The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 175 Death Arc
One of the most important qualities of a top pitcher is confidence.

Everyone practices shooting, with similar training volume and talent, but some people are more accurate and can make more breathtaking key shots. It all comes down to mentality.

In the morning, Gan Guoyang and Byron Scott made a bet on shooting. Gan Guoyang won because of his confidence. He stunned Scott with just one shot and made him fold and admit defeat.

Did Gan Guoyang have a 100% chance of making the next two pitches? Definitely not. No pitcher would dare say they could make 100% of the shots from that distance.

But Gan Guoyang dared to say he could score 15 points, which is what sets him apart from other players with his strong self-confidence. And if you really let him shoot, he really can make it.

He is very confident in his shooting touch. He knows whether he feels good or bad and adjusts his attack accordingly during the game, rather than stubbornly sticking to one approach.

As the second half began, Gan Guoyang and his teammates ran onto the court, took off their jackets, and stepped onto the bright yellow floor of the Great Western Forum. Standing on the sidelines, he glanced at the basket they would be attacking in the second half.

He shook his hand, relaxing the muscles that had become tense from the intense competition in the first half. He mentally assessed the power and accuracy of his shot from this distance, telling himself:
"I'm incredibly accurate now. Give me a ball, and I can throw it into the basket from anywhere on this court."

This kind of self-brainwashing is probably something only he and Jordan would do in the league.

Gan Guoyang had a really good touch during the shooting practice this morning; the Forum Gymnasium is his lucky place.

Moreover, during his inside runs in the first half, Gan Guoyang earned four free throw opportunities, all of which went in cleanly, further boosting his confidence.

With a sigh of relief, I took to the court. At halftime, the score was 48-66, with the Lakers holding a commanding 18-point lead.

At this time, many fans in the Forum Arena took advantage of the halftime break to go to the toilet, grab a bite to eat, or stretch their legs and relax.

Since the point difference is already so large, the Trail Blazers are unlikely to make any significant impact, so it's okay not to watch the game at the beginning of the second half.

As a result, the stands were sparsely populated, with many empty seats, and the once-heated stadium suddenly became somewhat deserted.

The Lakers started the second half with an offensive play. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar received the ball in the low post and easily executed a hook shot with his back to Gan Guoyang.

Two points were scored, bringing the score to 48-68, a lead of 20 points, and the fans on the sidelines applauded.

Lakers die-hard fan and Hollywood star Jack Nicholson waved a white handkerchief and shouted at Gan Guoyang, "Where's your defense, Gan! Defense! Where's the defense?!"

Gan Guoyang ignored Nicholson. He hadn't defended well on that play because he was worried that using too much force would affect his shooting touch.

On offense, Gan Guoyang received the ball at the top of the arc, pretended to direct and coordinate, and seeing that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wouldn't close in, he took a mid-range jump shot.

A beautifully arced mid-range shot was released, and Gan Guoyang immediately ran to the backcourt afterward, knowing it would definitely go in.

"Whoosh!"
Two points made, 50-68, narrowing the gap slightly.

This basket boosted Gan Guoyang's confidence in his shooting touch.

Tonight, my accuracy was terrifyingly high.

At this moment, neither the Lakers nor the fans in the stadium could perceive Gan Guoyang's inner thoughts.

It wasn't unusual for a center to make a mid-range shot from the outside; most NBA centers at the time had mid-range shooting ability.

Jim Jones, Nate Thurmond's good friend and the man who witnessed Gan Guoyang's one-on-one duel with Thurmond, is a mid-range specialist.

Most of his points come from mid-range shots, and he has a very high shooting percentage, with a 50% two-point shooting percentage, making him a true mid-range shooting prince.

However, at the time, it was generally believed that mid-range shots were only an auxiliary offensive means for inside players, lacking stability and consistency, and could only serve as a supplement to the offensive system, not as a primary scoring method to support half-court offense.

This view is clearly correct, and Gan Guoyang himself agrees. The fighting spirit of the inside players is crucial to the entire team. It not only improves their own offensive success rate but also helps their perimeter teammates create space and injure the opponent's key inside players.

But basketball games are always full of peculiarities. Gan Guoyang is never one to stick to one's own ideas. If things don't work out, we'll try moving in from the outside.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tried to receive the ball in the same spot to shoot, but this time Gan Guoyang reacted quickly, cutting in front of him and stealing the ball.

Magic Johnson was clearly a bit lax, passing the ball too casually. Gan Guoyang handed the ball to Valentine and slowly ran towards the frontcourt.

He didn't go to the low post, but just lingered outside the three-point line, making it a bit uncomfortable for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who could only stand near the free-throw line.

The rest of the Trail Blazers ran their plays normally. Valentine drove to the basket but had no chance to get out, while Paxson and Vandeweghe cut along the baseline.

After circling around for a while, Gan Guoyang left a huge space at the top of the arc, and nobody paid attention to him. Why would you care about a center standing outside the three-point line?
This is like a homeless person lying under a bridge, left to fend for themselves; you don't need to bother with them.

The ball circled around and was passed to Gan Guoyang. Jabbar pretended to take two steps forward as if to say, "I'm guarding you."

The two were separated by two miles. Gan Guoyang adjusted his position and immediately took a three-pointer.

A beautiful shooting form: bent arm, bent knee, and power shot; the ball arced high. Byron Scott knew that arc well and thought to himself, "That's it."

The ball swished through the net, a three-pointer!

After scoring, Gan Guoyang pointed to Nicholson, who looked surprised on the sidelines, and said, "This is for you!"

He then ran back to the backcourt to continue defending, bringing the score to 53-68, a difference of 15 points.

The power of three-pointers is amazing; 15 points! Suddenly the score feels much closer.

The Trail Blazers players gradually relaxed and put in more effort on defense.

While offense is important when trailing by a large margin, defense is key, and Valentine and Paxson began to put pressure on Magic Johnson.

They double-teamed him as soon as they crossed half-court, forcing Magic Johnson to pass the ball early while leaving Byron Scott open.

With a large open space in the middle, Scott could easily drive inside with the ball. Gan Guoyang, guarding the basket, shouted, "Shoot! Byron, shoot!"

Scott did shoot, a mid-range pull-up jumper, but missed, and Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound.

Riley shouted angrily, "Breakthrough! Byron, you should break through!"

Scott had such a good opportunity to break through, but he hesitated and chose to shoot.

If Gan Guoyang drives to the basket, he will have to help defend, leaving Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wide open.

The Trail Blazers are using a desperate double-team defense, leaving one player open and betting that he can't handle the ball and will miss the shot.

Scott was only a second-year student, and he was at a psychological disadvantage when facing Gan Guoyang.

When Gan Guoyang received the ball again in the high position, Jabbar closed in.

Gan Guoyang accelerated past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, drove to the basket, and easily scored two points with a hook shot.

With the score at 55-68, a 13-point deficit, Riley sensed trouble and immediately called a timeout, substituting Michael Cooper for Byron Scott.

This was a poor substitution. The third quarter had only just begun. Although Scott's play just now was poor, his offensive and passing abilities are the best weapon to break through the Trail Blazers' risky defense.

Given some time and patience, Scott was able to adjust, but Riley was clearly impatient and immediately substituted in the more experienced veteran Cooper.

Cooper has better defense, and Riley doesn't want Gan Guoyang to easily receive the ball and score, but Cooper's shooting is not as good as Scott's, and ball handling is not his strength.

The Trail Blazers, on the other hand, concealed Vandeweghe's defensive weakness by having Mitchell Thompson guard Worthy and Vandeweghe match up against Larry Spriggs, who lacked independent offensive capabilities.

This was a very effective move. When Cooper received the ball and found no one in front of him, he didn't handle it well and ended up forcing the pass to Jabbar.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was not prepared under the basket, and his left-handed hook shot was blocked by Gan Guoyang. After regaining possession, Gan Guoyang quickly passed the ball to Vandeweghe.

A fast break opportunity presented itself, and Magic Johnson quickly retreated on defense. Vandeweghe's strong drive missed, but he managed to steal the ball back.

The ball was passed to Thompson, who was cutting in from the middle. The Lakers' defense had already recovered and was in position, so Thompson had no chance and protected the ball before throwing it out to the outside.

Gan Guoyang was positioned at the top of the arc. Normally, when a center receives the ball, he should stabilize the position and pass it to a defender to reorganize the attack.

Gan Guoyang is clearly acting strangely; he catches the ball and immediately shoots a three-pointer!

It was another long-range shot with an extremely high arc. Gan Guoyang's arm strength was too great, so he had to make the ball have a high arc to distribute the force in his hand.

This makes Gan Guoyang's long-range shot particularly impressive when it hits, with a sufficiently long hang time before it dives down like a strategic missile and strikes the center of the basket.

Coupled with the crisp sound of the net swishing, the fans in the stadium experienced a breathtakingly beautiful arc of death.

Goal! 58-68, the score difference is only 10 points.

Just three minutes into the third quarter, Gan Guoyang made all four of his shots, including two three-pointers, scoring 10 points in a row.

By this time, most of the fans who had gone out to eat, use the restroom, or rest at the forum stadium had returned.

When I checked the score, I was only leading by 10 points! What happened?

Many fans looked bewildered, wondering if they had missed something.
Gan Guoyang told the fans in his heart that it was okay, it was still not too late to start watching now.

(End of this chapter)