The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 521 - 24: Reprieve from Death Sentence

"My start wasn’t very good,"

Gan Guoyang said to Beelman during the break between the first and second quarters.

Beelman glanced at the technical statistics and sometimes really wanted to slap his proud disciple.

Seventeen points in a single quarter, fouling out four of the five starting Bulls players—you say your form is off?

Gan Guoyang continued, "I missed two mid-range shots, didn’t make any threes, and even missed a free throw!"

Beelman said, "Sonny, it’s perfectly normal not to have a 100% shooting percentage in a basketball game. It’s not your first day playing."

"I know, but during those shots earlier, I wanted to adjust my offensive methods to deal with the Bulls’ defense. I was off and didn’t make them."

"The Bulls’ defense has already forced you to take jump shots?"

"No, no, no, Bobby, it’s not a matter of being forced, don’t use such an inappropriate word. I was adjusting proactively, though their defense was somewhat interesting."

During the break in the action, Gan Guoyang and Beelman discussed the Bulls’ defense.

"In 1985, when I played in the playoffs against the Mavericks, their defense gave me the biggest headache. Sam Bowie and another player double-teamed me. The teammate going for the double-team would try to poke the ball from me vigorously, disrupting me, whereas Sam Bowie would divide his attention. After I passed the ball, he would help out."

"I know, I studied that series on tape. You broke through with your shooting," Beelman replied.

"Right, being able to force me into shooting is already a success."

"The Bulls are doing just that. Which player is it again?"

"Number 33. When he comes off the bench, he starts double-teaming me. He’s going all out, while Corzine just nudges me a bit—if I pass the ball, he’s off to help defense."

Gan Guoyang pointed to Bulls’ number 33, the substitute small forward still playing on the court, Scottie Pippen.

The young Pippen, still sporting a goatee, caused some trouble for Gan Guoyang.

After he entered the game, his double-teaming was very timely and aggressive, with quick, strong, and accurate moves, giving it everything he had.

For any player, dealing with a two-on-one situation is not easy, especially when one of the defenders is an actively stealing forward.

They often possess both height and agility, making double-teaming quite uncomfortable for the one holding the ball.

Salley from the Pistons and McDaniel from the Supersonics both played such roles.

They were the kind of players Gan Guoyang had to pay special attention to on offense.

Conversely, Gan Guoyang didn’t particularly care about the centers and power forwards who defended him one-on-one, back to the basket.

Whether you’re Jabbar, Olajuwon, Ewing, or some other center, Gan Guoyang wasn’t overly concerned.

He simply needed to switch up his offensive tactics—relying purely on strength or adding a bit of skill, facing the basket or playing with his back to it, opting for a spin jump shot or a hook. There was always something that suited you.

However, when facing small forwards like Salley and McDaniel who excelled in help defense and double-teaming, Gan Guoyang had to get creative.

In the first quarter, Gan Guoyang tried to solve the problem with his shooting, but as he stated, his shooting form was off tonight; he missed free throws and three-point shots, not quite finding his rhythm.

In ’85 against the Mavericks, during the playoffs, Gan Guoyang broke through by accumulating fouls and grittily improving his touch, then threw caution to the wind and shot the Mavericks to death.

In the regular season, it wasn’t possible to play like that every game; he needed to use more brains and technique.

"Sonny, you’re not telling me you have to rack your brains over a rookie’s double-teaming?"

Bobby Beelman teased Gan Guoyang on purpose.

Gan Guoyang replied disdainfully, "Of course not. You don’t understand. You don’t look at things dynamically or for the long term."

"For heaven’s sake, long-term perspective. You might as well run for president," Beelman scoffed.

Gan Guoyang obviously couldn’t explain to Beelman that Pippen would grow into a robust defender.

In fact, not just Pippen—starting from the 1987-1988 season going forward, there would be more and more strong forwards in the league.

Under Gan Guoyang’s influence, forwards and centers would begin working out frantically, making themselves stronger.

This to some extent led to the Celtics’ decline.

Because when Larry Bird faced increasingly strong and fast forwards, his dominance was not what it had been in the early ’80s.

Gan Guoyang would face the same issue in the future.

He wasn’t concerned about big centers’ defense, but those quick, tall, and physically strong forwards would pose a significant problem for the interior players.

In this regard, Gan Guoyang was preparing for a rainy day.

He wouldn’t bask in current success but would constantly look ahead, keeping up with, or even leading, the evolution of the basketball era. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Four minutes into the second quarter, the point difference between the two teams remained at ten.

Gan Guoyang went back into the fray, with Pippen still on the court.

Collins thought he did a good job on the defensive end tonight, so he let him play a bit longer,

Pippen had no idea that his two relatively successful double-team defenses had caught Ah Gan’s attention.

At this moment, he had only one thing on his mind, "My back hurts like hell."

Two months into the season, it was torturous for rookie players.

The first 30 games had nearly drained all the energy they had stored, and each subsequent one felt like they were walking corpses.

Except for a few monsters, even excellent high draft picks like Miller and Pippen began to endure rather than enjoy the games.

Pippen started having back pain during this time, and he didn’t know why. Driving would cause unbearable pain in his back, forcing him to stop and take a breath.

The team doctors examined him and said it was just muscle spasms; a massage or some rest would do.

Pippen wanted to curse. "Damn it, I could take a rest if I weren’t always training or playing; where can I find the time?"

So he had to see a doctor on his own and then take painkillers to persist in playing the games.

By the late 1980s, many teams still didn’t take injuries seriously, especially for rookies.

Young rookies, well, they were treated like cattle and horses.

The Trail Blazers, having learned a hard lesson, were rather pioneering in that regard.

Before he went on the court, Phil Jackson specifically instructed Pippen to double-team Gan Guoyang more.

"Don’t be afraid, be aggressive in your defense, harass him, make it difficult for him,"

Jackson deliberately added "don’t be afraid," given that in the previous game, Gan Guoyang had made Reggie Miller bleed with his elbow.

In this regard, Pippen wasn’t cowardly; he knew about Ah Gan’s fierce reputation,

But he had also studied Ah Gan, and he said to Jackson, "Haven’t you noticed that unless you provoke Ah Gan first, he won’t hurt people? He’s not like those Pistons. I’ll just focus on good defense, I won’t be afraid."

Pippen turned in a decent performance.

However, by the second quarter, Pippen’s physical condition declined and the pain in his back made his movements sluggish.

After Gan Guoyang reentered the game, he began to deal with the Bulls’ double-teams using more agile positioning and receiving.

He started moving actively and performing pick and rolls with his teammates, facilitating from the high post, and then quickly moving to the low post to ask for the ball.

His positioning became more flexible, instead of just rigidly standing inside.

At the same time, Hornacek and Dell Curry spread out fully and shot threes from the perimeter,

The larger space and more fluid movement made double-teaming difficult.

Gan Guoyang continuously received the ball and made successful shots, twice assisting his teammates in hitting threes,

The young Pippen, however, kept making mistakes; first, he committed a foul on defense which led to free throws, then he took a haphazard shot on offense, which Gan Guoyang rebounded for a fast break.

The Trail Blazers mounted a 13:5 scoring surge, further widening the gap.

Gan Guoyang completely controlled the pace of the game, like a field commander arranging the team’s offense and defense perfectly.

At that point, Jordan knew something was not right; he had to take over the game himself.

Three years had passed; how could the gap between the two teams still be so wide after three years?

Not only did Jordan want to take charge of the game, but Collins himself couldn’t tolerate the team’s fatigue,

During a timeout, he directly told everyone: "Get the ball to Michael, let Michael solve the problem!"

Collins was just that direct, and his dependency on Jordan grew deeper,

Phil Jackson didn’t agree with Collins’s approach; he believed that now was the time to strengthen the defense and contain Ah Gan. Being 17 points behind was still salvageable,

If they keep giving the ball to Jordan, it’ll just end with high points for Jordan and another defeat for the Bulls.

In terms of scoring, Ah Gan was not afraid of Jordan, since both of them were masters of scoring on the same level.

The real difference between them lay in their control and understanding of the game, and how they commanded their teammates,

"Not only does Michael lack precision in judging players, but his usage and command of teammates also fall short,"

Jackson thought to himself, noting the gap in basketball IQ,

Jordan’s basketball intelligence was used only for himself, while Ah Gan’s covered all dimensions.

Before the first half of the game was even over, Jackson had essentially granted the Bulls a stay of execution,

With tonight’s performance, they just couldn’t compete.