The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 270 Offense
Nelson knew that Jack Ramsey used to be one of the coaches in the league who hated isolation plays the most.

Just as he despised Wilt Chamberlain, after becoming the 76ers' general manager, he did not hesitate to make a shrewd trade.

At the height of his coaching career, Ramsey was the hope of the entire American academic school, the spokesperson for team basketball, and the vanguard of opposition against those unorthodox player-oriented coaches.

He is probably the coach with the most extensive tactical inventory in the entire league. He is the coach of coaches, and at the coaching conferences every summer, Ramsey is the teacher of the coaches.

Everyone discussed and studied the direction and trends of the league together. Ramsey always provided rich examples and a lot of routines. His memory and knowledge reserves were amazing.

In the summer of 1979, Ramsey was a representative of the hardliners because that year the league decided to introduce the ABA three-point line. Ramsey believed that the three-point line would ruin the NBA basketball game. He was firmly opposed to the three-point line and did not allow his players to shoot three-pointers - only as a last resort.

Six years have passed, what are the Trail Blazers like now?

Even after Walton returned, they were still able to put up some great team plays.

Walton's playmaking ability in the high post is the best in history. His passing technique, vision, and tactical awareness are UCLA certified as absolutely top-notch.

But tonight, the Trail Blazers' opening tactic was the one-on-four strategy that Ramsey hates the most.

Vandeweghe and Paxson were positioned on the two wings, Thompson stood at the top of the arc, and Drexler fed the ball to Gan Guoyang at the 45-degree angle.

Gan Guoyang hit the ball from the low left post to the low right post, and then back from the low right post to the low left post.

At the start, Nelson assigned Cummins to guard Gan Guoyang one-on-one. Cummins is a very tough defensive forward, 6 feet 9 inches tall, strong, and with top-notch defensive skills.

He was teammates with Gan Guoyang during the Olympic team vs. All-Star team match, and was the core of the Marques Johnson trade, a very reliable power forward.

However, without teammates' assistance and with everyone spread out, Cummins was unable to defend Forrest Gump.

Gan Guoyang used a turnaround, leaning forward to shoot, overpowering Cummins; his strength gave him an absolute advantage.

"This kid's got real strength," Cummins remarked during the timeout.

In terms of physique, Gan Guoyang is only a size bigger than Cummins. Cummins has a very solid lower body and can usually handle a 6-foot-11 center without any problems.

But he couldn't withstand Gan Guoyang, whose strength was extraordinary, as every player who faced him knew all too well.

"Jack definitely wants Forrest to use his isolation plays to disrupt our defensive formation, make our switches ineffective, and force us to double-team him, creating opportunities for the perimeter. But is Jack that confident in Forrest's low-post isolation plays? He scored 60 points last game, can he really score another 60 points this game? I don't believe it."

Nelson thought for a moment. Actually, the tactical logic behind this low-post one-on-one and four-man spread-out play is very clear.

The strategy is to use a single strong point to disrupt the opponent's defense, and then create attacking opportunities for other players through simple ball movement.

This approach can be surprisingly effective in certain situations, but it should only be a supplementary strategy, not a primary tactic used extensively.

As a seasoned coach, Nelson certainly knew the characteristics of this simple style of play. What he didn't understand was why Ramsey would use a tactic that he so vehemently disliked. Was there really no other way?
Or is he so confident in Forrest Gump's one-on-one ability?

Nelson has watched a lot of Trail Blazers footage, and Gan Guoyang has indeed put on an amazing performance on offense this year.

However, this season he is more like a small forward. He is a high-quality finisher in tactical plays and an important part of fast breaks. He is very strong at scoring, fast, and efficient.

In terms of individual plays, there are fewer than last season, and the number of offensive rebounds is also decreasing.

Simply put, Gan Guoyang plays with more tactical and systematic approach, and his assist rate is higher than last season. He is integrating better into Ramsey's offensive system.

Even though Gan Guoyang scored 60 points in the last game, one-on-one play is still not his main scoring method.

Drexler provided 16 assists last night, half of which were in combination with Gan Guoyang.

After careful analysis, Nelson thought, "I'll let you fight! Let's see how far you can go!"
However, he can no longer have Terry Cummins guarding Forrest Gump; he needs to replace him with the 7-foot-3 tall Randy Brewer.

Meanwhile, Don Nelson prepared Paul Moxki on the bench.

One of these guys is tall, 7 feet 3 inches, and the other is fat, weighing 255 pounds.

Nelson thought to himself, "There's bound to be one that suits you. You, Forrest Gump, are a great scorer, but can you really break through the Bucks' defense all by yourself?"

Is the Portland Trail Blazers still the same team with an offense lacking dynamic changes and teammate involvement? As an unconventional coach who likes to experiment with tactics, Nelson was very curious to see how the Blazers would perform in a 1v4 situation.

After the timeout, the Bucks' offense still failed to score. Gan Guoyang actively swept the defense, delaying the Bucks' passing and movement on the perimeter.

The Bucks attempted to break through the Trail Blazers' defense with passing, but Cummins' layup attempt under the basket was disrupted by Thompson and missed.

Brewer grabbed the offensive rebound and tried to drive to the basket, but the ball was knocked away by Gan Guoyang, who was defending from behind.

The Trail Blazers played very hard on defense tonight, coming on strong from the start. When it came to offense, Vandeweghe slowly dribbled the ball across half-court, and the rest of the team didn't run, just positioning themselves near the three-point line.

Gan Guoyang and Brewer pushed and shoved their way to the three-second zone.

Van de Wesley passed the ball to Gan Guoyang, who used a scissor kick to block the ball, and then made a quick turn to get past Brewer!

He easily made a layup under the basket!

"Shit... that's Moses Malone's move. That kid really knows a lot of things."

Moses Malone Nelson is very familiar with this team; the Bucks were eliminated by the 76ers in 83 and 85.

Without Malone, the Bucks could have put up a fight with the 76ers, even going to a Game 7.

After the 76ers got Malone, the Bucks only won one game in the two series, completely dominating them.

Because Malone is the kind of center who goes one-on-one as soon as he gets the ball, and he is very efficient. In particular, his offensive rebounding makes the Bucks' switching defensive strategy completely useless.

If you switch a smaller player to defend Malone, aren't you just giving him the rebound?
"Did Jack learn something from the 76ers? But Forrest hasn't been grabbing offensive rebounds much this year... Let's wait and see."

Nielsen reasonably speculated that Jack Ramsey learned from his protégé Cunningham, but there seem to be differences.

If the Bucks players knew what the coach was thinking, they would be speechless. So you're not here to lead us to victory, but to use us as guinea pigs to see the results!
The Bucks finally scored their first basket, with Moncrief hitting a mid-range jumper from the outside.

Moncrief was one of the best mid-range jump shooters in the league during the 80s, and also one of the best penetrators.

His dribbling has largely shed the image of the 70s style where he would stick his butt out and scoot in from the side. He has started to be able to change direction head-on and switch hands repeatedly. Combined with his shooting, this makes his drives very difficult to defend.

But the Bucks still couldn't find a way to defend, with Brewer still guarding Gan Guoyang one-on-one in the low post.

The Trail Blazers continued to let Gan Guoyang attack in the low post, this time with Paxson passing the ball while the others stood on the perimeter with their hands on their hips.

I didn't sleep well last night, so I'll take this opportunity to rest.

Gan Guoyang received the ball, took a Sigma step, turned to face the basket, faked out Brewer, and then suddenly broke through on the right side, driving straight into the basket for a one-handed dunk!
Gan Guoyang's face-up drives have improved compared to last season, thanks to the teaching of Bernard King and learning from Vandeweghe.

He stole the details of the first step from Vandeweghe: how to balance speed and avoid traveling, otherwise it would be too embarrassing to travel as soon as you start.

What I learned from Bernard King was how to quickly anticipate the defender's footwork and then drive in the direction that makes the defender feel awkward.

For example, in this play, Brewer had his left foot forward and his right foot back, so Gan Guoyang went up to the line. Brewer had difficulty turning around and couldn't keep up.

If it were the other way around, Gan Guoyang would use his left hand to go to the baseline, catching him off guard just the same.

Of course, the Bucks' real problem is that, apart from Brewer, they have no second layer of defense in the paint.

With no one providing backup or double-teaming, Gan Guoyang was allowed to go one-on-one, and he started with 6 out of 6 shots, scoring 12 points in a row.

As Gan Guoyang returned to defense, he shouted at Nelson, "Tang, what have I done to offend you? You're so disrespectful to me, my friend, you won't even send someone to double-team me!"

Don Nelson replied, "I want to see how long you can last in a one-on-one match tonight!"

Gan Guoyang shook his head. This old man is really stubborn. Damn it, he's trying to work me to death.

But Gan Guoyang is tireless; his lungs are even bigger than Havlicek's.

(End of this chapter)