The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1516 - 13: Invincible Lone Wolf_2

Unlike some superstars, when you play around them, their stats and honors increase, while yours shrink significantly, and in the end, you lose out on the big contract.

So far this season, Riddle hasn’t been late for practice once, even when Coach Bird isn’t around because he values this good job.

The Trail Blazers started the first quarter with a 15-0 run against the Nets, leaving them utterly bewildered, and their coach had to call a timeout to adjust.

After the timeout, Olajuwon finally hit a mid-range shot from the top of the arc, breaking the scoring drought for the Nets.

Then the Nets fans realized that the Trail Blazers weren’t even going all out; their offense was pretty relaxed.

The Nets wanted to intensify their play against the Trail Blazers but didn’t know where to start because every position on the Trail Blazers could be the focal point.

On defense, Gan Guoyang dedicated all his energy to dealing with Fan Huo’en, much like how he would with Duncan, giving Fan Huo’en a taste of the red-carpet treatment reserved for top draft picks.

Fan Huo’en quickly realized how naive and immature his idea was of attacking from the perimeter to shake off Ah Gan.

Once he locks onto you, you won’t have any opportunities, especially as a white forward like Fan Huo’en, who lacks any physical advantage.

Remember even prime Larry Bird got shut out for a quarter. You’re like a toned-down version of Bird; how could you possibly shake off Jaws’s grip?

Gan Guoyang clearly found amusement in these games by single-handedly shutting down matched players.

He didn’t have to consider everything from a big-picture perspective or stand alone under the basket watching five opponents.

He didn’t have to guard two players at once or guard his man while reminding a teammate to cover.

Sabonis could take on some of these responsibilities, allowing Gan Guoyang to focus much of his attention on his matchup.

Duncan went through this, and Fan Huo’en is the second one, with two attempts in the first quarter, one blocked, an airball, and two turnovers.

With three minutes left in the first quarter, Fan Huo’en was substituted by Buck-Williams, leaving the court with his head hanging, quite dejected.

It’s different; the NBA feels completely different from the NCAA. It’s so tough, the competition is intense, and the defense is suffocating.

Why is it so hard to even receive the ball?

And once he gets the ball, he’s on edge, feeling as if it could be stolen at any moment.

His technique also faltered, every step became predictable, and holding the ball to attack turned chaotic.

During the break between quarters, Fan Huo’en asked Olajuwon beside him, "How do you break through Ah Gan’s defense? It’s too hard."

Olajuwon gradually warmed up after missing his first three shots, then scored consecutively, including some free throws.

Faced with the rookie’s question, Olajuwon breathed a long sigh and said, "Increase the speed of all your moves by 30%, and you might be able to score over Ah Gan. You probably won’t manage that tonight, and if he keeps marking you, practice hard during post-game training."

"Why is he always marking me? Before the game, he said he would score 44 points over me, but I didn’t say anything."

"That guy’s crazy; don’t mind him. Try to score from outside or with free throws; otherwise, you won’t score."

Having competed against Gan Guoyang for many years, Olajuwon knew Gan Guoyang’s temperament.

If tonight he’s set on doing nothing else but marking you, then scoring becomes very, very difficult.

Olajuwon is already one of the greatest interior defenders in NBA history, but he knew that there was a big difference between his defense and Ah Gan’s.

This guy is an absolute one-on-one defense expert, an offense shot-blocker; if you can’t have the right mindset and the courage to go all out against Ah Gan, it’s easy to unravel, causing your shot percentage and offensive skill efficiency to drop by 40%.

The shift in Gan Guoyang’s focus this season provided Olajuwon with some insight.

Olajuwon realized that if he wanted to prolong his career and have a greater impact in high-level competitions, focusing on defense might be a better path.

No matter what, on offense, he was inevitably declining, and the pace of decline was becoming faster and unstoppable.

However, on defense, the demand for explosiveness and speed was not as high, and he could continue at a high level relying on experience, height, and build.

Compared to Olajuwon’s foresight, thinking about the next season and the more distant future, Fan Huo’en could only focus on the present.

He wanted to score, and no matter what, he felt he should score one point, make one basket under Ah Gan’s defense.

This was his primary goal for this game.

Thus, when the second quarter began, Fan Huo’en seized an opportunity to quickly shoot from the outside when he got the ball.

But he shot too hastily, missed, and the Trail Blazers grabbed the rebound to launch another attack against the Nets.

The coach was furious, scolding Fan Huo’en during the timeout, asking why he was so impatient when the team was trailing.

Fan Huo’en said nothing, but the more it happened, the more anxious he became, as if he had fallen into Gan Guoyang’s trap.

Gan Guoyang was like a golden branch shining on a big tree; young people all wanted to pluck it and prove themselves in front of him.

But the more they tried to prove themselves, the more they fell from the tree; even Duncan couldn’t break this cycle, let alone Fan Huo’en.

In the second half, the Trail Blazers had already extended their lead to 17 points; the Nets were no match for the Trail Blazers.