The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 186 Gap
The most important thing in arguing is to never follow the other person's train of thought and logic. Many people are easily provoked and led astray by the other person.

For example, someone might insult you by saying, "You play basketball like XXX!"
In an attempt to prove that you don't play like XXX, you try to excuse yourself by saying that your playing style is more attractive, and even want to show off your graceful three-step layup.

This is falling into the self-justification trap. Arguing is never about proving yourself, but about attacking others, and doing so without any reason.

Therefore, the correct approach at this time is to ignore whether your own playing style is good or bad, and not get caught up in pointless arguments about who plays better. Instead, you should directly attack your opponent.

It would be even better if you could understand the other party's weaknesses and launch a fierce attack on them.

Gan Guoyang was Bird's teammate during the Olympic team vs. All-Star team game. The first time they met, Gan Guoyang smelled a familiar scent on him.

The top notes are arrogance, the middle notes are self-actualization, and the base notes are a mixture of inferiority—it's all too familiar.

Gan Guoyang last smelled this scent on his teammate Xu Xun, but Xu Xun was far less athletic than Bird. Last summer, he and his family moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles, where there are more Korean Americans, and opened a shop to make a living.

For Bird, coming to Boston from a poor family in rural Indiana was no different from any other foreigner coming to a major American metropolis; he was always seen as a country bumpkin.

His family was broken; his father suffered immense psychological trauma after participating in the Korean War and was unable to recover, ultimately committing suicide in 75, leaving Bird with a lifelong shadow.

Arrogance and conceit were not Bird's true nature, but rather his weapons for attacking opponents and the armor that protected his mind.

Gan Guoyang would certainly not use his father's death to attack Bird, as that would be too immoral. Moreover, for Gan Guoyang himself, his only weakness was his father in this life, and if anyone used this to attack him on the court, Gan Guoyang would find a way to kill him.

Because he was familiar with the smell, Gan Guoyang keenly found the gaps in Bird's armor—he guessed that Bird was a leader within the Celtics, but he wasn't necessarily liked by everyone, and he cared a lot about that.

Bird was not as popular with the Celtics as outsiders might imagine; on the contrary, he had a very bad relationship with McHale, and the two rarely spoke to each other.

Angie always harbored some resentment towards Bird, as he always focused on himself and neglected Bird, which caused Bird's dissatisfaction.

Parish only admired Bird's skills, not his words. During the summer training camp when Parish was first traded to the Celtics, he struggled with shuttle runs. While others ran to the baseline, he was only at the free-throw line. Bird mocked him, saying, "There's a guy running back and forth between the two free-throw lines."

Bird actually got along better with the players on the fringes of the bench, probably because they were all country bumpkins.

After hearing Gan Guoyang's words, Bird remained silent.

At that moment, Vandeweghe brought the ball over and broke through with his left hand, getting a body length away from Bird.

Parish boxed out Gan Guoyang in the paint to prevent him from grabbing another offensive rebound, but that also meant he couldn't help defend.

Vandeweghe pushed past Bird and scored with a left-handed layup, netting two points.

The score was 15-12, with more than half of the first quarter played, and the Trail Blazers led the Celtics by 3 points.

After scoring this goal, Vandeweghe has now scored 8 points, and his individual offensive performance at the start of the game has been quite good.

After his rookie season, he consistently performed well against the Celtics' Vandeweghe every year.

He scored 40 points against the Celtics in his second year, 40 points against the Celtics in his third year, and 38 points against the Celtics last season.

Neither Dennis Johnson, Larry Bird, nor Maxwell were the kind of defenders that Vandeweghe feared.

Of course, Vandeweghe's team lost all of these games, and by a large margin, which shows that the Celtics are not afraid of a single player having a breakout performance.

Vandeweghe doesn't like trash talk, otherwise he would definitely have said to Bird, "Why isn't anyone double-teaming me?"

But if Qiqi doesn't say it, Gan Guoyang will say it for him. When running back to the backcourt to defend, Gan Guoyang took the initiative to chat with Bird: "Why is no one helping you defend, Larry? You look a bit lonely."

Bird's face was ashen. He ignored Gan Guoyang and received the ball at the high post. He paused for a moment without passing the ball. After a fake shot, he suddenly cut in from the high post and broke through to the basket.

However, the intention to attack the basket was too obvious, and the shot missed under Gan Guoyang's blocking interference. Gan Guoyang then turned around and grabbed the rebound.

The Trail Blazers launched a counterattack. Vandeweghe received the ball and bounced it to Paxson, who then drove into the middle and scored a layup, netting 2 points.

Celtics head coach KC Jones called a timeout, expressing his dissatisfaction with the Celtics' start to the night, as they were outmaneuvered by the Trail Blazers in both strategy and morale.

KC Jones was known as a flamboyant coach among the league's coaches during his brief stint coaching stint with the Washington Bullets in the 70s. However, after returning to his former team, the Celtics, he returned to a simpler style, consistent with his coaching style. He didn't have any particularly impressive achievements, but he was stable, down-to-earth, and had a good relationship with the players.

Unlike Bill Fitch, who yelled and taunted his players, he directly pointed out the problems: "We didn't have a single fast break in more than half a quarter, which is not our style. Our rebounding and defense gave the Portlanders too many opportunities. Before the game, we said we would teach them a lesson, but now they are teaching us a lesson more often. Focus more and run like antelopes!"

Before the game, the Celtics did want to teach the Trail Blazers, a rising young team, a lesson. Although they encountered setbacks in practice, the Celtics' pre-game preparations were as rigorous and meticulous as ever.

Before the game, Jones laid out seven tactical strategies in the locker room as options for the start. Everyone gathered together to watch half an hour of Trail Blazers game footage and conducted a relatively detailed analysis of their starting five.

The Celtics players are as arrogant as they are in the training facility, and just as serious and meticulous in their preparation meetings, because all arrogance and conceit need to be backed by victory.

During the timeout, Jones specifically reminded Bird, "Larry, you're playing a bit strangely. Don't get entangled with that number 11. Your goal isn't to beat him, but to beat the Trail Blazers."

Bird took a sip of water, nodded, and replied, "I know, the game has only just begun."

In the pre-match meeting, the strategy for dealing with Gan Guoyang was discussed the least, not because he was unimportant, but because no one knew how to counter him. Judging from his previous game videos and statistics, he is extremely well-rounded and has a versatile playing style, sometimes resembling Moses Malone, sometimes Sikma, and sometimes Hayes.

He will adjust according to the specific situation of the game. For example, when he played against the 76ers, he played as steadily as Robert Parish, but tonight he was exceptionally aggressive in the offensive rebounding in the first quarter.

He was relaxed and natural on the court, without being nervous or making mistakes. He played with an air of superiority over others, showing no signs of hitting the rookie wall.

Rookies typically hit the rookie wall around 30 games, because a college season is only about 30 games, while an NBA season is much longer.

Rookies may experience physical discomfort and be studied and targeted by other teams, which can lead to very poor performance.

But Gan Guoyang had no idea. Bird thought of another rookie: Michael Jordan.

12月22号凯尔特人客场挑战公牛，伯德状态不佳14中3只拿到10分，而乔丹完全掌控了比赛，32分12个篮板8助攻3盖帽，投篮18投12中，罚球8罚8中，用完美的表现肢解了卫冕冠军。

However, that game was at the Chicago Arena, and McHale was out injured, so the team was a bit relaxed as Christmas approached.

Tonight's game is at Boston Garden. The team is well-prepared, and given the conflict this morning, everyone wants to win and teach that kid a lesson.

The game resumed after a timeout, and Kevin McHale entered the game for the Celtics, leading to a change in the team's offensive and defensive strategies.

McHale has an extremely high one-on-one shooting percentage in the low post, and there are very few players in the entire league who can defend and contain him one-on-one.

But one of these "several" happens to be on the Trail Blazers, McHale's senior from the University of Minnesota, Mitchell Thompson, who knows McHale's various low-post isolation play habits.

When McHale had the ball in the low post, he was psychologically at a disadvantage from the start. He used the ball at a 45-degree angle as a pivot, and Bird cut along the baseline to the side.

The ball is passed to Bird, who catches it and makes a mid-range jump shot!
Boston Garden has regained some of its energy.

Bird then attempted to double-team and steal the ball from Gan Guoyang when he had it.

Gan Guoyang passed the ball to substitute Jerome Kossie.

Kossi is not Van der Werner; he cannot launch an attack immediately after receiving the ball.

The only option was to pass the ball to Paxson to reorganize the offense, while the Celtics' defense was ready.

Bird actively helped defend and disrupted Gan Guoyang, preventing him from receiving the ball, and Drexler finally took a jump shot.

The shot missed, but McHale grabbed the rebound and passed it to Bird so the Celtics could launch a fast break.

At this moment, Gan Guoyang pulled Bird aside and chose to foul, preventing the Celtics from launching a fast break.

This was a tactical foul. Gan Guoyang didn't use much force; if it were Laimbeer, he would have definitely rammed Bird into the air.

Gan Guoyang didn't do that; he just gently tugged at Bird and then patted him on the shoulder.

Bird got angry and yelled, "Don't fucking touch me!"

Gan Guoyang laughed and said, "Oh, you're angry? I only touched you, I didn't hit you, don't worry."

This was a chance for the Celtics to gain momentum, but Gan Guoyang ruined it.

The Celtics still had possession of the ball, but their half-court offense was nowhere near as efficient and satisfying as their fast break.

McHale missed Thompson's shot, and Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound.

A long pass to the frontcourt, Drexler takes off like a glider, unleashing an unstoppable flying dunk!
The Trail Blazers' fast break offense is simple and direct, but very effective.

At the end of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers led the Celtics 27-23 by 4 points.

During the break, Bird was extremely unhappy; he felt like he had been tricked.

He was manipulated by Gan Guoyang, who controlled his emotions. He became distracted on several occasions, argued with his teammates, and was thinking about other things.

He closed his eyes, covered his face with a towel, and calmed down as he thought about how Gan Guoyang had fouled him just as the fast break was about to begin.

"Damn it, I actually got provoked by this kid, what a piece of shit. He was distracting me the whole time, all he could think about was winning, fucking idiot."

Bird threw down the towel, feeling both angry and somewhat frightened that he had been emotionally manipulated by a rookie in the first quarter.

It's not just about Gan Guoyang's linguistic trap, but also about "how this guy knew to sabotage our rapid counterattack. Was it Dr. Jack's plan, or his own?"

Because Ramsey's Trail Blazers didn't play like this before.

(End of this chapter)