The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 284 Silver-Top Assassin

At the start of the third quarter, although the score difference between the two sides was not large, the Trail Blazers played with ease and had an absolute advantage.

During halftime, Ramsey simply reminded the players to control their fouls and turnovers, concentrate on avoiding mistakes, and not let the Pistons disrupt their rhythm of the game.

The Pistons have always been a team that likes to stir up emotions, especially at home in the Silver Top Center, where they have a winning percentage of 75%, while their away winning percentage is a pitiful 31%.

This fully demonstrates that the Pistons played with even more ruthlessness at the Silver Top Center, daring to make moves, stirring up the emotions of players and fans, and influencing the opponent's mentality in order to achieve victory.

Besides being related to the temperament of the core players, it is also closely related to the team's configuration. Their backcourt lacks height, their inside players lack athleticism, and their players are not strong in individual defensive combat.

In this situation, if you don't resort to unorthodox methods and don't put thought into tactics and strategies, and instead just fight head-on, you'll most likely lose to those teams full of talent.

The Trail Blazers are a team brimming with talent, especially on offense. At the start of the third quarter, Vandeweghe and Gan Guoyang combined to set a screen and then he hit a mid-range jump shot.

Vandeweghe's jump shot, in terms of hand shape, flexibility, and release form, is actually better than Larry Bird's. However, in terms of training hard, Vandeweghe is inferior to Bird, and he cannot compare in terms of all-around ability.

In that game where Vandeweghe scored 51 points, and the two teams combined for over 360 points, they faced the Detroit Pistons, whose defense was truly terrible at the time.

The Pistons haven't made any major changes to their frontcourt yet, with Vandeweghe already scoring 21 points in three quarters.

Tripka attempted to launch an attack from the outside, but Gan Guoyang hovered around the top line like a ghost, ready to come over and cover at any moment.

Tripka passed the ball to the weak side, and Dumas drove to the basket on the left, but his layup was interfered with by Gan Guoyang and missed.

Thompson grabbed the defensive rebound, and the Trail Blazers launched a counterattack. Vandeweghe received the ball on the left wing and drove to the basket, but his layup attempt was thwarted when he was violently knocked down from behind by Laimbeer!
Vandeweghe rolled out of bounds, while Laimbeer had already raised his hands, admitting to the foul to the referee with a grin on his face.

However, when he saw Gan Guoyang rushing towards him, Lambiel's smile vanished instantly. He immediately hid behind the referee, pointed at Gan, and shouted, "Don't hit people! Hitting people is wrong!"

The referee quickly stopped and calmed Gan Guoyang, using his strong arm to block him, saying, "Calm down, Sonny, calm down, I will make the correct call!"

Tonight's head referee is the famous "Yogi," "Pied Piper," and "The Earl," possibly the most fiery and flamboyant referee in NBA history, more eye-catching than many players—Earl Stroom.

Back when NBA referees' uniforms were still "prison-style," Strom was officiating in the league, making him a veteran referee.

Stroom has been through all sorts of situations and has a rather fiery officiating style.

For example, in Game 7 of the 1965 Celtics vs. 76ers series, Havlicek stole the ball, and Johnny Most shouted, "Havlicek stole the ball!" Sturm was the referee for that game, and at the time, he had a cast on his arm because he had broken it in a fight with fans in the previous game.

In another game against the Hawks and the 76ers, the Hawks' general manager was unhappy with the referee's call and called Strum a coward. Strum went up and grabbed him by the collar, ready to hit him. As a result, the fans in the arena rushed over and surrounded him. Fortunately, Chamberlain intervened and protected Strum as he left the court.

During the 1967 All-Star Game, he ejected Eastern Conference All-Star coach Auerbach, making Auerbach the only coach in NBA history to be ejected from an All-Star Game.

In the 70s, he went to the ABA to officiate, got into a fight with fans in Denver, and returned to the NBA after a dissatisfying stint in the ABA. In a 1974 game between the Bulls and the Bucks, he ejected the Bulls' mascot, Benny Bull.

In a Jazz game in 1982, the Jazz were trailing by a large margin and had no hope of winning. Head coach Lyden couldn't stand it and wanted to leave the court early, so he insulted Stroom. Stroom was unmoved and said, "I know what you want to do. I won't kick you out. I'll let you watch the game from the sidelines like me."

In a game between the 76ers and the Nets, Strum and Dick Bavetta were officiating the game together. In the final moments, Strum made a call against the Nets, but Bavetta ran to the scorer's table to argue and overturn Strum's call. The Nets won in the end. As a result, Bavetta was beaten black and blue by Strum in the referee's locker room. He opened the door and ran away, only to be bumped into by players who were returning to the locker room. Everyone was stunned.

Strum's fiery personality seems unbelievable to later NBA fans, but in the brutal and uncouth era of the NBA, a referee without such a courageous character simply could not withstand the pressure of blowing the whistle on the court.

Especially when you make a ruling that is unfavorable to the home team, you have to bear the wrath of tens of thousands of fans. At that time, the fans were not civilized, and it was common for them to surround the referee, throw water at the referee, and smash things.

Referees always take their whistles off their necks when they finish off a call and return to the locker room, otherwise fans might grab the whistle rope and throw them down by the neck as they leave the field.

Some extreme fans even issue death threats to referees. Keep in mind that guns are not prohibited in the United States, and referees are just ordinary people without any security measures when they leave the field.

Therefore, these veteran referees who came from the 50s and 60s are tough, bold, and sometimes even more ferocious than the players.

Gan Guoyang respected these hard-line referees. He cursed at Lambiel as a "coward" and went over to help Vandeweghe up.

The referee awarded two free throws and possession, but Vandeweghe must have been a bit dazed from the fall, as he only made one of the two free throws.

Drexler then missed a shot from the outside, and Gan Guoyang tried to get inside, but Teping harassed him relentlessly, even starting to hug him.

The pistons clearly started to increase their intensity.

Laimbeer easily grabbed the rebound in the backcourt, and Tpin let go. Gan Guoyang didn't complain, but said, "Melvin, do you want some physical contact?"

Turpin didn't respond; he just kept running forward. The Pistons' outside shot missed, and Turpin grabbed the corner of Gan Guoyang's clothes—this was something Laimbeer had taught him, which caused Gan Guoyang to miss the rebound.

Tripka grabbed the offensive rebound and scored on the putback. Gan Guoyang looked at Tripka and thought to himself, "This is interesting. This fat guy is starting to use physical contact and dirty tricks."

Gan Guoyang remained unperturbed. Such physical contact is perfectly normal in the NBA interior, and small tricks are an unspoken rule among players. As long as it's not too excessive, everyone uses them.

Gan Guoyang always prefers to confront things head-on rather than complaining to the referee. Te Ping's willingness to take action actually makes the game more interesting.

Subsequently, Gan Guoyang held off Teping in the low post, and no matter how Teping pulled, it had no effect. Gan Guoyang received the ball, turned around, and forced his way past Teping to score a layup.

"Well done, but keep it up, Melvin!" Gan Guoyang encouraged Tepindo to go into the box after scoring.

Turpin got excited too. He realized that Daly was right. Forrest Gump was a player, just like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses. What was there to be afraid of?
Do what you're supposed to do, and teach him a lesson when necessary!

Teppin got more and more excited as he played, and he hit a mid-range shot after receiving the ball on the outside.

He then shoved Drexler away during a layup attempt, a move that was slightly excessive.

Gan Guoyang reminded Te Ping: "Hey! Playing against others is fine, but be careful not to play any dirty tricks!"

Lambiel replied, "Well done, Teping. That's how you should deal with them. Don't be afraid, I'm here."

Isaiah Thomas also came over and patted Tpin on the shoulder, whispering that they should play like this, and then increase the intensity for Forrest Gump later.

Gan Guoyang was a little angry. He had hardly had any on-court conflicts with opponents this season; everyone had been very peaceful. Gan Guoyang even felt that the league was very fair and just, and everyone should just play basketball properly. Why did these underhanded tactics start happening again at the Silver Top Center?

Drexler made one of two free throws, meaning the Trail Blazers only scored 4 points in four possessions, and the Pistons definitely benefited from it.

Thomas immediately accelerated his advance, then used his speed to dribble past Cort with a series of crossovers, broke through to the basket, and pulled up for a jump shot that went in off the backboard.

The Pistons continued to close the gap, and their defense, influenced by Tpin, began to become increasingly aggressive.

Thomas shoved Cortés, and Laimbeer tripped Thompson under the basket, but the referees did not call a foul.

The Trail Blazers' offense was somewhat disorganized, and the ball couldn't get to Gan Guoyang. When Gan Guoyang came out to receive the ball, the Pistons immediately double-teamed him.

Gan Guoyang made a beautiful through pass to Drexler, who drove into the basket for a layup, but was blocked by Laimbeer!
Laimbeer barely bounced the ball; he squeezed Drexler and then gently tapped it with his hand.

Drexler's jump was insufficient under strong physical contact, and the ball was saved, causing jubilation throughout the Silver Dome Center.

Thomas delivered a beautiful long bounce pass, and Joe Dumars caught the ball and scored a layup!
The Pistons have narrowed the gap to just 5 points, now trailing 73-68.

Gan Guoyang knew the team needed a reliable player, so he called for the ball again in the low post. Teping used his strong elbow to keep pushing and shoving Gan Guoyang's back.

This feeling was certainly unpleasant, but Gan Guoyang remained unmoved. He received the ball, turned around, and took a forward-leaning shot, which went in again!
The Pistons' initial momentum to close the gap was thwarted by Gan Guoyang's consecutive baskets.

Laimbeer attempted a three-pointer from beyond the arc, but missed, and Drexler grabbed the long rebound.

This time, Gan Guoyang was defending on the outside, so he immediately started to move down quickly, and Drexler hit a ground ball to Gan Guoyang from the flank.

Gan Guoyang received the ball and jumped to dunk, but a strong force came from his side and behind, and Gan Guoyang was pushed hard, lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Then, instead of rolling and falling out of bounds like Vandeweghe, Gan Guoyang landed on his right foot with a slight tilt, took a step back with his left foot, and managed to stand firmly!

He turned around and saw that it wasn't Lambiel who had pushed him, but Melvin T. Tpin, who was staring at Forrest with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

Guilt? Provocation? Or smugness?

Regardless of who he was, 0.5 seconds later, Teping's eyes were filled with fear, because Gan Guoyang, after regaining his footing, immediately put down the ball and charged towards Teping like a tiger.

Terrified, Teping instinctively stretched out his arms to try to stop Gan Guoyang, but Gan Guoyang grabbed Teping's left hand, then wrapped his left leg around Teping's left leg and pushed him forward with a "lying knife" move from Chinese wrestling, knocking the 260-pound Teping heavily to the ground.

According to fans who were watching the game from the sidelines, the speed was too fast, and then Tepin fell down, "I felt the floor shaking."

The referee's whistle only sounded when Turpin was brought down; it was Stromb's signature continuous whistle, which is why he was known as "The Pied Piper".

At this moment, the players from both sides gathered around. Gan Guoyang stood up and saw that Laimbeer, who was returning to defense, was shouting "Get out! Get out!" Without thinking twice, he rushed forward and punched Laimbeer in the nose again!
Lambiel was completely unprepared; he never expected Gan Guoyang to throw a punch at him, something that had nothing to do with him.

And aren't you a wrestler? Why are you using your fists?! All that fall defense training I did this summer was for nothing!

When Gan Guoyang threw that punch, the Pistons players realized things were in trouble, especially Thomas.

Thompson and Kenny Karl tried to pull Gan Guoyang away, but they couldn't stop him at all. Drexler and Vandeweghe simply ignored him.

After taking down Laimbeer, Gan Guoyang began searching for Thomas. Pistons players dared not get close; whoever did, he would throw them down.

Vinnie Johnson was thrown into the stands by Gan Guoyang, and Joe Dumars was easily brought down by a hook kick.

Upon spotting Thomas and locking onto him, Gan Guoyang charged towards him. Thomas, not being stupid, saw the situation was bad and took off running!

Thomas, with his small frame, might really die if Gan Guoyang hit him!

Thomas had never run so fast before; he was genuinely panicked and ran around most of the field to get behind referee Strum.

Stromb quickly stopped Gan Guoyang, saying, "Enough, enough! Don't do this, Gan! Enough..."

Stromb is considered physically strong among referees, but how could he possibly be stronger than Gan Guoyang?

Gan Guoyang pushed aside Strom to continue chasing Thomas, but after taking two steps, he found his right foot was particularly heavy.

Strom clung tightly to Gan Guoyang's leg, begging him to stop chasing.

Ramsey then ran over and calmed Gan Guoyang down.

Seeing that the referee had already done this, Gan Guoyang let Thomas off the hook.

He easily pulled Stromb up and said, "Time to get to work, Earl. Get me out of here."

Strom got up. By then, the Silver Dome Center was in chaos, with some fans shouting and cursing, but no one dared to throw anything at Gan Guoyang.

The referee made an exaggerated gesture and sent Gan Guoyang off the field. However, before leaving the field, Gan Guoyang went to check on Te Ping, who was dazed and confused after being thrown to the ground.

Teping was helped up by the team doctor, completely dazed. Still confused from the fall, he asked Gan Guoyang, "Oh, Sonny, what are you doing here?"

Gan Guoyang said, "I'm leaving soon. Have a good sleep, Melvin. Goodnight."

With that, Gan Guoyang jogged away from the stadium, and no one at the Silver Dome Center dared to stop him.

From then on, Gan Guoyang gained another nickname: the Silver-Top Assassin.

This sudden, one-sided brawl has been dubbed the "Silver Top Massacre" by NBA historians.

(End of this chapter)