The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 344 - 79 Not on the Same Level

During the half-time break, in the Trail Blazers’ locker room, Ramsay was banging the tactical whiteboard, making it resonate throughout the room.

Although the team was leading at half-time, Ramsay was still not satisfied with the players’ performance.

"Look at your turnovers, look at your passes, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m coaching a high school team!"

"This might be the ugliest half of the season we’ve ever played. Where is your focus!"

"Do you expect the Rockets to shoot like this every game?"

"And your defense! Are you just hoping that Ah Gan can grab all the rebounds by himself? Where are the rest of you!"

Tonight, the Trail Blazers made quite a few errors, and the Rockets’ defensive wall-like lineup made passing difficult for our players.

Fortunately, everyone’s defensive attitude was excellent tonight. After a turnover, they would immediately counter-steal or play tough defense, or even commit a foul.

Never give the Rockets players an easy chance to attack the basket.

At the same time, Gan Guoyang and Thompson would immediately retreat to the three-second zone to defend.

Gan Guoyang almost gave up fighting for offensive rebounds, which was quite different from the regular season.

In the regular season, Gan Guoyang often engaged in fierce battles for rebounds with Olajuwon and Sampson.

Almost recklessly charging into the three-second area to snatch rebounds, seeking possession of the ball.

But this game, Gan Guoyang changed his strategy. Unless the ball dropped close for a simple pick-up, he would not charge for it.

Retreating to defend immediately, protecting the three-second area as soon as he could, and initiating the counterattack with the ball after getting a defensive rebound.

Adelman, sitting next to Gan Guoyang, asked, "Sonny, you’ve been handling the ball a lot tonight, mostly driving to the basket yourself."

Gan Guoyang replied, "The Rockets are really good at counter-stealing on the spot. Sampson and Olajuwon are slow to retreat, so I’m exploiting their back defense to give them a taste of their own medicine."

Adelman nodded. Ah Gan indeed had his own ideas.

Last round against the Lakers, the Rockets managed to counter-steal quite a few times right in the frontcourt.

Either charge for the offensive rebounds, or if they couldn’t reach it, they would double-team the ball-handler and take the ball straight to the basket.

This tactic was very effective against the Lakers because Magic was prone to turnovers and was eager to push for a fast break.

Even though Olajuwon was a center, his steals were impressive. Combined with his tall teammates, not only did they score after the steal, but they also shattered the Lakers’ counterattacks.

With two or three such possessions each game, the Lakers’ offensive rhythm was disrupted, severely damaging the team’s morale.

The Trail Blazers’ backcourt is a weak point; none of the starters is a pure point guard, and two rookies sit on the bench.

At times like this, Gan Guoyang would take the initiative to take responsibility for ball control and dribbling across the half-court, and even seize the opportunity to drive straight to the basket.

Let those two big centers stay in the frontcourt, waiting in vain. The Rockets paid a price for their tactics.

With the end of the half-time break, the second half of the game continued. Before going back on court, Adelman whispered to Ramsay to inform him about Gan Guoyang’s "unsolicited" dribbling across the half-court, taking the ball all the way to the basket himself.

Ramsay nodded and said, "Exactly as I thought."

Adelman thought to himself, how thick-skinned has the old man become?

If you already knew, would you have asked me to find out?

After getting an answer, he said it was exactly what he had thought.

Adelman felt he had learned another trick from Dr. Jack.

Calmly, he included Gan Guoyang’s creative performance in the first half as part of his own plan.

High, truly high. Adelman thought to himself that Dr. Jack had made significant progress these two years, as much as Ah Gan had.

The third quarter began, and the Rockets hadn’t made any major adjustments despite being at a disadvantage in the first half.

Bill Fitch was an experienced coach who had won the championship in 1981. He knew that once a game strategy was set, it had to be played out through an entire game.

If adjustments were made just because of a deficit at the half, the players would feel lost. Instead, playing determinedly could turn the tide once their form resurfaced or if the opponents made mistakes, their opportunity would then come.

After all, this strategy was proven to work for the Rockets and had brought them substantial success against the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.

At the beginning of the third quarter, Ralph Sampson received the ball on the left and attempted a hook shot. Under the defense of Gan Guoyang, Sampson could only shoot jump shots or hook shots outside the three-second area.

His hook shot was nowhere near as reliable as Jabbar’s, and without a good rhythm, the shot missed. However, Olajuwon grabbed the offensive rebound.

Surrounded under the basket by Gan Guoyang, Thompson, and Vandeweghe, Olajuwon was forced into a difficult mid-air switch-hand layup, which naturally missed.

The ball was knocked out, McGrady took over and continued to charge but was blocked by Gan Guoyang with a huge rejection.

When Reed got the ball and was about to drive inside, it was stolen by Drexler, and the Trail Blazers launched a counterattack.

The Rockets’ first offensive play in the third quarter was met with successive interceptions, and the Trail Blazers’ defensive intensity climbed another level.

Facing the Trail Blazers’ counter, the Rockets chose to foul Drexler to slow down their pace.

On the throw-in, in a set play, Vandeweghe’s drive was blocked by Olajuwon on the left.

The Rockets countered, with McGrady charging ahead. Jim Paxson caught him in a tight grip, committing a foul as well, denying the Rockets a chance to counter.

This grab was harsh, hitting McGrady directly in the ribs, causing him to kneel down in pain for a good while.

Rockets players came over to help McGrady up, while everyone else made no comment, having to bear with it momentarily in Portland.

Even though they have the boxing champion Olajuwon, on the other side is the wrestling champion Ah Gan, so for the time being, no one dares to act rashly.

Despite Olajuwon’s fierce fighting style and his hatred for Gan Guoyang, he truly doesn’t dare to strike at Gan Guoyang.

First, he can’t beat him, and second, being taken down by a wrestling move would be too embarrassing, so even the king of fights has to hold back here.

Without the added bonus of speed and impact, the Rockets’ set offense is lackluster.

Olajuwon and Sampson play a high-low game, but Thompson and Gan Guoyang defend them very closely.

Without a chance for a direct pass to the inside, Sampson passes the ball to the outside to Wiggins, who doesn’t use screens; Olajuwon continues to squat in the low post without moving.

In the end, Wiggins, facing Parkson, forces a shot that doesn’t go in, and the wily Thompson secures his position and grabs the defensive rebound.

This play reveals the Rockets’ offensive strategy—when Mitchell Wiggins has the ball on the left side, Olajuwon, squatting in the low post on the left, shows no reaction.

He doesn’t come out to set a screen or move to give Wiggins space to drive to the basket, leaving Wiggins no choice but to force a shot, with Olajuwon ready to pivot and rush for the rebound.

But Thompson is not Rambis; he won’t easily give up the rebound. Also, Sampson can’t get in to grab the ball with the lane firmly sealed off by Gan Guoyang.

After grabbing the rebound, the Rockets try to counter, but Thompson immediately passes the ball to Gan Guoyang, who spins and dribbles past Sampson.

Mitchell Wiggins rushes over to attempt a steal, but Gan Guoyang doesn’t dodge—after a change of hands, he accelerates and crashes directly into Wiggins, sending him flying.

Wiggins is hit hard by Gan Guoyang, who hits like a truck. Wiggins spins on the floor, somewhat dazed.

Even more bewildering is that the referee calls a blocking foul on him, because Gan Guoyang was dribbling forward on his own path.

Wiggins didn’t expect Gan to be so cunning: avoiding the steal is one thing, but to then accelerate and charge is another.

The team doctor comes in, helps Wiggins off the court, and tells him to regain his senses for a while. Fitch had Wiggins, a smaller guard, start in the second half explicitly to intercept Gan Guoyang’s passes, as the other players were too tall and not agile enough—yet Wiggins ended up getting knocked down by Gan himself.

In the future, Wiggins would tell his son not to play so hard—it’s more important to stay safe.

The Trail Blazers have far more offensive options than the Rockets; Gan Guoyang has learned quite a few tactics for set plays from Walton.

Walton is particularly good at executing small plays with teammates in the low post—back cuts, curl cuts, weak side alley-oops, and so on.

His bounce passes are unpredictable, and taking after him, Gan Guoyang draws double teams in the low post and delivers a bounce pass to Parkson, who catches the ball and scores with a layup!

Afterward, Olajuwon’s turn-around hook shot still doesn’t go in, but Gan Guoyang gets the rebound, and the Trail Blazers counterattack. Drexler drives to the basket, making a beautiful behind-the-back pass to Gan Guoyang,

who catches the ball and scores with a powerful two-handed dunk!

Memorial Coliseum erupts in excitement.

The same excitement fills the Paramount Theatre.

The performance there is over, but the audience hasn’t left.

Norman has moved a radio onto the stage and then connected it to the speakers, instantly broadcasting Bill Schonely’s voice throughout the entire music hall.

The music hall is no longer playing music but is instead broadcasting the live basketball game—a common occurrence in Portland.

"Sonny Gan’s dunk! An electrifying fast-break dunk!"

"Ralph Sampson’s hook shot is blocked by Gan! Sampson is having a terrible night."

"The Trail Blazers launch another fast break, and Gan takes the ball again, charging straight to the three-second area, then passes to the side where Vandeweghe receives and hits the jump shot!"

"Rip city!"

The cheering from the Paramount Theatre is deafening, far more thrilling than listening to symphonies.

The Trail Blazers go on a run in the third quarter, bringing the game to a halt for the Rockets, and extend their lead to 20 points.

Gan Guoyang, who had been silent the whole time, finally relaxes and says to Olajuwon, "Hakeem, if I didn’t put in all my effort, you might have thought you were on my level, huh?"

Olajuwon, hearing this line, glares furiously at Gan Guoyang, clenching his fists, but he doesn’t dare to make a move, only watching as Gan Guoyang heads back to the bench.

A sense of dejection envelops Olajuwon—was he really that far behind Ah Gan?

Where exactly lies the difference? Olajuwon sits on the bench, tuning out the coach’s words.

He contemplates the gap between himself and Gan Guoyang—are they truly not on the same level?

Upon reflection, in terms of strength, he falls short, speed is about the same, explosiveness, he falls short, shooting, he falls short, blocking, is about the same, rebounding, he falls short, and handling the details during the game... Fitch said, in terms of game details, Ah Gan is at a head coach level in the league, who can even ignore the coach’s directions and make his own decisions.

Defeating the Lakers and Jabbar made Olajuwon feel like his chance for revenge had come.

But upon really clashing, not even a single round in, he realized the difference was terrifyingly vast.

"Xie Te, Xie Te..."

"Hakeem, Hakeem!"

Fitch’s voice brings Olajuwon back to reality, his face filled with confusion as he looks at Fitch.

Fitch seems to understand what Olajuwon is thinking, patting him and saying, "I warned you, you have to win the game, not Ah Gan."

Fitch had always said this before the game, and Olajuwon could understand, but at that moment, he starts to doubt.

"How can we win the game if we don’t beat Ah Gan?"