The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 620 - 21 Section 3 The King_2

Petrović was as dejected leaving the court as he had been excited to get on it.

Aside from a mid-range shot, his performance at both ends of the floor was a disaster.

Especially as a guard, he couldn’t even manage to dribble past half-court to set up the offense.

Without a good first pass, the plays couldn’t unfold smoothly, and the Trail Blazers’ half-court offense was jerky and disjointed.

Sitting back on the bench, Beelman handed Petrović a towel, saying, "You played terribly, like a pile of stinking dog shit. Did you come to America to learn circus tricks? Some of your moves were so laughable, you have a real talent for the circus."

Beelman’s gesture with the towel was kind-hearted, but his words were ice-cold, piercing straight to Petrović’s pride.

He still took the towel and wiped off his sweat, saying, "I messed up, sorry Coach."

"I don’t want your apologies, you won’t get a chance in the first half. In the second half, at the very least, bring the ball past half-court smoothly for me. Think of a solution yourself."

Petrović nodded; he felt utterly miserable but still had to calm down and think about what went wrong.

His physical condition really wasn’t good, having trained too hard in the preseason camp, especially since he had previously undergone spine surgery.

Trying to keep up with Ah Gan’s pace by sheer willpower proved that it was a level of training intensity unique to Ah Gan, not suitable for others.

Look at Cliff-Robinson playing on the court now, grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring under the basket.

This kid knew his limits in the training camp, practiced until he was good and then stopped, chose to listen, watch, and learn more while sitting by the sideline, entering the regular season in a good state.

Being versatile, playing both forward and center, made him very convenient for the coach to use.

But Cliff-Robinson quickly also made a mistake at the defensive end that rookies often make: a needless foul.

It was Elliott again, driving down the middle, pulling up for a jump shot, and the referee called a foul on Robinson, giving the Spurs another free throw.

Tonight, after all, was the Spurs’ home court, and the referees’ whistles were somewhat biased towards the people of San Antonio.

Elliott hit both free throws again, keeping the Spurs close.

As the game became more intense and more deeply contested, both teams moved their pieces around, vying for an advantage before the end of the first half.

When Gan Guoyang came back in the second quarter, he still focused on protecting the boards and the three-second zone, creating more opportunities for his teammates on offense.

Generally speaking, the second quarter is the time when the bench players have a chance to shine and Gan Guoyang tried to facilitate for his teammates.

Cliff-Robinson was more adapted to the NBA environment than Petrović or Divac, he moved with ease on the court.

Of course, now that the season had just started, this young man was still full of energy. The real test for the rookies would come after 30 games, as they moved into January and February.

With the last two minutes of the second quarter remaining, the Trail Blazers were leading 54:49, just 5 points ahead of the Spurs.

From the middle of the second quarter, the Spurs began to take significantly more free throws, especially David Robinson. Unless guarded by Gan Guoyang, whenever he got a chance in the low post, it resulted in a foul and free throw.

Neither Divac nor Sabonis was able to respond adequately, Divac couldn’t help but complain, "Does his muscle pack have a sensor installed that’s connected with the referees’ whistles?"

Sabonis also felt that guarding Robinson was different in the NBA than in FIBA games.

Gan Guoyang reminded them, "This is the NBA; you have to get used to the rules and make good use of them."

In the last two minutes, it was Gan Guoyang guarding Robinson.

Perhaps because he was hyped, Robinson wanted to go one-on-one against Gan Guoyang in the low post.

But as soon as he turned, the ball was swiped from his hands, a steal for Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang himself pushed the ball up for a counter-attack, dribbling down the left side, driving left-handed into the paint.

After anticipating his opponent’s defense, he suddenly went for a same-hand, same-foot takeoff, swiftly making a left-handed layup to drop the ball into the basket.

This was a layup skill Gan Guoyang practiced in high school with Bernard King, effectively confusing the opponent’s step timing and anticipation.

With this combination of moves, even San Antonio’s fans were stunned for a good while, as Gan Guoyang executed defense and offense in one fluid motion.

His own counter-attack dribble was exceptionally smooth, devoid of the clumsiness typically seen in big men; his unexpected final layup successfully avoided the defensive interference and was effortlessly placed into the hoop.

Seeing that play, Petrović truly felt inferior. A center with such refined skills was something that many backcourt players couldn’t achieve with such coherence.

Not to mention, he had easily shut down Robinson’s offense—Robinson’s post play really lacked strength; his backside was too small, and when he received the ball, he didn’t establish position, he was merely facing away from the basket.

Therefore, Robinson’s post-up moves were a sham; turning to face the basket was merely for the ease of receiving the pass, and the subsequent offensive movements were all forward-facing techniques which Gan Guoyang could predict well.

The pre-game strategy made by Larry Brown was correct; do not post up against Gan Guoyang alone.

It was better to use Robinson’s height and athletic ability to occupy Gan Guoyang, set screens for his teammates, and create opportunities.

Or to finish plays under the basket, which was something Robinson did quite well, indeed proving to be a distraction.

Gan Guoyang had to be careful not to get dunked on out of the blue; after all, the guy was a 7-foot small forward.

The Spurs immediately changed their offensive tactic; with Robinson occupying Gan Guoyang, the ball was switched to the other side as Terry Cummings forcefully took Cliff-Robinson in the low post.

Cliff-Robinson couldn’t withstand Cummings, who took a solid back turn into the paint, scoring a bank shot while also drawing a foul from Cliff-Robinson.