The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 407 - 26: Why Not Use It If It’s Free

The Trail Blazers maintained their advantage and pressure over the Rockets in the second half.

For Terry Porter and Drexler, the first issue they needed to consider in the offense was whether to initiate the attack themselves after crossing half-court or to feed the ball to Gan Guoyang.

If Gan Guoyang moved up the court, it was likely that he would initiate the attack from the backcourt. With Gan Guoyang sinking down and Thompson coming over for support, the intention was to have Gan Guoyang handle the ball for solo play.

Of course, the situation on the court was ever-changing, and players had to make judgments based on the defense’s stance at every moment.

The Trail Blazers’ core lineup had developed tacit understanding over two seasons and the players were exceptionally talented with strong ball-handling abilities.

Especially Porter, who was bolder and more confident than Drexler. Even though the Trail Blazers had established Gan Guoyang as the absolute core, Porter still dared to take matters into his own hands.

In the fourth quarter, the Rockets showed signs of a comeback, fueled by Reed’s three-pointers and Petersen’s offensive rebounds. And when the Rockets madly overplayed Gan Guoyang with fronting and costly double-teams, Terry Porter decisively took outside shots, sinking a three-pointer and then scoring with a drive and floater, netting five points to control the situation.

After those two successful shots, Gan Guoyang went up and patted Porter on the shoulder, saying, "Well done, Porter. You have to dare to shoot."

In this regard, Porter displayed more of a general’s demeanor than Drexler, whose unstable shooting could drag down his performance.

Fitch called another timeout, which became the Rockets’ last struggle for the evening.

Fitch had made extensive preparations before the game and had not anticipated the Trail Blazers’ offensive strategy.

After the timeout, the situation stabilized, and Olajuwon scored under the basket.

But immediately, Gan Guoyang took on Olajuwon, the Knight, in a low-post one-on-one, and scored with a hook shot using his right hand as he turned around.

In a similar fashion, Gan Guoyang scored two more baskets in the low post and also drew a foul from Olajuwon.

Following this foul, Olajuwon was ousted with six personal fouls and took a seat on the bench beside Ralph Sampson, looking dejected.

Fitch decided not to put in the knee-troubled Sampson but kept Petersen on the court, which left Sampson quite unhappy.

However, he indeed did not perform well tonight. Faced with Gan Guoyang, Petersen could still put up a semblance of resistance, but Sampson was really unable to cope, his knee and back couldn’t bear it.

The once-proud All-America college player was rapidly descending due to injuries. Last season’s momentous Houston Twin Towers, who had eliminated the Lakers, seemed lost.

Of course, Sampson still had confidence in himself, and the Rockets were also waiting for the Twin Towers to get back on track, since the season had just begun and many problems could be solved.

But what the Rockets did not realize was that the biggest troubles were still ahead.

With Gan Guoyang dominating Olajuwon in the low post, becoming unstoppable, he amassed 41 points for the game. In the end, the Trail Blazers easily defeated the Rockets at home, 113 to 101, by a comfortable 12-point margin.

Throughout the game, the Trail Blazers never gave the Rockets a chance to take the lead, pressing them from the start. The Rockets were stuck underwater from the get-go and didn’t come up for air until the end, suffocated to death.

Fitch’s aggressive backcourt defense was ineffective, and Porter and Drexler became stronger and more mature.

The hedge defense didn’t work either; spreading the defense in all four directions made it impossible to maintain a defensive formation. Gan Guoyang’s one-on-one play in the low post shattered all defensive strategies.

Of Gan Guoyang’s 41 points tonight, 28 came from low-post one-on-one plays, another 4 from pick-and-roll cooperation, and the rest from free throws.

The 28 low-post points, along with missed attempts and foul shots, meant that Gan Guoyang made 22 attempts to attack from the low post in total.

This number far exceeded the typical center’s number of low-post attempts in a game, which was undoubtedly a huge test of Gan Guoyang’s stamina.

His low-post scoring efficiency was astonishingly high, with an average of 1.68 points per low-post possession.

Of course, this was just one game. As games accumulate, the number of one-on-one attempts will have to decrease, and the efficiency will also drop.

After the game in the locker room, as Gan Guoyang attended the post-game press conference, Rick Adelman, with Beelman and Ramsay, summed up the game.

Adelman mentioned, "Ah Gan’s low-post offense is still too much. We can accept it for one game, but if it happens every game, it will greatly drain his stamina and affect his defensive performance. We need to reduce his low-post attempts and add some end-game tactics centered around him."

Ramsay, wearing glasses, was looking at the statistics, preferring to skip the press conference. Buckwalter spoke on his behalf as he said lowly, "Ah Gan has good stamina, you don’t need to worry about him."

Adelman thought, good stamina didn’t mean they should keep playing him that way, with 22 low-post attacks. Even Chamberlain didn’t do that back in the day, but what were the defensive intensities like then compared to now?

Beelman also said, "Ah Gan has had a nickname since high school, called the ’Bionic Man of the East.’ His stamina is so good that you would not believe it, so why not use it if it’s there?"

Adelman replied anxiously, "But we can’t use him like that. We have playoffs ahead, we need to save his stamina during the regular season!"

Ramsay and Beelman both looked at Adelman, almost in unison said, "What’s the rush?"

Adelman was at a loss for words, thinking to himself how reckless these two were with their star player.

Beelman was truly unkind. After all, you were Ah Gan’s high school and college coach, and now you’ve followed him all the way to the NBA.

So it turns out you’re not here to assist Ah Gan, but to continue exploiting him? You even gave Dr. Jack the secrets to exploit him!

Adelman felt some sympathy for Ah Gan; for the past two seasons Adelman had acted as a go-between for Gan Guoyang and Ramsay, communicating frequently with Gan Guoyang.

Unconsciously, the two had grown close, and Adelman truly cared for Ah Gan from the bottom of his heart.

In the NBA of the 1980s, there was still somewhat of a "big family" atmosphere in many of the teams.

People like Ramsay, Adelman, Buckwalter, and Calvin, including Yin Man who had been fired, had all been working in this collective for over a decade, right from the establishment of the team, all staying together throughout.

They were not only the iron camp; they were the iron soldiers, with deep affection for one another from their years together.

Seeing that Adelman was getting irritated, Beelman knew he truly cared for Ah Gan and said, "Rick, I’ve worked with Ah Gan for so many years; I discovered him, and I know his situation best. Let me tell you the truth, on the court, letting Ah Gan go one-on-one is basically like letting him rest. On the contrary, making him consistently run plays, especially on defense, desperately helping out and covering, that’s what really exhausts him. He is an extremely focused player and also one full of talent. As a coach, the biggest dilemma in coaching Ah Gan is that you always hope he can do more, but sometimes you find that he is best when focusing on one or two things. We need to find that balance, and that’s the coach’s duty."

"Rick, you understand the NBA better than I do, but I understand Ah Gan better than you."

Beelman’s last sentence left Adelman speechless. Ah Gan was Beelman’s own discovery; he had the right to say that.

Meanwhile, Adelman realized why Ramsay had agreed with Beelman’s idea to play a system that was very different from the past.

Basketball coaches can roughly be divided into two kinds: those who use a framework-filling approach, having a solid theoretical framework of basketball and then looking for players to fill it, to unleash the power of this framework according to the coach’s intentions.

Traditional collegiate coaches are mostly like this, each having their own basketball philosophy and recruiting suitable talent to form their ideal team.

The other kind is the one that tailors their coaching to the material at hand, who make dishes based on the ingredients they have; if the team is suited for offense, they’ll focus on offense, and if it’s defense, then they play defense.

In the 1980s, there were few coaches like this. Doug Moe and Gene Shue barely counted, but they also had their own systems and basketball philosophies.

Lenny Wilkens could be considered a true tailor of coaching, a former player who was very adept at empathizing with players, maximizing the power of the lineup.

Chuck Daley was similar, not forcing everyone into a system they must adapt to, but rather building a framework that allowed every player to showcase their talents, based on the characteristics of his players.

Pat Riley was moving in this direction, though many people were unaware of his talent in this regard, simply seeing him as the master of show-time.

And Ramsay, too, was perceptive of the world’s changes, shifting from a master builder to a service-oriented coach who tailored his approach to his material.

Adelman should have realized this transition when he himself became just a messenger and, as this season started, the messenger had already become Beelman.

Adelman, who realized this somewhat belatedly, felt disappointed. He thought he was the second coach right after Beelman, but the reality seemed otherwise.

Suddenly, Adelman became aware of the cruelty of the NBA world, like how Sampson suddenly fell out of grace and the Houston Twin Towers could easily collapse.

He thought he was the first assistant coach, but in actuality, it was easy to be replaced. Wasn’t Yin Man sacrificed for the sake of a championship?

The Trail Blazers used to be a big family, where everyone worked with undivided attention. The world almost fell apart in 1978, but they still managed to pull through.

But the world really changes quickly, and the quaint Trail Blazers were continuously expanding, which worried him that one day it might spiral out of control.

Adelman was not one to keep his worries to himself, and after everything ended, he went to find the team manager, Buckwalter.

Adelman shared his concerns with Buckwalter, to which Buckwalter said, "What, do you feel like your position is being challenged by Beelman?"

"What are you talking about! I care about the whole team! And I care about Ah Gan."

"Do you really care about Ah Gan?"

"Of course, he played very well tonight, but he might be too tired."

Buckwalter laughed again and said, "I admit you care for Ah Gan, and it’s certainly true, but your care is not enough. Come with me."

Saying this, Buckwalter led Adelman out of the office to the court of the Memorial Coliseum, where Adelman heard the sounds of basketball still being played.

An hour had passed since the game ended, the court staff were already cleaning up and finishing their work. Who could still be playing?

The two reached the side of the court, then discovered Gan Guoyang still practicing on the court, with Beelman providing instruction.

Beelman was guiding Gan Guoyang on low post footwork, while also training the technical details of his mid-range catch and shoot.

"See that, Rick?"

"I see it, what a tireless workhorse, too good not to utilize!"