The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 200 - 90: Abnormal Center_2
Rileyโs actions with the Lakers essentially mirrored Ruppโs. He once again reprimanded Jabbar on the bench, believing that he couldnโt contain Ah Gan. ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ซ๐ฎ๐.๐ฌ๐๐ข
In the last game at the Forum, Jabbar was so entangled by Gan Guoyangโs Moses Malone-style combat play that it led to the death of Kurt Rambis.
But scolding aside, Riley understood Jabbarโs difficulties. Tonight, with Gan Guoyangโs shooting touch on fire, there was no way Jabbar could go out to the perimeter to defend him one-on-one. Larry Spriggs was also ineffective.
Riley looked to the bench and said to Kurt Rambis, "Kirk, get in there and take care of Ah Gan."
Rambis pushed up his glasses and slowly stood up from the bench, thinking, "Damn, why is it always me?"
When the timeout ended and Gan Guoyang saw Rambis come onto the court to match up against him, he exclaimed, "Fuck, Rambis, how are you alive?"
In the last game at the Memorial Coliseum, where the Lakers played the Trail Blazers, Rambis hadnโt played due to a headache. This was their second encounter.
Rambis gave an awkward smile and said, "Love for basketball has resurrected me."
Gan Guoyang didnโt bother to banter with Rambis any further; he didnโt have the time to spare.
His shooting was terrifyingly accurate, and he had to score as much as he could before this state vanished.
Since arriving in this world, Gan Guoyang had never given up on practicing long-distance shooting.
On the street courts of San Francisco, he made it a rule to hit at least 150 long-distance shots before he could call it a day.
This habit continued to this day, except for a few instances where he didnโt have the time due to some accident; otherwise, he never missed a day.
Including the day he won the NCAA championship, after the frantic celebrations, Gan Guoyang still managed to find the time to sink 150 long-distance shots before resting.
Even after joining the Trail Blazers, it was the same, but during games, he didnโt have too many opportunities to shoot, there was no tactical cooperation, and he knew he had more important tasks at hand.
But tonight was different. Falling behind by so much, there was no other way. He had to gamble on his shooting touch and the Lakersโ lack of emphasis on defending long-range shots.
Rambis alone couldnโt stop Gan Guoyangโs shooting; Rambis had no idea how to defend a center shooting threes. As a power forward, he was more accustomed to keeping his line of sight and footwork close to the three-second zone.
As for Gan Guoyang, he wasnโt restricted by โ80s tactical thinking. A normal center, if he had a hot hand and even made one three-pointer, would usually stop while he was ahead.
Gan Guoyang, of course, wasnโt normal. There was no quitting while ahead. Expanding his success was the real deal. They were still down by a lot.
After the timeout, Jabbar smoothly received the ball in the low post and completed the process with a hook shot.
After the ball went in, Jabbar said to Gan Guoyang, "Kid, canโt you play ball normally?"
Gan Guoyang replied, "I didnโt kick the ball; how am I not normal?"
Jabbar had nothing to say; he didnโt like to talk much during games anyway.
At 38, he had played so many years in the NBA and was widely experienced.
From the Chamberlain era, heโd played against various opponents all the way through.
Aside from Bill Russell, whom he missed, heโd encountered all sortsโChamberlain, Lanier, Reed, Cowens, Malone, Sermonde, Bellamy, Walton, Gilmore, Issel, Sikma, Unseld, Hayes, Olajuwon, Parrish, Barry Carroll, and many others, both older and younger, and he had outscored them all.
However, Jabbar had never encountered a center like Gan Guoyangโfull of tricks, with a variable playing style, and still a rookie.
And he wasnโt very eager to encounter one.
Jabbar wasnโt the kind of person who got extremely excited upon meeting a strong opponent, eager to fight it out for three hundred rounds.
He often felt annoyed: Why do I have to sweat it out on the court with someone like this?
Sometimes when annoyed or angry, he would rage and blow out his opponent to end the game early and head back to the locker room for a shower.
But when faced with a sticky opponent, Jabbar easily got discouraged and questioned life.
"Why the hell am I playing basketball here? To brawl with a bunch of talentless, vapid muscleheads is no different from wrestling bears in a circus."
Whenever he felt like this, his performance would be affected, and while Riley would mock him, he would also encourage him to keep fighting.
But how do you fight someone like Gan Guoyang?
A pick and roll, still coordinating with Parkson.
Moving beyond the three-point line, to a position slightly left of the top of the arc.
Parkson passes back, Guoyang catches the ball and shoots over Rambis.
In Guoyangโs eyes, Rambisโs defense might as well not exist; his eyes were fixed only on the basket.
Another deadly arc, another basket, his fourth three-pointer, and halfway through the third quarter, he had already scored 16 points.
64:72, the gap narrows to 8 points, three points are worth more than two, after all.
When you make a lot of threes, that advantage really shows.
If Guoyang had made four two-pointers instead, the gap would now be 12 points.
And that feels very different from 8 points.
Rambis didnโt really react. If itโs a three-pointer that goes in, so be it; Iโm not specifically here to defend that.
Iโm alive, thatโs good enough; why bother with so much?
This sort of indifferent attitude is both helpless and dangerous.
Everyone could sense it, including Pat Riley, that the Lakers were beginning to crumble under Guoyangโs barrage.
Collapse without warning, without any mental preparation, and Guoyangโs three-point show wasnโt over yet.
The Lakers were already clueless on the offense, with Magic Johnson being the only one still with a clear head.
But when a teamโs offense relies on the point guard to take the initiative to score, it means thereโs a problem.
Johnsonโs drive to the basket was blocked by the substitute Drexler.
The Trail Blazers played more relaxed as the game went on, daring to make bold defensive moves.
On the counterattack, Guoyang received a pass from Drexler and once more launched a three-pointer from the 45-degree angle on the right.
Rambis had given up on the chase. In a normal situation, no one would expect a center to catch and shoot from there.
Guoyang was anything but normal; while the ball was still in flight, Guoyang raised three fingers to signal to the fans in advance.
"Swish!"
The three-pointer is good, his fifth of the game, bringing the score to 71:74, Trail Blazers trailing by just three points.
Guoyang had scored 22 points. When his three-point shots were falling, he became more aggressive attacking the basket.
Because the opponents didnโt know if he would shoot or drive, unable to predict in time, they ended up at Guoyangโs mercy.
Not just Guoyang; Vandeweghe and Parkson on the outside began hitting shots too. Good shooting, like a virus, can spread.
Now it was the Lakersโ turn to go cold; everyone missed from outside, and Guoyang grabbed another defensive rebound.
He dribbled past half court himself, using his shoulder to push away Cooper who was trying to interfere, then rushed to the top of the arc. Rambis had no idea how to defend.
Chick Hearn called the action with a voice that sounded stunned, lifeless, as if he was watching a farce he didnโt understand at all: "Ah Gan dribbles the ball past half court by himself, then throws a three-pointer from outside the line... heโs... damn it, itโs in."
The sixth three-pointer, Guoyangโs 25th point of the quarter.
The teams are tied.
After the basket, Gan Guoyang shrugged at Pat Riley on the sidelines, whose face had turned ashen.
"Why donโt you play defense? Whereโs the defense?" Guoyang shouted.
