The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 181 Rock the baby
Gan Guoyang is not someone who likes to boast; what he says is based on facts.

When Gan Guoyang first arrived in the United States, he played basketball on the streets of San Francisco, and when he dunked, he had an elegance reminiscent of Dr. J Kyrie Irving.

This is thanks to his long arms, broad shoulders, excellent jumping ability, and exceptional flexibility, which allows him to move his body very smoothly when dunking.

The reason Kyrie Irving's dunks are so spectacular is not because of how high he jumps (although he does jump very high), as countless basketball players can jump high.

What is remarkable is the graceful, gymnastic-like movement of his body when he spreads his limbs, like an eagle spreading its wings, giving the audience the best visual enjoyment.

Moreover, he has unusually long arms, extremely broad shoulders, and a pair of super-large hands that can easily handle a ball, making his dunks look effortless.

Back when he played at Rucker Park, Irving rose to fame for his dunks and later became the ABA's star player. In the fiercely competitive professional basketball scene of the 70s, where fights and injuries were commonplace, all the coaches in the ABA reminded their players not to injure Irving, because Irving was the one who gave them a living, and most people came to the arena just to watch Irving play.

Gan Guoyang's dunks in high school were like a giant yellow Kyrie Irving, captivating many fans on the streets of San Francisco.

Many years later, the legend of Gan Guoyang's sudden rise to prominence still circulated on the streets of San Francisco. A young Chinese man with yellow skin dunked like Kyrie Irving, but he could also play like Moses Malone. He single-handedly formed a 76ers team.

After entering the NBA, Gan Guoyang grew taller, gained weight, and became stronger, but his dunks were not as graceful as they were in high school.

As a center, he primarily focuses on securing defensive rebounds to provide ammunition for Vandeweghe and Drexler, and doesn't have many opportunities to dunk on fast breaks himself.

In limited fast breaks, in order to push past opponents, he can hardly dunk as gracefully as Irving; instead, he resorts to violent two-handed dunks after a brute force collision.

But given the opportunity, Gan Guoyang wouldn't mind showcasing his dunking talent to the fans at the Memorial Stadium.

At the start of the second half, the 76ers intensified their defense, using pressure to disrupt the Trail Blazers' ball handling and movement on the perimeter, creating opportunities for fast breaks.

This is the secret to the 76ers' dominance in the Eastern Conference in the early 80s. The basic process for the 76ers to win games in the playoffs in 1983 was: play easy in the first half, exert defensive pressure in the second half, and then take the game away with a wave of super-efficient offense.

In the 1983 NBA Finals against the Lakers, the 76ers swept the Lakers 4-0. However, in all four games, the 76ers trailed in the first half, trailing by as few as 2 points and as many as 14 points.

In the end, without exception, they all came back from behind to win, including the fourth game in Los Angeles. At the end of the third quarter, the 76ers were still down by 11 points against the Lakers. In the fourth quarter, they used their strong defensive pressure, along with Moses Malone's domineering offensive rebounds and inside attacks, to outrun the Lakers 33-11, successfully completing their fourth comeback and sweeping the Lakers to lift the trophy at the Forum.

This way of winning the championship can be described as a fatal blow, completely avenging the defeats in the 1980 and 1982 Finals, leaving the entire league powerless to fight back.

At that time, the 76ers averaged 11 steals per game in the Finals. Especially in the second half, the Lakers couldn't produce any decent smooth offense and often made mistakes that led to fast breaks.

By 1985, the 76ers were still using this strategy to defeat their opponents, but its effectiveness gradually declined as Irving aged, and he could no longer provide a fast counterattack with a very high success rate.

Sometimes he has to slow down and return the ball to his teammates to start a positional attack again, which prevents their pressing defense from quickly turning into scoring and gives the opponent a chance to breathe.

With the addition of Gan Guoyang, the Trail Blazers now have the best transition defense in the league. When Gan Guoyang doesn't execute the offensive rebounding strategy, he is the fastest transition defense center in the league.

Furthermore, facing the 76ers' pressure and double-team defense, the Trail Blazers made extensive ball movement between the strong and weak sides, which was rare in Ramsey's previous teams.

Ramsey is a traditional coach who prefers safe vertical and short passes. He believes that lateral and long passes are prone to errors and allow opponents to launch quick counterattacks.

But when you have a strong low post player on the field, how to create space and tactics for the off-the-ball side has become the question Ramsey has been thinking about the most recently.

The movement of the ball between the strong and weak sides is becoming an essential part of the Trail Blazers' daily training and games.

In the third quarter, the 76ers put in a lot of effort to defend, but the point difference between the two sides remained basically unchanged.

They only managed two steals, resulting in one fast break, but the rest were neutralized by the Trail Blazers' excellent passing and quick transition defense.

Billy Cunningham couldn't believe this was Dr. Jack's team; the style was changing from the past.

Moreover, Gan Guoyang, as a center, can do an astonishing number of things on both offense and defense.

His pick-and-roll screens, his assists and transitions when guards are double-teamed, and his mid-range and long-range shooting threat at the top of the key all greatly reduced the 76ers' high-pressure defense. Gan Guoyang has been doing these things since high school.

These tasks don't have any data, but they play an undeniably important role in the team's offense. The Trail Blazers essentially have three guards on the court, so how can you double-team and press them?
During a timeout in the third quarter, Cunningham decided to abandon the pressure defense and stick to the standard defensive tactics. He reminded Moses Malone to try and get the kid off the court. But the usually confident, powerful, and stamina-laden Moses Malone surprisingly replied, "How do I get him off the court? Should I give him my other eyebrow bone for an elbow?"

Malone was a man of few words, and he spoke with a very strong Virginia Southern accent. He was often ridiculed when he was young, and his classic "FoFoFo" was a result of his unclear Southern accent.

But Malone wasn't stupid; on the contrary, he was very smart and quick-witted. His occasional dry humor often made everyone laugh. For example, when he received the bill at the hotel and thought it was too expensive, he told the front desk, "I'm paying for the room, not buying the hotel."

From the very beginning of today's match, Ma Long was aggressive, trying to bring the game into his usual fighting rhythm and drag Gan Guoyang into a foul trouble.

Little did anyone know that Gan Guoyang responded exceptionally well. He was full of energy, extremely strong, had excellent defensive positioning, and played well under the basket. Moreover, he knew when to defend and when to let others pass, playing very rationally.

After three quarters, Moses Malone was sweating profusely, but he hadn't scored many points or grabbed many rebounds. Gan Guoyang hadn't committed many fouls either, which made Malone a little discouraged.

Gan Guoyang didn't score many points tonight. He saw through Moses Malone's intentions, so he didn't engage in direct combat with him, but stayed on the court to help the team in other ways.

Before the third quarter was over, Gan Guoyang had already grabbed 15 rebounds, including 13 defensive rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals, as well as countless assists, screens, picks and rolls, fast breaks, and rim protection interference.

Hearing Malone say that, Cunningham was speechless, as were the 76ers players. Cunningham simply said, "Why don't you just go up and punch him?"

Malone rolled his eyes at Cunningham: "I want to play for two more years, coach."

Billy Cunningham knew that his time as the 76ers' coach was numbered; a magical, sweet journey was coming to an end.

After the timeout ended and he returned to the court, 29-year-old Moses Malone saw number 11 Forrest Gump and for the first time felt that he was really getting old. Forrest Gump was only 29 years old.

Everyone says that Gan Guoyang's playing style is like his—energetic and incredibly noisy—but tonight's full-fledged match made Moses Malone realize the huge differences between the two.

When Moses Malone can't get the ball or attack with it, his contribution to the team is limited, but Gan Guoyang is different; he can do so much more.

For example... a steal!
Just as Ma Long was about to receive the ball in the low post, Gan Guoyang, who was defending behind him, suddenly rushed forward and intercepted Cheeks' ball.

Drexler started his attack, receiving a pass from Gan Guoyang and launching a fast break. Bobby Jones and Dr. J Irving quickly retreated to chase Drexler.

Drexler, who always charged forward with a fast-paced offense, heard Gan Guoyang shout from behind, "Watch out behind you!"

Drexler noticed the two defenders chasing him, and Gan Guoyang was sprinting on the left. Drexler seized the opportunity and passed the ball to Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang caught the ball with one hand, dribbled once and had already driven below the free throw line. He then tucked the ball between his forearm and wrist.

The basketball and Gan Guoyang's arm became one.

He ran around swinging his arms as if he didn't have the ball at all.

One jump, two jumps, then jump.

The right arm, which had been swung back, made a large upward loop, bringing the ball to its highest point as Gan Guoyang jumped.

Julius Erving, who was not far away, felt that this pose looked familiar.
A lightning-fast, sweeping dunk!

Goal! The Memorial Stadium erupted into a frenzy.

Bill Shawnley stopped chanting "Rip City" and instead repeated, "Rock the baby, Rock the baby! Sonny Gan, dunked Rock the baby right in front of Dr. J and Irving! My God, what a performance!"

Irving never expected that Gan Guoyang, a center, could receive the ball on a fast break and dunk like a "Rock the Baby." His rhythm and coordination were unmatched.

Irving himself laughed. After Gan Guoyang dunked, he went up to him and bumped fists with him. Gan Guoyang said, "I told the reporters at halftime that my role model is not Moses Malone, but Dr. J Irving! I'm not lying."

(End of this chapter)