The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 191 - 84 Stop fighting

Olajuwon saw the bubble Gan Guoyang blew, he wished he could punch it, shattering the bubble and Mangling Gan’s face as well.

This guy was too infuriating.

Still, Olajuwon managed to hold back, he glared at Guoyang then ran back to defend the backcourt.

But he was seething inside, how could there be such a despicable person in the world, not one word he said was pleasant to hear, opening his mouth only to drive one’s blood pressure through the roof.

The fadeaway jumper was an offensive skill Olajuwon specifically trained for after entering the NBA, dedicating a summer to improving his shooting technique.

At the University of Houston, due to zone defenses and strategic reasons, along with the general lack of height in college leagues, conventional shooting satisfied offensive needs.

Upon reaching the NBA, where Olajuwon was a bit lacking in height, and the one-on-one defensive model gave him more opportunities for isolation plays, he needed more reliable scoring techniques to face those tall players.

His excellent leaping ability and core strength allowed him to adjust his posture in mid-air, easily sinking the ball into the basket while leaning back.

However, Head Coach Fitch did not like Olajuwon using this move, as the traditionally-minded coach thought the fadeaway jumper was a dodge to avoid confrontation, ineffective in truly damaging the opposition.

But the stubborn Olajuwon insisted on the fadeaway shots; his hit rate was quite good, and Fitch did not skimp on criticism during post-game summaries.

Sometimes he would say, "Ah Gan doesn’t use the fadeaway jumper; he’s shorter than you but doesn’t get blocked much by the defenders. On the contrary, his leaning shots can draw more fouls and inflict more damage."

At this moment, Olajuwon seriously wondered if Gan and Fitch had communicated privately, exchanging opinions and unanimously agreeing that his fadeaway shot had an issue! 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Gan Guoyang indeed disliked the fadeaway jumper, he preferred physical contact, pressing down on his opponent with a leaning shot, releasing it high with straight arms, giving no chance for a block while also drawing fouls from defenders.

Olajuwon admitted he couldn’t emulate Gan’s shooting style, as few people could switch between straight-arm and bent-arm shooting as seamlessly as he could.

Moreover, that kind of shooting method didn’t fear one-on-one defense as much as it did help defense; with a help defender, shooting like that could lead to getting so blocked you wouldn’t recognize your own mother.

Before the game, Olajuwon had been thinking that he wanted to collaborate with Sampson on help defense to ruthlessly block Gan’s pivot into a leaning jumper, to show Fitch what real damage was.

Who knew that tonight, the kid would not use that move at all; he seemingly knew he’d get blocked, so he either forcefully drove to the basket or shot from the outside.

He probably would use his damn traveling hook shot later on, hopping around like a grasshopper and then suddenly throwing the ball, inexplicably making the basket!

Thinking of these things, Olajuwon felt a throbbing in his temples. He believed he couldn’t swallow his pride tonight if he didn’t punch Gan or slam three baskets over his head.

Both teams clanged iron for a few more rounds, and the first quarter ended with the Rockets and Trail Blazers tied at 18:26, the Trail Blazers still maintaining an 8-point lead.

For the Trail Blazers to hold the Rockets to 18 points in their perimeter defense in the first quarter was nothing short of a miracle; Vandeweghe felt like he hardly broke a sweat.

The second quarter was almost a carbon copy of the first, with the Rockets failing to resolve one issue tonight: how to connect their inner and outer lines, stretching the Trail Blazers’ not-so-tough defense.

Olajuwon and Sampson occupied a lot of space and shots, but they played too narrowly, with all the offensive and defensive action focused within the three-second area.

Olajuwon played aggressively, bluntly holding the ball and charging in, scoring some baskets and causing Thompson to foul twice, but every time he drove to the basket, his teammates outside might as well have been smoking.

The team’s offensive resources weren’t fully utilized.

Sampson was even more pitiful; he couldn’t handle Gan’s three-quarters fronting and felt increasingly tired from the strenuous inside battles.

In defense, he had to guard Gan one-on-one, he couldn’t stop Gan’s first step facing the basket. Once beaten on the first step, the Rockets’ inside defense would collapse.

Olajuwon almost always came over to help on defense, but Gan passed the ball to Mychal Thompson several times for assists, and Thompson was fed to full in the second quarter.

And Thompson also had a good passing ability; if McGrady and other outer players came for help defense, he could distribute the ball to Vandeweghe or Parkson.

Vandeweghe and Parkson passed the ball to each other, apart from Valentine who couldn’t shoot from afar, these two would take shots quickly whenever they got a chance, and scored.

A different kind of beautiful offense unfolded before the Trail Blazers fans, the past "run, run, run" and non-stop cutting offense had disappeared.

In its place was a point break leading to the whole face flowing, the ball traveling across a larger area, moving, and ultimately finding shooting space.

Ramsay and Fitch could feel a new picture of basketball strategy slowly forming on this court, new things were always emerging.

This wasn’t some coach’s eureka moment, thinking this is how it should be played and the players would follow suit. Instead, it was a collective exploration by coaches and players, gradually finding the logic of basketball most suitable for current rules and player capabilities right on the court.

However, this view didn’t last long, as Fitch immediately called a time-out, forbidding Olajuwon from helping defend against Gan anymore.

"That’s Gan’s trap; haven’t you noticed he almost always attacks facing the basket? It’s to observe your positioning and pass the ball to his teammates."