The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 468 - 85 Absolute Power
After the hospital examination, Bavetta’s body didn’t suffer any major harm; he only had a minor concussion and needed to rest for a period of time.
Because of this collision, Bavetta was unable to officiate the next three games; he needed to rest well.
Last time, the Clippers owner was knocked unconscious by Gan Guoyang and Melvin Turpin, ending up in the hospital for two weeks.
Bavetta only stayed in the hospital for three days this time, which shows that his physical condition was quite good, stronger than the less diligent team owners.
The League initiated an investigation procedure to determine the responsibility for the incident where a player collided with a referee.
After reviewing the video and questioning the technical personnel present, as well as referee Hugh Evans, the investigative team believed it was merely an accident, not something Gan Guoyang did on purpose.
Hugh Evans said that although there had been some arguments between Bavetta and Gan Guoyang during the game, they were not serious, just ordinary squabbles between players and referees.
On repeated viewings of the video, investigators observed Gan Guoyang running with a normal elbow lift, not deliberately raised; Bavetta, being shorter, happened to have his chin collide with Gan Guoyang’s elbow.
Thus, the investigative group quickly concluded that it was an accident.
Gan Guoyang was ordered to apologize to Bavetta and bear the related medical expenses.
Gan Guoyang readily apologized publicly and paid the money, but he did not visit Bavetta.
Bavetta was not convinced in his heart; he was sure this was Gan Guoyang’s retaliatory strike.
But without evidence and without official support, plus being just a referee, how could he contend with a superstar?
At that time, Stern and the League office’s attention was all tied up with the Suns drug scandal.
Stern did not want any negative incidents to further affect the NBA playoffs.
So, they dealt lightly with the incident of Gan Guoyang knocking out the referee; as long as no life was lost, it was to be forgotten once it was past.
Bavetta swallowed this grievance, knowing that he needed to be more cautious in the future when facing the Trail Blazers.
After a day of rest, the second game continued at the Memorial Coliseum.
In this game, the Supersonics made adjustments on defense, no longer pursuing SOS’s high-pressure defense.
It wasn’t because this defensive strategy wasn’t good, but Bickerstaff realized that the system wasn’t mature enough yet.
An immature system, when faced with a very strong opponent, sometimes not only fails to work but can even harm the team.
For instance, the last game’s offense of the Supersonics was dragged down; they put a lot of effort into defense without efficacious results.
At the same time, the offensive end suffered due to insufficient investment; Xavier McDaniel, who averaged over 20 points in the previous round, only scored 9 points for the whole game.
He exhausted a large amount of his energy on trapping and disturbing Gan Guoyang, but still let Gan Guoyang score over 40 points.
After reviewing the game, Bickerstaff thought they should learn from the Denver Nuggets’ past experiences, to let loose on offense, using comprehensive attacks to dilute Gan Guoyang’s impact.
That way, even if Gan Guoyang scored 40 points again, the damage wouldn’t be as great as in the first game; entering a state of offensive competition would also benefit the Supersonics’ three-point shooting advantage.
But the 1987 Portland Trail Blazers were no longer the Trail Blazers of 1985; when the Supersonics employed a regular defensive strategy, they were completely overrun by the Trail Blazers’ all-hands-on-deck offense.
Gan Guoyang didn’t score 40 points; he only got 23 points, but Drexler, Porter, Vandeweghe, and Thompson all exploded, each scoring over 15 points.
The Trail Blazers won the home game by a margin of 21 points, 113:134 against the Supersonics, making the series 2:0.
If the Supersonics wanted to win the game, they could only hope for a turnaround back in Seattle.
After the second game, McDaniel approached head coach Bickerstaff and said he wanted to defend Ah Gan one-on-one in the third game.
Although Gan Guoyang only scored 23 points in the second game, he didn’t shoot much, focusing his energy on defense and contributing 6 assists.
His presence revitalized the Trail Blazers’ offense and attracted the most defensive resources from the Supersonics. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
McDaniel believed that the team was investing too many resources in defending Ah Gan and that it would be better if he took on the primary defensive responsibility.
"I can contain Ah Gan, trust me coach," McDaniel promised Bickerstaff.
Bickerstaff knew that it would be very difficult to defeat the Trail Blazers in this series, as there was a big disparity in pure strength between the two teams.
The fact that the Supersonics had managed to pull off a first-round upset against the Mavericks by winning a Game 7 was an accomplishment in itself; if the players could grow from this series, then losing would still be acceptable.
Thus, Bickerstaff agreed to McDaniel’s proposal, and starting from the third game, McDaniel would take on the primary defense against Gan Guoyang.
This seemed like a suicidal strategy on the surface; although McDaniel was strong, he was still only a small forward.
Moreover, McDaniel, who claimed to be 6’8", was actually closer to 6’6", not much different from Jordan.
A smaller player, even one built for strength, would have little future guarding Gan Guoyang because you can’t outmuscle Ah Gan, and he’s also got an accurate jump shot.
However, after studying the game footage, McDaniel was confident. He analyzed some of Gan Guoyang’s offensive habits in detail and came up with several defensive strategies.
For instance, a three-quarter front cut could disrupt Gan Guoyang’s reception of the ball, and considering Gan Guoyang liked to go baseline in the low post, pushing him towards the top line and calling for help defense was a good tactic, and so on.
Back in Seattle, before the third game, he went to bed early to ensure he had plenty of sleep and to get his fitness levels at their peak.
In the morning, he drank two glasses of milk, ate several servings of potato salad, and a steak; and midday, he went to the gym to do some light strength training.
He needed a bit of a stimulus to raise his hormones a bit, to prepare for the evening’s game.
In the afternoon, the whole team arrived at the Seattle Coliseum to warm up and get ready.
The assistant coach Kloppenburg informed everyone that tonight McDaniel would be the primary defender on Ah Gan and that the others should assist in defense.
The guys all looked at McDaniel as if he were crazy, just like when he struts around the locker room naked, swinging his junk. What kind of nerve was he having now?
McDaniel said, "I am confident that I can control him, we have to win this game, and refuse to be swept."
McDaniel possessed a kind of leadership quality and desire, but he hadn’t yet earned full recognition from his teammates.
Anyway, Tom Chambers and Dale Ellis didn’t think of McDaniel as the team leader.
This was a hidden problem within the Supersonics: none of the three stars respected one another, and there wasn’t a real alpha wolf figure.
The team was newly formed and had just started to show signs of power, and relationships were still good; the conflicts hadn’t emerged yet.
As for McDaniel’s confident vows, nobody opposed them, thinking we would see how he manages once the real game begins.
At 7 p.m. Pacific Time, the semifinal Game 3 tipped off at the Seattle Coliseum, with no changes to the starting lineups of either team from the previous game.
However, when Gan Guoyang started to position himself for the first play, he found that it was McDaniel who had come to guard him.
Naturally, Gan Guoyang wouldn’t pass up such a mismatch brought to him, and after receiving the ball in the low post, he used his quick spin and leaning jump shots to hit three shots in a row, establishing an advantage from the get-go.
After the third basket, Gan Guoyang mockingly said to McDaniel, "Did you offend Bickerstaff? Why is he ruining you by sending you to a death trap?"
It was only when McDaniel actually confronted Gan Guoyang that he realized when faced with absolute strength, all tactics, strategies—everything was just a paper tiger, all fake.
In that game, Gan Guoyang devoured McDaniel like a tiger, easily scoring 39 points and taking another city in Seattle for the Trail Blazers.
The series had reached 3:0, and according to NBA’s historical records, no team had ever successfully come back from a 0:3 deficit, not a single one.
[Basketball is all about who can intimidate who... No one can intimidate Ah Gan.] — "X-man" Xavier McDaniel
