The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 467 - 84 Monsters
Seeing Bavetta knocked down, Gan Guoyang approached to check on him.
When Hugh Evans arrived, Gan Guoyang said to Evans, "He committed a blocking foul."
Evans gave Gan Guoyang a look of disbelief and said, "Don’t joke, Sonny, that hit was hard. We need to bring in the stretcher team."
Bavetta was indeed hit hard. The CBS television slow-motion replay showed that as Gan Guoyang collided with Bavetta, his elbow hit Bavetta’s chin.
Just that hit alone, let alone a slim referee like Bavetta, even a regular center would have struggled to tolerate it.
But to say Gan Guoyang did it on purpose, it didn’t look like it from his actions, because he raised his elbow to swing his arms to run. Upon closer inspection, there were no extra movements.
Instead, it was Bavetta. His positioning was too much to the inside, blocking the player’s path of progress.
He probably didn’t expect Drexler to suddenly intercept the ball, and even less so for Gan Guoyang to charge so fiercely on the fast break.
The doctor came to check on Bavetta, who was groggy and in a semi-conscious state.
Bavetta was carried onto a stretcher and out of the court, and now there were only two referees left on the court, as there were no substitute referees for the playoff semifinals.
Hugh Evans said to Gan Guoyang, "Ah Gan, was that hit just now deliberate?"
Gan Guoyang responded, "Of course it wasn’t intentional. I was rushing to fast break. You know, although I’m a center, I really like to fast break."
"Then why can’t you keep your smile down?"
"Really? No, no, I’m praying for Dick, hoping he is all right."
Dick Bavetta later recalled the moment when Gan Guoyang hit him. He felt like he had been struck by a car and thought he was going to die.
He bumped his chin, saw stars before his eyes, then fell to the ground unconscious. When he woke up, he found himself in an ambulance.
The first thing he said when he came to was "foul...". He was still thinking about calling a foul on Gan Guoyang.
Unfortunately for Bavetta, a "collision" with a referee doesn’t count as a foul. The technical staff confirmed after review that it was an accident, and Gan Guoyang was not to be blamed.
Of course, whether it was an accident or intentional, only Gan Guoyang himself knew. In any case, Bavetta was sent off the court by him.
After sending off players and the boss, Gan Guoyang had achieved the feat of sending off a referee. No one knew when he would manage to send off a coach.
After this minor episode, the half ended with the score at 51:59, the Trail Blazers leading the Supersonics by 8 points.
Gan Guoyang had 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocks at the half, still performing very steadily.
Facing the Supersonics’ strategy, Gan Guoyang remained cool-headed in making judgments, directing his teammates to break through the Supersonics’ high-pressure defense.
During the halftime break in the locker room, Jack Ramsey emphasized the movement of the ball and the need for screens, asking Walton and Thompson to come out more to provide off-ball picks and support, preventing players like Porter and Drexler from falling into the traps set by the Supersonics.
He also reminded Beelman to tell Gan Guoyang to continue to move in the three-second zone, not to come out carelessly, not to take easy shots, and not to set screens.
Ramsay was indeed a tactical expert; he spotted the characteristics of the Supersonics’ defense within the half.
This was an assertive defense, constantly luring and forcing the offensive side to make choices detrimental to their attack.
The most direct way to break this defense was to not get lured in. If they don’t want you to go somewhere, you go there—of course, you need to have the strength to do it.
Gan Guoyang had the strength. He had to continue to push into the basket, into the three-second zone, using offensive rebounds and attacks on the basket to take back the initiative in the game.
If he indulged in his own powerful shots or, to avoid getting double-teamed, kept receiving the ball further out, he would be falling into the Supersonics’ defensive scheme.
Gan Guoyang agreed with Ramsay’s strategy; he also believed that the more your opponent doesn’t want you to go somewhere, the more you have to go there until their defense breaks down.
However, Ramsay was worried about Gan Guoyang’s fouling issues and said to him, "Sonny, you have to control your fouls in the third quarter, you can’t afford to foul out."
Gan Guoyang laughed and said, "I don’t think I will, the guy blowing the whistle on me is already lying down."
"Be more careful next time, Dick’s a decent guy."
"It wasn’t on purpose."
"I know it wasn’t on purpose. I mean, it’d be better to have him sidelined so he won’t be blowing any whistles again."
"..."
You really are the ruthless one, old man.
Being out cold for a couple days is one thing, but you’re talking about knocking someone out of their career.
Of course, Ramsay was joking. He had a good relationship with Bavetta, but not with Strom.
In the NBA, coaches, referees, and players form a vast network of personal relationships, with each having their individual preferences.
On the court, everyone has their role to play, delivering a game for the audience. How they get along off the court, only they know.
After the game, Jack Ramsay went to the hospital to visit Bavetta, apologizing on behalf of Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers.
He didn’t want the relationship between Gan Guoyang and the referees to become too stiff, which would be detrimental to future games. However, he never told Gan Guoyang about this.
As the third quarter began, Gan Guoyang followed Ramsay’s instructions and settled into the Supersonics’ three-second area. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
The Supersonics quickly realized that their SOS defense system was unsustainable because continuously pressuring Gan Guoyang had little effect.
Focusing so much attention on Gan Guoyang led to weakened defense against the other players and affected their own offense.
Vandeweghe hit consecutive shots in the third quarter and, with Drexler, continued to score in fast breaks, leading the Trail Blazers on an offensive surge.
The Supersonics recognized the problem; they were restrained by Gan Guoyang, and the rest of the Trail Blazers were not to be taken lightly.
Bickerstaff could only instruct his players to return to normal man-to-man defense, increase pressure on the perimeter, and maintain the double team on Gan Guoyang.
As for Death Triangle or Death I, forget about it. Gan Guoyang wasn’t going anywhere, and they were the ones close to collapsing, referees included.
Moreover, the Supersonics’ frontcourt was starting to wear down, whether it was Lucas or McDaniel, as inside brawling took its toll on stamina.
Gan Guoyang’s stamina was like a bottomless pit. He could tussle with you from the first quarter right until the last, maintaining a high intensity throughout.
So, by mid-third quarter, the Supersonics’ defense was on the verge of collapse, unable to maintain the oppressive force of the SOS system.
Gan Guoyang began to play one-on-one in the low post, scoring continuously and drawing successive fouls from Morris Lucas, McDaniel, and Johnson.
At the free-throw line, Gan Guoyang was unstoppable. All the Supersonics’ fouling was in vain. By the end of the third quarter, he had made 14 of 15 free throws, missing just one.
By the end of the third quarter, the Trail Blazers were leading the Supersonics by 15 points. There was a clear gap in sheer ability, and the Supersonics’ strategies seemed futile and desperate to the Trail Blazers.
Gan Guoyang had racked up 33 points, 17 rebounds, and six blocks by the end of the third quarter — frankly, it was a good thing for the Supersonics that they were only trailing by 15 points.
The best performance by the Supersonics tonight was their three-point shooting. They hit 5 out of 6 from beyond the arc, a very high success rate, but it still wasn’t enough to close the gap in overall strength between the two teams.
It’s true that the high percentage of three-point shots did cause some trouble for the Trail Blazers. If those had been two-pointers instead of threes, the Supersonics would be down by 20 points.
Being down by 15 points feels completely different from being down by 20. To the Supersonics players, 15 points felt like a gap that could still be bridged.
But in the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers gave the Supersonics no chance. Gan Guoyang utilized two post-up moves and drew a foul from McDaniel for a three-point play, scoring 5 points in a row and stretching the lead to 20 points.
The game had thoroughly lost its suspense. Gan Guoyang finished with 42 points, 20 rebounds, and 6 blocks, helping his team easily defeat the Supersonics at home.
After returning to the locker room, McDaniel picked up Gan Guoyang’s number 11 jersey, folded it neatly, and placed it in his backpack.
Tonight, his so-called "assistance" had barely any effect; they were completely outclassed.
He decided to level his mindset and go back to study how he could possibly deal with this monster.
