The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 406 Open Your Eyes

The second quarter is about to begin, and both teams' rotation lineups are coming on, with Walton replacing Gan Guoyang.

Jerome Kossi came on early, replacing Vandeweghe.

The Hawks brought in Jon Cowenkake and Shaun Livingston.

The fight was relatively uneventful, with the referee frequently blowing his whistle to control the increasingly intense physical confrontations and prevent the two sides from getting too heated.

During the break, CBS was still broadcasting the history of the Hawks. Auerbach had worked for the team, and the team's greatest glory was in St. Louis, where they won their first championship, sparking a viewing frenzy in the NBA in the 50s and contributing to the survival and development of the NBA at that time.

Now in Atlanta, the Hawks are looking to take flight this season, and they are certainly playing very well.

Their defense is solid, and they have a lot of ideas on offense, always managing to execute some good offensive strategies.

Although they lack a strong low-post offensive threat, Fratello devised numerous tactical routines to connect the inside and outside, creating offensive opportunities for the interior players.

Cowen used his agile movement to get past Walton's defense, received a lob pass from the outside, and dunked it with one hand.

Cowen then used his movement to break through Walton's half-fronting maneuver, cutting to the basket and drawing a foul from Korsey.

He stepped up to the free-throw line and made both shots.

The Hawks love to drive to the basket on offense, which puts a lot of pressure on the opponent's defensive rotations.

Perhaps because the Hawks have one of the best rotation defenses in the league, they attack the opponent's rotation on offense.

Walton's footwork speed is a problem. He's not afraid of opponents who can stand still and fight, but this kind of mobile style of play that involves a lot of cutting in is a test for him.

The Trail Blazers' defense never really picked up, and the Hawks gradually widened their lead in the second quarter.

The Trail Blazers tried to post up Walton, who turned beautifully, but his layup was stolen by the opponent.

A scramble ensued under the basket, and the ball was eventually touched out of bounds by Cowen Keck, giving the Trail Blazers an out-of-bounds possession.

Gan Guoyang then returned to the court, replacing Walton. The score was 33-40, with the Hawks leading by 7 points.

Dominique Wilkins also returned to the court, scoring 7 points in the first quarter, making all three of his field goal attempts.

He seemed to be waiting for Gan Guoyang, waiting for the guy to start running so he could catch up and pull him back.

Wilkins is also an excellent scorer, averaging 30 points per game is not easy, but his efficiency is a problem.

Gan Guoyang replaced Walton, while Paxson replaced Drexler. Gan Guoyang rubbed his hands together and gave Kossie a wink.

Kossie passed the free throw from out of bounds to Gan Guoyang, who received the ball in the corner. The Hawks hadn't set up any defense in that position at all.

Who would defend a center in the corner? Gan Guoyang took a three-pointer, wanting to test his shooting touch.

The shot was quick and clean, the ball piercing through the defense, a three-pointer that gave Gan Guoyang 13 points.

After scoring, Gan Guoyang yelled at Fratello, "I'm a three-point king, and you guys didn't even defend my three-pointers? Show me some respect!"

Fratello squatted on the sidelines, looking somewhat helpless. "I respect you, but for a center to shoot three-pointers, isn't that a bit disrespectful to the modern basketball era?"

The Hawks were indeed careless on that play. Their defense against three-pointers was not systematic at that time. Even if it was Bird, they would just let him shoot threes.

Fratello thought this must be an accident, but he was still a little worried when he thought about how this guy once beat the Lakers with six three-pointers.

He said to Rollins, who was sitting on the bench, "Keep an eye on his long-range shots later."

Rollins didn't say anything, thinking to himself, "I'm a big tree and I have to defend three-pointers? Times have really changed."

The Hawks' offense continued to perform well, with Gus Williams coming off the bench to orchestrate the team's offense.

He first broke through to the basket and then made a sudden floater.

He then broke through again, and after Gan Guoyang helped defend, he passed the ball to Kaun Kek, who dunked it with both hands.

On the Trail Blazers' side, Hornacek was still too inexperienced to defend veterans like Gus Williams, and couldn't keep up with the intensity.

Gan Guoyang, on the defensive end, didn't want to commit any fouls, so he figured he'd let you score if you wanted to.

As the pace of the game gradually quickened, Gan Guoyang did not attempt a three-pointer. Instead, he received the ball in the low post, turned around, and quickly hooked the ball in, scoring the winning shot.

Tonight, he just wanted to score. He didn't hold the ball to observe the game. He shot immediately before the double team came up to cover him, and scored 15 points.

Wilkins got going this time, dribbling the ball and attacking Korsey, driving to the basket and drawing a foul, making the free throws.

Kossie is considered tall and strong among small forwards, but Wilkins has even more explosive power and is full of strength.

Like Gan Guoyang, strength is his powerful weapon for defeating his opponents.

At the same time, Wilkins' shooting ability is underestimated by many; he is an excellent shooter within 15 feet.

But at 15 feet, Wilkins fell short.

When Gan Guoyang received a pass from Paxson at the top of the arc and suddenly hit a three-pointer, the Hawks sensed something was wrong.

With 18 points, halfway through the second quarter, the Hawks called a timeout and brought in Rollins.

It turned out that bringing on Rollins was a mistake.

This former All-Defensive First Team player excelled at defense against interior players and those who attacked the basket.

Gan Guoyang clearly didn't want to fall into the Hawks' double-team trap tonight, and he was adjusting his accuracy with three-pointers. After the timeout, Rivers and other Hawks starters returned to the court, and Wilkins began to take over the Hawks' offense.

As a small forward, Wilkins sometimes plays more like a smaller power forward.

His dribbling isn't very good; he always drives straight at the basket and keeps his head down, not looking at the rim or the players.

This is clearly not a good habit for breaking through defenses, as it makes his drives lack a passing threat.

However, he is incredibly strong, with top-notch impact and jumping ability, making him virtually unstoppable by most inside players.

Gan Guoyang is acceptable.

After Wilkins returned from the timeout, he attempted a strong drive but was stopped by Gan Guoyang.

During the counterattack, Gan Guoyang ran to the wing, received the ball, and pretended to steal a three-pointer.

Rollins came over to defend closely, but Gan Guoyang broke past him in one step and drove into the basket for a two-handed dunk.

Gan Guoyang has already scored 20 points. He didn't concede a single point in the second quarter and scored continuously. That's how fast he scores.

"Shit, how do we defend against that?"

Rollins cursed inwardly, thinking, "A center who can shoot threes from the outside and also fake out drives to the basket."

Centers in the past didn't play like this at all, so Rollins' defensive skills were completely useless.

In the second quarter, Gan Guoyang skillfully used his long-range shooting to make the Hawks' defense waver.

That makes sense. How could the MVP be trapped by your double-team? He will definitely find a way out.

Gan Guoyang didn't miss a mid-range shot until the latter part of the second quarter, followed by a missed hook shot under the basket.

Wilkins seized the opportunity to counterattack and dunk successfully, then turned and scored against Vandeweghe in the low post.

With his shooting touch slightly off, Gan Guoyang passed the ball to his teammate, but Vandeweghe missed a mid-range shot.

Gan Guoyang grabbed an offensive rebound, turned around and made a layup, scoring 22 points.

Wilkins hit a mid-range jumper, and the Hawks maintained a slight lead.

The Trail Blazers cleared the strong side, giving Gan Guoyang a one-on-one opportunity.

He received the ball, overpowered Rollins, turned and drove to the baseline, scored a reverse layup, and drew a foul from Rollins.

At this point, Rollins realized that not only could he not defend against outside skills like three-pointers and drives, but he also couldn't stop them from dominating in the low post!
Gan Guoyang made the free throw, bringing his total to 25 points. At this point, the Trail Blazers were still trailing the Hawks by 2 points.

The offense and defense of both sides gradually entered a high-speed operation, and both sides got carried away.

Wilkins drove hard to the basket again, drawing a foul from Gan Guoyang – Gan Guoyang's first foul of the game.

After making both free throws, Gan Guoyang once again received the ball in the low post, spread out, and was double-teamed by the Hawks. Gan Guoyang used his footwork to create distance and made a Move-hook shot!

This hook shot was from a great distance, about 15 feet away, which is the distance for a mid-range shot. When the ball went in, the Trail Blazers players knew that Gan Guoyang was in top form!

With 27 points, they are still trailing by 2 points.

Both teams' offensive efficiency began to decline in the latter part of the second quarter.

Apart from Gan Guoyang and Wilkins, it became difficult for others to score.

The defensive intensity is gradually increasing, the Hawks are reducing their double-teams, while the Trail Blazers are tightening their one-on-one defense.

With less than a minute remaining in the second quarter.

Wilkins dribbled the ball and went one-on-one, and Gan Guoyang switched out to defend him.

Wilkins hesitated for a moment when faced with Gan Guoyang's defense.

But in the end, he still charged forward headlong, only to find that Gan Guoyang's strength was beyond his ability to overcome.

He rushed halfway but realized he couldn't make it, so he passed the ball out, and Rivers caught it and made a long-range shot!

After a brief scoring drought, the Hawks finally hit a long-range shot.

In the Trail Blazers' final possession of the second quarter, Drexler had the ball and set a pick-and-roll with Gan Guoyang.

The Hawks opted to switch on defense, and Drexler drove in, then passed the ball back to Gan Guoyang outside the three-point line.

Gan Guoyang received the ball and launched a three-pointer. His hand form was beautiful, and his release was crisp. The ball went smoothly into the net, and the three-pointer was made!

His three-point shooting was perfect tonight, causing a lot of trouble for the Hawks' defense.

With the score at 54-55, the Trail Blazers trailed by one point at halftime. Gan Guoyang scored 30 points, which wasn't a particularly high number for him.

After that, we went into halftime, and the third quarter was about to begin.

Gan Guoyang thought to himself that his condition and feel for the game had been restored to a decent level.

He wanted to try some offensive tactics that he rarely used, to show everyone what he was capable of.

(End of this chapter)