The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 170 - 65: Mickey Mouse

Ramsay emphasized offense during the timeout, believing that against tight defense, there needed to be more ball movement to dissect the tough nut with a finer blade.

But Gan Guoyang didn’t think so, he believed that to tackle a tough nut you had to chop with an axe and smash with a hammer, no matter how sharp the knife is, the edge would eventually crumble.

However, Ramsay was right about one thing: they still had to start with defense, and that was something Gan Guoyang agreed with.

At the end of the timeout, Ramsay took Gan Guoyang aside and said, "Ah Gan, stay calm and don’t let external factors distract you. Winning the game is what matters most."

After more than two months of working together, Ramsay knew that Gan Guoyang was a very proud person and took this highly-hyped match very seriously.

Just now, he tried to strike back offensively, and his plan was almost a success, had it not been for Jordan being one step ahead.

Ulrich’s help defense was clearly a tactical deception, as Jordan anticipated that Gan Guoyang would cut inside to catch the ball and attack the hoop.

So, when Gan Guoyang made his inside cut, Jordan rushed over from the corner and stole the ball from Gan Guoyang’s hands the moment he received it.

Back on the court, the Bulls’ double-teaming of Gan Guoyang grew even more ferocious—whenever he received the ball in the low post, three players would immediately swarm him.

Jordan was not among those double-teaming; instead, he lurked nearby, severing Gan Guoyang’s passing routes, especially denying him any inside passes.

The Trail Blazers’ first offense after the timeout still ended in failure, as the Bulls’ pressure defense led to a 24-second shot clock violation by the Trail Blazers.

Cheers erupted in Chicago Stadium, and Lou Holtz breathed a sigh of relief. He was very adept at utilizing this kind of pressure defense while coaching in Atlanta.

However, in a league that generally prioritized offense over defense, and with a long season, such defense was sustainable only for certain periods, not the entire season.

Therefore, teams coached by Holtz struggled to make significant breakthroughs in standings, although he had seen considerable success in the ABA with two championships—yet, the level of ABA teams was far below that of the NBA.

Moreover, back then he had Julius Erving on his team, and now he had Michael Jordan—he understood how crucial such superstars were for a team.

After a successful defense, the Bulls launched an attack. This was their chance to take the lead and turn the tide, with Jones opening up a good opportunity under the hoop; after being double-teamed, Jordan made a bounce pass to Jones.

Jones caught the pass and turned to dunk, but was lightly blocked by Gan Guoyang who had slid over from the side—with "lightly" referring to the fact that Gan Guoyang’s hand just brushed the ball.

The ball slipped away, and as Jones’s hands continued the dunking motion, by the time his hands were hanging emptily on the hoop, Gan Guoyang was already carrying the ball on a fast break.

Fast breaks were the best chance to score. Perhaps no team in the league trained harder and more frequently on fast breaks than the Trail Blazers, with Ramsay constantly shouting "Run, run, run."

Vandeweghe received the pass and scored with a left-handed dunk; the Trail Blazers took the lead again.

Ramsay knelt on one knee by the court, gently clenched his fist—a sign that the team’s offense was improving.

Jordan felt helpless; he clearly saw that Jones had a chance, and that Gan Guoyang was distracted elsewhere.

How could he slide over so quickly and block Jones’s shot?

Jordan immediately realized, this kid was pulling a tactical deception—making you believe there was an opportunity under the hoop, but in reality, a big block awaited.

"Shit," Jordan muttered to himself, deciding to attack on his own.

He breezed past Parkson from the perimeter and pulled up for a jump shot at a 45-degree angle, hitting the shot.

The ball went in smoothly and naturally, no matter who was defending, it was futile.

The advantage of perimeter players over interior ones is that they can initiate the offense on their own without needing to be fed the ball.

Jordan was ready to command his teammates to double-team Gan Guoyang in the low post.

But suddenly, Gan Guoyang took a shot from the top of the arc, a long two-pointer—and it was in!

The shot was resolute, and the hit just as decisive.

The Bulls couldn’t even begin their double-teaming defense before they had to inbound the ball.

Holtz had a bad premonition.

Ramsay held his forehead, who the hell told you to shoot like that?

Jordan continued to carry the ball on the offense, breezing past Parkson once again.

But Gan Guoyang came up to help on defense, and Parkson also turned around to double-team.

Jordan got trapped on the left side, an area he disliked.

Jordan passed the ball; Ulrich caught it with one touch, breaking past Vandeweghe.

He drove for a layup, only to be blocked by Gan Guoyang again!

It was another of those light, airy blocks, just a tap on the opponent’s ball.

The ball slipped away while the man kept flying forward. By the time he landed, the ball was already speeding towards the frontcourt.

Once more, Vandeweghe showcased his left-handed dunk to the fans at Chicago Stadium.

Some fans were momentarily dazed, wondering if they had just experienced that moment—was it a replay?

After being broken past by Ulrich, Vandeweghe had already started running toward the frontcourt.

He knew that Ulrich lacked the speed, jumping height, and driving power to break through Ah Gan’s defensive line.

The Trail Blazers regained a four-point lead, stabilizing their formation.

Holtz looked up at the scoreboard, feeling the game was still playable—perhaps Jordan could turn things around.

Jordan indeed wanted to change the situation. He didn’t want to go left again, but Parkson was blocking his right-hand drive.

Jordan chose to pass to a wing teammate, then cut to the other side to receive a return pass and made an immediate jump shot—swish!

Yet on the defensive end, at the same spot, the top of the arc, Gan Guoyang caught the ball for another long two-pointer, and it hit its mark again!

"Fuck!" Jordan cursed. Was this guy a catapult? Are you Bird?

Jordan chewed his gum vigorously, sweat dripping down his head.

He was like a furious Bull, and Guoyang, clad in a red jersey, was the waving red cloth.

But in offense, he didn’t lose his head and directly charge at Gan Guoyang; instead, he collaborated with his teammates.

Moving without the ball through the middle, then catching it to take off directly, he soared over Gan Guoyang’s "Five Finger Mountain" and scored with a right-handed layup. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Jordan knew that to face Gan Guoyang’s defense, one’s speed and jumping height had to be sufficient, or else it would result in a blocked shot.

The scores of both sides were closely intertwined, entering an extremely tense phase.

As Gan Guoyang continuously hit from outside, the previously tight Bulls’ defensive formation began to loosen.

For the third time, Gan Guoyang received the ball at the arc’s top, faking a shot. Jones this time stuck close to him.

But who knew Gan Guoyang would suddenly change up, feinting a move and then breaking through the middle, with only a single Steve Johnson under the Bulls’ basket.

Gan Guoyang, like a truck, charged with the ball into the paint, leapt over Johnson, and slammed the ball into the basket with one hand!

A fierce dunk over a player, Johnson was knocked flying by Gan Guoyang, and yet the referee also called a blocking foul on him.

The two points counted, with an added free throw, which was made. The score was now 79:74, with the Trail Blazers leading by 5 points, and both teams entered a timeout.

The Trail Blazers stabilized their offense, but as the game went on, the issue of stamina became more severe; everyone’s legs felt extremely heavy.

In offense, they were able to control the pace and maintain their status, but on defense, if their footsteps couldn’t keep up, there was no way they could properly defend.

Ramsay decided to also implement a constricted defense, letting the Bulls shoot from outside while making every effort to protect Gan Guoyang inside.

Otherwise, if he committed too many fouls and kept getting hit by Jordan and Ulrich, he wouldn’t be able to stay in the game later on.

At the same time, Ramsay increased the playing time of his bench players. Kossie, Kolter, and Drexler came on during the latter part of the third quarter.

Allowing Vandeweghe, Parkson, Valentine, and others to rest properly, so they could be ready for the final quarter’s showdown.

However, neither Gan Guoyang nor Jordan took a break; they neither needed nor could afford to rest.

The two not only constantly vied in skill and intellect but also verbally sparred, starting to attack each other.

"Bigfoot."

"Mickey Mouse."

"Yeti."

"Mickey Mouse."

"Long-Arm Ape."

"Mickey Mouse."

"Fuck your mother, can’t you come up with something else?"

"Sure, Mickey."

"That’s the same thing!"

During free throws or dead balls, they used nicknames to attack each other.

Jordan racked his brain to come up with nicknames for Gan Guoyang, but Gan used "Mickey Mouse" to conquer all, leaving Jordan quite frustrated.

In the third quarter, the score rose alternately. The coach’s arrangements soon lost their effect in the latter half, and the players began to improvise.

Jordan scored 14 points in the third quarter, and Gan Guoyang got 12 points, both reaching 32 points by the end of the third.

Jordan had 5 assists in a single quarter, while Gan Guoyang had 3 blocks and 7 rebounds in one quarter.

The Trail Blazers led with a 6-point advantage, 94:88, going into the fourth quarter.

Lou Holtz’s gamble was effective, but in the critical moments, Gan Guoyang turned the situation around with his unreasonable mid-range shots and defense.

During the third quarter timeout, Ramsay’s offensive setup was completely ignored by Gan Guoyang, who just shot the ball from the center arc whenever he got it. What kind of tactics were those?

Yet, they were effective and had an extraordinary impact.

During the interval, Holtz thought, how wonderful it would be if he could recruit Ah Gan to his team, to play alongside Jordan?

He recalled during the Olympics All-Star game period, when he was coaching the All-Star Team, reducing Gan Guoyang’s playing time to ensure the Olympic Team could win.

At that time, Gan’s influence on the game was already astonishing, forcing Bob Knight to resort to such a drastic measure because losing continually would be unacceptable.

Glancing at the stats, Gan Guoyang finished three quarters with only two fouls. The control over his fouling was truly exceptional; his defense was impenetrable.

Holtz had a premonition that this guy might be the best defensive center since Bill Russell.

Holtz asked Jordan, "Michael, can you take Ah Gan down?"

Jordan looked at Holtz and said, "Take him down? I can’t beat him, who can?"

"No, I mean, through fouling, to get him out of the game."

"How many fouls does he have?"

"Two."

Jordan looked at the coach with the expression one might use for a comedian.

"Well, that is indeed difficult. We should have devised a plan to deal with him before the game started."

Forewarned is forearmed. While impromptu coaching is important, the key lies in the planning before the game.

In 1984, the Chicago Bulls were one of the worst in the league in terms of players, coaches, and management.

With such high attention on this game, the focus of the entire team was on selling tickets and advertising.

Even Holtz hadn’t thought about formulating tactics for Jordan or coming up with targeted plans.

"Don’t worry, Kevin, I’ll figure out a way," Jordan said.