The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 319 - 56: Hesitation and Aggression

In the connection between the first and second quarters, the Pistons really wanted to increase the pace and speed of the game to catch up in points.

The Bucks provided the entire League with a method to deal with the Trail Blazers, which was to use speed and force the Trail Blazers to quicken their pace.

The Trail Blazers were not a slow team; Bill Walton was slow because of a foot injury, but actually, in offense, Walton’s passes were quite swift—he was not a sluggish, plodding-type center.

The purpose of the Bucks speeding up the game was to create chaos in the match, disrupting the Trail Blazers’ orderly offense, and that was the crux of the issue.

Chaotic play has always been the domain of point guards, and the Pistons had Thomas, "Microwave" Vinnie Johnson, and John Long—freeform fighting chaos of the game favored the Pistons.

Teams that focused on offense from their frontcourt players mostly employed guards for organization and distributing the ball; the frontcourt players needed orderly cooperation and positioning to get into the offensive set up.

Even for a player like Vandeweghe, strong in shooting and penetrating, he actually dribbled very little with brief touches on the ball—running to position, catching, and immediately launching an attack.

The only ones on the Trail Blazers truly suited for chaotic play were two guards, Drexler, and Porter along with Kolter counted as one person.

Of course, Gan Guoyang was one as well, relying not on dribbling, but on offensive rebounds.

In the connecting segment, Ramsay repeatedly admonished Kolter to hold steady, to control the situation, and not to be impatient.

But faced with the Pistons’ aggressive physical contact, and Vinnie Johnson’s strong personal offense, Kolter found himself somewhat outmatched.

Johnson started the second quarter scoring continuously, helping the Pistons close the gap, this robustly built guy, with muscles like rock-hard stone—like Gan Guoyang, he liked to lean forward with his strong body for shooting; getting too close was a foul, and if he didn’t make the shot, he could still crash in for the offensive rebound, and most guards could hardly withstand his offense on the same spot.

With Johnson’s performance, the Pistons caught up, bringing the point difference down to just 3 points, leading Ramsay to call a timeout.

Regarding Kolter’s unremarkable performance, Ramsay didn’t say much—Kolter had already done his best, yet his experience and skill level could not contend with the Microwave.

At that moment, Ramsay was somewhat nostalgic for Valentine; if Valentine were there, Valentine’s same robust build would certainly be able to contain Johnson.

Ramsay glanced at the bench and signaled Terry Porter to get ready to play, "Defense, that’s your primary responsibility, understand?"

Ramsay reminded the rookie that, generally speaking, to gain a coach’s trust, the first thing a newcomer must do is play defense.

Offense, due to limitations in ability and experience, might not contribute once on the floor; those tasks could be left to the star players.

But defense is different—each man has his own position to defend, and if you’re the weak link, the opponent will focus on exploiting you, and no reinforcement will suffice.

So, coaches often prefer to play a rookie who is strong in defense and has a good attitude over a rookie who might have a special offensive talent but is poor at defense.

Porter wasn’t bad at defense; among point guards, his stature was on the taller, bigger side, and he was quite strong, so toughness wasn’t a problem.

It was just that sometimes his bold shots didn’t please Ramsay, especially his fondness for launching three-point attempts—once, he even threw a three-pointer on a fast break, almost causing Ramsay to immediately bench him with a DNP thunderously.

This kid from a small school, looking honest and obedient at face value, played with such a wild style—he and Ah Gan had met at the Olympic Training Camp, Porter was sick once and Ah Gan had taken care of him.

Without question, it must have been Ah Gan who led Porter astray—never learning the good traits but picking up the bad ones in an instant. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Ramsay thought this wasn’t a good game habit, but Gan Guoyang saw it differently; he believed that Porter played very much like his successors a decade or two later.

Rapid and decisive shooting, powerful first steps, and straightforward penetration—he didn’t hesitate at scoring opportunities, instead of always thinking about passing first.

Moreover, Porter had a long shooting range, confident in his three-pointers, sure of himself—Gan Guoyang would often call for Porter to shoot threes on the floor, and Porter dared to take them.

Ramsay was only too aware, just turning a blind eye, the same way Chuck Daly would over Lan Bi’er’s rough plays.

Gan Guoyang entered the game to replace Kenny-Carl, and together with Walton they made up the Twin Towers; the Pistons immediately responded by putting Lan Bi’er and Melvin Turpin on the floor.

The game’s physicality gradually intensified; after Gan Guoyang entered the game, Turpin was one-on-one hard on the defense behind him, with Lan Bi’er lurking close by, looking for his moment.

However, the Pistons’ strict side defense was not enough to interfere with Gan Guoyang; Porter lobbed the ball to Gan Guoyang, who received it and turned to face the basket with a Sikma step, using speed plus footwork for a beautiful hook move to score.

Once the strict side lacked interference, and Gan Guoyang was given space to maneuver, his hook move was comparable to Jabbar’s Sky Hook.

The shot had a high success rate and was efficient and easy—its success relied solely on Gan Guoyang’s feel for the game.

Turpin completely failed to find the knack for defending against Gan Guoyang—if he had, he wouldn’t have lost so miserably in the previous semifinals.

Lan Bi’er inbounded from the baseline, bellowing at Turpin, "Elbow him, elbow him!"

Turpin scratched his head—elbow him, how?

"Push his waist, push hard, make him feel the pain!"

As Lan Bi’er ran towards the frontcourt, he continued to coach Turpin.

This guy himself shrank away when defending, yet he coached Turpin with action plans.

When Porter took over the defense against Vinnie Johnson, Johnson’s scoring became a bit more difficult.

Porter was taller and stronger; most importantly, Gan Guoyang was roaming around the arc and the wings.

Then inside, Bill Walton was entrenched, which considerably increased the difficulty of breaking into the three-second zone.

Johnson tried to force his way through once but got his shot disrupted by Gan Guoyang and missed.

Walton grabbed the defensive rebound and the Trail Blazers counterattacked; Porter’s bold pass sent the ball up the court.

Drexler caught the ball and dunked it for an easy score!

Daley reminded Vinnie Johnson from the sidelines, "Avoid Ah Gan, avoid Ah Gan!"

Now common knowledge among League coaches: whether on offense or defense, always do your best to stay away from Gan Guoyang.

During the offense, don’t forcefully charge at Gan Guoyang. Move him around and attack other weak spots.

Defensively, try to prevent Gan Guoyang from receiving the ball, and don’t let him get into a good position to attack.

For a long time to come, the Pistons would play a game of avoidance against Gan Guoyang, but they would encircle and "play" against Jordan.

That was due to the different positions and playstyles of the two players; guard Jordan was like a sharp blade, needing a thick armor to surround and withstand.

Center Gan Guoyang was like a heavy hammer, and against such, thick armor would rather be useless, possibly crushing you to death. The best method was evasion, for an inside heavy hammer could not match the outside’s agility and needed someone to feed the ball.

Therefore, for a long time to come, Jordan worked hard to become even stronger, while Gan Guoyang, while maintaining his strength, strived to be more agile and versatile.

Basketball is a sport that requires intelligence. This time Johnson didn’t challenge Gan Guoyang but instead cooperated with Lan Bi’er to set a screen at the top of the arc.

Tripucka snuck along the baseline, drawing the Trail Blazers’ defensive attention, and nearby the three-second zone, Johnson flicked the ball to Lan Bi’er outside the three-point line.

Lan Bi’er raised his hand and hit a three-pointer!

After scoring, a delighted Lan Bi’er spread his arms wide. It was his specialty move on offense, a pioneer of the space-oriented big man.

Gan Guoyang said to Walton, "I’ll guard this guy."

Walton shook his head, saying, "Then they’ve achieved their goal. Hold your positions; don’t get disorganized."

Gan Guoyang nodded in understanding, Walton’s experience as a veteran showing at this moment.

Sometimes, when fans see players and coaches sticking to the same strategy during a disadvantage, they think it’s because they’re slow to react or just plain dumb.

In truth, sticking to a set strategy is also very important. A change made just due to one or two bad plays could lead to chaos.

The opponent isn’t a fool. If you change, they also change, and your changes may play right into their hands.

Gan Guoyang once again asked for the ball in the low post, while Walton moved up to support. The Pistons didn’t make changes; they still had Melvin Turpin guarding Gan Guoyang.

This time, Gan Guoyang used his strength advantage to squeeze into a deep position inside, Walton made a direct pass, Gan Guoyang caught the ball, turned, faked, spun again, and gently hooked a left-handed layup into the basket.

Without his teammates’ help, Turpin completely failed to guard Ah Gan. Lan Bi’er provoked again, "I said elbow him! If that doesn’t work, clamp his arm, use your legs against him!"

Turpin hesitated inwardly. He had always been upright while playing in Kentucky, and although the Pistons’ style was rough, Daley didn’t require everyone to learn from Lan Bi’er or Thomas.

Dumars, for example, was very clean. He didn’t trash talk, just played silently, and still gained Daley’s trust.

But Turpin wasn’t like Dumars, who was very firm in his own style. He envied Lan Bi’er and envied Ah Gan, their confidence, ease, and freedom on the court.

Especially Ah Gan, who seemed to be able to hit and trash talk whomever he wanted. They were all rookies from the 1984 draft, yet this guy was nearly playing the emperor of the league.

After coming to Detroit, Turpin was deeply grateful to Ah Gan for that push in Los Angeles that almost suffocated Sterling, which allowed him to escape misery.

But as an opponent, Ah Gan scared him, just like Sam Bowie did. However, Bowie told him, after experiencing last year’s playoffs, he was no longer afraid of Ah Gan.

As for the approach, Bowie said, "Do what you’re supposed to do."

What you’re supposed to do?

But often Turpin didn’t know what he was supposed to do.

Lan Bi’er told him to elbow Ah Gan, to clamp his arm. Was that what he was supposed to do?

Turpin hesitated and ultimately didn’t dare to do so before being substituted in the second quarter.

Back on the bench, Daley told Turpin he did well but needed to be more aggressive.

Turpin nodded, showing he understood, yet he actually didn’t.

Sitting on the bench, the game continuing, Gan Guoyang was unstoppable.

He ravaged the Pistons’ inside like Moses Malone grabbing an offensive rebound, and like Jabbar, he scored with his hook shot.

He even made mid-range shots from the top of the arc. It really was too hard to defend. Turpin estimated Ah Gan would win MVP this year.

The Trail Blazers rebuilt their advantage, stretching the lead to 10 points, and then Thomas stepped up.

Driving to the basket, he drew a foul from Thompson and scored the free throws, followed by stealing the ball from Porter and launching a counterattack.

At that moment, Porter, in hot pursuit, shoved Thomas hard from behind, sending the unprepared Thomas crashing out of bounds.

This action instantly ignited the tension of the already heated court: Thomas had made contact during the steal, but no foul was called by the referees.

So Porter, not stopping at half measures, decided to shove Thomas for real. Thomas immediately leaped up and charged towards Porter.

Before the two could scuffle, Dumars rushed over to separate them and their teammates quickly converged to keep them apart and prevent the conflict from escalating.

Thomas was furious. You, a rookie guard, dare to push me like this? This is my turf, Detroit!

Thomas hurled abuse at Porter, who didn’t respond, simply accepting the foul and quietly sitting down to rest with the second quarter nearing its end.

Gan Guoyang went over and patted Porter on the shoulder, saying, "I told you, attacking isn’t about pushing or hitting people. This isn’t good. Don’t do it again."

Porter just smiled and said nothing. Truth be told, if Gan Guoyang hadn’t been on the court, Porter wouldn’t have dared to do that. Thomas was a big star, and this was Detroit.

But Gan Guoyang was the team’s backbone, the assurance that everyone dared to vent their feelings.

Meanwhile, Turpin, watching the scene from the sidelines with a daze, thought to himself, is this what aggression is?