The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 420 - 38 A bit Dizzy

On the court, Jordan didn’t want to hear any of Gan Guoyang’s nonsense. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

From the start of the first quarter, Jordan found his groove and began to score consecutively from the perimeter.

One characteristic of Jordan’s gameplay is his hesitation; in the 1986-1987 season, he hesitated even more than before.

Facing Drexler’s defense, he always paused in the air before taking his shot.

A mid-range jumper from the left, evading in the air before hitting the shot.

A spin move to the right followed by an aerial dodge and a one-handed floater that found the net.

Then a left-handed drive into the paint against Gan Guoyang’s defense, evading in the air before making a bank shot.

Six consecutive points helped the Bulls take an early lead.

"Michael, why do you hesitate so much when you play, dodging around in the air?" Gan Guoyang shouted at Jordan.

Jordan spread his hands and said, "Because you almost managed to guard me!"

Unlike Jordan, Gan Guoyang didn’t start by forcefully making plays in the post.

The Bulls had a targeted defensive setup against Gan Guoyang, with Charles Oakley providing strong one-on-one and fronting defense, increasing the difficulty of Gan receiving the ball.

With Gan’s strength, it was not a problem for him to overpower Oakley to score, but when the Bulls double-teamed from the start, Gan decided to set screens for his teammates and let them play.

After running the Trail Blazers’ "one play, four watch" system for two months, it became smoother, and Gan’s decisions on when to shoot, when to pass, and when to yield were becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Because the Trail Blazers had this resource, if he had teammates as poor as Jordan’s, he would definitely start shooting from the get-go, otherwise, there’d be no chance to play later in the game.

Terry Porter and Drexler took on most of the offensive responsibility in the first quarter, especially Drexler, who always seemed eager to steal the spotlight whenever Gan and Jordan faced off.

He appeared to want to tell people, "I’m the one matched up against Michael Jordan."

By the end of the first quarter, the score was 24:27, with the Trail Blazers leading by 3 points.

Gan Guoyang went off to rest, but Jordan stayed on the court to continue playing.

Collins’ substitution strategy had Jordan playing the entire first quarter, taking a break in the middle of the second quarter, and then returning to finish the first half.

Jordan’s average playing time reached 40 minutes; he couldn’t afford to be off the court for too long.

Gan wasn’t faring much better; he took a break at the start of the second quarter before coming back to finish the first half.

The arrangements for both players were exactly opposite in the second half, which was a matter of the coaches’ rotational habits.

Gan scored 4 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and contributed 2 assists in the first quarter, turning in an adequate performance.

Jordan already had 11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, and no assists.

While Gan was resting off-court, Kenny-Carl turned to him and asked, "Sonny, don’t you want to beat Michael tonight?"

Gan glanced at Kenny-Carl and said, "Did you bet with Mitchell again?"

Kenny-Carl was a notorious gambler and often placed bets with Thompson.

Today, in the big game against the Bulls, the two of them definitely made some bets before the match.

Kenny-Carl gave a mischievous smile and said, "I’m just looking out for you."

Gan asked, "Who did you bet would score more?"

Carl said, "I... I bet on Michael... Actually, I know you’re stronger than him, but Mitchell insisted on betting on you, so I had no choice but to bet on Michael!"

Gan huffed, "Then you’ve definitely lost this time; I can’t possibly score less than Michael, he just started shooting more at the beginning."

Carl sighed and said, "I know, but what matters most is winning the game, right?"

Gan’s attention was focused on the game, completely unaware that Kenny-Carl was covering his mouth with a towel and snickering.

On the floor, with Gan not around, Jordan’s cuts to the basket became even more unstoppable.

The Trail Blazers’ defense was different from the previous season, with reduced levels and density, because Walton was gone, and the court space was expanding.

So, the Trail Blazers’ adjustment was to increase intensity, heavily utilizing Jerome Kossie on the perimeter, Vandeweghe putting on weight, and never having to worry about the interior with Gan and Thompson.

From November to December, the Trail Blazers reduced the traps on defense, and Ramsay insisted more on one-on-one defense and occasional double teams.

This reduced the strain on Gan’s rim protection while overall, one-on-one defense has the fewest weak points and the best sustainability.

This granted the Trail Blazers better defensive stability and mitigated the risk of Gan getting into foul trouble, letting him stay on the court longer.

Bobby Berman’s contribution was indispensable; his coaching of individual defensive details significantly improved the players’ defensive abilities.

Especially in the backcourt, with Terry Porter, Drexler, Kossie, and others, everyone’s defensive habits and understanding were getting better.

But all of this was meaningless in front of Michael Jordan; if someone can breeze past you in a single move, no amount of defensive habit helps.

With Gan off the court, Jordan seized the opportunity to score inside, not only breaking through for his own points but also assisting his teammates with layups.

He then made a steal and passed to his teammate on the outside; the shot missed, but he rushed down to grab the offensive rebound and made the putback.

Thanks to Jordan’s individual performance, the Bulls started the second quarter with a 9:2 run against the Trail Blazers, making the score 33:29.

The Trail Blazers called a timeout.

"How many points does Jordan have?" Gan Guoyang asked Beelman.

"Jordan? He’s got... he’s got 18 points," Beelman said as he glanced at the stats sheet.

Gan Guoyang nodded, "Got it."

He thought to himself that he needed to score in the second quarter, otherwise it would be difficult to catch up later.

Ramsay called a timeout and Gan Guoyang was back on the court, replacing Thompson, and Ramsay also brought in Kenny-Carl.

When Gan Guoyang came on, Collins immediately sent in Charles Oakley to continue to tangle with Gan Guoyang.

Meanwhile, Jordan was taking a break, so he and Gan Guoyang weren’t on the court at the same time.

Oakley seemed to have defended Gan Guoyang quite well in the first quarter, having successfully stopped him once and nearly causing a turnover another time, when Gan Guoyang passed the ball out.

After that, Gan Guoyang mainly hit two jumpers from the outside, without pushing hard inside.

This gave Oakley some defensive confidence, and he started to stick to Gan Guoyang even closer.

At this point, Gan Guoyang said, "Charles, I’m competing with Michael for the scoring title, you know that, right?"

Oakley nodded to show he was aware, but his focus didn’t waver as he continued to stick to Gan Guoyang.

"Michael’s already got 18 points, I need to get myself on the scoreboard. I will be scoring over you soon, so relax a bit, don’t be tense, take a deep breath. Feeling dizzy is quite normal..."

As Gan Guoyang spoke, he suddenly exerted force and squeezed past Oakley to post up on the left low block.

Oakley felt a huge force pushing him back, with no chance to resist, and the ball was smoothly delivered to Gan Guoyang’s hands.

Gan Guoyang caught the ball, turned around, and made an easy hook shot for two points.

When Gan Guoyang scored, Oakley, after exerting too much force, was indeed a bit dazed and took a deep breath.

When Jordan left the court, the Bulls’ offense completely lost its rhythm. John Paxson’s jump stop after a drive was blocked by Gan Guoyang, who came out to help.

"How could I be blocked..." Paxson didn’t anticipate at all that his shot would be blocked.

With possession regained, the Trail Blazers didn’t rush the counterattack. Hornacek slowly dribbled past the halfway line and fed the ball to Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang caught the ball and then hit a jump stop jumper in the lane, mimicking Bernard King’s signature move.

Following another miss by the Bulls, Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound and continued to pass to Hornacek, setting up for a half-court offense.

Gan Guoyang pinned Oakley in the same position, as Oakley desperately tried to push Gan Guoyang out of the paint, but to no avail.

He received the ball, turned around, squeezed his way inside, and easily made a layup while drawing a foul from Oakley.

In the League, another player who could squeeze inside like that and easily score with strength was Charles Barkley.

Gan Guoyang was stronger and bigger than Barkley, with a longer reach. Oakley found, trying to defend him one-on-one was fanciful.

"I told you to relax, Charles. Of course, I still appreciate you gifting me points," said Gan Guoyang.

Oakley, not one to hold back, immediately retorted, "Just make your free throw first. Giving it to you doesn’t mean you can get it."

Gan Guoyang smiled, stepped up to the free-throw line, relaxed his shoulders, then closed his eyes and shot the ball, scoring.

Afterward, he opened his eyes, glanced at Oakley, and said, "Did I get it? Why would you doubt me? Didn’t Michael teach you how to behave?"

By this point, Oakley didn’t dare to talk back and just took the ball to the baseline to inbound. The Trail Blazers had taken a 1-point lead.

Jordan took the opportunity of the free throw to re-enter the game, at his own request, knowing that if he rested any longer they would fall behind.

Seeing Jordan return, Gan Guoyang pointed to Oakley and said, "Michael, he doubts my free throws! You should give your guy a lesson."

Oakley threw the ball to Jordan and said, "He just made a shot with his eyes closed."

Jordan said, "I can do that too, but don’t trash-talk him, don’t provoke this guy, I will handle him."

[The 1986 Christmas Day showdown between the Bulls and the Trail Blazers attracted widespread attention. At that time, Gan and Michael were competing fiercely for the scoring title.

I was defending Gan in the match. In the first quarter, Gan scored 4 points, and I thought I defended him well. In the second quarter, when Gan came on, he said to me, ’I am going to score some points now, relax a bit.’

He scored 6 points right over me, and there was nothing I could do about it. On one play, he was fouled and I told him, ’You won’t make it.’ Gan then stood at the free throw line, closed his eyes, and made the basket.

At that moment, I thought, ’For the love of God, just take me out, I don’t want to suffer this humiliation.’

Thankfully, Michael came on, the only one who could match up with Ah Gan.

For the safety of their own lives, others would be well-advised to stay far away from Ah Gan. ]

————Published in 2022, an excerpt from Charles Oakley’s autobiography "The Last Enforcer."