and increasing the playing time for Maxi and Humphries.

This move turned out to be quite effective. The Suns managed to cut the lead down to 5 points in the third quarter, with Nance scoring jump shots following pick-and-roll plays, and undersized guards shaking off their defenders to hit mid-range jumpers.

Even if Gan Guoyang had three heads and six arms, he still couldn’t defend against every Suns player, especially on the perimeter—Western Conference teams would realize that stacking up height in the interior against Gan Guoyang was a dead end.

Humphries might not have felt at a psychological disadvantage against Gan Guoyang since University of Science and Technology had beaten Gonzaga, so his performance coming off the bench in the third quarter was quite impressive.

After Humphries scored six consecutive points, Gan Guoyang got slightly irritated and finally seized an opportunity on defense to block Humphries with authority—it was a retaliation for Stockton.

But even so, the composed Gan Guoyang didn’t swat the ball away volleyball-style; instead, he kept the ball in play and initiated a successful Trail Blazers’ counterattack.

In the last few seconds of the third quarter, Gan Guoyang’s defense suddenly intensified, teaming up with Drexler to trap Maxi.

Drexler made the steal, starting a fast break—just like the previous game against the Supersonics.

This time Drexler threw a high lob, and Gan Guoyang soared, catching the ball in mid-air and dunking with both hands!

The Suns quickly tried to respond with a fast break, but Nance’s layup was disrupted by Gan Guoyang and missed.

Thompson grabbed the rebound and tossed the ball up the court. Gan Guoyang shoved aside Scott, who was trying to contest the ball, and controlled it with two dribbles.

Glancing up and seeing that not much time was left, only one second, he threw the ball from two steps behind the three-point line.

The ball traced a high arc and passed through the net just as the buzzer for the end of the third quarter sounded—a perfect shot!

After the basket, Gan Guoyang raised his arms high, whipping his arms around like an eggbeater, as his teammates rushed to embrace him.

The Suns, who were only trailing by 5 points, were blasted with a 7:0 run and found themselves 12 points behind again.

At the end of the third quarter, with 31 points, 17 rebounds, and 7 blocks, Gan Guoyang brought a bit of shock to Phoenix. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

He also made it clear to McLeod that, with his arrival, stacking height in the League had become a thing of the past.