The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 178 - 71 Bucket

Stockton’s arrival revamped the Jazz’s offense.

The slower pace allowed the players to calm down and adjust their state.

Meticulous directing of movements and precise passing made the players’ runs and catches for attacking much smoother.

In just five minutes, Stockton had reorganized the Jazz’s offense.

They stopped blindly charging and pounding and instead utilized picks and screens to dismantle the Trail Blazers’ solid defense.

Stockton continuously forced Gan Guoyang into making choices, which meant Guoyang could no longer proceed with routine plays and had to use his brain.

When you start thinking and making choices, vulnerabilities are bound to happen, and Gan Guoyang was no exception.

Whenever there were gaps or oversights in the details, Stockton’s passes would always arrive just in time.

Fortunately, there were only 5 minutes left in the second quarter, and under Stockton’s leadership, the Jazz launched a 13:8 offensive surge, turning the game around.

At halftime, the score reached 47:48, with the Jazz team leading by one point.

If the game had continued without interruption, the Jazz might have extended their lead even more.

As the players retreated off the court to rest in the locker room, the audience gave Stockton a round of applause.

They realized that every time this small guard came off the bench, he always managed to bring changes to the team’s offense.

His style of play was anything but mundane and uninteresting, like his appearance and attire—this was a common misconception about Stockton.

In fact, his gameplay contained immense passion beneath its calm exterior; it just didn’t erupt easily.

Jazz head coach Frank Layden gently patted Stockton on the back, appreciating the changes he had brought to the team in the second quarter.

This round older man was not only the head coach of the Jazz but also the general manager, and drafting Stockton had been his decision.

Layden said he could see the enormous passion for basketball in Stockton, which he believed was key to sustaining a basketball player’s career.

Gan Guoyang also understood Stockton’s passion and reflected on his own issues in both offense and defense during the halftime break.

In the first half, after facing resistance in his offense, he gave up on assaulting the inside, which made Mark-Eaton too comfortable inside the paint.

Camping out in the three-second area, swatting shots like flies, Eaton made it difficult for the Trail Blazers to score in the paint with 7 blocks before halftime.

Defensively, after Stockton entered the game, the team’s communication was problematic, especially against an offense with multiple screens where smooth communication was crucial.

Every screen was a moment when defensive assignments changed, and good communication was needed to switch and return to a normal defensive stance.

Lack of communication would lead to gaps and give the opponents opportunities.

In the mid-1980s, pick-and-roll screens were not the mainstream tactic; the mainstream was inside-out coordination with the low post as the pivot.

But Stockton was a guard who was very adept at using screens, both for himself and for passing to teammates after they used screens.

Gan Guoyang knew this but didn’t handle it well, taking it as his own responsibility.

In the locker room, Ramsay rallied the spirits, "Our offense has been sluggish; where has your passion gone? You don’t have as much passion as an old man like me!"

Hearing Ramsay say this, everyone silently agreed. Setting other things aside, Ramsay was indeed full of passion for basketball and games, decade after decade.

Back when he was the general manager for the 76ers, coach Hannum resigned on short notice, and the team couldn’t find a suitable head coach, so Ramsay stepped in to coach.

At that time, he thought he would be a temporary coach for just one season, planning to step down once they found a new coach, but he ended up coaching for over a decade.

One can’t stay in such a high-pressure position for that long without being driven by passion—of course, NBA coaches are a bit eccentric by nature; the mentally ill are never short on passion.

After pumping up the players, Ramsay adjusted the strategy, asking Vandeweghe and Parkson to increase their attacks from the top of the arc, clearing out the wings.

Ramsay’s intention was clear; he wanted Gan Guoyang to increase attacks from the wing to further mobilize Mark-Eaton and keep him from being too comfortable under the basket.

As for Stockton? Ramsay didn’t say much about him; he was just a substitute, and a former teammate of yours, Guoyang. Figure out a way to handle him yourself.

Close to the end of halftime, Gan Guoyang somehow found a bucket and placed it at the door of the locker room. He pulled out 20 US dollars from his pocket.

He said, "I bet 20 dollars that whoever dunks on Mark-Eaton’s head first in the second half can take all the money in this bucket."

As he said this, Gan Guoyang threw the 20 dollars into the bucket, followed by Adelman tossing in his 20 dollars as well.

Drexler, Kossie, Thompson, Scheffler, and Vandeweghe all threw in money.

Even Valentine and Parkson did, although they knew they weren’t going to earn it.

But with this added incentive, everyone’s passion for attacking Eaton in the second half would definitely not be lacking.

As the second half began, Gan Guoyang, as the initiator, didn’t rush to take the ball and charge towards the inside.

He made a fake screen maneuver with Parkson at the top of the arc and immediately moved to the right 45-degree angle.

Parkson passed the ball to Gan Guoyang, Bailey came over to defend him.

Bailey was tall and had a good wingspan but he was much weaker than Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang drove directly towards the basket with a power dribble, and Bailey couldn’t stop him at all.

Eaton came to help defend, but Gan Guoyang lobbed a pass to Thompson, who completed the alley-oop slam dunk!

After scoring, Thompson was thrilled and shouted to his teammates, "Is the money mine now? I dunked!"

Vandeweghe, Parkson, and others all shook their heads, saying that the dunk didn’t count, as it wasn’t over Eaton’s head.

The Jazz players felt it was odd, "Are you guys mixing gambling with playing? Isn’t that illegal?"

Ramsay, watching Gan Guoyang’s 45-degree offensive drive, felt satisfied; the kid finally understood his intentions.

It wasn’t about getting him to shoot from the mid-range at the 45-degree angle but to combine drives and shots to create a bigger offensive threat, especially against big centers like Eaton who "camp" under the basket.

However, Gan Guoyang still needed to polish his face-up offensive skills. If he could master Vandeweghe’s face-up techniques, he would have much more freedom at the 45-degree position.

Ramsay felt like he was sculpting the most exquisite basketball machine in the world, and even a terrifying thought crossed his mind: What about developing his three-point shooting?

Too scary, far too scary, Ramsay shook his head repeatedly to banish such a profane thought from his mind, feeling that even a second more would insult his over forty years of a basketball career.

However, Gan Guoyang’s impact at the 45-degree angle was obviously not as strong as on the central axis from under the basket to the top of the arc where his skills were more refined, and he could also go for offensive rebounds.

Thompson’s dunk opened up the Trail Blazers’ offense in the third quarter, while the Jazz, with Rickey Green on, fell back into that fast yet disorganized offensive rhythm.

Gan Guoyang set a defensive trap for the Jazz, leaving Eaton open under the basket; Green tried a lob pass to Eaton, but Gan Guoyang, coming from the side, leaped high and intercepted the pass.

After the steal, Gan Guoyang threw a long pass to the frontcourt, Vandeweghe caught the ball and made a close-range, stop-and-pop bank shot; the Trail Blazers were back in their familiar offensive rhythm.

Then, Gan Guoyang left Eaton open again; Rickey Green hesitated, to pass or not to pass? Was Gan Guoyang lying in wait?

No pass came, the Jazz were forced into a set offense, and Gan Guoyang helped Vandeweghe double-team the receiving Dantley.

Dantley still wanted to force his way through, but his turnaround jumper was blocked by Gan Guoyang, triggering another fast break for the Trail Blazers.

Valentine made a low, skidding diagonal pass to Parkson, who easily laid it in for two points!

A 6:0 run at the beginning of the third quarter put the Trail Blazers back in control of the game.

Coach Layden became anxious and stood up, wanting to bring Stockton into the game.

But it was not the right time; Rickey Green was an established player and a star, and for the sake of the locker room harmony, changes needed to be orderly.

Layden called a timeout, asking Green to slow down the pace. Green, breathing heavily and sweating, disliked slowing down, but this time he had no choice.

No matter how fast he played, that number 11 center could always keep up, always a step ahead in the paint, blocking the optimal offensive route.

Eaton was a barrier on defense, but a liability on offense with virtually no ability to score on his own, allowing Gan Guoyang to completely ignore him.

Green intended to use his passes to assist Eaton, but just because Gan Guoyang wasn’t closely watching Eaton didn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention to him.

Stockton was right during the halftime break; the guy could defend with divided attention, covering two players at once, and decisions needed to be made quickly to not give him any time to think.

Of course, what Stockton didn’t say was that Gan Guoyang developed such skills precisely because of his exposure to defenders like those from Gonzaga, who were defensive weaklings.

After the timeout, Dantley used his power to post up Vandeweghe to steady the Jazz, while the Trail Blazers’ offense was more passionate than in the first half.

Valentine suddenly accelerated down the middle and challenged Mark-Eaton at the rim, missing the layup, but the referee blew the whistle, calling Eaton for a foul.

Gan Guoyang went over to help Valentine up and said, "You too, want to get the money in the pot?"

Valentine replied, "Everyone should have dreams... I figure there’s at least 200 US Dollars in that pot now."

Valentine was a point guard with a very traditional and even old-fashioned playing style. Even though he joined the league in ’81, his game was more reminiscent of a guard from the ’60s or ’70s.

Stable and solid, with a preference for shooting over layups. If he penetrated the paint, he’d finish with a shot because the traditional view was that guards risk getting blocked on layups.

Some college and highschool coaches even forbade their players from layups or dunks during practice; they had to shoot instead, even on fast breaks.

This had given Valentine a very solid shooting technique, and he was accurate at free throws but not great at long-range shots. His two made free throws continued to help the team score.

In just a few minutes, the Trail Blazers had retaken the court advantage, and with the "temptation" of the US Dollars in the pot, they charged at Eaton with even more decisiveness.

When you become decisive, it’s less likely for you to get blocked. Furthermore, Gan Guoyang appeared more on the flanks, distracting Eaton’s attention, allowing Vandeweghe and Parkson to continue scoring under the basket.

Halfway through the third quarter, the Trail Blazers were leading the Jazz by 7 points, 65:58.

The Jazz had only managed a meager 10 points in the second half, and Gan Guoyang even went over to the Jazz’s bench, shouting, "Put John in! If you don’t, you’ll lose! With John, you still have a chance!"

Stockton covered his face with a towel, thinking, Ah Gan, don’t do this...

Coach Layden was quite humorous; during the timeout, he said to Stockton, "Your friend misses you. Go on in and catch up with him."