The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 420 Monster
Seeing that Bavita had been knocked down, Gan Guoyang went over to take a look.

When Hugh Evans came over, Gan Guoyang said to Evans, "He committed a blocking foul."

Evans rolled his eyes at Gan Guoyang and said, "Stop joking, Sonny. This is a pretty bad collision. We'll need to bring in the stretcher team."

Bavita was seriously injured in the collision. CBS's slow-motion replay showed that when Gan Guoyang hit Bavita, his elbow struck Bavita's chin.

That one blow would be too much for even a normal center forward, let alone a relatively thin referee like Baveta.

However, it doesn't seem like Gan Guoyang did it on purpose, judging from his movements. He raised his elbow to swing his arm while running, and there were no extra movements when you look closely.

On the contrary, Baveta's positioning was too far inside, blocking the players' path.

Perhaps they didn't expect Drexler to suddenly intercept the ball, and they certainly didn't expect Gan Guoyang's fast break to be so fierce.

The doctor came to check on Bavita; he was dazed and in a semi-comatose state.

Baveta was carried off the field on a stretcher, leaving only two referees on the field. There are no substitute referees in the playoff semifinals.

Hugh Evans asked Gan Guoyang, "Gan, did you do that on purpose?"

Gan Guoyang said, "Of course I didn't do it on purpose. I was eager to launch a fast break. You know, even though I'm a center, I really enjoy launching fast breaks."

"Then why can't you suppress the corners of your mouth?"

"Really? No, no, I'm praying for Dick, hoping he's alright too."

Dick Bavetta later recalled that the moment Gan Guoyang hit him, he felt like he had been hit by a car and felt like he was going to die.

He bumped his chin, saw a bunch of stars, and then collapsed to the ground unconscious. When he woke up, he found himself in an ambulance.

The first thing he said when he woke up was, "Foul..." He was still thinking about calling a foul on Gan Guoyang.

Unfortunately, the "accidental collision" with the referee was not counted as a foul. After review, the technical table determined that it was an accident and Gan Guoyang was not responsible.

Of course, only Gan Guoyang himself knows whether it was an accident or intentional, but in any case, he got Bavita off the field.

After getting rid of players and owners, Gan Guoyang has now achieved the feat of getting rid of referees. I wonder when he will get rid of a coach.

After this brief incident, the first half ended with the score at 51-59, the Trail Blazers leading the SuperSonics by 8 points.

Gan Guoyang had 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocks in the first half, maintaining a very consistent performance.

Faced with the Supersonics' strategy, Gan Guoyang made a very calm judgment and directed his teammates to break through the Supersonics' high-pressure defense.

During halftime in the locker room, Jack Ramsey emphasized ball movement and screens, asking Walton and Thompson to come out more to screen and receive passes on the perimeter, preventing Porter, Drexler, and others from falling into the SuperSonics' trap.

At the same time, he instructed Bellman to remind Gan Guoyang to continue operating in the three-second zone, not to easily move up, not to easily shoot, and not to come out to set screens.

Ramsey, as expected of a tactical expert, figured out the characteristics of the SuperSonics' defense within the first half.

This is a proactive defense that constantly induces and forces the attacking side to make choices that are detrimental to the attack.

The most direct way to break this defense is not to be misled. If it doesn't want you to go somewhere, you should go there anyway—of course, this requires real strength.

Gan Guoyang has the ability to do so. He must continue to penetrate deep into the paint and the three-second zone, using offensive rebounds and attacks on the rim to regain the initiative on both offense and defense.

If he gets caught up in his strong shots, or keeps going to more outfield positions to receive the ball in order to avoid double teams, he will fall into the trap of the SuperSonics' defense.

Gan Guoyang agreed with Ramsey's strategy, believing that the more your opponent doesn't want you to go to a certain place, the more you should go there until you break through their defense.

However, Ramsey was worried about Gan Guoyang's fouls and said to Gan Guoyang, "Sonny, you need to control your fouls in the third quarter. You can't foul anymore."

Gan Guoyang laughed and said, "I believe it won't happen. The person who blew my whistle is already lying down."

"Be more careful next time. Dick is a nice guy."

"I didn't mean to." "I know you didn't mean to, but what I mean is, it's best to make him reimburse you and not let him blow the whistle again."

"..."

If we're talking about ruthlessness, you old man are the ruthless one.

A minor collision would only leave someone unconscious for a couple of days, but you went and managed to injure them so badly they could never be a referee again.

Of course, Ramsey was joking; he gets along well with Bavita, but not with Strom.

NBA coaches, referees, and players form a huge network of personal connections, and everyone has their own preferences.

Everyone on the field performs their duties and presents the game to the audience; only they themselves know what their relationships are like off the field.

After the game, Jack Ramsey made a special trip to the hospital to visit Bavetta and apologize to him on behalf of Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers.

He didn't want Gan Guoyang's relationship with the referees to become too strained, as it would be detrimental to future matches, but he hadn't told Gan Guoyang about this.

After the start of the third quarter, Gan Guoyang, following Ramsey's instructions, settled in the three-second zone of the Supersonics.

The supersonics quickly realized that their SOS defense system was unsustainable, as constantly pressuring Gan Guoyang had little effect.

Meanwhile, their attention was constantly focused on Gan Guoyang, which affected their defense against other players and the team's offense.

Vandeweghe made consecutive shots in the third quarter, and he also combined with Drexler to score on fast breaks, leading the Trail Blazers on an offensive surge.

The Supersonics realized the problem: they were tied down by Gan Guoyang, and the rest of the Trail Blazers were no pushovers.

Bickerstaff could only ask his players to resume normal man-to-man defense, increase pressure on the perimeter, and maintain double-teaming Gan Guoyang.

As for the so-called "death triangle" or "death type I," forget about it. Gan Guoyang isn't dead, but they're about to die, and the referee is about to die too.

Moreover, the SuperSonics' interior defense is struggling. Both Lucas and McDaniel are expending a lot of energy battling in the paint.

Gan Guoyang's stamina is a bottomless pit; he can keep you engaged from the first quarter to the last, maintaining a high intensity throughout.

Therefore, by the middle of the third quarter, the SuperSonics' defense was on the verge of collapse, and they could no longer maintain the pressure of the SOS system.

Gan Guoyang began to post up and score repeatedly, drawing fouls from Maurice Lucas, McDaniel, and Johnson.

Gan Guoyang was unstoppable at the free-throw line. All the fouls by the SuperSonics were meaningless. He had made 14 of 15 free throws in three quarters and only missed one shot.

After three quarters, the Trail Blazers led the SuperSonics by 15 points. There was a significant gap in the two teams' overall strength, and all of the SuperSonics' strategies seemed futile and a struggle to the Trail Blazers.

Gan Guoyang scored 33 points, 17 rebounds, and 6 blocks in three quarters—to be honest, with this kind of performance, the SuperSonics were only 15 points behind, so they had already played quite well.

The SuperSonics' best play tonight was their three-point shooting, making 5 of 6 attempts from beyond the arc, a very high percentage, but it wasn't enough to close the gap in overall strength between the two teams.

The high three-point shooting percentage did cause some trouble for the Trail Blazers. If they had made two three-pointers instead of five, the SuperSonics would have been down by 20 points.

The feeling of being down by 15 points is completely different from being down by 20 points. When it's 15 points, the SuperSonics players feel like they can still catch up.

However, in the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers did not give the SuperSonics any chance. Gan Guoyang scored 5 consecutive points by posting up twice and drawing a foul on McDaniel, extending the lead to 20 points.

The game was no longer in doubt. Gan Guoyang scored 42 points, 20 rebounds, and 6 blocks, helping his team easily defeat the SuperSonics at home.

After the SuperSonics players returned to the locker room, McDaniel picked up Gan Guoyang's No. 11 jersey, folded it, and put it in his backpack.

His so-called "support" was basically ineffective tonight; they were completely crushed.

He decided to calm down and go back to figure out how to deal with the monster.

(End of this chapter)