The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 375 The Dawn of Idols

Jordan was indeed different from any other guard in the league, and the defense against him was naturally different as well.

One-on-one defense is not very effective, and double-teaming him is not necessarily much better.

Because double-teaming inevitably leaves gaps, giving Jordan's teammates opportunities, and Jordan's passing is not bad.

Especially tonight, with his focus highly concentrated, Jordan was always able to accurately pass the ball to his teammates who had the opportunity.

Just like dealing with Gan Guoyang, it requires a three-man encirclement, or the use of unconventional methods such as illegal defense and early double-teaming to disrupt Jordan's ball-handling offensive rhythm in order to achieve a better effect.

Gan Guoyang is an inside player, and sometimes he needs his teammates to feed him the ball when he has the ball to attack. Jordan, on the other hand, can start his attack directly from the backcourt, which makes it more difficult to defend him.

Starting in the second quarter, the Trail Blazers adopted a defensive strategy where Terry Porter led the defense against Jordan throughout the game, with Drexler or Jerome Cahill ready to double-team him at any time, and Gan Guoyang serving as the last line of defense.

This strategy is a Jordan-specific version of the defensive trap from last season. Jack Ramsey doesn't want Jordan to continue scoring recklessly in the Christmas Day game.

Jordan's offensive momentum was temporarily halted. Once he got the ball in the backcourt and started to advance the offense, there was always someone in front of him. When he entered the three-point line, either Kossie or Drexler would surround him.

Jordan would choose to pass the ball or seize the opportunity to attack directly using his speed and skills, but when Gan Guoyang came over to help, Jordan failed to score on the basket several times.

Jordan's offensive firepower was certainly strong in the 1986-1987 season, but his offensive skills were not yet fully developed, especially his mid-range and long-range shooting, which was not yet at a level of ease.

Faced with the Trail Blazers' multi-layered defense, and weakened by the two front lines of defense, they were already running out of steam when they finally faced Forrest Gump.

Gan Guoyang's defensive skills under the basket are even better than before, and Jordan can only use some difficult dodges and maneuvers to avoid being blocked and to shoot.

The movements were all beautiful, but the ball was just a little bit off, failing to hit the target and being won by Gan Guoyang.

The Trail Blazers didn't launch counterattacks, but instead played a positional game against the Bulls, which is when Gan Guoyang's advantage as an inside player became apparent.

He spreads out for a one-on-one play, backs down in the low post, receives the ball, dribbles to the basket, turns and easily shoots, making it as simple as drinking water.

Jordan thought to himself, "If you play one-on-one like this, I'll play one-on-one like this too." So the Bulls spread out and gave Jordan one-on-one opportunities on the strong side.

But at this point, the Trail Blazers were a bit unsportsmanlike. Kossie still went over to double-team Jordan, even if it completely left his defender open.

Jordan naturally passed the ball to his teammate, Gene Banks, who received the ball and drove towards the basket. His layup attempt was blocked by Gan Guoyang, who was following behind. Oakley then tried to put the ball back in, but Gan Guoyang turned and blocked it with a big block, then maintained control of the ball.

Gan Guoyang defended two players under the basket, making the Bulls look utterly defeated.

Then, when he got to the basket, Gan Guoyang continued to call for the ball in the low post. Jordan couldn't hold back any longer and went over to double-team him.

Gan Guoyang passed the ball to Drexler, who cut inside. Drexler received the ball, glided into the air, and easily dunked the ball!
There is indeed a significant gap between the two players' teammates, unlike the earlier games where both sides scored 50 points each.

The Trail Blazers were exhausted from that away game, and Jordan at least had Ulrich as a helper. The Trail Blazers' overall strength was not as great as it is today.

Today's Christmas Day game was a close contest, with the Trail Blazers being the defending champions, while the Bulls, apart from Jordan, were a step down in strength compared to the 85 era.

Gan Guoyang said to Jordan, "Go back and ask Krause to get you some good teammates."

These words infuriated Jordan, and he would get angry whenever Krause was mentioned.

They spent the entire summer accumulating draft picks and then traded away talented players.

To put it bluntly, Krause didn't trust Jordan and believed that even if the Bulls brought in a strong player at this point, they wouldn't achieve much success.

They might as well accumulate draft picks, select young players, and prepare for the future.

Krause believed that the Bulls should tank this year to get lottery picks and a good draft position. This way, the Bulls would have several first-round picks in the 1987 draft, allowing Krause to showcase his drafting skills.

But Jordan didn't say it, but he didn't want Krause to have his way. He thought that Krause could win the championship in his second season, so why didn't you recognize my strength?

That's why Jordan was so aggressive on offense this year. If his teammates weren't good enough to score, he would score himself, making up for their lack of talent.

Spurred on by Gan Guoyang, Jordan continued his attack on the basket. This time, he did not directly challenge Gan Guoyang with the ball, but instead used his off-ball movement to get rid of the defense, receive the ball, and then launch an attack.

One of the most valuable assets he gained during his three years playing for North Carolina was his off-ball movement ability, which made him even more unpredictable on offense.

After receiving a pass from his teammate, he would rush to the vicinity of the three-second zone, then leap high into the air, throw himself into the air, and then shoot the ball toward the basket.

Using this off-ball skill, Jordan made another shot, and then stole the ball from Porter on defense and scored on a fast break layup.

Jordan's competitiveness also ignited Gan Guoyang's bloodlust; he stopped slowing down the pace and began signaling Porter to speed up the pace of the attack.

His low-post isolation plays became increasingly faster, and he would launch an attack immediately after receiving the ball, making Charles Oakley seem as if he didn't exist.

Trying to front the ball is completely useless; Porter and Drexler will lob the ball to the basket, and Gan Guoyang will jump up and dunk it with both hands!
The match quickly turned into a duel between the two, with the pace becoming faster and faster, and the score fluctuating. Other teammates gradually became supporting roles.

The Trail Blazers maintained a lead of around 5 points throughout the game, and it was gradually widening because Gan Guoyang's low-post offensive efficiency was higher than Jordan's.

Collins really didn't have any good solutions either; they simply didn't have anyone in the paint who could stop Gan Guoyang.

Conversely, the Trail Blazers had abundant defensive resources to deal with Jordan, making it increasingly difficult for him to play.

In the final stages of the second quarter, Jordan was surrounded by defenders while holding the ball, and his forced shot was blocked by Gan Guoyang.

Then the Trail Blazers launched a counterattack. Gan Guoyang made a long pass to the frontcourt, and Drexler made a quick attack, took off headfirst, and dunked.

The score reached 42-49, with the Trail Blazers extending their lead to 7 points. The overall gap in strength between the two teams was still quite large.

The TV cameras kept focusing on Jordan and Gan Guoyang. Jordan was pulling up his trouser leg, revealing that he was wearing North Carolina undershirt shorts underneath.

Gan Guoyang was standing next to Jordan with his hands on his hips. Gan Guoyang was also wearing underwear underneath his pants. Not only him, Drexler and Porter followed suit and wore the same thing.

The young players in the league now are like these two, with their athletic shorts being modified to be looser and longer than before, instead of the overly tight shorts of the past.

Many people have started chewing gum. Gan Guoyang is now the spokesperson for Wrigley's Spearmint gum in the United States. He consumes four or five pieces of gum during each game.

When the kids were playing basketball in the street, they imitated Jordan sticking out his tongue. This guy liked to stick his tongue out when he broke through defenses, and he wasn't afraid of getting his tongue bitten off.

When Gan Guoyang makes some crucial shots, he pretends to dust off or blow the dust off his arm, a tactic that many young people have also adopted.

Some people imitated Jordan by wearing chains on the court, some imitated Gan Guoyang by wearing cool-looking Avia arm sleeves, some practiced mid-air hand switches like Jordan, and some learned Gan Guoyang's move hook.

Through live television broadcasts, the two gained increasing influence among young people, marking the golden age of sports media and the dawn of idols.

In the Bulls' last offensive possession of the first half, Gan Guoyang directly guarded Jordan one-on-one on the perimeter, causing Porter and Drexler to avoid him.

The entire audience stood up and applauded and cheered. This was a showdown between the Cavaliers. Gan Guoyang lowered his center of gravity and said to Jordan, "You can't pass the ball, Michael."

Jordan gave a disdainful smile, then looked up at the timer, looked down, bent over, increased the frequency of his dribbling, and then stuck out his tongue as he accelerated his breakthrough!
The sharpest spear thrusts fiercely at the hardest shield.

(End of this chapter)