The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 179 - 72: Clasps

Stockton had a premonition before taking the court that Gan Guoyang wouldn’t let him set up the team’s offense as comfortably as he did in the second quarter.

Sure enough, as soon as Stockton entered the game, Gan turned to Valentine and said, "Darnell, you need to attack Stockton more when you get the chance. I’ll protect the basket; just stick with him. If he gets a chance to attack, let him."

Valentine nodded. Gan knew Stockton’s weaknesses well—one was his defense against strong African American guards.

Furthermore, Stockton’s offense wasn’t aggressive enough to "kill"; giving him space to maneuver wouldn’t be deadly.

So it was a good strategy to give him some room to attack, cutting off his connection with his teammates.

Ramsay adjusted as well when he saw Stockton come on, replacing Vandeweghe and Parkson with Jerome Kossie and Drexler.

Once these two were on the floor, they moved much faster than Vandeweghe and Parkson, sticking tightly to their defensive marks without giving the Jazz any openings.

Under Gan’s defensive direction, after a few rounds, Stockton found himself trapped: he was getting more chances to attack than his teammates.

It was the multiple-choice question Gan presented to Stockton: would you attack yourself, or would you insist on passing the ball to your teammates?

Stockton tried attacking twice: he made a mid-range shot, but his floater after breaking into the basket missed.

Gan did not come over to block him but let him take the floater, which missed under Valentine’s close defensive pressure.

Gan secured the defensive rebound with ease and said to Stockton, "John, you really need to practice your floaters."

Stockton still didn’t speak, just jogged back to get involved in the defense, only to be cleanly passed by the counterattacking Valentine.

Valentine took a jump shot after a rapid breakthrough. Stockton, presumably riled up by Gan’s words, reached out to grab.

The referee spotted the small foul and called a defensive foul on him. Valentine went to the free-throw line, adding another two points for the Trail Blazers.

"Stay calm, I need to be calmer..."

Stockton reminded himself over and over to stay calm inside. He knew that facing Gan as an opponent, Gan would definitely provoke his emotions, leaving him unsettled and unable to perform at his best.

This was an expression of Gan’s extreme confidence on the court. Though off the court he was always friendly and gentle, once he was on the court, he treated everything as a weapon to win.

Stockton knew he wasn’t like that; he could never play like Gan did. But he had his own principles, sticking to his own style and his own path.

This was the biggest common ground between Gan and Stockton, and also the reason they could become good friends—they both believed in themselves, unwavering in their dedication, regardless of success or failure.

Even after adjusting his mindset, Stockton was still thoroughly suppressed. Valentine’s pressure increased, and Stockton had to pass the ball quickly to Griffiths, letting him handle the issue.

This brought them back to the inefficient offensive mode of the first half, repeatedly attacking the three-second area defended by Gan. Under his nearly perfect positioning and effective disruption, they were only able to score sporadically.

Griffiths’ breakthrough was blocked by Gan, who swatted the ball away just as he was about to jump, the ball not yet steady in his hands—one of his weaknesses was that his hands were too small, making it unstable to hold the ball with one hand.

Gan seized on this weakness, stealing the ball and starting a counterattack for the Trail Blazers. Drexler caught the ball on the run, dunking it with a gliding motion!

The Trail Blazers had extended their lead to 12 points by the end of the third quarter, with Stockton’s appearance doing nothing to change the Jazz’s downturn.

But Stockton didn’t get discouraged. After a sequence on the perimeter, he boldly took a three-point shot, to Valentine’s surprise.

The shot went in, igniting cheers from the long-silent Salt Palace arena as the DJ shouted, "John Stockton, for three!"

The shot was risky for Stockton; had it missed and the Trail Blazers seized the long rebound, they could have launched another counterattack, further increasing their lead.

The NBA three-point line is far, and with no three-point line in college, Stockton usually didn’t shoot threes. But in moments like these, he took a gamble.

Gan admired Stockton’s shot, and while running to the frontcourt, he said to Stockton, "You’ve got guts to make that shot, John."

For the first time in the game, Stockton responded directly to Gan, "It’s what you taught me."

During college, Gan often took risky long shots, sometimes catching opponents off-guard with miraculous effects.

With a three-point line in the NBA offering higher gains for long-range shots, why not give it a try?

After that, Stockton didn’t score any more, nor could he manage the team’s offense and change the situation like he had done in the second quarter.

After all, he was a rookie with limited capabilities. But that three-pointer gave the Jazz hope for the fourth quarter.

The two teams ended the third quarter with the Trail Blazers leading by 9 points, 82:73, leaving the Jazz still with a chance to turn things around.

Back on the bench, Raiden encouraged Stockton, saying, "You’re doing really well, John. That three-pointer was beautiful."

Stockton nodded, coach’s encouragement lifted his spirits slightly. Still, when he looked up at the scoreboard and the stats, Gan’s numbers were there: 17 points, 18 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 2 steals.

He shook his head, thinking, this is Ah Gan, an absolute beast.

Of course, the Jazz had their own beast in Mark-Eaton, who had already contributed 12 blocks in three quarters.

The Trail Blazers players had attempted multiple times to challenge Eaton during the third quarter, to no avail.

When Gan Guoyang took the ball at the 45-degree angle, Yi Dun remained steadfastly under the basket, refusing to budge.

This defensive strategy allowed Gan Guoyang to score a few mid-range shots, but the Jazz’s defensive line wasn’t rattled.

Raiden and Yi Dun were no fools; you couldn’t lure them out just because you wanted to.

The bucket of cash in the Trail Blazers’ locker room still didn’t have a final claimant.

The fourth quarter started, with Gan Guoyang, who had rested at the end of the third, re-entering the game.

In one offensive play for the Trail Blazers, Gan Guoyang passed the ball to Drexler.

Drexler directed the movement, Gan Guoyang set a screen for Kolter, then moved to the 45-degree wing to receive the ball.

Compared to having the ball at the top of the arc, receiving it at the 45-degree wing created a clear strong and weak side on the court.

In the ’80s, coaches emphasized less the switch between strong and weak sides in basketball, and wide lateral passes during set plays were taboo for many coaches.

But as players became more mobile and their shooting skills improved, their passing grew bolder, and these so-called taboos no longer shackled the players.

As soon as Gan Guoyang got the ball, the Jazz’s defensive focus was on him. He looked as if he was going to drive, then suddenly made a cross-court pass to Drexler, lurking in the corner.

Drexler caught the ball and faked a shot, deceiving Dantley who had come to defend. He then broke along the baseline, and facing the help defense of Mark-Eaton, leapt to dunk with one hand over the mammoth, scoring!

The Glider flew over Mark-Eaton’s peak!

Drexler was extremely pumped after the dunk.

Not only did he make the basket, but he also drew a defensive foul from Eaton.

For the Jazz, it was a devastating blow.

Eaton had committed his fifth foul, and Raiden had to take him off the court.

Drexler made the additional free throw for a three-point play, bringing the score difference back to more than ten points.

Excited, Drexler told everyone, "The money’s mine!"

Not only was the money his, but this dunk would also become one of the most classic dunks of his career.

The score crushed the Jazz’s morale and left their most important defensive player, Eaton, sitting on the side.

Meanwhile, Gan Guoyang, with three personal fouls, didn’t have to worry about sitting out; he firmly controlled the paint.

The Jazz’s few attempts at a counterattack were suppressed by him, as Kossie and Drexler, two physical freaks, tried bombing the Jazz’s rim after Eaton went out.

Coming off the bench to replace Eaton was "Hamburger," Billy Bolts, who was past his prime, now in his fifteenth season and once an ABA star.

He used to be called "The White Tornado" in the ABA, but now older, he could only be referred to as "Supersized Hamburger."

He no longer had Eaton’s shot-blocking ability under the rim, but his wealth of experience meant drawing offensive fouls was his strong suit, along with plenty of sneaky defensive moves.

Gan Guoyang had suffered quite a few times at his hands; the experienced Bolts had excellent defensive positioning, always managing to be in your path.

He couldn’t jump high or run fast, but just by standing in the right position, he could disrupt your play.

Plus, this veteran of many years remained emotionally stable, unaffected by any verbal attacks.

I’m almost retired, what do I have to be upset about with a young guy like you?

In the final stages of the fourth quarter, the Jazz launched their last counterattack, although it was ultimately halted by the Trail Blazers.

Yet Gan Guoyang didn’t really gain an advantage over Billy Bolts and learned quite a few lessons.

The score was fixed at 119:112, with the Trail Blazers taking the game by a 7-point margin.

At the end of the game, Gan Guoyang hugged Eaton and Stockton and shook hands with Bolts in respect.

"I really should ask you for some tips on defensive details and skills, to tell you the truth, I kind of wanted to hit you during the game."

"Oh, well, I appreciate that you held back. My basketball life’s been extended by one more game because of it."

They joked around, with Bolts unaware that the punches you have to take, will come eventually; it was just a matter of sooner or later.

[There was one game against the Jazz, Mark-Eaton had us completely bewildered in the first half, and everyone was afraid to drive in. During halftime, Ah Gan brought a bucket and put in 20 US dollars, saying whomever dunked on Eaton, the money in the bucket was theirs. We all threw in money, and in the third quarter, we overcame our fears and charged at Eaton. At the beginning of the fourth, I received Gan’s pass in the corner. At that moment, I thought, I’m not going for a shot, I must drive in for a dunk. I stormed the basket, I saw no Eaton, only the hoop, and I slammed the ball in!

I was so excited then; the referee even called a foul on Eaton, who had to sit down. It was a crucial basket, and we won the game. Afterwards, I immediately went to the locker room, only to find the bucket with the cash was gone! Stolen! Back then, there were no surveillance cameras in the arena, and we couldn’t have the home team look into it, so it was left unresolved, and I was out over 200 dollars! Later we figured that Ah Gan must have stolen the bucket from the cleaning lady, who was searching for it everywhere; when she found it in the locker room with money still inside, she naturally took it. Damn Ah Gan, stealing buckets. ]

———— Excerpt from Clyde Drexler’s autobiography "Clyde The Glide," published in 2004.