The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 406 - 25 Simple and Efficient

The first regular-season battle between the two Western Conference opponents drew a lot of attention, and despite Ralph Sampson sitting on the bench due to injury, the matchup between Gan Guoyang and Hakeem Olajuwon was still highly anticipated.

However, just three minutes into the game, the Rockets called their first timeout after the Trail Blazers took them by surprise with an 8:0 run, and Bill Fitch admitted he was a bit puzzled by the start.

"Bobby, is this Dr. Jack’s team? How come the Trail Blazers started like this?" Fitch was filled with confusion and bewilderment.

In the Trail Blazers’ first five offensive plays, Gan Guoyang single-handedly took the ball in the low post for one-on-one play.

He scored on four of those attacks by using a spin move for a hook shot, a turn-around fadeaway jumper, a drive after facing up, and a fake to draw a foul and score, and on another occasion passed the ball out to Vandeweghe on the perimeter, but his three-pointer didn’t go in.

Furthermore, during half-court offense, except for Guoyang, everyone on the Trail Blazers stayed above the free-throw line, clearing out the strong side in the low post completely, giving no chance for timely double-teaming.

Hakeem was one of the best low post defenders in the League, but he couldn’t guard Ah Gan one-on-one.

With this method of offensive play, even if Ralph Sampson were on the court, you couldn’t double-team with the Twin Towers.

Early double-teaming would be illegal defense, and to wait until Gan Guoyang got the ball before doubling? The distance was too far, by the time you got there it would be too late, and it would create a large open space.

Such isolation plays aren’t unheard of in the League, but to use this strategy so blatantly, for all five plays, was something Fitch had never seen before.

The key was that four out of the five plays were successful, resulting in an astonishingly high success rate and leaving the Rockets trailing early on in the score.

The Trail Blazers’ defense was tight at the start, firmly guarding the area around the paint while their one-on-one defense was also quite detailed.

Rotations were quick and orderly; with Guoyang stepping up to press, there was always this pervasive ghost-like presence in front of the ball-handler, making it very uncomfortable.

Moreover, this guy reacted incredibly fast, keeping an eye on the outside while not missing any opportunity to watch Hakeem, managing to block Hakeem early on.

During the timeout sitting on the bench, Hakeem felt frustrated, thinking to himself, damn, this kid wasn’t lying, they really were targeting him from the start!

The significant toll of one-on-one defense made it tough for Hakeem on offense, as what would normally be a dunk after a cut to the basket turned into a layup, which ended up being blocked.

Fitch may have called the timeout, but this kind of offense was really unsolvable under the current rules, and all Fitch could do was attack from the offensive end, making Hakeem play Guoyang in the low post to try and open up the game.

The players, having gone through a seven-game series, were quite familiar with each other, and the Rockets gradually found their offensive rhythm after the brief timeout.

Hakeem scored with a turn-around fadeaway jumper one-on-one, followed by Reed and McGrady each finding their range with jump shots.

Naturally, the Trail Blazers couldn’t let Guoyang keep attacking the low post, and when Guoyang was off the ball, he started stepping out to screen for his teammates.

The Trail Blazers made two turnovers, giving the Rockets a chance to counterattack—it was clear that the new tactical approach was still somewhat unfamiliar.

Nonetheless, relying on tough defense and Vandeweghe’s sharp long-distance shooting, the Trail Blazers still maintained a 6-point lead at 27:21 by the end of the first quarter.

Guoyang scored 12 points in the first quarter, and during the halftime break, he kept reminding his teammates to keep moving actively on offense while being decisive and not hesitating on fast breaks.

As the second quarter began, Guoyang sat down to rest. Beelman asked Guoyang how he felt, to which Guoyang replied, "Not bad, Hakeem’s one-on-one defense is still quite strong; he actually made me fail once."

Beelman thought to himself, you sure can pretend, scoring four out of five times and still not satisfied? Anyway, Beelman was quite pleased with the first quarter’s performance.

Although there were many details that needed polishing, they had an entire season to slowly gel and find their chemistry.

When Guoyang returned to play in the second quarter, the Trail Blazers were still leading by 7 points. Sampson came on in the second quarter, but he performed modestly.

His knee injury affected his speed and jumping ability, which is very detrimental for an inside player.

You went from being taller and faster than your opponent to just taller but slower, and the slight difference in speed had a significant impact.

Sampson couldn’t overpower his opponents on either offense or defense, and even when facing the veteran Jones, he couldn’t dominate one-on-one; he had to rely on teamwork for jump shots or fight for offensive rebounds for opportunities.

When Guoyang was playing, the Trail Blazers once again completely cleared space for his one-on-one play, with Sampson taking Guoyang in the low post single-handedly.

Guoyang used his brute strength to force his way under the basket and finished with an easy right-handed layup.

Then, as Rockets missed a three-pointer from the outside, Hornacek grabbed the defensive rebound and didn’t push for a fast break, settling into the half-court offense instead.

Guoyang then posted up Sampson again in the low post, using the same spot and the same method to muscle his way to the basket and finish with an effortless right-handed layup.

Even Bill Schonely couldn’t help but say, "Sampson is completely unable to stop Ah Gan’s low post offense; his height is of no use, absolutely no use."

Having lost his explosiveness and with less strength than Guoyang, Sampson couldn’t hold back this bulldozer-like low post attack in the low post.

Fitch called a short timeout and substituted Sampson for Hakeem, with Sampson looking utterly dejected.

Last season he couldn’t guard Gan Guoyang either, but his height and speed could cause Gan Guoyang a lot of trouble, as Gan often resorted to Sikma steps turning to face the basket, using speed and explosiveness to charge under the hoop. It wasn’t as easy as today, where he’s getting scored on so effortlessly.

Affected by injuries, Ralph Sampson hadn’t undergone systematic training over the summer; he could feel his body was exhausted and sluggish.

He increasingly relied on jump shots and hook shots in offense, because his explosiveness and speed couldn’t sustain him breaking through the opponents’ defense. The Trail Blazers’ Jones gave him two steps, making it difficult for Sampson to penetrate the lane.

Hakeem Olajuwon returned to the court, and Gan Guoyang said to him, "How is it, Akeem, I didn’t lie to you, right? The coach really had me mark you."

Olajuwon gave Gan Guoyang a glare and said, "I can guard you."

Gan Guoyang chuckled and said, "Tonight I can score 40 points. I just need to play you one-on-one for three possessions, shoot two free throws, and hit a mid-range shot, that’s it."

Olajuwon collected his emotions and madly called for the ball in the low post in the following offense, wanting to overpower Gan Guoyang.

He completed two buckets but missed two shots, and the Trail Blazers took the opportunity to launch a fast break.

Drexler and Vandeweghe scored on two fast breaks, and Terry Porter hit a three-pointer in a set offense.

The Trail Blazers gradually widened the gap, and then on defense, Gan Guoyang drew an offensive foul from Olajuwon.

Coming back on offense, he drew another defensive foul from Olajuwon, who with two successive fouls racked up three for the second quarter.

Olajuwon loudly complained to the referee, while Gan Guoyang egged on "Hit him, hit him!" from the side.

As a result, the referee gave Olajuwon a technical foul, followed by a technical foul on Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang could only shake his head helplessly as a chorus of boos filled the arena, only the fans close to the court knew that Gan Guoyang’s technical foul was not unjust.

Bill Fitch had no choice but to substitute Olajuwon for Jim Petersen, knowing that this was like sending a lamb to slaughter, but he was out of options.

Petersen couldn’t resist Gan Guoyang’s low post offense; without timely double-teaming, Gan Guoyang didn’t even need any skills—just back into the paint, and then a right-handed layup would do.

The immense disparity in strength left Petersen unable to interfere; he was completely pushed aside, virtually allowing Gan Guoyang to treat it like a low post offensive practice.

The first half ended with the Trail Blazers leading the Rockets by 13 points, 51:64.

With extreme offensive efficiency, Gan Guoyang scored 26 points; during the halftime break, Coach Adelman said, "The game has never been so simple, damn simple."

The Rockets were clueless about how to stop Gan Guoyang’s easy scoring in the low post, sending their defense into a state of confusion and Olajuwon’s fouls further sapped the team’s morale.

After the start of the second half, Coach Fitch gritted his teeth and instructed Reed and McGrady to double-team Gan Guoyang, even if they were far away, they had to collapse to the basket.

He also instructed Olajuwon to push Gan Guoyang towards the outside as much as possible, not allowing him to catch the ball too deep in the post, or to front him and prevent him from receiving the ball.

That had some effect, with Rockets’ all-out tight defense, Gan Guoyang failed to score in two possessions, and the Rockets took advantage of the counterattack opportunities to close the gap in points.

However, Gan Guoyang quickly adjusted his strategy; he received the ball further out, and when McGrady came over to double-team, Drexler appeared wide open. Gan Guoyang executed a behind-the-head lob pass to the Glider, and Drexler caught the ball and easily dunked it home!

That was a beautiful pass and the Rockets’ double-teaming plan had gone awry.

After that, Gan Guoyang continued to hold the ball in the low post, in a position that wasn’t too deep nor too shallow, and as soon as the Rockets started to double-team, he would immediately pass the ball.

Especially after Jim Parkson entered the game, he scored on two layups off of Gan Guoyang’s passes.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson’s many off-ball skills were becoming obsolete, but to everyone’s surprise, they worked well tonight.

The Rockets managed to score, but their offensive efficiency couldn’t compare to that of the Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers didn’t need to mount specific defenses; they just had to maintain solid man-to-man marking, and inevitably the Rockets’ efficiency couldn’t match theirs.

The Trail Blazers scored 15 points in five minutes, while the Rockets could only manage 12, with around five of those five-minute stretches left in the second half; if both teams continued at this rate, the gap would remain at 15 points.

This gap in offensive efficiency became more pronounced as the game wore on, which was at the core of Bobby Berman’s coaching philosophy—I care not about the gains and losses of certain offensive and defensive plays, but about the overall success rate.

I have the simplest and most efficient scoring method, and you don’t. My success rate per play is a bit higher than yours, and over the course of the game, it adds up to a substantial difference.

At Gonzaga University, Berman used the opposite approach, using extremely aggressive defense to suppress the opponents’ offensive efficiency while relying on the decisive shooting and fast breaks of his players to maintain a basic success rate, eventually accumulating a score difference and securing victory.

Of course, this tactic didn’t work too well in higher-level competitions, as player talent and individual abilities meant they couldn’t get far in national tournaments.

Now, it was different; the Portland Trail Blazers had the best talent in the entire league.