The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 158 Post-Dunk
Stockton had a premonition before he stepped onto the court that Forrest wouldn't let him lead the team's offensive rhythm as easily as he did in the second quarter.

Sure enough, as soon as Stockton entered the game, Gan Guoyang pulled Valentine aside and said to him, "Darnell, you need to attack Stockton more later. I'll protect the paint, you just keep an eye on him, and if he has a chance to attack, let him attack."

Valentine nodded. Gan Guoyang understood Stockton's weaknesses, one of which was that he was at a disadvantage when defending against strong black defenders.

Another issue is that Stockton's offense isn't "crazy" enough; if you let him attack freely, he won't be able to kill anyone.

Therefore, giving him appropriate space to attack and cutting off his communication with his teammates is a good strategy to deal with him.

Ramsey made adjustments after seeing Stockton come on, replacing Vandeweghe and Paxson with Jerome Kossi and Drexler.

When these two guys came on the court, they were much faster than Vandeweghe and Paxson. They were able to stick to their defenders and not give the Jazz any open looks.

Under Gan Guoyang's defensive direction, Stockton found himself in a predicament after a few rounds: he had more offensive opportunities than his teammates.

This is a choice Gan Guoyang presents to Stockton: do you attack yourself or insist on passing the ball to your teammates?
Stockton attempted two shots himself, hitting a mid-range shot and missing a layup after driving to the basket.

Gan Guoyang didn't come over to block him, but instead let him shoot a floater. Under Valentine's pursuit and interference, Stockton's floater missed.

Gan Guoyang secured the rebound and said to Stockton, "John, you need to practice your floater more."

Stockton remained silent, running back to join the defense, only to be easily beaten by Valentine on the counterattack.

Valentine made a breakthrough and pulled up for a jump shot. Stockton, probably influenced by Gan Guoyang's words, reached out to pull him up.

The referee noticed his foul and called a defensive foul on him. Valentine went to the free-throw line and made the free throws, giving the Trail Blazers two more points.

"Calm down, I need to calm down..."

Stockton kept reminding himself to stay calm. He knew that Gan Guoyang would definitely stir up his emotions and make him unsettled, preventing him from playing his own style.

This is Gan Guoyang's extremely confident performance on the court. Off the court, he is always very friendly and gentle, but on the court, he treats everything as a weapon to win.

Stockton knows he's not that kind of person, he can never play like Gan, but he has his own principles, his own style, and his own path.

This is the biggest thing Gan Guoyang and Stockton have in common, and it's also the reason they can become good friends. They firmly believe in themselves and, regardless of success or failure, they are determined to keep going.

Despite adjusting his mindset, Stockton was still firmly suppressed, with Valentine putting increasing pressure on him. He had to quickly pass the ball to Griffiths to let Griffiths handle the ball and solve the problem.

Thus, they reverted to the inefficient attacking pattern of the first half, repeatedly assaulting the three-second zone guarded by Gan Guoyang, scoring goals piecemeal under his near-perfect positioning and effective interference.

Griffiths' breakthrough was thwarted by Gan Guoyang, who had just jumped and hadn't even caught the ball properly—one of his weaknesses is that his hands are too small, making him unsteady when holding the ball with one hand.

Gan Guoyang seized this weakness and stole the ball, and the Trail Blazers launched a counterattack. Drexler received the ball like a tiger and quickly sprinted down the court, scoring with a gliding dunk!
The Trail Blazers extended their lead to 12 points in the third quarter, and Stockton's return to the court did not change the Jazz's downward spiral.

But Stockton was not discouraged. After a pass on the perimeter, he actually took a three-pointer, which surprised Valentine.

The ball went in perfectly, and the long-silent Salt Palace erupted in cheers. The DJ shouted, "John Stockton, three-pointer!"

Stockton took a risky shot. If it hadn't gone in, the Trail Blazers would have grabbed the long rebound and launched another fast break, widening the gap even further.

The NBA three-point line is far away, and college doesn't have one. Stockton doesn't usually shoot threes, but he took the risk in this situation.

Gan Guoyang admired Stockton's shot and said to him as he ran up the court, "You really dared to shoot, John."

Stockton responded to Gan Guoyang directly for the first time in this match: "You taught me."

Gan Guoyang often takes risks by throwing long-distance "randomly" during university competitions, and sometimes it really works to turn the tide and catch his opponents off guard.

In the NBA, with the three-point line, long-range shots are more rewarding, so why not give it a try?

Stockton failed to score again after that, and did not organize the team's offense as well as he did in the second quarter to change the situation.

After all, he was a rookie with limited abilities, but this three-pointer kept the Jazz's hopes alive in the fourth quarter.

The third quarter ended with the Trail Blazers leading 82-73, giving them a 9-point advantage, but the Jazz still had a chance to come back from behind.

Back on the bench, Layden encouraged Stockton, saying, "You've done very well, John. That was a beautiful three-pointer."

Stockton nodded, the coach's encouragement putting him in a slightly better mood, but when he looked up at the scoreboard and statistics: Gan Guoyang had 17 points, 18 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 2 steals.

He shook his head again, thinking to himself that this was Forrest Gump, a complete beast.

Of course, the Jazz also have another beast on their side, Mark Eaton, who has already contributed 12 blocks in three quarters.

The Trail Blazers players attacked Eaton several times in the third quarter, but to no avail. When Gan Guoyang went to the 45-degree angle to receive the ball, Eaton remained steadfastly under the basket, refusing to leave his cradle.

Although this defensive strategy allowed Gan Guoyang to make a few mid-range shots, it did not cripple the Jazz's defense.

Layden and Eaton aren't fools; you can't just pull them out of the picture.

The question of who owns the bucket of cash in the Trail Blazers' locker room remains unanswered.

The fourth quarter began, and Gan Guoyang, who had rested for a while at the end of the third quarter, returned to the court.

During a Trail Blazers offensive possession, Gan Guoyang inbounded the ball to Drexler.

Drexler directed the movement, Gan Guoyang set a screen for Cort, and then received the ball at a 45-degree angle on the wing.

Compared to receiving the ball at the top of the key, receiving the ball on the 45-degree wing creates a clear distinction between the strong and weak sides of the field.

In the 80s, coaches did not emphasize the shift between the strong and weak sides in basketball, and wide lateral passes in positional offense were a taboo for many coaches.

But as players become more mobile, their shooting ability improves, and their passing becomes bolder, some so-called taboos are no longer shackles binding them.

As soon as Gan Guoyang got the ball, the Jazz's defense focused on him. Gan Guoyang seemed to be going to attack with the ball, but suddenly made a diagonal pass to Drexler, who was lurking in the corner.

Drexler received the ball and faked a shot, fooling Dantley who came over to defend him. He then drove to the baseline, faced Mark Eaton who was helping to defend, and jumped up to dunk powerfully over Mammoth with one hand!
The glider flew over Mark Eaton Peak!
Drexler was extremely excited after the dunk.

The ball not only went in, but also drew a defensive foul from Eaton.

This was a devastating blow to the Jazz.

Eaton had already committed five fouls, and Layden had to substitute him off the court.

Drexler made the free throw and completed a three-point play, bringing the point difference back to over 10 points.

Drexler excitedly announced to everyone, "The money is mine!"

Not only is the money his, but Drexler's dunk will also become one of the most classic dunks of his career.

This goal dealt a blow to the Jazz's morale and forced their most important defensive player, Eaton, to sit out the game.

Gan Guoyang currently has 3 fouls, so there's no need to worry about him sitting down; he has firmly controlled the three-second zone.

He thwarted several of the Jazz's fast breaks, and the two physical monsters, Korsey and Drexler, tried to bombard the Jazz's basket after Eaton left the court.

Billy Boults, nicknamed "Hamburger," came off the bench to replace Eaton. He is past his prime and is now in his fifteenth season, having been an ABA star.

His nickname in the ABA used to be "White Tornado," but now that he's older, he can only be called "King Hamburger."

He no longer has the same ability to protect the basket as Eaton, but he is experienced, adept at drawing offensive fouls, and has a lot of subtle defensive tricks.

Gan Guoyang suffered several losses against him. The experienced Boulders had a very sophisticated defensive positioning and could always appear in your path of advance.

He can't jump high or run fast, but he can still disrupt you when he's in the right position.

Furthermore, the veteran players, who have played for many years, remain emotionally stable and are unaffected by any verbal attacks.

I'm almost retired, why should I get angry with a young man like you?
In the final stages of the fourth quarter, the Jazz launched a final counterattack, although it was ultimately stopped by the Trail Blazers.

However, Gan Guoyang didn't really have an advantage when facing Billy Boulders, and he learned a lot of lessons from the experience.

The final score was 119-112, with the Trail Blazers winning the game by 7 points.

At the end of the match, Gan Guoyang hugged Eaton and Stockton, and shook hands with Boults.

"I really should ask you for advice on defensive details and techniques. To be honest, I really wanted to play against you during the game."

"Oh, I really have to thank you for not doing anything; my basketball career has been extended by another game."

The two were joking around, little did Boults know that he was bound to get a beating eventually; it was only a matter of time.

In one game against the Jazz, Mark Eaton dominated us in the first half, blocking our shots so badly that nobody dared to drive to the basket. During halftime, Forrest Gump brought over a bucket, put $20 in it, and said whoever could dunk on Eaton would keep the money. Everyone threw money in, and in the third quarter, we all overcame our fear and charged at Eaton. At the start of the fourth quarter, I received a pass from Forrest in the corner. I thought to myself, "I'm not going to shoot this, I have to drive in and dunk." I drove to the basket, my eyes fixed on the rim, not Eaton, and I dunked the ball!
I was ecstatic! The referee even called a foul on Eaton, forcing him to sit down. It was a crucial goal; we won the game. Afterwards, I immediately went to the locker room, only to find that the bucket containing the cash was gone! It was missing! There were no security cameras in the arena back then, and we couldn't ask the home team to investigate, so we had to let it go. I lost over $200! Later, we figured Forrest Gump must have stolen the bucket from the cleaning lady. She searched everywhere for it, found it in the locker room, and since there was money inside, she naturally took it. That damn Forrest Gump, stealing a bucket!

—Excerpt from Clyde Drexler's autobiography, *Clyde The Glide*, published in 2004.

(End of this chapter)