The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 349 - 84 New Strategy

On May 21, the Trail Blazers once again arrived in Houston, ready to begin their sixth game, which was a do-or-die battle.

Compared to 1977, the situation had flipped: back then, the Trail Blazers were down 0:2 and pulled off a major comeback, clinching victory in Game 6 on their home court.

Now, it seemed like poetic justice that the Trail Blazers, once leading 2:0, were pushed to the brink by the Rockets. A mix of luck played a part, but the key to the Rockets’ turnaround was the tight defensive coordination of the Twin Towers and the brilliant strategic arrangements by Bill Fitch.

For the Trail Blazers, the good news was that they had lost the three games by a total of only 7 points.

This indicated there was no absolute power gap, but more a matter of tactical suppression and a lack of some luck.

And luck tends to be a conserved entity; it doesn’t stay good or bad forever, and a seven-game series tends to return to a state of equilibrium.

Gan Guoyang scored 31, 33, and 40 points respectively in the three games, with his score increasing in each, but without leading the Trail Blazers to victory.

The pressure the Rockets applied on the Trail Blazers’ backcourt was crucial, with Drexler performing poorly, and Vandeweghe and Parkson losing their precision.

The most fatal issue, however, was at point guard. Kolter and Porter were both too young to gain Ramsay’s trust.

Lack of a reliable point guard was a weakness that Bill Fitch targeted relentlessly, disrupting the Trail Blazers’ offensive flow.

In a Houston hotel, the day before the game, Jack Ramsay was still fretting over the point guard dilemma.

He was hesitating whether to start Kolter, who had underperformed in both Game 4 and Game 5.

Kolter, slightly frail and short, was lost against the Rockets’ tall and strong perimeter players.

As for Terry Porter, he was just a rookie. Could he undertake the hefty responsibility of controlling the backcourt of a team?

After Game 5 in the locker room, Gan Guoyang and Ramsay made a request, hoping to start Terry Porter in Game 6, believing Porter could handle it.

Now, Ramsay was still unsure when Bill Walton approached him and said, "Jack, do you remember Johnny Davis?"

Ramsay looked at Walton and nodded, "I remember, of course I do."

Johnny Davis was a rookie the Trail Blazers picked in 1976, selected as the fifth pick in the second round, overall 22nd, and he was a point guard.

He had secured some playing time during the regular season but was a minor role in the playoffs, until the Denver Nuggets series when their starting point guard Dave Twardzik severely sprained his ankle and dropped out, missing the critical Game 5 and the entire Western Conference finals series.

Back then, Jack Ramsay was similarly troubled over who should start as point guard. He wanted to use Larry Steele, the 27-year-old guard with more experience, to replace Twardzik, believing Larry would bring continuity, as his experience and steadiness were needed by the team.

But on the flight to the away game, Walton argued against Ramsay’s idea, calling it "the worst idea I’ve heard."

Walton candidly suggested the team should start Johnny Davis because he was quick, agile, and full of energy. Although he was just a rookie, he could inject vitality into the team.

"The situation is similar now, Jack. In your mind, you’re probably thinking about stability, prudence, getting the ball across half court, and organizing the offense well. Yes, Porter isn’t good enough at those, but Sonny saw something else. He saw vivacity, agility, and a daring shooting touch in Porter! We need a shooter who can pose an immediate threat to the Rockets, not someone who just steadily dribbles the ball up the court. We shouldn’t just patch up problems as they arise. We need to take the initiative. Trust me, trust Sonny’s intuition"

In 1977, Walton spoke to Ramsay like this. Ramsay muttered something about "experience, stability, and qualification, I’m the coach" but ultimately accepted Walton’s advice.

As a result, Johnny Davis started in Game 5 against the Nuggets, scoring 25 points, providing 7 assists, and making 4 steals, igniting the whole court and seizing victory—an undoubtedly successful adjustment.

This time, Walton again persuaded Ramsay to start Porter. Ramsay grumbled about "stability, playoff experience, and wild threes" and the like, but though he had his opinions, he gracefully agreed, willing to consider the thoughts of one of his team’s leaders.

Then, Ramsay made another decision. He told Walton, "I’ve decided to start you as center. What do you think?"

Walton responded, "No problem, even if it means breaking my legs, I’ll stay on the court and help the team win this game."

Thus, the Trail Blazers made significant changes to their starting lineup for Game 6: Bill Walton was at center, Gan Guoyang stepped into the power forward position, Vandeweghe remained the small forward, followed by Drexler as the shooting guard, and Terry Porter as the point guard.

This lineup had many differences in their playing style compared to before, with Gan Guoyang’s positioning as power forward becoming more flexible, and Walton’s presence able to share his pressure.

Of course, Walton’s ankles would face more stress, and his time on the court tonight would certainly not be short.

The most critical substitution was in the backcourt, Terry Porter starting for the first time in the playoffs season, his 40-year-old weathered face showing no emotion.

Nearly twenty thousand fans in Summit Arena were screaming; with this win, they could advance to the finals once again, and Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson were brimming with confidence.

In just a week’s time, the situation had reversed, but they knew they had to win this game; otherwise, being dragged into a Game 7 would not bode well for the Rockets.

In these three games, Olajuwon was completely overshadowed by Gan Guoyang in individual stats, from scoring to rebounds to blocks to steals, including assists and shooting percentage – he was completely encircled by Gan.

But Olajuwon didn’t care, he didn’t care at all anymore; he just wanted to win the game, to take the Western Conference championship.

The silver Western Conference championship trophy was placed on the sidelines, ready to be handed to the players upon their victory.

When that moment came, red and white confetti would fall from the ceiling, and the roar of the twenty thousand home fans would pierce the heavens, the mere thought of it was incredibly thrilling.

"Hakeem, are you thinking about the celebration after winning the game?" Gan Guoyang asked Olajuwon.

Olajuwon snapped back to reality, smiled, and said, "I was thinking about your cooking; it’s really not bad."

During these three games, Olajuwon hadn’t brooded much but often talked and chatted with Gan Guoyang.

Bill Fitch thought this was wrong and after the games told Olajuwon to treat Gan as an enemy, but Olajuwon disagreed.

He said, "I know what I’m doing in my heart, I know how to regard Ah Gan and how to deal with him," and after winning three games, Fitch shut up.

Upon hearing Olajuwon’s words, Gan Guoyang said, "If you want to eat my cooking, you’ll have to go to Portland."

Olajuwon’s face darkened, and the two stopped bantering. They stood at center court for the jump ball; the game had begun.

By Game 6, there weren’t many secrets left between the two sides. What was being contested now were the players’ form, personal abilities, and the level of tactical understanding.

The Trail Blazers still couldn’t find their shooting touch at the start, with Vandeweghe and Gan Guoyang’s attacks failing to hit the mark, Sampson and Olajuwon’s double-teaming was effective.

They set traps with early anticipation and used strong confrontations to continuously disrupt Gan Guoyang, reducing his shooting percentage from 60% to just over 50%.

Considering that the last three games had a point difference of four or less, a 10% decrease in shooting percentage undoubtedly had a decisive impact on the outcome.

The Rockets quickly took the lead at 6:0 in the early game. In these few games, their offensive focus had shifted from the frontcourt to the backcourt, with McGrady, Lloyd, and others heavily involved in attacking the Trail Blazers’ perimeter.

With Gan Guoyang tied up by the Twin Towers in the paint, he had no chance to look outside. As a result, the Rockets found success with their perimeter shooting, with Drexler, Vandeweghe, and Parkson all unable to hold their own in one-on-one defense.

It can be said that turning the Twin Towers into semi-blue-collar players while making the forwards the spearhead was a smart move by Fitch, exploiting the Trail Blazers’ weaknesses in backcourt ball-handling and perimeter defense.

And the core guiding principle of doing this was the most important rule from the Ah Gan principle — avoid Ah Gan as much as possible, to avoid losing face.

However, after the initial 6:0, the Trail Blazers’ offense started to click; Gan Guoyang suddenly cut back to the hoop, received Walton’s pass and easily scored with a layup.

Following that, Gan Guoyang moved the ball over a great distance to Porter in the corner, who hit a three-pointer!

In two possessions, the Trail Blazers quickly closed the gap, prompting Fitch to immediately call a timeout.

This old fox immediately realized that tonight’s Trail Blazers were different from before.