The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 150 Gambling
The Trail Blazers and Bulls were tied at halftime with the score at 68-59, with the Trail Blazers leading by 9 points.

Gan Guoyang scored 20 points in the first half, but he didn't seem to exert himself on offense.

He only scored consecutive points in singles at the start of the game, after which his offense became more "random".

A lot of teamwork with teammates, shots integrated into the tactical system, and of course, points scored in fast breaks.

Gan Guoyang devoted most of his mental energy and attention to the defensive end, just as Ramsey said, he went to fill in any gaps in the defense.

The team has an offensive surplus, with many strong scorers on the Trail Blazers, but Gan Guoyang needs to contribute more on defense.

He went through three chewing gums in the first half, and in the second quarter, he saw Jordan also start chewing gum, and the battle between the two became intense.

In a typical regular season, the process is just a formality and it's over. But in crucial games, the amount of energy players put in is completely different.

During halftime, Drexler's expression was even worse than the locker room atmosphere for the Trail Blazers.

He played terribly in the first half when he was matched up against Jordan, committing two turnovers and two fouls, scoring only 2 points.

If he stays calm and plays normally as usual, his performance won't be bad; the Bulls' second unit doesn't have much pressure.

But Drexler was burdened by the pre-game hype; he was too eager to jump out and compete with Jordan, especially since some people had compared him to Jordan before.

During halftime, Ramsey did not criticize Drexler, but instead comforted him, saying, "Play smarter, Clyde, and calm down."

If it were last season, Ramsey would definitely have started yelling, and Drexler would have been severely criticized. Ramsey has indeed changed a lot now.

In contrast, Paxson's performance was quite normal. Facing Jordan and the Bulls' perimeter players, he made normal cuts, moved around without holding onto the ball, had opportunities to shoot, but no opportunities to pass.

He scored the second-highest number of points on the team with 13 in the first half, making him an important offensive weapon for the team. Combined with the outside scoring provided by Vandeweghe, this allowed the Trail Blazers to maintain their lead.

In the locker room, Ramsey emphasized to the players that they should reduce their outside shooting in the second half and increase their attacks on the inside, as the Bulls' interior defense is a weak point.

If, in the third quarter, a drop in shooting touch due to fatigue or form leads to missed shots, there is a risk of the Bulls launching a counterattack.

Ramsey was very insightful; he could sense that the players were expending a tremendous amount of energy.

This is the last game of the away trip. After a long journey and consecutive away games, the players' physical condition has reached a critical point.

The Trail Blazers players were highly focused for half the game and performed well, but they were actually very exhausted.

Even so, they are only leading by 9 points. If the situation changes, they could collapse in an instant.

Bulls head coach Raheem Lauhri made the same assessment. In the home locker room, Lauhri encouraged his players: "In the second half, we will tighten our defense and increase our defensive intensity. The Portlanders started to show signs of fatigue in the latter part of the second quarter. A nine-point difference is not a big one. The third quarter will be our chance to turn the tide."

While encouraging his players, Rahee devised a basic defensive strategy for the second half: to collapse the paint and give the Trail Blazers opportunities to shoot from the outside.

He bet the Trail Blazers wouldn't be able to hit their outside shots in the second half, and as for offense, he trusted Michael Jordan.

After Jordan took over the team, Rahee quickly devised an offensive strategy of "handing it over to Jordan from start to finish," giving Jordan ample freedom.

In this respect, he is quite different from old-school coaches such as Ramsey, Dick Motta, and Bill Fitch. Born in the 1940s, he was a professional basketball player and had worked as a player-coach. He understands the psychology of players and can be friends with them.

During his coaching career, Rauchri has always been humorous and rarely yells at his players, which is why he is very popular with the young players.

Whether as a player or a coach, Raohri has a very distinctive style in defense: he likes and dares to take risks.

As a white point guard, he enjoys taking risks by making steals and double-teaming plays when defending opponents in order to gain excessive defensive benefits.

He maintained this style after becoming a coach. In last year's regular season, Raulri boldly benched the team's core guard Reggie Therth and used rookies Mitchell Wiggins and Ennis Watley, relegating Daly to the bench.

This gave the Bulls a seven-game winning streak, including a seventh victory against the Portland Trail Blazers, who were second in the Western Conference at the time, with a narrow 100-99 win.

Lauchry was under immense pressure because the Bulls weren't a coach-led or general manager-led team, but rather a board-led one. The seven-member board, comprised of the team owner and several major shareholders, held absolute power, but none of them, including the owner, truly understood basketball.

Many of their decisions are based on personal preference or judgment from the market and fan reactions, lacking basketball professionalism and foresight.

The owner likes Reggie Therth, and Chicago fans like Therth too; his performance on the court is the only consolation for everyone amidst the poor record.

During the winning streak, fans at the Chicago Arena chanted "Reggie" repeatedly; they had bought tickets specifically to see Reggie play.

The Bulls have always been one of the most chaotically managed teams in the league. Their greatest stroke of luck was drafting Michael Jordan in 1984 and then decisively trading away Thurs.

After Jordan's arrival, almost everyone's mind began to clear up—just like when Gan Guoyang went to Portland, the Portland management and coaching staff also began to wake up.

Because meeting a good player is like starting a good relationship; it makes you feel relaxed and makes everything you do feel normal again.

Bad players are like bad relationships, leaving you feeling lost and trapped in them, unable to break free.

In the second half, Raheem used a risky, collapsing strategy, betting that the Trail Blazers players would be fatigued and their shooting percentage would drop.

He made the right bet this time.

At the start of the third quarter, the Trail Blazers' outside offense faltered.

Their teamwork remained fluid, but they couldn't score.

Vandeweghe, Paxson, and Valentine all missed their shots in a row.

The Bulls collapsed their defense under the basket, with three or four players joining in to protect the defensive rebounds and stop Gan Guoyang's offensive rebounding attacks.

The Bulls abandoned their fast break, grabbed the defensive rebound, and then handed the ball to Jordan to organize the offense.

During his rookie season, neither Raheri nor Jordan himself had a consensus on how to define Jordan's position on the court.

With his height and physique, he can play positions one through three. When he's on a fast break, he's more like a small forward, and when he's shooting with the ball, he's more like a shooting guard.

To allow Jordan to take control of the team's offense more quickly and effectively, Rahee often had Jordan play point guard.

Jordan rediscovered his offensive rhythm in the second quarter, leading the team to execute beautiful half-court offense, just like he did at North Carolina.

The Bulls started the third quarter with a 7-0 run, narrowing the gap to just 2 points.

Ramsey wanted to call a timeout, but Gan Guoyang gestured for the old man to slow down, saying he could make a shot.

Ramsey did not call a timeout. Gan Guoyang received the ball at a high position and faced Jones. Ulrich suddenly came from the flank to surround Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang passed the ball to Vandeweghe, and Ulrich immediately returned. Gan Guoyang drove into the low post without the ball, but Vandeweghe didn't shoot from the outside, knowing he was having a bad shooting night.

The through ball was delivered to Gan Guoyang, who was positioned deep in the low post. Receiving the ball here, Gan Guoyang could turn around and attack the basket directly, and Jones would not be able to stop him.

Then, just as Gan Guoyang received the ball, a black hand reached out from behind and snatched the ball from his hands.

It was Jordan. After stealing the ball, Jordan made a long pass to the frontcourt, where Ulrich charged forward, caught the ball, and dunked it!
The score was tied at 68-68.

After successfully stealing the ball, Jordan chewed his gum and looked at Gan Guoyang, saying, "Gan, you're not the only one who knows how to set traps."

At this moment, Ramsey called a timeout, and Gan Guoyang returned to the bench to spit out the chewing gum in his mouth.

He tried to calm himself down, but his anger kept rising and rising to his head.

His hearing was still sharp, and he heard Ramsey's instructions during the timeout, but he already had other ideas in mind.

(End of this chapter)