The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 512 - 15 Great skill is not evident

Daugherty was one of the few centers in the League with a remarkable gift for playmaking.

He was tall, with average jumping and sprinting abilities, but he had a broad vision and was good at passing, both in technique and awareness.

In his rookie season, he averaged 3.8 assists per game, which rose to 4.2 this season, proving he was a very talented and instinctive big man.

Otherwise, the car-racing enthusiast would not have caught the eye of North Carolina and later become the top draft pick.

During the Big-man Training Camp, Gan Guoyang often sought advice from Daugherty on passing and orchestrating plays.

Daugherty shared a lot of experience with Guoyang on how to read the defense, observe teammates, and become the pivot on the court.

In return, Guoyang taught Daugherty some tricks of the hook shot and how to increase strength.

However, looking at Daugherty’s physique, this guy probably spent the summer racing cars instead of working hard in the gym.

The Trail Blazers were the first to gain possession and began their offensive set-up.

Five or six years earlier, the Trail Blazers’ opening game plan would have been a quick offense.

Shooting within 10 seconds, they aimed to catch their opponents off balance.

Then relentlessly speed up to draw the game into a back-and-forth battle.

In just a few short years, the NBA’s style of play witnessed some changes.

More teams are starting off slow, initiating plays from the low post to help the big men find their rhythm.

Guoyang easily established position and with an "oof" from Daugherty, the latter was squeezed hard by Guoyang.

Guoyang received the ball, pushed inside, and the Cavaliers surprisingly did not double-team him; Guoyang turned and, with his left hand, easily laid up the ball to score the first points of the game.

Guoyang shrugged his shoulders, saying to Daugherty, "Does Lenny want you dead? They’re not even double-teaming me."

This season, as Guoyang gained further weight, his success rate and efficiency in low-post isolation had reached a historic peak.

In one-on-one defense situations, the probability of scoring against Guoyang was around 70%-80%, making not double-teaming purely a gift of points.

His strength was not only outstanding, but his footwork was also skilled, and his hand movements were increasingly refined, marking his entry into the peak of his abilities.

His classic moon hook and some more flamboyant techniques began to be used less frequently this season; his offensive moves were becoming more straightforward and efficient.

Just like in Jin Yong’s martial arts novels, the high school, college, and freshman year Guoyang was fierce and invincible, contending with many rivals.

By his sophomore and junior years, Guoyang’s skills became more well-rounded, like the Purple Violet Soft Sword, and he also possessed outside techniques, scoring 81 points in Atlanta.

Starting this season, as Guoyang bulked up, he deemed fancy techniques beneath him in regular-season play, practicing simplicity over complexity, domination over finesse; his reign across the League was sufficient.

Lenny Wilkens’s decision to not double-team at the start was to see if Daugherty could hold his ground and maintain the team’s defensive formation.

Otherwise, starting with a double-team and shifting the defensive formation would be quite uncomfortable.

In turn, Daugherty attempted to hit back at Guoyang, and as soon as he received the ball with his back to the basket, he chickened out, pushing his bottom back a couple of times with no response.

Nevermind, Daugherty then passed back to Price before moving to the corner to set a screen.

That was a common Cavaliers tactic, with Price and Daugherty’s corner pick and roll.

Typically, it was a feint, followed by Daugherty rolling to catch and make a jumper or Price penetrating down the middle to finish the offense.

The contingency was the wings lying in wait, the power forward from the weak side crashing the boards, and the arc-top shooter providing support.

A very standard and textbook inside-out pick-and-roll strategy.

As expected, it was a feint. Price directly drove down the middle with the ball.

Guoyang deliberately left a path open for Price.

Calculating his steps carefully, Price went for a right-handed layup while holding the ball.

However, Guoyang also timed his steps, rising up to block Price’s layup with a strong rejection.

After blocking Price’s layup, Guoyang maintained control of the ball.

Glancing upfield, he launched a long pass to Drexler.

The Glider, receiving the fast-break signal, wouldn’t hold back and sped off with the ball.

Dodging the defense, he took off for a right-handed layup, making it look easy.

The Trail Blazers quickly gained the lead, prompting Wilkens to call for an early timeout.

Obviously, the pre-game setup was incorrect; Guoyang must be double-teamed, and offensively, they should favor the weak side to avoid Ah Gan.

Guoyang hadn’t even started sweating before he took a break to drink some water.

Returning to the court, Price was more cautious, using his individual ability to stop abruptly and score with a jump shot, claiming the Cavaliers’ first points.

Price’s performance this season had significantly improved compared to last season.

He had an excellent showing in the Cavaliers’ preseason training camp in 1987.

As a result, Kevin Johnson, who was initially picked to compete with Price, ended up as a backup due to Price’s outstanding performance.

In terms of individual ability, Kevin Johnson might not be worse than Price, he could even be somewhat better.

Gan Guoyang knew this better than anyone; they had clashed in high school, and he had a deep impression of that purple lightning.

Likewise, Gan Guoyang faced a double team when he had the ball on offense.

Gan Guoyang didn’t bother contending with the Cavaliers’ defense and immediately passed the ball to Drexler to handle it.

Drexler’s way of handling the ball was rather simple, one was to receive it and set a solo screen, then take a mid-range shot from the wing.

Drexler was quite accurate shooting between the baseline and the 45-degree angle.

Between the 45-degree angle and the top of the arc, his accuracy wasn’t that great; his shooting had some issues indeed.

From 45 degrees to the top of the arc, he liked to charge in with the ball, attacking the basket with layups or dunks, and if he couldn’t make it, he’d go for the offensive rebound.

Generally speaking, Drexler’s offensive skills were relatively unrefined.

Although he performed layup tricks well, his basic penetration steps, ball handling, and timing were mediocre at best in high-level games and critical moments, almost as if they were nonexistent.

However, his physical condition was indeed excellent—fast speed, tall stature, and strong explosive power.

And this season, the kid’s offensive rebounds were getting increasingly stronger.

Put simply, he didn’t know any of the sophisticated techniques that a superb shooting guard should know.

Yet, he knew quite a lot of miscellaneous skills for other positions.

This time, Drexler chose a stop-and-pop jumper after the solo screen, and the shot went in accurately.

He really had practiced his shooting hard over the summer.

Following that, Price attempted to complete another high-post offense.

Little did he know he was being marked by Gan Guoyang.

After a feigned screen, Gan Guoyang switched defense onto Price, forcing him to pass the ball.

Then the ball went to Daugherty inside, and Gan Guoyang quickly retreated on defense.

Daugherty was baffled; he was under the basket with the ball in hand, ready to shoot.

But Ah Gan was just behind, waiting to block his shot!

To shoot or not to shoot? Daugherty faked a couple of moves but eventually passed it.

On the sidelines, Wilkens was speechless. You’re at the basket and you don’t shoot?

Having a shot blocker behind doesn’t mean there’s a tiger; with your 7-foot height, what’s there to fear, how easy could it be for you to get blocked?

They had to reorganize the offense, and the Cavaliers ran out of time, only getting off a rushed shot that missed.

Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound, seeing no good opportunity for a fast break.

He passed the ball to Porter for a set play, and Gan Guoyang received the ball in the low post.

After being double-teamed, he suddenly delivered a no-look pass to Thompson.

Thompson cut down the middle, received the ball, and easily laid it up for points.

Gan Guoyang fully demonstrated his dominance on both ends of the floor.

And he arranged the team’s offense in an orderly fashion.

Next, he blocked Price again on defense.

Price didn’t understand how he had offended Gan Guoyang. Why was he targeting his shots for blocks?

When Price sat down for a rest in the latter half of the first quarter, Kevin Johnson got the chance to come off the bench.

Johnson adjusted his shorts, took a deep breath, and entered the game.

This was the first time since the 1982 California high school basketball championship that he had faced Gan Guoyang in an official game.

The devil who had once done as he pleased in the California games was now rampaging across All-America.

Watching Gan Guoyang approach him, Kevin Johnson felt an inexplicable tension.

"Hi, Kevin, still want to score 40 points on me? I’ll give you a chance," Gan Guoyang said.

Johnson choked up a little. This vindictive guy actually remembered the rumors from high school.