The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 117 Teaching Me to Play Ball
After going through training camp, preseason games, and Dr. Ogilvy's psychological test, Ramsey's attitude towards Gan Guoyang has completely changed.

This is related to Gan Guoyang's performance on the court, and also because after the preseason game against the Clippers, he had the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart talk with Bill Walton.

Because the Trail Blazers reformed their medical team and published an apology to Walton in the newspaper, the proud Walton gradually calmed down his anger, after all, he hadn't had a good time with the Clippers in the past few years either.

After leaving the Trail Blazers, Walton never spoke to Ramsey, and the two barely communicated.

Walton resented Ramsey's coaching strategy at the time, as he was too eager to win and disregarded the players' health, leading to a series of subsequent collapses.

Ramsey also believes that Walton is not a responsible player. He was already plagued by injuries in college, and after coming to Portland, he also liked to climb mountains, go cross-country, attend various gatherings, and was obsessed with rock music and the band Grateful to the Death. All of these things would cause him to lose focus on basketball and damage his already fragile body.

They once worked together seamlessly to the fullest, creating a spectacular championship miracle in NBA history and etching the term "Trail Blazers Fever" into the annals of history.

But precisely because of this, the damage caused by the break is all the more profound, as difficult to heal as a rift valley.

Gan Guoyang's appearance became a bridge. Although the two did not talk much after the game, they only exchanged a few words on the sidelines.

This breakthrough was enough to make Ramsey, who had been hurt by this incident and this relationship, feel much better. The stagnation and festering sores in his heart were removed, and he was slowly recovering.

After the timeout ended, Gan Guoyang returned to the court looking very confident.

After playing a few preseason games, Gan Guoyang felt that the NBA in the 80s was just like that.

In terms of intensity, it can't compare to the NCAA National Tournament. When playing in the National Tournament, Gan Guoyang fought for every ball and didn't let up for a single second.

He felt he still had energy left to play in the NBA. Even when he was running back and forth behind his teammates, he felt relaxed. The wind in the arena felt quite comfortable on his face.

The team's offensive tactics are truly diverse. Jack Ramsey can teach everyone something new almost every day. In his words, many basketball offensive tactics had already emerged and been perfected in the 1920s, and many tactics now are just modifications based on the past.

Today's coaches no longer pursue specific routines, but rather integrate these routines with a set of basketball philosophies to form a complete system.

John Wooden is the undisputed master of this, having done so in the 60s and propelling UCLA to the pinnacle of college basketball.

Ramsey may not have the height of Wooden, but he is definitely a master of offense, constantly directing players to move, shoot, and run from the sidelines.

But if we set aside offense and talk about defense, the NBA becomes much more monotonous, with one-on-one man-to-man defense seemingly limiting the coaches' imagination.

Aside from tight defense and double-teaming the ball handler, the league doesn't have many tricks up its sleeve when it comes to defensive tactics.

To improve a team's defense, the key factors are the players' individual abilities, defensive effort, and morale.

In the contest between the spear and the shield, the spear is stronger than the shield at this moment, which explains why the Nuggets and Pistons were able to score 370 points.

Gan Guoyang was very dissatisfied with the loose, instinctive defense in the NBA. As a rim protector in the three-second zone, he hated the feeling of being scored on repeatedly.

When Mitchell Thompson returned to the court, Gan Guoyang pushed him to move to a more outward position when he was standing too far inside.

Mitchell tried to run in that direction as much as possible without breaking away from his defender. Although he was unhappy, there was nothing he could do. In defense, everyone had to listen to Gan Guoyang's instructions.

Sure enough, Eddie Johnson tried to drive from the wing, but Mitchell came over in time to close the gap and disrupt Johnson's drive and shot.

Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound in the backcourt. Vandeweghe had almost disappeared from sight. Gan Guoyang made a long pass to the frontcourt, where Vandeweghe received the ball and made a jump shot.

After scoring, Gan Guoyang looked at LaSalle Thompson and asked, "Why didn't you interfere with me?"

"what?"

"I'm asking you, why didn't you interfere with me when you missed the rebound?"

Lassalle was stumped by the question: Why would I want to interfere with you? How would I interfere with you?
"If you don't interfere with me, I can easily make a long pass and start a fast break. If you interfere with me and try to steal the ball, I'll have to pass it to the point guard and play a half-court game."

Lassalle understands, you're teaching me how to play?

"Mind your own business, why are you trying to teach me defense?" Larsa Thompson, nicknamed "Tank," was very unhappy. He had been dominating the league for a long time.

Although he's not a star player, he's not afraid of those big-name centers.

A rookie center is lecturing himself.

But despite saying that, Larsson was a little flustered inside, because he knew a player's ability, especially in the paint, after a few rounds of matchup.

The first time the two sides fought for a rebound under the basket, Larsson knew that this renowned Chinese-American kid was no joke; his positioning was like a giant rock, unyielding even to a tank.

Moreover, he not only has good positioning, but also moves very flexibly, unlike some big centers who stand still, looking up and relying on their height and wingspan to wait for rebounds.

Kansas' offense ran into some trouble, eventually forcing Reggie Thurs to take a long-range shot from beyond the arc, which was obviously a miss from the moment it was released.

Gan Guoyang judged the landing point, ran to the vicinity of the free throw line, and grabbed the rebound in front of two Kansas City Kings perimeter players.

In normal circumstances, the ball would bounce to the outside player's hands, creating a second chance for the offense.

Gan Guoyang controlled possession of the ball by anticipating its landing point.

Lassalle just said he didn't need your teaching, but this time he came over to interfere and steal the ball.

Gan Guoyang protected the ball and passed it to Valentine, while praising Lasar: "You learn quickly, you're a promising young man."

Just after he finished speaking, Gan Guoyang suddenly accelerated and sprinted towards the frontcourt, cutting straight to the basket from the middle. Jim Paxson on the perimeter made a perfect pass to the basket.

Gan Guoyang received the ball and slammed it home with a left-handed dunk. This dunk instantly enlivened the somewhat dull stadium. Dunks are always a fan favorite, no matter who does it.

Gan Guoyang has always been excellent at dunking in actual games. Scoring his first point in the NBA with a dunk is very memorable.

During the defensive transition, Gan Guoyang told Larsson, "Second lesson in defense: if you interfere with the opponent's center, remember to get back on defense immediately, or you'll get chased down."

After two rounds of back and forth, Lasalle felt his emotions falter slightly.

He tried his best to keep a straight face and focus his attention on the game.

No wonder before the game, rookie Audis Thorpe said, "Watch out for that guy Gan, it'll be tough playing against him."

These were Thorpe's heartfelt words. They had attended training camp together at Indiana University and faced off against each other on the court quite a bit.

The Trail Blazers extended their lead to 7 points with a fast break. Seeing that the Trail Blazers' interior defense was too tough to handle, the Kansas City Kings turned their attention to exploiting the weaker perimeter players.

Eddie Johnson repeatedly scored against Vandeweghe in isolation plays, using his accurate jump shot to help the Kings recover some points.

Eddie Johnson is a forward with a very accurate jump shot. His offense relies heavily on his shooting. His signature move is to dribble, accelerate, and then pull up for a jump shot.

There are two bottom edges on the front that form his sweet spot. Breakthroughs are not his strong suit; most of his offense comes from shooting, and he is quite confident in his long-range shooting.

Like many forwards with poor defense, Vandeweghe's biggest problem is his slow footwork, which makes it impossible for him to keep up with Johnson's first step.

After being outmaneuvered in the first step, Johnson stopped trying to penetrate the defense. Thompson and Gan Guoyang were difficult to attack inside, so he took a jump shot. He was in great form tonight, making 4 of 5 shots in the first quarter.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was 30-26, with the Trail Blazers leading the Kings by 4 points.

Gan Guoyang scored 2 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and had 1 block before being substituted off the court with 2 minutes left in the first quarter.

Sitting on the bench, Gan Guoyang, who hadn't broken a sweat, looked at the dimly lit arena, the bald-headed stands, and the loose defense, and thought to himself, "This is the NBA, for crying out loud."

(End of this chapter)