The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 139 The Portland Know-It-All

The Blazers' overly smooth performance in the first quarter made them a little complacent, including Ramsey.

He used the second unit for too long at the start of the second quarter; he wanted to give the backcourt trio of Kersey Drexler and Cortés more playing time.

The Trail Blazers start with two white forwards and guards, but they lack toughness on the defensive end. Cort and Korsey are the reserve players that Ramsey is looking to develop.

Taking advantage of the Mavericks' reduced defensive intensity from their rotation players, substitutes Derrick Harper and Dale Ellis scored consecutively, gradually narrowing the gap from 23 points to less than 20 points, and then to 15 points.

Midway through the second quarter, when the score was 34-46 and the Mavericks were only 12 points behind the Trail Blazers, Ramsey finally remembered to bring his starters back into the game.

The starters rested on the bench for almost half a quarter, and their hot offensive performance in the first quarter cooled down. On the contrary, the Mavericks stabilized the situation and began to catch up.

Gan Guoyang returned to the court and scored 6 points in the first quarter. He focused his energy on the defensive end, using the defensive methods of a small forward and the strength of a center to defend Aguirre, which made Aguirre extremely uncomfortable.

In the second quarter, he saw Sam Bowie on the court, went over to greet him while inbounding the ball, and asked, "Sam, are you still shooting haphazardly like before?"

Bao Wei felt nervous when he saw Gan Guoyang talking to him, and his mind became even more chaotic when he heard what Gan Guoyang said.

Gan Guoyang isn't actually that sharp-tongued, but he's incredibly perceptive. He only played one game against Bowie, yet he saw through Bowie's major offensive weakness: his shots were too casual.

Bowie has a mid-range shooting ability. After his serious leg injury, in high-intensity games, besides receiving the ball and using his height to score under the basket, his main offensive means is mid-range and long-range shooting.

He is tall and has a long wingspan, making him difficult to interfere with when shooting. He has a certain accuracy in the mid-range, but his shot selection has always been criticized.

His release distance is too far, his release point is too low, and his trajectory is too straight. His mid-range shooting can only serve as a supplementary offensive tactic and cannot effectively damage the opponent.

It all comes down to that damn injury; a stress fracture in his leg robbed him of his explosiveness, rendering him virtually no threat in the low post.

In 1981, as a sophomore at Kentucky, he averaged 17 points per game. Just as his skills were improving, he was sidelined for two years due to injury, and by 1984, he was averaging only 10 points per game.

His twin towers combination with Melvin Tppin involved Tppin, who was 6'11", playing center on offense, while Bowie, who was 7'1", played power forward.

The Mavericks, having regained their composure, tried to have Bowie play in the low post to continue narrowing the score gap between the two teams.

Bovet positioned himself in the low post, Gan Guoyang held off him from behind, and Blackman passed the ball to him.

Gan Guoyang suddenly pulled back from behind, and Bao Wei, whose center of gravity was too high, stumbled and almost fell.

Gan Guoyang stepped forward half a body length and reached out to deflect the ball passed by Blackman, allowing the Trail Blazers to steal the ball.

Bao Wei was relieved that he had managed to stay on his feet and hadn't fallen flat on his backside. He hurriedly ran back to the back field to chase after Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang drove to the basket, positioning himself deep inside and holding off Bao Wei, who was a size bigger than him.

Thompson lobs the ball, Gan Guoyang catches it, turns with a scissor kick, uses his strong back to push past Bowie, and easily scores with a left-handed layup.

Although Bowie was taller and stronger, he couldn't gain any advantage in their confrontation.

He tried to jump to block but couldn't. When Gan Guoyang turned around, his right leg would firmly lock your leg, and then he would lean against you with his back. If you exert too much force when you go for a layup, it will be a foul.

The Mavericks didn't give up hope and passed the ball to Sam Bowie in the high post. Bowie took the ball, looked around, and found that Gan Guoyang was two steps away from him and didn't seem to be coming up to defend him.

"Throw a shot at Sam! You're capable of it, throw one!" Gan Guoyang was actually encouraging Bowie to take the shot.

Bowie hesitated. This was his shooting spot; he often took shots from here and his accuracy was pretty good.

However, he has been criticized a lot for these shots. Bowie really had no other choice; he didn't have any more reliable ways to score.

Remembering what Coach Dick Motta said on the bench, "You figure out how to deal with Forrest Gump," Bowie gritted his teeth and took a mid-range jump shot.

As soon as he made the shot, Powell regretted it. The ball was clearly too short. He wanted to rush in to grab the rebound, but Gan Guoyang had already blocked the middle and controlled the rebound that hit the front of the rim.

After passing the ball to Drexler, Gan Guoyang reminded Bao Wei: "Aim for a higher arc, then I won't even need to use my hands to defend you."

These words shattered Bowie's hopes of challenging Gan Guoyang on offense in tonight's game. He thought he would be lucky if he could limit Gan on defense.

Bowie's mindset is actually not wrong. Some stubborn guys insist on playing for themselves because they are competitive, which can actually do more harm to the team.

Bowie did provide a lot of help to the Mavericks on the defensive end. He protected the rebounds very well, and Gan Guoyang could not easily attack him.

His rim protection is also quite good; he averages 3 blocks per game since the start of the season, making him a very good protector of the paint.

The Trail Blazers' shooting touch was ice-cold; Vandeweghe, Paxson, and Gan Guoyang all missed their mid-range shots, likely due to a long rest. Bowie grabbed three defensive rebounds, providing ammunition for the Mavericks' fast breaks. The Mavericks scored two fast breaks, narrowing the gap to just 10 points.

Ramsey, who was kneeling on one knee on the sidelines, stood up and prepared to call a timeout, but Gan Guoyang gestured for him not to call a timeout and to continue playing the ball.

Ramsey withdrew his timeout signal, and Gan Guoyang executed a pick-and-roll with Valentine at the high post, quickly cutting to the basket to receive a pass from Valentine after the screen.

After driving into the paint, he faked a move that sent Bowie flying. The moment Bowie took flight, he knew in his heart that he was doomed: "It's over."

Gan Guoyang jumped and drove over Bao Wei to the basket, scoring two points and drawing a foul on Bao Wei, forcing him to take the free throw.

In those days, many players played quite straightforwardly, using fakes to dodge defenders and then attacking the basket directly.

Only a few cunning players will deliberately bump into each other to draw fouls and get free throws; Dantley is a typical example, and Aguirre, who is currently sitting on the bench, is one of them.

These types of players are generally strong and good at physical contact. They can still score goals even in collisions, draw fouls from opponents, and get extra free throws, achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop.

Dantley, a forward who is only 6 feet 4 inches tall, averaged 12 free throws per game in his peak season. He did so not because of referee favoritism, but because of his skill, physique and awareness.

Gan Guoyang played this way to stabilize the situation, give everyone a chance to breathe, and at the same time, to step to the free-throw line and find his shooting touch through free throws.

To counter Bowie, mid-range shooting is still essential.

Gan Guoyang stood at the free throw line, took a good moment to adjust, took a deep breath, and then released the shot, which went in smoothly.

A cheer erupted in the memorial stadium. Gan Guoyang clenched his fist at Ramsey on the sidelines, signaling to him to stay kneeling and not to stand up and wander around.

Ramsey sighed softly, wondering where this young man had accumulated so much competition experience and such a good sense of timing.

With that shot, the Mavericks' plan to narrow the gap to 10 points in the first half was basically ruined.

The Trail Blazers regained their footing, the Mavericks' offensive momentum waned, and Blackman's tough shot missed.

With the second quarter almost over, Aguirre was still sitting on the bench, and it seemed that Motta wasn't planning to let the chubby guy play.

Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound, executed a pick-and-roll with Cort in the half-court, cut to the right baseline, received a pass from Cort, and made a mid-range shot.

This is Gan Guoyang's dessert area; he's very accurate when he catches the ball and shoots from mid-range.

Bowie shook his head, completely at a loss, and reluctantly went to the baseline to serve, not daring to look at the agitated Dick Motta on the sidelines any longer.

Motta even asked Bowie to handle Forrest Gump; it would be a miracle if he didn't get killed by Forrest. The gap between the two is even wider than it was eight months ago.

At halftime, the score was 48-62 between the Mavericks and the Trail Blazers, with the Trail Blazers still leading the Mavericks by 14 points.

A 14-point deficit is not insurmountable; if the Mavericks unite and make adjustments, they have a chance to turn the game around.

However, during halftime, Aguirre and Motta had an even more intense conflict in the locker room.

Aguirre kicked open the locker room door and left the stadium, meaning he would not play in the second half.

Meanwhile, Motta, a champion coach who once served in the Air Force, kicked a locker door in the locker room so hard it dented.

Then he took out a hundred dollars from his pocket and threw it in front of the cabinet, calmed himself down, and continued to give the players instructions for the second half.

The Mavericks players were used to the arguments between Motta and Aguirre; they would always make up, work well together for a while, then argue again, and make up again...

However, the first major argument between the two sides came a little earlier than expected this season.

Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers' locker room was quite harmonious. Gan Guoyang was bragging to Ramsey: "I told you, with one left hand and one right hand, I could handle Aguirre and Bowie! Aguirre didn't play a minute in the second quarter, I think they must have had a fight, that's my doing. Nobody knows how to play two-on-one better than me!"

The conflict between Aguirre and Motta was built up over time. It began in 1981 when the Mavericks drafted Aguirre, and a love-hate relationship developed between a Utah veteran and a Chicago street hustler.

Gan Guoyang's annoying defense in the first quarter was the catalyst that triggered a major outbreak of conflict between the two. Of course, it's not necessarily a bad thing for the conflict to erupt early in the regular season.

Ramsey nodded in agreement and said, "That's right, from now on you are the Portland King of Know-It-All. Tell me how to play in the second half, and I'll give you the tactics board."

Gan Guoyang smiled and refused, "No, it'll cost extra."

(End of this chapter)