The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 535 - 38 Deadline

Upon hearing Dick Motta’s suggestion, Barkley finally understood why, back in Dallas, Aguirre was always fighting with Motta.

"You old man, are you trying to get me killed? Whether it’s offense or defense, one-on-one against Ah Gan, I, Charles Barkley, am at a complete disadvantage."

It’s only when avoiding Ah Gan that by using fast breaks, perimeter shooting, and offensive rebounds, Barkley can gain some advantage.

That’s still on offense, letting Barkley guard Gan Guoyang, an occasional help defense is manageable, and with some luck, he might even sneak in a block.

But one-on-one defense, or playing solo at mid-range, Barkley knew he would just be giving away points.

The two had a significant height difference, and even the strength Barkley prided himself on wasn’t superior; he definitely couldn’t defend.

Luckily, Dick Motta was only the Bullets’ assistant coach with the power to suggest, not to decide.

The head coach was Wes Unseld, who rejected the old coach’s suggestion, instructing Barkley to focus on help defense and control the defensive rebounds, rather than engaging in self-destructive behavior.

Unseld asked Motta, "Dick, have you lost your mind, thinking up another bad idea, suggesting Charles guard Ah Gan? That’s just giving away points."

Dick Motta said, "Defense isn’t just about physicality and technique, but also about determination and momentum! If you shy away from the opponent’s core player due to physical and skill deficiencies and don’t bravely confront them, you can’t win the game! Have you forgotten about your matchup with Jabbar?"

In 1971, young Unseld led the Bullets to the finals, where they encountered the Milwaukee Bucks and Jabbar—back then he was known as Alcindor.

Throughout the series, Unseld was on defense against Jabbar, who scored an average of 27 points and 18 rebounds on 60% shooting, and Unseld got thoroughly outplayed.

With Jabbar’s height and arm length, Unseld could only look up and see his armpits when Jabbar played the Sky Hook.

Unseld sighed, thinking to himself that the old man hit precisely where it hurts.

I’m guarding Jabbar in the finals, when reaching out I couldn’t even touch his head; I defend, I defend jack shit!

Unseld was indeed a well-known victim in the finals; four times he reached the finals, twice he got completely outplayed, and once was swept by the gentlemen. The only time he won was a Game 7.

A tough win, a clean loss.

So Unseld knew very well that sometimes, talent is just insurmountable.

Jabbar’s 7 feet 2 inches in height, extraordinary wingspan, and hook shot, if you can’t defend it, you just can’t.

You can only consider from the overall team perspective how to limit him, defeat the team he’s on, rather than completely shutting down the player.

Ah Gan was no different, though not exceptional in height, he had a long wingspan and extraordinary strength.

Unseld suspected that even he at his peak would have had trouble holding his ground in the low post.

Barkley was also a talent, but he really fell short on defense, the hardware just isn’t there.

Therefore, in the fourth quarter, Unseld did not heed the advice of the old coach Dick Motta and did not let Barkley go one-on-one with Gan Guoyang.

The mentor and pupil had different understandings of the game.

But the result seemed no different.

If you don’t let Barkley defend, others can’t guard him either.

By the fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang was starting to feel his shot and offense come back.

All of Rick Mahorn’s pulled chairs, Moses Malone’s three-quarter fronts, Manute Bol’s towering height, Bogues’s steals from underneath, Gan Guoyang had experienced them all, yet he still found his offensive rhythm.

He combined his drives and mid-range shots, initiating the offense at a 45-degree angle, sticking to those two moves.

If you get close, he drives directly; if you back off, he shoots; if double-teamed, he passes—simple and clear.

The Bullets’ defense was intense, but lacked layers, and the disturbance from the perimeter was too little.

Gan Guoyang scored 11 points in a row in the fourth, leading the Trail Blazers to a 14:4 scoring wave and pulling away with the lead.

Gan Guoyang had already racked up 32 points, securing a lead for the Trail Blazers.

When the plan to keep Gan Guoyang below 30 points failed and they saw him continuously scoring, Unseld and the Bullets players knew that the strangling battle had also been lost.

Charles Barkley, throughout the fourth quarter, faced Gan Guoyang’s intense defense. He could only assist his teammates in scoring through passing, as his own offense completely fizzled out.

And Bernard King, with thick bandages wrapped around his knee, was no longer the scoring champion he had been in New York. Otherwise, he would have certainly attacked the Trail Blazers with his scoring in the fourth quarter.

As for Jeff Malone, his mid-range shooting was very accurate, but his defense was quite poor, and he contributed almost nothing apart from scoring.

Under his defense, Drexler hit 9 out of 13 shots to score 22 points.

In the end, the Trail Blazers defeated the Bullets at the Capital Gymnasium with a score of 91:85, a 6-point advantage, securing their first victory after the All-Star game.

Gan Guoyang showcased his powerful dominance on the court with 32 points, 18 rebounds, and 6 blocks throughout the game.

Of course, tonight his shooting percentage was suppressed to 51% by the Bullets, which was quite low for him.

After the game, Bernard King and Charles Barkley went to the visiting team’s locker room to greet Gan Guoyang.

"If you had come before the game, I might have taken it easy during the match. What’s the use of coming now? We’ve finished our games for this year. See you next season," Gan Guoyang joked.

"Who said that? Our goal is the finals. Don’t you plan to play in the finals anymore?" Barkley said.

"Damn, now everyone’s saying they’re going to the finals. Is the finals some kind of prostitute, something you can hop on whenever you want?"

Gan Guoyang knew the Bullets were strong, but they indeed had defensive issues.

They needed further drilling to make their defense tougher and more systematic.

Especially Charles Barkley, as the core of the team, if he couldn’t make a significant contribution on defense, it would be tough to reach the finals.

Even Bird, although he might get beaten one-on-one defensively, was good at protecting the backcourt rebounds, as well as helping in defense and blocking shots.

The Bullets, on the other hand, had the appearance of a defensive team but lacked defensive talent and toughness.

Jeff Malone, Bernard King, and Steve Colter were all not known for their defense.

The only real defensive abilities on the team were from the big men inside, Moses Malone and Rick Mahorn.

For the outside players, it was already good if they didn’t leak points, never mind being a solid barrier.

The Bullets’ defense depended on slowing down the tempo and relying on intensity, lacking in detailed variations.

Once Gan Guoyang found his rhythm, a simple combination of mid-range shots and drives left the Bullets defense in the fourth quarter scrambling and the players didn’t know what to do.

This meat grinder wasn’t grinding the meat finely enough; they needed more adjustment, or perhaps a true defensive specialist.

Gan Guoyang didn’t pay too much attention to the Bullets; it was just another tough grapple, all too common in the NBA of the 80s and 90s.

After bidding farewell to Barkley and King, Gan Guoyang and the team returned to Portland to continue their regular season journey.

In the following games, Gan Guoyang continued to put up high scores, scoring 38, 41, and 45 points against old rivals such as the Supersonics, Suns, and Clippers.

On February 18th, in the home game against the Golden State Warriors, Gan Guoyang exploded for 55 points—every time Gan played the Warriors, he always scored high.

Joe Barry Carroll suffered again, becoming Gan Guoyang’s target.

Gan didn’t just score high; he also delivered 8 blocks in the game, leaving the Warriors players disoriented.

Adelman shook his head on the sidelines, but there wasn’t much he could do; he knew once Gan Guoyang got in the zone, no one could stop him.

With Gan Guoyang’s strong performance, the Trail Blazers achieved a five-game winning streak, and Gan was awarded the League’s Player of the Week due to his outstanding stats and performance.

However, even with such a dominant performance, the Trail Blazers were still overshadowed by the Los Angeles Lakers in the standings.

On the trade deadline day at the end of February, the Trail Blazers headed to Los Angeles to challenge the Lakers, marking the fourth matchup of the season between the two teams.

The Trail Blazers had lost all three previous games, including a crushing defeat at the beginning of the season.

Just before departure, the radio announced a trade:

Right before the trade deadline, the Washington Bullets and the Milwaukee Bucks completed an exchange.

The Bullets sent Jeff Malone and a draft pick to the Bucks in exchange for Sidney Moncrief.