The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 477 - 94 Less is More

Losing the third game was a considerable blow to the Trail Blazers players.

The intensity of the game showed that the Trail Blazers were not willing to give the Lakers a chance to turn the tables, they wanted to win.

They aimed to lead the series 3:0 directly, removing any suspense from the outcome, but the Lakers were incredibly resilient, clinging on without letting go.

Every time the Trail Blazers thought they could seal the deal, there was always someone from the Lakers who stepped up with a response.

Jabbar’s offensive rebound, Magic Johnson’s long shot, Byron Scott drawing fouls on penetrations.

The two sides were evenly matched in this game, and Gan Guoyang’s ejection was a turning point, possessing an element of contingency but also a trace of inevitability.

As the support pillar in the paint and the core of offense and defense, his stamina was nearly limitless, but his foul count was not.

The Lakers reduced their perimeter shooting this game, with Worthy, Jabbar, Johnson, Cooper, and others taking turns attacking the Trail Blazers’ interior.

While Gan Guoyang was consistently blocking shots, he inevitably committed fouls, and tonight the referees’ whistles seemed somewhat biased towards the Lakers.

It was apparent that some plays were designed by the Lakers to draw fouls, specifically to knock Gan Guoyang out of the game early.

Guoyang managing to stay in the game until the second overtime already proved his exceptional ability to control fouling, but he still reached five fouls.

All the little details that accumulated throughout were magnified at the end, resulting in Guoyang’s offensive charge being called a foul, and he was ejected with six fouls.

Without Guoyang, the Trail Blazers became like headless flies, getting pummeled by Wes Matthews, continuously losing points.

In the end, the Lakers pulled one game back, changing the series to 1:2, keeping a glimmer of hope for the Lakers.

Following this loss, media outlets such as The Oregonian, which have always supported the Trail Blazers, began to question, "Why is it that the Trail Blazers find it difficult to defeat the Lakers at the Memorial Coliseum?"

In both the playoffs and the regular season, the Trail Blazers’ record against the Lakers at home has always been poor, which started to concern people about the fourth game, wondering if the Trail Blazers could be overwhelmed by the Lakers.

After all, the third game gave an impression of being a turning point in the series, with the victorious Lakers not even celebrating but leaving the venue with serious expressions, intent on securing the fourth game as well.

The long-standing dominance of the Lakers and their regular season prowess exerted considerable pressure on the Portland people, and though they lost to the Rockets last year, they haven’t lost enough yet, at least the Trail Blazers haven’t truly defeated them.

Gan Guoyang was speechless toward such media speculation; he felt these outlets were making a mountain out of a molehill.

The morning after the game at home, while reading the newspaper, he said to Wang Fuxi, "Without enough samples, wins and losses have no pattern. Home or away is just a change of venue for playing the game."

As Wang Fuxi was preparing food for Guoyang, she said, "But the fact that you perform better at the Great Western Forum is as solid as iron."

"Is that so? I think I perform excellently in every game, no matter which venue it is."

"Don’t play dumb; you love trouncing the opponents in Los Angeles, but once you get to Portland, you seem somewhat less interested."

Wang Fuxi served Guoyang some beans to replenish protein after he had come back from a run earlier that morning.

He hadn’t arranged for any training for himself today, and the coaching staff also gave the team a day off; after a triple-overtime battle and a loss, the players needed to recover both physically and mentally.

"Alright, you have a point. I do enjoy seeing the silence of the fans in the away games, like watching the home team players in deep mourning."

"So in simple terms, making your own fans happy isn’t as exciting for you as making the opposing fans suffer. You’re a bit of a sadist."

Having been with Guoyang for so many years, Wang Fuxi understood him quite well; Guoyang enjoyed challenges and making his opponents suffer.

"I still remember every time you win a championship, you’re always so nonchalant. For you, the joy of winning a championship is secondary; making the rest of the League’s teams feel miserable for not winning is what really matters to you. It’s like whenever you make a significant play, you have to call Michael; otherwise, the victory feels meaningless."

These words left Guoyang at a loss for words; he was also reflecting if perhaps he could shift his mindset for the fourth game.

Most players perform better at home, where they are more relaxed and familiar with their environment, especially the younger players.

Some young players seem completely unable to play on the road, yet they can hold their own against their opponents on their home turf.

Young players like Kossie and Hornacek could have performed better at home.

But because the team relied on them as the absolute core, their creativity and display on the court were stifled.

Hornacek and Curry barely got any playing time, and when Kossie did play, he was more of a defensive worker; he hardly got any offensive opportunities aside from some easy, uncontested shots.

From daily practices and regular-season games, Gan Guoyang could tell that their talent was not limited to this.

Hornacek, this unremarkable guy, could perhaps become a starter on a weaker team; he had made tremendous progress from the start to the end of the season.

Gan Guoyang did not want these talented teammates to end up like Dale Ellis, shining for other teams.

The next day, Gan Guoyang attended the team’s pre-game training and discussed strategies for the fourth game with Bobby Berman.

"For the fourth game, we should make some changes. I can act as a decoy, focus more on supporting and passing, reduce my own shots, and create more opportunities for others. We need a victory where the whole team shines to boost morale. If we lose the home court advantage in the fourth match, it would be greatly disadvantageous for us,"

Gan Guoyang volunteered to reduce his playtime; first, to give others more opportunities, second, to confuse the Lakers unexpectedly, and third, to give himself a chance to rest and catch his breath.

Beelman thought Gan Guoyang’s idea made sense, so he communicated with Jack Ramsay.

During the pre-game preparation meeting, the coaching staff debated repeatedly, and Ramsay thought that making such a change was very risky.

Most coaches tend to become more conservative with their player lineups as the series progresses, hardly giving a chance to those who have not performed well earlier in the series.

By the sixth or seventh game, the use of player rotations may become exhaustive, potentially leading to extreme situations where only six or seven players rotate in.

However, Ramsay is a coach who is bold and unconventional in his rotations. The 1977 Trail Blazers were the youngest champions in history.

The average age of that Trail Blazers team was 24 years, featuring 3 rookies, 3 sophomores, and 2 third-year players—including their star Bill Walton.

All 12 players in the playoffs made more than 10 appearances each, with the core rotation being these sophomores and juniors, fully harnessing their potential.

So, he was not one to shy away from using new players, definitely not a conservative coach in his player management.

After serious consideration, Ramsay realized that the Trail Blazers’ over-reliance on Gan Guoyang in the previous games was indeed too heavy.

If Gan Guoyang only performed average (which for Gan Guoyang meant 30 points, 15 boards) or was unable to play due to some reason, the remaining Trail Blazers lineup wouldn’t know how to play.

In a seven-game series, the team cannot rely on Gan Guoyang scoring over 40 points every game to win; others must be able to stand out and put pressure on the Lakers.

Otherwise, the Lakers’ pressure would become increasingly tighter, and as the series progressed, it would become more difficult for the Trail Blazers, whose roster potential was indeed less than the Lakers’.

After a lengthy discussion and simulation, Ramsay gave his opinion: he agreed with the strategy of Beelman and Gan Guoyang, and they needed to catch the Lakers off guard in the fourth game.

But Ramsay stipulated one condition, saying, "To ensure we are foolproof, Ah Gan’s playing time needs to increase. Since he will be focusing on passing and less on scoring, it shouldn’t be too tiring."

When Gan Guoyang heard Ramsay’s condition from Beelman, he could hardly believe his ears.

"What? Because I’m going to play less, I have to play more?"

Beelman nodded and said, "That’s right, less is more. I see no problem with that."

Gan Guoyang couldn’t help but give a thumbs up to the coaching staff in his heart, marveling at their flawless logic!