The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 491 - 108: Strike Down

From the live broadcast by CBS, it’s clear that the Silverdome is packed to the brim with people, passionate Detroit fans waving at the camera and fervently shouting cheers to support the Pistons.

Tonight, CBS has Billy Cunningham, a former champion coach, and the famous commentator Dick Stockton on-site to cover the game.

Discussing the first two games, Cunningham said that the Pistons’ tactics and strategy were actually not problematic, but their morale had been greatly impacted.

They hadn’t recovered from the unexpected incidents and had fallen into a slump, allowing the Trail Blazers to take an easy victory, hoping that in this home game, they would find their rhythm.

Dick Stockton asked Cunningham, "How should the Pistons handle Ah Gan?"

Cunningham was silent for five seconds, then said, "If I knew, I wouldn’t be sitting here commenting on the game, I should be coaching a team instead."

Both laughed heartily, and Cunningham continued, "How to deal with Ah Gan has always been a global dilemma. His overall skills, extraordinary physical condition, and often overlooked basketball intelligence make him undefendable. Sometimes, all you can do is your best and then leave the rest to God. There’s no other way."

Gan Guoyang had indeed become a world-class problem during this season, and the situation became even more apparent in the playoffs.

In the regular season, Gan Guoyang would occasionally coast, but come playoff time, he was fully committed.

In the last game of the regular season, Gan Guoyang scored 81 points, showcasing just how versatile he was and his many known and unknown basketball skills.

During the playoffs, Gan Guoyang focused on a simple and efficient approach, with no unnecessary flair.

Especially his mid-range game became an important scoring method for Gan Guoyang in this playoff.

In the playoffs of ’85 and ’86, Gan Guoyang’s scoring under the basket was very high, with many offensive rebounds and second-chance points.

This season, Gan Guoyang’s offensive rebound count further declined; he only went for them when it was crucial, retreating on defense at other times.

In the offense, his proportion of mid- and long-range shots increased, the deeper into the season, the higher the proportion.

One important reason for this was that more and more teams were employing a pseudo-zone defense.

The Lakers, Pistons, and Supersonics were all very adept at it, positioning significant manpower near the key area.

The Trail Blazers’ isolation plays were somewhat contained, leading the team’s coaching staff to make adjustments.

They moved the isolation spots from near the key area, retreating it to about two steps inside the three-point line.

At the same time, they switched from posting up to facing up, which could effectively avoid double teams and let Gan Guoyang attack the defender from the front.

Facing up allowed Gan Guoyang to utilize his mid-range shooting and dribble penetration advantageously, while also accommodating for some backdoor passes.

Against teams like the Lakers and Pistons with very tall primary defenders, Gan Guoyang was more comfortable facing up.

If the defender played close, he would use the baseline to bypass and break through to the basket. If given space, he would immediately pull up for a mid-range shot.

"Ah Gan’s mid-range game has reached a terrifying level this season. No other big man’s mid-range shooting has ever been on his level. When he shoots, praying is the only option," commented Dick Stockton about Gan Guoyang’s mid-range game.

This effective weapon was forged through years of rigorous training by Gan Guoyang.

The game officially began with a jump ball between Gan Guoyang and Donaldson.

The referee called a jump ball violation on Donaldson, which gave possession to the Trail Blazers.

In the Trail Blazers’ first offensive play, Gan Guoyang received the ball on the wing at 45 degrees, two steps inside the three-point line, facing Donaldson.

With everyone else spread out, Donaldson focused intently on Gan Guoyang. Holding the ball, Gan Guoyang’s eyes wandered, making it unclear what he was observing.

After pausing for only a second, Gan Guoyang made his decision, instantly pulling up for a mid-range jumper. Donaldson made a valiant effort to block but was a step too late.

The ball, spinning hard, drew a high arc and bounced off the rim before finally falling through the net, a successful shot.

Gan Guoyang rubbed his hands together, thinking his starting touch wasn’t particularly good since the shot hadn’t been a clean swish and had hit the rim.

If the Trail Blazers could play isolation, so could the Pistons; after a quick inbound pass and transition to the frontcourt, they got the ball to Dantley.

Dantley, with his back to the basket, powered in against Mychal Thompson, who was ten centimeters taller, spun around him and scored with a left-handed layup!

Both teams commenced with the most reliable scoring methods to get their opening points.

Porter immediately responded with a mid-range pull-up jumper, and Dantley once again took on Mychal Thompson, muscling under the basket, and scored with a right-handed floater.

Dantley’s performance in the first two games was just par. While Gan Guoyang was dominating, Dantley hadn’t been able to step up with an adequate response.

Tonight, Dantley started well, but so did Gan Guoyang, who immediately followed with a mid-range jumper at the top of the arc after receiving a pass from Drexler during the counterattack, hitting the shot as well.

The Detroit Pistons didn’t start the game as people expected, furiously ramping up physical confrontations and fouls in retaliation for Gan Guoyang’s bump on Daley.

Instead, the Pistons sped up the game, actively looking for their offensive rhythm early on, engaging in a scoring contest with the Trail Blazers.

This was Daley’s requirement; he didn’t want the Pistons to be obsessed with physical brawls and confrontations, but to focus on basketball first.

On the foundation of concentrating on basketball, confrontations and provocations could serve as the icing on the cake, rather than getting the priorities backwards.

On this point, Daley had a very precise and clear understanding, so he didn’t allow Rodman to seek "revenge" against Gan Guoyang.

It was the same when the Pistons played other games; they wouldn’t start with sneaky tricks, but would always catch you off guard at certain critical moments, suddenly messing with your mentality.

The Pistons’ offense started very aggressively, swift and fierce, and they increased the rush for offensive rebounds.

After Dumars missed a floater, Lan Bi’er unexpectedly rushed under the basket, lightly jumped, and tipped the ball into the hoop.

Gan Guoyang was on the perimeter providing help defense, giving Lan Bi’er a chance in the three-second area.

Dantley’s performance at the start was decisive, the Pistons giving the Trail Blazers a taste of their own medicine.

You Trail Blazers like isolation plays, don’t you? We also have a one-on-one expert. Let’s play one against four and see.

Dantley spread out, facing Mychal Thompson, and powerfully drove to the basket with his footwork, scoring with a floating shot!

At only 6-foot-5, Dantley had no problem playing one-on-one against the taller power forward position.

He was able to go one-on-one against Kevin McHale in the Eastern Finals.

Of course, he couldn’t dominate Gan Guoyang one-on-one, and the Trail Blazers didn’t have Guoyang guard him either.

Ramsay was mainly worried that Dantley would draw fouls, which would be a loss for the Trail Blazers.

The Pistons had taken an 8:12 lead at the start, their attacking strategy was the right one.

Building an early scoring advantage was the way to use physical confrontation to expand the psychological advantage.

At this moment, Thompson went to the low post to power his way against Lan Bi’er, with the Pistons habitually double-teaming him.

Thompson passed the ball to Gan Guoyang in the key, and as Gan Guoyang pretended to shoot, the Pistons players all rushed at him.

Gan Guoyang easily passed the ball to the wing, Vandeweghe caught it, and hit the three-pointer!

Vandeweghe’s playoff performance this year was much better than last season’s, becoming the team’s key second scoring option.

The Pistons didn’t pause, immediately launching a counterattack, but this time Dantley’s assault on the basket was blocked by Gan Guoyang.

Lan Bi’er again grabbed the offensive rebound, but his layup was also blocked by Gan Guoyang!

"Xie Te..."

Daley cursed under his breath from the sidelines.

At this time, there were still bandages on his nose, and speaking was very painful.

Daley realized that Ah Gan’s ability on the court was a head above the others.

From his blocks, it sometimes seemed like he was blocking high school players.

Exceptional explosiveness, extremely quick reaction speed, and dominating strength, blocking shots was a matter of innate talent and hard to improve significantly through training.

If the Pistons wanted to win tonight, they might really need to figure out a way to get Ah Gan off the court.

But Daley was also worried, what if Ah Gan went crazy again and bumped into him? His nose couldn’t withstand a second injury.

Daley hesitated on the sidelines.

The Trail Blazers started a counterattack, with Drexler leading the charge into the basket.

The Pistons shrank their defense, and the Glider looked back over his shoulder and passed to the outside, with Guoyang catching the ball at the top of the arc and shooting from mid-range, scoring again!

13:12, the Trail Blazers took the lead.

However, Thomas immediately stood out, launching a quick counterattack, attacked the basket against Gan Guoyang’s defense, and scored with a mid-air hand change layup.

The ball banked into the hoop! A stunning, beautiful shot!

Both sides continued to exchange blows in the first quarter, with a fast pace and high success rate in their offenses.

At the end of the first quarter, the teams were tied at 32:31, with the Pistons leading the Trail Blazers by one point.

During the break, Gan Guoyang said to Daley at the sidelines, "You guys are playing quite well, keep up the good game!"

Daley gave an awkward smile, but at that moment, he resolved to still try to get Ah Gan off the court!