The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 167 - 63 Rhythm_2

But these white centers were the least capable of guarding Ah Gan. Once Gan Guoyang received the ball, he made a move against Sikma, pivoting to face the basket. With a right-hand dribble, he broke through the middle and suddenly unleashed a move hook shot, easily scoring two points.

Karlsson couldn’t keep up with Gan Guoyang’s lateral movement, and didn’t even have time to interfere. The Bulls’ other players didn’t come to help on defense either, allowing a wide gap in the middle, which Gan exploited with an easy hook shot.

It was rare for Jordan to get angry at his teammates, but he yelled, "You should have blocked his middle route on that play! Don’t let him get an easy hook shot off!"

The move hook’s main characteristic is that it starts off looking like a drive but suddenly turns into a hook shot without warning.

If you treat it like a regular breakthrough on defense, sticking close and moving inward, you’ll find yourself too late to even attempt a block.

The best method to counter this move is team defense, having someone block the path forward or disturb from the side.

In the league, Magic Johnson was the one who frequently used similar moves. He was highly skilled at finishing with a hook shot while running at full speed, catching his opponents off guard.

However, Gan Guoyang’s move hooks were even more varied, usually initiated facing the basket with a dribble or hook that was baffling. It was his signature skill.

Gan used this move sparingly, aiming to keep his arsenal of weapons diverse to prevent opponents from thoroughly analyzing and developing specific defensive strategies against him.

With that shot, the Trail Blazers were leading the Bulls by more than ten points in the first quarter, 31:21.

Although the pre-game hype was all about Jordan vs Gan Guoyang, the two teams’ strengths were indeed not on the same level.

During the break between quarters, Jordan was unsatisfied with his teammates’ performance and unusually criticized them on the bench.

As a rookie, Jordan rarely complained about his teammates. Even if he had issues, he would compensate with his own performance rather than verbally criticize.

But tonight’s game was particularly meaningful to him, and he didn’t want to lose, especially not a crushing defeat to the Trail Blazers at the Chicago Stadium.

Bulls Head Coach Lou Holtz noticed Jordan’s anxiety and substituted him for a rest, trying to calm him on the bench, "You have to trust your teammates. It’s not just your game tonight; it’s the Chicago Bulls’ game."

Jordan nodded, slowly calming down as he focused on the game and considered in his mind how to break through Gan Guoyang’s defense.

Jordan knew he was fast enough, but Gan Guoyang always managed to cut off his drives, in part because Gan was truly fast, and also because his judgment was very precise.

"He has seen through my intentions several times, directing his teammates to push me to a certain area where he had already set a trap. Isn’t that right, Gan?"

After contemplating on the bench for a while, Jordan realized the problem—Gan was laying traps for him.

Jordan had sensed it during the Olympic all-star game; Gan’s defense was a rare "proactive defense."

In basketball, defenders are often the passive side. No matter how good your defense, the offense usually has the advantage and will score.

The defense can only respond as much as possible, aiming to reduce the opponent’s field goal percentage. It’s already a success to bring it down from scoring 6 out of 10 to 4 out of 10.

But Ah Gan could reduce your success rate to only twice. He often pressured you from afar on the defensive end and was perfect in his positioning.

If he showed a flaw, it was very likely intentional, aimed at luring you into a trap to disrupt your offense and force you to finish in the least efficient manner.

In terms of defensive coordination and positioning, Gan was meticulous, and Jordan calmed down, striving to replay the first quarter’s defensive details of Gan and the Trail Blazers in his mind. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

In the 80s, NBA defense was not as detailed, and without zone defense, coaches had three main ways to improve defense: one was to fire up the players to increase defensive intensity; second was to correct players’ bad defensive habits during regular training and establish sound individual defensive principles; third was to make trades or sign players with better defensive talent.

As for overall defensive strategic planning and detail fine-tuning, it was still uncharted territory as teams generally did not have dedicated defensive coaches back then.

Under such circumstances, Gan was like a defensive coach. Starting in high school, he had insightful views on defense and could see what was happening on the court.

He had a more advanced basketball philosophy in his head. Even if it wasn’t professional, his awareness and continual learning made a difference.

He could roughly predict the opponent’s offense. After all, basketball offenses revolve around so many variations, and as an offensive expert, one can certainly judge the opponent’s choices—provided you possess sufficient concentration and reaction speed.

Lastly, communication skill mattered. Gan’s dominance on defense might be uncomfortable at first, but when you empty your mind and listen to his commands, defense becomes somewhat simpler.

Jordan was unaware of these details, but through repeated encounters, he gradually sketched out the image of this formidable opponent in his mind. He also began to think about how to deal with him.

Three years at the University of North Carolina were not in vain. Jordan learned a lot from Dean Smith; he was not just a brute who relied only on speed and explosiveness to play.

Coach Smith studied mathematics in college, not sports, so he viewed the game from a unique mathematical perspective, dividing the game into segments, round by round.