The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 452 - 70: Open Your Eyes

The second quarter of the game was about to begin, and both teams’ substitution lineups took the court, with Walton replacing Gan Guoyang.

Jerome Kossie entered the game early, coming in for Vandeweghe.

On the Hawks’ side, Jon Koncak and Livingston were substituted in.

The game was played without much fanfare, and the referee frequently blew the whistle to control the escalating physical confrontations between the two sides, aiming to keep tempers from flaring up.

During the interval, CBS was still broadcasting the history of the Hawks. Auerbach had worked with this team, and their biggest glory was in St. Louis where they won their first championship, sparking an NBA spectator boom in the 1950s and promoting the league’s survival and development at the time.

In Atlanta today, the Hawks are trying to soar this season, indeed they have been playing well.

With solid defense and lots of ideas on the offensive end, they always manage to execute some nice offensive plays.

Although they lack a strong inside presence for low-post scoring, Fratello has designed many tactical plays to establish an inside-out connection, creating scoring opportunities for the interior players.

Koncak used his nimble moves to get free from Walton’s defense, catching an alley-oop pass for a one-handed dunk.

After that, Koncak broke free again with his movement, bypassing Walton’s half-wrap front, and drove to the basket drawing a foul from Kossie.

He stepped up to the free-throw line and made both shots.

The Hawks really like to use cuts in their offense, which tests the opponents’ defensive rotation.

Perhaps because the Hawks themselves have one of the best defensive rotations in the league, they attack the rotations on offense.

Walton’s foot speed is a concern. He doesn’t fear opponents posting up, but their extensive cutting and movement are a test for him.

The Trail Blazers’ defense has not been very strong, and the Hawks gradually extended their lead in the second quarter.

The Trail Blazers attempted to give Walton a low-post isolation play. His turn was beautiful, but his layup was blocked by an opponent.

Fighting for the ball down low led to a scramble, and in the end, Koncak knocked it out of bounds—it was the Trail Blazers’ ball.

At this point, Gan Guoyang reentered the game, replacing Walton, with the score being 33:40 in favor of the Hawks who led by 7 points.

Dominique Wilkins also returned to the court, having scored 7 points in the first quarter, hitting all three of his shots.

He seemed to be waiting for Gan Guoyang, ready to chase him down and hold him back as soon as he started his run.

Wilkins was also an excellent scorer, averaging 30 points a game wasn’t easy, but his efficiency was a concern.

Gan Guoyang replaced Walton and Parkson came in for Drexler, as Gan Guoyang rubbed his hands together and gave Kossie a knowing look.

Kossie inbounded the ball to Gan Guoyang who caught it in the corner. The Hawks hadn’t set up any defense in that spot.

Who would guard a center in the corner? Gan Guoyang took a three-point shot, wanting to test his touch.

The release was quick and sharp, and the ball swished through the net, a three-pointer that gave Gan Guoyang 13 points.

After the shot, Gan Guoyang yelled at Fratello, "I’m the fucking king of three-pointers, and you guys don’t guard my threes? Can you show me some respect?"

Fratello crouched by the court somewhat helplessly, thinking, I respect you, but a center shooting threes, isn’t that a little disrespectful to the current era of basketball?

The Hawks were indeed caught off guard by that play; at that time, the defense against three-pointers was not systematic, even Bird would just be let to shoot threes.

Fratello thought it might be an accident, but remembering that the guy had once brought down the Lakers with six threes, he was still worried.

He said to Rollins sitting on the bench, "Keep an eye on his long shots later."

Rollins said nothing, thinking to himself, I’m a big tree and now I have to guard against threes? The times really have changed.

The Hawks’ offense was still quite good, with substitute Gus Williams orchestrating the team’s plays.

He first drove to the basket for an unexpected floater and made it.

Then he broke through again and, with Gan Guoyang coming to help on the defense, passed the ball to Koncak for a two-handed dunk.

On the Trail Blazers’ side, Hornacek was still too inexperienced to handle an old fox like Gus Williams and couldn’t keep up with the intensity.

And Gan Guoyang didn’t want to risk a foul on the defensive end; after all, he’d let the shots go in if they wanted to score so badly.

The pace of the game started to pick up. Gan Guoyang refrained from attempting threes, instead catching the ball in the low post, turning quickly, and hook shooting to score.

That night, he was determined to score, not looking to hold the ball and observe. He would shoot immediately before a double team converged, racking up 15 points.

Wilkins activated this time, aggressively driving at Kossie, and got to the basket drawing a foul, free throws.

Kossie could be considered one of the bigger, stronger small forwards, but Wilkins’ explosive power was even more impressive, and it was filled with a sense of strength.

Like Gan Guoyang, strength was his powerful weapon to crush his opponents.

Meanwhile, many people underestimated Wilkins’ shooting. Within 15 feet, he was an excellent shooter.

But beyond 15 feet, Wilkins left something to be desired.

When Gan Guoyang caught a pass from Parkson at the top of the arc and suddenly nailed a three-pointer, the Hawks felt like something was amiss.

points, halfway through the second quarter, the Hawks called for a timeout and brought on Rollins.

As it turned out, Fratello’s decision to bring in Rollins was a mistake.

This former first-team all-defense player excelled at guarding inside players and those who attacked the basket.

Gan Guoyang was clearly not willing to fall into the Eagles’ double-team trap tonight; he was fine-tuning his aim with three-point shots.

Coming back from the timeout, Rivers and the other Eagles starters returned to the court, with Wilkins starting to take over the Eagles’ offense.

As a small forward, Wilkins sometimes plays more like an undersized power forward.

His dribbling isn’t very impressive, always charging head-on, and he always bears down, focusing on the ball rather than the basket and the players.

This is clearly not a good penetrating habit, as it lacks the threat of a pass during the drive.

However, his strength is formidable, his impact and jumping ability are top-notch, and the general interior defense can’t stop him.

But Gan Guoyang can.

After the timeout, Wilkins’s forceful breakthrough attempt was blocked by Gan Guoyang.

On the counterattack, Gan Guoyang ran to the wing, caught the ball, and feigned a three-point attempt.

Rollins rushed over to guard him, only to be overtaken by Gan Guoyang with a step-through, culminating in a two-handed slam dunk.

Gan Guoyang had already scored 20 points; he hadn’t missed a single shot in the second quarter, scoring consecutively, and scoring that fast.

"Xie Te, how do you defend that?"

Rollins cursed inwardly; a center who can shoot threes and then also fake and drive was not something he could guard.

In the past, centers didn’t play like this; all of Rollins’s defensive tactics were useless now.

In the second quarter, Gan Guoyang cleverly used his long-range shooting to sway the Eagles’ defense into uncertainty.

It’s to be expected; an MVP wouldn’t be trapped by your double teams, he must find a way.

Gan Guoyang did not miss until the latter part of the second quarter, when he missed a mid-range shot, followed by a missed hook shot under the basket.

Wilkins seized the opportunity for a counterattack slam dunk, then scored over Vandeweghe with a strong post move.

As his hot streak cooled slightly, Gan Guoyang passed the ball to his teammates, but Vandeweghe’s mid-range shot missed.

Gan Guoyang grabbed the offensive rebound, turned around, and scored with a layup: 22 points.

Wilkins scored a mid-range shot, and the Hawks maintained a narrow lead.

The Trail Blazers cleared out the strong side, giving Gan Guoyang an isolation opportunity.

He received the ball, overpowered Rollins, spun along the baseline, and scored a reverse layup, drawing Rollins’s foul.

At that point, Rollins realized he couldn’t guard not only outside skills like three-pointers and driving but also couldn’t stop Gan Guoyang’s strong post moves!

Gan Guoyang hit the additional free throw, amassing 25 points, while the Trail Blazers were still trailing the Hawks by 2 points.

The offense and defense of both teams gradually entered a high-speed cycle, both sides getting heated up.

Wilkins once again charged to the basket, drawing a foul from Gan Guoyang—Gan Guoyang’s first foul of the game.

Both free throws went in, and Gan Guoyang once again posted up, spread the offense-wide, Hawks doubled, but Gan Guoyang used footwork to create distance, then hit a move-hook!

The hook shot was from quite a distance, about 15 feet, almost a mid-range shot, and as the ball hooked in, the Trail Blazers players knew Gan Guoyang was fully fired up!

points, still 2 points behind.

In the latter half of the second quarter, the offensive efficiency of both teams began to decline.

Apart from Gan Guoyang and Wilkins, the others found it difficult to score.

The defensive intensity was gradually increasing, the Hawks’ double teams became less frequent, while the Trail Blazers’ man-to-man defense was tightening the noose.

With less than 1 minute to go in the second quarter.

Wilkins drove in isolation, with Gan Guoyang switching out to defend.

Wilkins hesitated in the face of Gan Guoyang’s defense.

But in the end, he charged ahead blindly, not realizing that he couldn’t overpower Gan Guoyang’s strength.

Halting halfway realizing it was futile, he passed it out, Rivers took the ball and hit a long-range shot!

After a brief scoring drought, the Hawks finally made a long-range basket.

In the Trail Blazers’ last offense of the second quarter, Drexler had the ball, and ran pick-and-roll with Gan Guoyang.

The Hawks chose to switch on defense, Drexler drove in, then swung it back out to Gan Guoyang beyond the three-point line.

Gan Guoyang took the shot from three, with a beautiful hand form and a clean shot, the ball smoothly sank through the net, three points!

Tonight, he was three for three from beyond the arc, causing major trouble for the Hawks’ defense.

54:55, the Trail Blazers trail by 1 point at halftime, Gan Guoyang scored 30 points, not a particularly high score for him.

After that, it was time for the halftime break, soon to welcome the third quarter.

Gan Guoyang thought to himself that his condition and touch had also been well cultivated.

He wanted to try some offensive moves he rarely used, to show something new to everyone.