The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 282 Hesitation and Aggression

During the transition between the first and second quarters, the Pistons were eager to increase the pace and speed in order to close the gap.

The Bucks provided the entire league with a way to deal with the Trail Blazers: use speed to force the Blazers to pick up the pace.

The Trail Blazers are not a slow team. Bill Walton is slow because of a foot injury. In fact, Walton's passing is very quick on offense. He is not a slow, sluggish center.

The Bucks' aim in speeding up the game was to throw the game into chaos and disrupt the Trail Blazers' well-organized offense; that was the key issue.

In chaotic games, small guards always have the advantage. The Pistons have Thomas, Vinnie Johnson, and John Long, so when the game becomes a free-for-all, the Pistons have an edge.

For teams where the attacking players are the main offensive force, the role of the defenders is more about organizing and distributing the ball, while the attacking players need to get into the attacking positions through orderly cooperation and positioning.

Even a player like Vandeweghe, who is strong in shooting and driving, actually dribbles very little and has very short touch time. He mainly moves around, receives the ball, and immediately launches an attack.

The Trail Blazers only have two guards who can truly carry the team in chaotic situations: Drexler, Porter, and Cort.

Of course, Gan Guoyang is another example. He doesn't rely on dribbling, but on offensive rebounds.

During the transition, Ramsey repeatedly urged Cortés to stay calm, maintain control of the situation, and not to rush.

But Cort struggled to cope with the Pistons' aggressive physical play and Vinnie Johnson's powerful individual attacks.

Johnson scored consecutively at the start of the second quarter, helping the Pistons close the gap. This guy is short and stocky, with muscles as hard as rock. Like Gan Guoyang, he likes to rely on his strong body to lean forward and shoot. If you stick close to defend him, it's a foul. If he misses, he can still rush in to grab offensive rebounds. Most small guards at his position simply can't handle his offense.

The Pistons relied on Johnson's performance to close the gap, at one point reducing the deficit to just 3 points, prompting Ramsey to call a timeout.

Ramsey didn't say much about Colter's poor performance; Colter had done his best, but his experience and skill level were simply not up to par with the microwave.

At this moment, he felt a pang of longing for Valentine. If Valentine were here, the equally strong Valentine would surely have been able to contain Johnson.

Ramsey glanced at the bench and gestured for Terry Porter to get ready to enter the game. "Defense, that's your primary responsibility, understand?"

Ramsey reminded the rookie that, generally speaking, the first thing a rookie needs to do to gain the coach's trust is to play defense.

Offense, for example, is limited by ability and experience; those players might not be able to contribute much when they're on the court, so those roles can be left to star players.

Defense is different. Each player has a weakness. If you are a vulnerability, the opponent will target you and you can't cover it up no matter what you do.

Therefore, coaches often prefer to field a rookie with strong defense and a good attitude, rather than a novice with some offensive skills but poor defense.

Porter's defense is not bad. He is tall and strong for a point guard, and he has no problem with physical contact.

Sometimes Ramsey dislikes his bold shots, especially his tendency to take two three-pointers. Once, he even took a three-pointer on a fast break, which angered Ramsey so much that he almost substituted him out of the DNP immediately.

This kid from elementary school looks honest and unassuming, but how come he plays basketball with such a wild style? It's said that he and Forrest Gump knew each other at the Olympic training camp, and Forrest Gump even took care of Porter when he was sick.

Needless to say, it must have been Forrest Gump who corrupted Potter. He doesn't learn the good things, but he picks up the bad things very easily.

Ramsey thought this was a bad playing habit, but Gan Guoyang didn't think so. He thought Porter played like the younger generation ten or twenty years from now.

A quick and decisive shot, an explosive first step and a concise breakthrough, showing no hesitation when a scoring opportunity arises, rather than always thinking of passing the ball first.

Moreover, Porter has a long shooting range and is very confident in his three-point shooting. Gan Guoyang often calls on Porter to shoot three-pointers, and Porter actually dares to shoot them.

Ramsey was fully aware of the situation, but he simply turned a blind eye, just as Chuck Daly let Limbill's rough treatment go unpunished.

Gan Guoyang came on to replace Kenny Karl, forming a twin-tower lineup with Walton. The Pistons immediately substituted Laimbeer and Tpin.

The competition gradually intensified. After Gan Guoyang entered the game, Teping defended him one-on-one from behind, while Lambiel waited for an opportunity not far away.

However, the Pistons' strong-side players didn't interfere enough with Gan Guoyang. Porter lobbed the ball to Gan Guoyang, who received it, turned to face the basket, and used his footwork to accelerate, making a beautiful move hook shot.

Once the strong side lacks interference, giving Gan Guoyang room to make moves, his move hook is comparable to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook.

With a high hit rate and effortless, easy shots, whether they go in or not depends entirely on Gan Guoyang's feel for the ball.

Teping couldn't find the trick to defending against Gan Guoyang at all. If he could, he wouldn't have lost so badly in the semi-finals.

Lambiel served from the baseline, growling at Tpin, "Elbow him, elbow him!"

Teping scratched his head. "How do I elbow him?"
"Push into his waist, push hard, make him hurt!"

As Lambiel ran towards the front, he reminded Teping.

This guy is timid and hesitant when defending himself, but he's got a whole set of tricks up his sleeve when teaching Tping.

When Porter became the defender on Vinnie Johnson, Johnson's scoring became a bit more difficult.

Porter is taller and stronger, and most importantly, Gan Guoyang roams the top of the key and the wings.

Then Bill Walton camped out in the paint, which greatly increased the difficulty of driving into the paint.

Johnson tried to drive to the basket, but his shot was contested by Gan Guoyang and missed.

Walton grabbed the defensive rebound, the Trail Blazers launched a counterattack, and Porter made a bold long pass to the frontcourt.

Drexler catches the ball and dunks it in! An easy ball indeed.

Daly reminded Vinnie Johnson from the sidelines: "Get away from Forrest Gump, get away from Forrest Gump!"

The common sense among coaches across the league now is that, whether on offense or defense, they should try to avoid Gan Guoyang as much as possible. When on offense, don't force your way past Gan Guoyang; instead, draw him away and attack other weak points.

When defending, try not to let Gan Guoyang receive the ball and prevent him from entering a suitable attacking position.

For a long time to come, the Pistons would avoid playing against Gan Guoyang, but would relentlessly attack Jordan.

This is due to the difference in their positions and playing styles. Guard Jordan is a sharp blade, and needs to be protected and defended with thick armor.

Center Gan Guoyang is a heavy hammer, and thick armor is actually useless against him. He can kill you with his shock. The best way to deal with him is to dodge, because a heavy hammer inside is ultimately not as agile as an outside player. You need to feed him the ball.

Therefore, for a long time to come, Jordan will strive to become stronger, while Gan Guoyang will strive to become more flexible and versatile while maintaining his strength.

Playing basketball well requires using your brain. This time, Johnson didn't challenge Gan Guoyang again, but instead teamed up with Laimbeer to set screens at the top of the arc.

Tripka slid along the baseline, drawing the Trail Blazers' defensive attention. Johnson, who had driven into the paint, passed the ball to Laimbeer outside the three-point line.

Laimbeer stretched out his hand and sank a three-pointer!
After scoring, Laimbeer happily spread his arms wide, showcasing his signature offensive move and becoming the originator of the stretch big man.

Gan Guoyang said to Walton, "I'll guard this guy."

Walton shook his head and said, "Then they've achieved their goal. Hold your positions and don't panic."

Gan Guoyang nodded to indicate that he understood, and Walton demonstrated his experience as a veteran at this moment.

Sometimes, when fans see players and coaches at a disadvantage on the field, they still don't change their strategy, thinking it's because they're stupid and slow to react.

In fact, sticking to the established strategy is also very important. If you change it arbitrarily just because you are at a disadvantage in one or two rounds, you will fall into chaos.

Your opponent isn't a fool; if you change, they'll change too. Your changes might just be playing into their hands.

Gan Guoyang once again called for the ball in the low post, and Walton moved to the high post to facilitate. The Pistons did not make any changes and still had Tepin defend Gan Guoyang at the top of the court.

This time, Gan Guoyang used his strength advantage to squeeze into a deep position inside the paint. Walton made a through pass, Gan Guoyang received the ball, turned and faked, shook off Tping and turned again, and then easily made a layup with his left hand.

Without his teammates' help, Turpin was completely unable to defend against Forrest Gump, and Lambiel urged him again: "I told you to elbow him! If that doesn't work, grab his arm and kick him!"

Turpin was hesitant. He had always been upright when playing in Kentucky. Although the Pistons played a rough style, Daly did not expect everyone to learn from Laimbeer and Thomas.

Dumars is very clean; he never even talks trash, he just plays quietly, and that's how he earned Daly's trust.

But unlike Dumars, who was very determined to follow his own style, Tepin admired Lambiel and Forrest Gump, envying their confidence, ease, and uninhibitedness on the field.

Especially Forrest Gump, he could basically hit whoever he wanted and curse whoever he wanted. They were all rookies from 1984, but this guy was practically the king of the league.

After arriving in Detroit, Terry was very grateful to Forrest Gump, and grateful for that push in Los Angeles that almost killed Sterling, allowing him to escape his misery.

But as an opponent, Forrest Gump instilled fear in him, just like Sam Bowie. But Bowie told him that after last year's playoffs, Bowie was no longer afraid of Forrest Gump.

As for the method, Powell said, "Do what you're supposed to do."

What should be done?
But unfortunately, Teping often doesn't know what he should be doing.

Lambir told him to elbow Forrest Gump and clamp his arm. Was that something he should have done?

Turpin hesitated, and ultimately didn't dare to do so before being substituted in the second quarter.

Back on the bench, Daly said Tumpin did a good job, but needed to be more aggressive.

Teping nodded, indicating that he understood, but in reality he didn't.

Sitting on the bench, the game continued, and Gan Guoyang was unstoppable.

He wreaked havoc in the Pistons' paint, grabbing offensive rebounds like Moses Malone and hitting hook shots like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

He can also hit mid-range shots from the top of the key, which is really hard to defend. Tping predicts that Forrest will win the MVP this year.

The Trail Blazers regained their advantage, extending their lead to 10 points, at which point Thomas stepped up again.

He drove to the basket, drew a foul from Thompson, made the free throws, then stole the ball from Porter and scored, leading a fast break.

At that moment, Porter, who was chasing Thomas, shoved him hard from behind, causing the unprepared Thomas to fall out of bounds.

This action instantly ignited the tense atmosphere on the court. Thomas had made a hand movement when he made the steal, but the referee did not call it.

So Potter went all out and gave Thomas a real push, and Thomas immediately leaped up and charged toward Potter.

Before the two men started fighting, Dumas rushed over and separated them. Their teammates also rushed over immediately to keep them apart and prevent a conflict from breaking out.

Thomas was furious. "How dare you, a rookie point guard, shove me like that? This is my territory, Detroit!"
Thomas yelled at Porter, but Porter didn't retaliate. He just accepted the foul and quietly left the court to rest as the second quarter was about to end.

Gan Guoyang patted Potter on the shoulder and said, "I told you, attacking is not about pushing or hitting people. What you did was wrong. Don't do it again."

Porter smiled but didn't say anything. To be honest, Porter wouldn't have dared to do this if Gan Guoyang hadn't been there. Thomas was a big star, and this was Detroit.

But Gan Guoyang is the team's source of confidence, and the guarantee that everyone dares to vent their emotions.

Meanwhile, Te Ping, who was watching the commotion from the sidelines, was stunned and thought to himself, "Is this what aggression is?"

(End of this chapter)