The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 418 The Triangle of Death
Bickerstaff was fully aware of Gan Guoyang's power.

His 81-point performance against the Hawks was a showcase of his full offensive prowess.

And his 48 points in the first round against the Warriors allowed him to play freely, which resulted in his utter defeat.

However, the Trail Blazers' almost shameless one-on-one play on all four sides, without any rule restrictions, has caused many coaches a dilemma.

With four players standing outside the three-point line, you can't play zone defense, and you can't stray too far from your assigned player, which would cause the defensive team's formation to fall apart.

It could even be said that there was no formation to speak of; the game completely turned into one-on-one duels between the Cavaliers and into a battle of one-on-one defensive ability between the low-post centers.

The league turns a blind eye to the teams' protests and opinions, after all, the purpose of the NBA is to attract more viewers to the games, not to satisfy the coaches.

As the season progresses, teams are looking for ways to counter Gan Guoyang, such as using a rotation strategy, switching different low-post players to defend him.

Some teams have stockpiled a lot of muscular big men in an attempt to contain Gan Guoyang in the low post, such as the Pistons and Lakers.

Another issue is fronting defense. Gan Guoyang faced a lot of fronting defense in the middle of the season, but most of it was broken by passes from Thompson and Drexler.

By the end of the season and the playoffs, no team was using fronting against Gan Guoyang anymore.

The methods that each team gradually figured out were still double-teaming, but no longer the rigid and slow double-teaming of the past.

That kind of double-teaming sometimes doesn't work at all, and even creates a lot of opportunities for other Trail Blazers players, so it's not worth it.

The coaches racked their brains, devising more complex strategies and methods to deal with super scorers like Gan Guoyang and Jordan.

Among them, Seattle SuperSonics assistant coach Bob Croppenburg proposed a complete defensive system to cope with the changing offensive and defensive environment of the NBA.

Kloppenberg coached for many years in college and high school with great success. Although he did not make a name for himself in the NCAA, his teams participated in the NAIA National League multiple times and achieved remarkable results.

Kloppburg are masters of defense and have a unique defensive philosophy.

He named this defensive concept "SOS pressur defense syetem".

The core concept of this defensive system is "Offense off defense," which is the so-called offensive defense.

In basketball, a scoring game, the offensive side always has the initiative, while the defensive side is always on the defensive.

Often, the defense is led by the nose by the offense. Wherever the ball goes, the defense follows; however the offense runs, the defense blocks.

The saying goes, "When soldiers come, generals will block them; when water comes, earth will dam it." This is a basic principle of basketball. After all, the rules encourage offense; otherwise, what would the fans watch, and what would the game be about?

But Kloppenberg took a different approach, believing that good defense, like offense, should not be led by the nose by the attacker, but rather force the attacker to make choices.

The defender should take the initiative and constantly put pressure on the attacker, forcing them to make the worst and most unfavorable choice, leading to the failure of the attack.

Based on this core idea, Kloppburg set 12 basic defensive principles, such as aggressive man-to-man defense, pressing the sideline in the direction of possession, and refusing all first passes. These principles, combined with defensive tactics, form a tight, high-pressure defensive network that makes every attacking player uncomfortable.

Then, when combined with a multi-front defensive counter-attacking system, Kloppenberg's system, once fully formed, will be extremely powerful.

These ideas will profoundly influence offense and defense on the basketball court for a long time to come.

Of course, for this system to take shape, the requirements for the players are also very high.

He needs players with excellent physical attributes, sufficient size, all-around defensive ability, and high defensive IQ.

At the same time, the players need to have good defensive chemistry and memorize a lot of teamwork routines during training.

These high demands sometimes make it difficult for the Supersonics to achieve the results the coaches want during the long regular season.

For example, in the 12 principles, the "refuse the first pass" principle requires the backcourt defenders to do everything they can to disrupt every first pass from the offensive organizer.

Because the first pass of the attacking side is always the starting point of the tactical action, it is a very important first pass. Once it is disrupted, the opponent will have to use Plan B or start playing haphazardly.

In this way, the opponent's attack cannot proceed smoothly as planned, and the attacker will be in a very uncomfortable state. You will have to do things outside the plan, which means you will be under high pressure.

This is a good idea, but it places too high demands on the backcourt players. To implement this strategy, the point guard has to be 100% focused, closely guarding and disrupting the defense, which is very physically demanding.

In college, this tactic works well against point guards with average physical attributes and low skill levels. However, in the NBA, where there are monsters everywhere, like Magic Johnson, it's almost impossible to disrupt his first pass.

On the Trail Blazers' side, Drexler and Porter are both strong and physically robust players with quick passing and strong acceleration.

You're marking me closely, and one speed boost will blow me right past. No principle matters.

Therefore, the SuperSonics' performance was very inconsistent during the regular season, and Kloppburg's defensive strategy failed to work against some weaker teams.

The players were tired and exhausted. The team was newly formed and lacked coordination. If they relaxed even slightly, they would abandon all principles and just let their guard down.

But things are different in the playoffs. Team morale is high, and they make targeted arrangements for each game. Facing the same opponent in a series, they will defend better and better.

In the first round series against the Dallas Mavericks, the Mavericks' leading scorer, Mark Aguirre, was relentlessly double-teamed and pressured by the SuperSonics.

Aguirre, who averaged 25.7 points per game in the regular season, was defended down to only 21 points per game, especially in the two games in Seattle, where he scored 16 points in one game and 13 points in the other, with a pitiful field goal percentage of 41% and 30%, respectively. He was completely shut down.

The Supersonics employed a defensive strategy called the "death triangle" against Aguirre.

They first double-teamed and pressured Mark Aguirre towards the baseline, then formed a triangular defensive zone near the three-second area.

Although the outside was open, Aguirre, who was pressed to the bottom, had difficulty passing the ball out and couldn't make good passes because the speed was too slow.

This resulted in Aguirre being unable to score himself or assist his teammates, repeatedly falling into dead ball situations, making it impossible for him to perform well.

This kind of defense is clearly playing in the borderline zone, but the current trend in the league is that all teams are playing illegally in the borderline zone. If you don't do it, you'll be left behind.

Even the Trail Blazers, under Bobby Bellman's design, will employ edge zone defense and set up defensive traps in the paint.

However, unlike Kloppburg, Berman did not design overly complex defensive strategies, but instead tried to have players defend one-on-one.

First, one-on-one defense helps to motivate players; second, simple defensive strategies are more durable and resilient; and third, the Trail Blazers have the resources for such one-on-one defense.

In this game, the SuperSonics will use a similar strategy to deal with Gan Guoyang, and they will start with a regular double-team in the first quarter.

As long as Gan Guoyang maintains a deep position, Maxwell will definitely double-team him, and then someone will come over to block the middle, not giving Drexler or Porter any space to break through.

Next, the SuperSonics began to defend the first pass on the outside. Gan Guoyang needed to be positioned deep, making it difficult to pass the ball to him, which forced the main attackers to switch to Drexler or Vandeweghe.

Before the game, Bickerstaff and Kloppburg repeatedly studied the Trail Blazers' video and knew that if Gan Guoyang was double-teamed too much and couldn't get a shot off, he would switch from deep post to shallow post.

Moving the ball from the rib area to the outside at a 45-degree angle, or even closer to the three-point line, away from the basket, makes receiving the ball easier and less likely to be double-teamed.

At this point, the SuperSonics will begin to employ their "death triangle," utilizing McDaniel's superior mobility and boundless energy, and teaming up with Claymond Johnson and Maurice Lucas to trap Gan Guoyang at the bottom.

Everything went according to plan. In the first quarter, the SuperSonics did a good job with double-teaming, rotation, and defending the first pass. The players moved quickly and had strong pressure on the perimeter defense.

Gan Guoyang's points all came from free throws and second-chance opportunities; he didn't score any one-on-one plays.

The Trail Blazers went from having an initial lead to their offense becoming increasingly inefficient.

Without Gan Guoyang's individual support, the team's progress became increasingly slow.

Just as the SuperSonics coach had predicted, Gan Guoyang started to come out and receive the ball.

Claymond Johnson vacated the bottom side, allowing Gan Guoyang to move there, and then McDaniel came over from the top to double-team him.

Tom Chambers was ready to help defend in the three-second zone, and the triangle in the three-second zone had been formed, leaving Porter and Drexler wide open.

Gan Guoyang was cornered. He could break through, but the ball would go out of bounds. He could also pass the ball, but long passes were difficult, prone to errors, and unlikely to create an effective attack.

At this moment, Gan Guoyang did not hesitate or dawdle; he quickly made the right decision: to throw directly.

He took a strong mid-range shot from the baseline, with a slight fadeaway, and the ball went in accurately, scoring two points.

Kloppburg was a little dumbfounded. Had he just scored like that?
After a series of elaborate maneuvers, the problem was solved by a single mid-range shot.

(End of this chapter)