The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 176 - 69: A Special Way of Communication

On December 1st, the Trail Blazers entered the Salt Palace arena, where Gan Guoyang was reminded of some memories.

Nine months ago, Gan Guoyang, along with Gonzaga University, began their legendary NCAA journey here.

In just one month, they went from an obscure WCC team to the nationally renowned champions.

Now, more than one month into the NBA regular season, the season was just beginning. This was the huge difference between professional and college games.

In Gan Guoyang’s senses, the game against Jordan felt like the NCAA Finals. Beating Jordan was like winning the world championship, and he could lie down and rest in champagne.

But upon opening his eyes, the regular games continued one after the other.

Gan Guoyang paid no attention to the media and news practitioners’ hype.

He was focused on the schedule, the team, and himself.

During pre-game warm-ups, Adelman helped Gan Guoyang pick up balls for shooting practice.

As they chatted, Adelman asked Gan Guoyang, "Mr. 50 Points, do you feel any change in life?"

After scoring 50 points against the Bulls, Gan Guoyang had become the first player in the history of the Trail Blazers to reach 50 points in a single game.

Gan Guoyang said, "Yes, Dr. Jack spoke to me less and less. He definitely didn’t like me scoring that many points."

Adelman glanced towards the sideline. Ramsay was chatting with Valentine and Vandeweghe, probably about tonight’s perimeter defense.

Adelman told Gan Guoyang, "You are mistaken, Ah Gan. After the game, Dr. Jack spoke highly of you, saying that was one of the greatest performances he had ever seen."

Gan Guoyang stopped shooting and said, "Really? I don’t believe that. I’m already grateful if he doesn’t sarcastically call me ’the yellow Chamberlain’."

Whenever Ramsay felt that Gan Guoyang played too "selfishly" on the court, he would mockingly call him the yellow Chamberlain, which left others confused whether he was praising or insulting him.

Although Chamberlain had a big reputation among NBA fans, most NBA coaches and managers did not like him, especially those who had worked with him.

This included Coach Alex Hannum, who led Chamberlain to a championship with the 76ers. After two seasons coaching Chamberlain, he grew tired of dealing with the immature giant, despite winning the 1967 championship and being considered the greatest NBA team in history in 1980.

Gan Guoyang was on good terms with Chamberlain, but he knew that Ramsay’s assessment was not wrong; Chamberlain was indeed immature. He was a good friend but not a good basketball player, having wasted too much talent.

"I am telling the truth. During an interview with The Oregonian, he said that some coaches criticized your game with Jordan as an individual showdown, but Jack said those coaches didn’t watch the game and didn’t understand basketball. He said the game between Mike and you was one of the greatest basketball games he’d ever seen, a contest of human physical limits."

"Really? Jack said that? Then I’ll have to flip through The Oregonian when I get back."

"You go ahead, I guarantee Jack said those words. Oh, right, Jack discussed with me before the coach’s meeting. He thinks you could increase your mid-to-long distance shooting from the 45-degree angle on the wing."

Before every game, the coaching staff would have a pre-game meeting to formulate some tactical strategies based on the team’s recent performance and the opponent’s condition, or to give some technical reminders to the players.

Important games would receive detailed planning, while weaker opponents or fatigue games after consecutive away matches may be glossed over.

Gan Guoyang was somewhat surprised by Ramsay’s adjustment today, asking, "Really? Mid-to-long distance shots from the 45-degree angle? That’s Cheche and Jim’s position, my spots are at the top of the arc and below the basket."

"I know, but that’s how Jack arranged it. You can try a few shots; he wants to see the effect. Then, in practice, we’ll increase tactics involving you holding the ball at these two positions."

Gan Guoyang nodded in understanding. Shooting from a 45-degree angle did not pose a problem for him, and Ramsay surely wanted to observe his effectiveness in attacking from this angle.

"By the way, Rick, why didn’t Dr. Jack come directly to talk to me and had you convey the message? He didn’t mention it during the pre-game prep either."

"Uh... nothing. Dr. Jack was busy with other things; he just mentioned it to me and asked me to inform you."

Adelman’s hesitant attitude seemed strange to Gan Guoyang, who was even more puzzled by the fact that Ramsay always let Adelman relay tactical requests to him from then on.

Gan Guoyang was clueless as to why Ramsay had suddenly developed such a quirk, but out of respect for Dr. Jack, he never asked about it. Instead, he let this awkward system of communication continue until Ramsay left the Portland Trail Blazers.

As the evening’s game approached, the players took to the court; Stockton was not in the starting lineup for the Jazz.

He had managed to play 38 minutes in the previous two games because the team’s starting point guard, Rickey Green, was absent due to injury, so Stockton was promoted to the starting position.

Although Stockton’s individual offensive performance was mediocre, scoring only 3 out of 8 against the Nuggets, he delivered 13 assists in 38 minutes, showcasing his excellent vision and stability on the court.

This gradually solidified his position in the Jazz, and even after Green returned, Stockton sat back on the bench but had become the primary backup choice in the minds of the coaches.

During the pre-game warmup, Gan Guoyang jokingly asked Stockton if he should knock Rickey Green half dead so he could go back to lying down, but Stockton quickly dismissed such a dangerous idea, ensuring that he did not need such means to secure playing time.

The Trail Blazers’ starting lineup remained unchanged, and the Jazz’s starters were Mark Eaton, Thurl Bailey, Rickey Green, Adrian Dantley, and Darryl Griffith.

The Jazz was a team that emphasized its interior presence over perimeter play. Eaton was like a prehistoric monster in the paint due to his height, while Thurl Bailey was a 6-foot-11 inch "long-armed monkey," who had seen rapid development in his sophomore year.

Guard Darryl Griffith, the second overall draft pick, was the NCAA’s MOP in 1980, leading Louisville to victory over UCLA for the national championship. Although not tall, he was an extraordinarily athletic guard with powerful dunking abilities.

Dantley was not tall, but he epitomized the undersized power player and was the best in the league at drawing fouls, thanks to his broad shoulders and long arms, earning him the title of the league’s "king of one-on-one play."

The first NBA game Gan Guoyang ever attended was a match between the Jazz and the Warriors. At that time, Dantley was with the Jazz, and the game made a lasting impression on Gan.

Both small forwards, the styles of Dantley and Bernard King could not have been more different. One was agile, the other powerful, one used speed and finesse to evade defenders, the other used strength and weight to draw fouls.

Last season, King averaged 26 points per game with only five free throw attempts per game.

Dantley averaged 30 points per game with twelve free throw attempts per game.

Just from free throws alone, Dantley scored six to seven points more per game than Bernard King.

Given such a powerful scoring small forward, the Trail Blazers naturally had concerns before the game.

Gan Guoyang volunteered to guard Dantley one-on-one, as he did with Mark Aguirre.

Ramsay rejected the proposal, saying, "This isn’t the playoffs; you can’t defend out of position in every regular-season game. Moreover, the Jazz’s interior players are taller than the Mavericks’. Dantley is very skilled at drawing fouls; you can’t risk getting into foul trouble too early."

Although Dantley and Aguirre shared similarities, the differences between them were clear. Dantley’s first-step explosiveness and ability to draw fouls could easily get Gan into early foul trouble.

The Jazz was not an easy opponent, with strong abilities at all five starting positions, well-defined roles, and unique individual skills—they had assembled a collection of odd talents.

Last year, they finished second-best in the Western Conference, just behind the Trail Blazers. Due to divisional standings, they were placed second but lost to the Suns, who had eliminated the Trail Blazers, in the semifinals and failed to advance to the Western Conference Finals to face the Lakers.

This season after suffering early injury setbacks, with Dantley and Green missing games intermittently, the Jazz’s performance suffered. Tonight’s game was one with their most complete roster in recent times.

The first quarter was uneventful for both sides, with the Jazz off to a bad start with poor shooting from the outside and unable to secure offensive rebounds.

Gan Guoyang had become the league’s top rebounding guard, averaging 16.8 rebounds per game—3 more than Moses Malone, who was second—especially because Vandeweghe and Parkson rarely pursued defensive rebounds.

The Trail Blazers’ offense was also lackluster, and even as Ramsay continuously instructed "run, run, run" from the sidelines, the players didn’t seem to have the same vigor.

On the contrary, too much running led to an increase in turnovers, and both teams had a rather poor performance in the first quarter.

Gan tried two mid-range shots at the 45-degree angle, making one and missing another, which the Jazz rebounded and converted into a fast break.

Gan wasn’t used to shooting from that spot, and his teammates were not used to him shooting from there either. They still needed to work on that play.

Although the Jazz had a powerhouse in Mark Eaton, his role was confined to defense. On offense, he would occasionally finish an easy bucket, lacking the skills for a self-created shot.

The Jazz’s offensive catalyst was the guard Rickey Green, a small 6-foot-tall guard known for his speed. Dubbed the fastest man on the Utah plateau, he made the All-Star team the previous year.

The entire Jazz team’s offense followed Green’s uptempo pace, with Dantley being a pure scoring machine.

The first quarter ended with the Trail Blazers leading 25:21, a 4-point advantage. Both teams played rapidly but with too many mistakes and too many missed shots.

In his matchup with Eaton, Gan finally realized there really was physical play in the NBA.

The Jazz took Gan’s defense very seriously, using the solidly built Mark Eaton to oppose him in the post—probably the only NBA player who could effectively body up against Gan.

If Gan received the ball at the top of the key, then Thurl Bailey would guard him. Jazz coach Frank Layden had watched the Trail Blazers-Bulls game and was deeply impressed by Gan’s mid-to-long-range jump shots and his dominant scoring ability inside.

This strategic arrangement proved effective, as Gan had a mediocre offensive performance in the first quarter, promptly shifting his focus to defense and facilitating for his teammates.

Gan also understood why Ramsay wanted him to try the mid-range shot at the 45-degree angle.

[During 1984, after Gan and Jordan’s 50-point duel, I decided not to directly communicate with Ah Gan about basketball tactics anymore. I would first tell Rick Adelman, and then have Adelman relay the message. I knew it was an awkward method, but it was a result of my neurotic tendencies from my long involvement in basketball. That game, with both players scoring 103 points, hurt me. It damaged my beliefs about basketball and great players.

As a coach, I found it difficult to face such tremendous change with equanimity. Indeed, I had started to accept all sorts of changes on and off the court, but that game still shocked me. They were both so excellent, yet they seemed to transcend what I knew. Later, I visited Dr. Ogilvy. He told me either to quit or to find a new way to communicate with Ah Gan about tactics, so I thought of passing the message through Rick.

It wasn’t until years later, after I left coaching to become an ESPN television commentator, that I finally broke free from that mental constraint. I can talk about basketball with Ah Gan openly, and it feels great.]

——From "Dr. Jack’s Leadership Lessons Learned From A Lifetime In Basketball" written by Jack Ramsay, published in 2004, excerpt.