The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 618 - 20: Equally Matched

Gan Guoyang had threatened the sidelines with his barbaric dashes and iron elbows more than once.

Everyone was left wondering whether it was intentional or accidental, but getting hit invariably meant being stretchered off the court.

From players to bosses to coaches to referees, everyone had suffered; currently, except for the fans, Gan Guoyang had basically taken on every position and could be called the league’s most versatile player.

Of course, there were complaints that some of Gan Guoyang’s moves were too dangerous and seemed intentionally harmful.

However, due to insufficient evidence, and because Gan Guoyang always kept his actions within bounds to avoid serious injury, these issues were glossed over.

In fact, David Stern was clear about it, precisely because you never cause serious harm, it’s clear that this youngster is doing it on purpose.

But since Gan Guoyang was incredibly popular, just like fights, whenever such incidents occurred, the media would extensively cover them.

Anyway, since no one was injured or died, everyone laughed it off; people treated it as adding to the NBA’s attention and traffic.

It was via this tacit understanding and unspoken rules that Gan Guoyang skirted the edges of morality, law, and regulations, leaving league players and coaches in trepidation.

Tonight’s rush had a sideline reporter promptly snapping a photo where Gan Guoyang and Larry-Brown were in a close confrontation, Gan Guoyang, like The Immortal of Colossal Spirit, charging at Brown, who had turned pale and was slightly backing away, with the bench players scrambling in the background.

This photo alone could guarantee substantial newspaper sales for a week and likely become the cover image for next season’s Sports Illustrated.

The Spurs had the offense, with Robinson setting a screen on the edge of the Three Second Zone, blocking Gan Guoyang and allowing Elliott to drive to the basket for a layup.

Then, Hornacek drove down the middle, passed to Kossie cutting to the basket, Kossie went up for a layup and got fouled, heading to the free throw line.

The first several minutes of play involved few post moves, instead featuring an abundance of drives, cuts, entries, passes, and screens.

This marked a significant difference in gameplay from the early to mid-1980s as the NBA headed into the 1990s.

In the early to mid-1980s, teams typically started their offense by going to their low post players.

Once the low post was established, perimeter players would look for opportunities through ball movement.

Moreover, many perimeter players possessed strong post-up abilities.

Especially some small forwards like Worthy, Mark Aguirre, and Dantley whose back-to-basket skills were on par with many centers.

Now, the league’s new small forwards like Elliott and Kossie didn’t play like their predecessors.

They were taller, stronger, faster, and more ferocious, adopting a more aggressive playing style.

The pace of the game increased as the first quarter progressed, with the Spurs initially trying to set a tone for the game with robust defense to contain the Trail Blazers’ offense.

But the Trail Blazers’ half-court offense was slick, with quick ball movement and frequent screens, and every player had the ability to attack on their own.

As the game deepened, the Spurs’ defensive focus gradually slipped, and intensity waned, unconsciously getting drawn into a shooting match with the Trail Blazers.

Players could feel it on the court; playing set offense was indeed challenging, as the Trail Blazers’ defense tightened.

After being blocked by Robinson once, Gan Guoyang learned his lesson and paid attention to his positioning, building a solid ’no-fly zone’ within the Three Second Zone.

The corner opportunities went to the Spurs, but whether it was corner three-pointers or mid-range shots, their accuracy was low, not to mention offensive rebounds.

In the last game, David Robinson grabbed 17 rebounds over the Lakers, with 7 of those being offensive rebounds.

Whenever he secured an offensive rebound, the Lakers could only foul, sending Robinson to the free throw line 14 times, disrupting their interior defense.

This game, facing Gan Guoyang, Robinson found it extremely difficult to get offensive rebounds, having to rely on luck.

As the first quarter neared its end, the game became increasingly chaotic, with the Trail Blazers extending the lead to 8 points.

The Spurs quickened their offensive pace in an attempt to sneak points, desperately needing to score.

After losing points, Willie Anderson suddenly launched a long pass from a great distance to the frontcourt, Cheeks caught the ball, evaded the defense, and scored a layup.

Following that, Gan Guoyang missed a mid-range shot, and David Robinson immediately fast broke, with Cheeks and Elliott making quick passes; the ball went under the basket, and Robinson caught it and dunked with both hands!

20:16, the Spurs narrowed the score to 4 points.

Bobby Berman called a timeout, not because the Trail Blazers were having trouble, but to make substitutions.

Although the contest was extremely intense and players occasionally fell to the ground, the referees were quite lenient with their whistles.

Beelman substituted Sabonis for Thompson and Mike-Sanders for Hornacek.

This was a larger, tougher lineup, and it freed Gan Guoyang from the center position.

In recent years, Gan Guoyang’s responsibilities at the center position had become increasingly heavy, particularly last season, almost to the point where he had to handle everything.

Not only the obvious offensive and defensive duties, but also the behind-the-scenes screening, coordinating, and receiving passes required Gan Guoyang to step up.

Like tonight, when the Spurs repeatedly executed full-court tight presses against the Trail Blazers’ backcourt, Gan Guoyang had to run near the midline to facilitate his team’s offense.

In some extreme cases during playoffs, Gan Guoyang even had to dribble past half-court himself, directing the team’s offense.

This was the price the Trail Blazers paid for being without Drexler, Guoyang did well, but the team couldn’t just watch their core struggle.

Sabonis and Sanders were able to take a lot of the messy, piecemeal work off Guoyang’s shoulders, allowing him to concentrate his efforts on key plays.

As soon as Sabonis entered the game, the TV cameras began to focus incessantly on this Soviet giant, and a small amount of booing arose from the crowd.

American fans were still bitter about losing the Olympic gold medal in 1988.

On the Spurs side, Larry-Brown substituted Vernon Maxwell to boost their perimeter fire power.

As for guarding Guoyang, that task was assigned to the forward Terry Cummings.

Cummings’ defense was outstanding. Since being traded from the Bucks to the Spurs, Larry-Brown was very pleased with him.

In the season opener, he scored 22 points with 13 rebounds, proving to be a great partner for David Robinson in the paint.

He was more than capable of handling most power forwards in the League.

But Guoyang was not your average power forward; he was too strong.

After the timeout, Guoyang ran to the left baseline to receive the ball.

That was his favorite spot because being near the sideline meant he could avoid double-teams.

Theoretically, the baseline is a dead end for ball-handlers.

The presence of the sideline greatly limits your space to maneuver.

The sideline acts as a natural defender, prompting many teams to push offenders towards it to force turnovers.

But the sideline is also impartial, being a natural defender and a powerful screen; no one can trap from this side—there might be some space to do so under the three-second zone, but between the three-second zone and the three-point line, you only have referees and photographers.

Guoyang received the ball facing Cummings, made a probing step, and immediately shot from mid-range, scoring.

A stable two points.

Then Sabonis blocked Maxwell’s layup attempt under the basket.

The Trail Blazers didn’t counterattack; Guoyang still circled to the baseline to receive the ball.

Another probing step, this time Cummings moved, and Guoyang squeezed through the gap along the baseline.

He drove into the paint, facing defensive help by David Robinson, jumped up, and dunked powerfully over Robinson’s left hand!

The referee blew the whistle, calling a defensive foul on David Robinson, counting the score and adding a free throw.

Robinson looked helpless, Guoyang patted Robinson and said, "Don’t guard those types of shots in the future, you’ll just foul and give away points."

Robinson didn’t know whether to take that piece of advice; if he really didn’t guard, Larry-Brown would surely scold him after the game.

The free throw was good; Guoyang scored 5 consecutive points, widening the gap back to 9 points, maintaining the Trail Blazers’ pressure on the Spurs.

This time it was Larry-Brown’s turn to call for a timeout. Guoyang had already scored 10 points in the first quarter; he was unstoppable.

Larry-Brown knew he needed to focus on team effort, exploiting the Trail Blazers’ weaknesses on the outside.

He substituted David-Wingate for Cheeks, using a taller backcourt lineup to continue pressing the Trail Blazers’ backcourt.

Wingate, standing 6 feet and 5 inches tall, could play both guard and small forward.

After the pause, Wingate took the ball on the wing, drove past Sanders with his speed, and cut toward the basket.

Sabonis came to help, and Wingate cleverly passed to Robinson.

Robinson took a step and fiercely dunked with his left hand!

Like the Trail Blazers, the Spurs’ offense was simple and straightforward, devoid of overly complex passes.

Drive, rip through the defense, pass, direct attack at the basket.

Their passes were extremely aggressive, without any unnecessary ball rotation or pointless passing.

From this perspective, Larry-Brown’s coaching was on point; the Spurs were no longer the pushovers of last season.

The first quarter ended with the Trail Blazers leading the Spurs by 6 points, 33:27.

During the break, Bobby-Berman patted Petrović, signaling him to get ready to go on.

Petrović immediately sprang from the bench; having watched the whole first quarter and seen Sabonis fighting hard on the court, he was more than eager to perform.

However, reality was harsh; in the second quarter, Guoyang and Sabonis rested, and on the Spurs side, David Robinson, who had rested at the end of the first quarter, was already back on the court.

In Petrović’s first offensive possession after coming on, he attempted a stop-and-jump shot from the middle but was met with a block from David Robinson.

The block was solid, leaving Petrović dazed, not even knowing where the ball had flown off to.