The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 446 Let yourself go
In the first and second games, the Trail Blazers and Pistons were evenly matched in the first half, with little difference between them.

Even in the second game where the Trail Blazers ultimately crushed the Pistons, they were only leading by 5 points at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Trail Blazers used their varied defense and Gan Guoyang's efficient one-on-one plays to take down the Pistons in one go.

The Pistons are a team that lacks creativity on offense, and Isaiah Thomas's speed and agility are the ceiling of their talent.

In the 1980s, a point guard who was only about 185 cm tall had to shoulder the responsibility of scoring continuously and creating opportunities during the crucial third and fourth quarters, which was a lot of pressure.

Unlike interior players who can get closer to the basket, or forwards who have a physical advantage in shooting, driving, and drawing fouls.

He can only rely on his speed and skills, which will make it difficult to break through the dense defense of this era, and drawing fouls will be even more difficult.

Thomas has consistently averaged around 6 free throws per game, increasing to 7 in the playoffs. This number is relatively low if he needs to carry the team in crucial moments.

The Pistons lack big men in low-post offense, and even less so in high-post playmaking and low-post pivoting.

Laimbeer's mid-range and long-range shooting can only be used as a supplementary offensive weapon. His average points per game will drop in the playoffs, from 15 to 12.

Dantley's arrival has indeed greatly helped the Pistons' offense. His low-post ball-handling and free throws have added more layers to the otherwise monotonous Detroit offense.

However, Dantley has always been known in the league for his selfish playing style and monotonous offensive tactics. The fact that such a player could enrich the Pistons' offense is enough to show how lacking the Pistons' offensive strategies were before Dantley came.

In an era when three-pointers were not common, the offensive model, which relied mainly on three small guards in the backcourt, depended heavily on fast breaks.

In positional warfare, positioning is crucial, and the forwards have almost no independent offensive capabilities, while the inside players rely on piecemeal attacks.

Once the Portlanders started their strong-weak-strong defensive variations, the Pistons' offense became stagnant in the third quarter.

At times like these, the Pistons have to rely on Thomas to use his slender frame to back down and arch towards the basket.

He can use his speed to turn around and shoot a jump shot or drive to the basket and floater. If he draws the defense, he will pass the ball to his teammates to create offensive opportunities.

But this kind of play is inefficient and can't keep up with the Trail Blazers' relentless bombardment.

During the two-day break, the Pistons coaching staff tried to find ways to improve the situation.

There's no way to solve it. The player roster is what it is. Do you expect Rodman, Salihamidzic, and Tepin to suddenly have a breakthrough and become super attackers?

This is the place they plan to develop in the future. There's definitely no time for the finals, so they can only cram at the last minute.

Versace proposed an idea: a three-guard lineup, with Vinnie Johnson, Dumars, and Thomas all on the court at the same time.

Having three ball handlers would greatly increase the Pistons' offensive flexibility, preventing situations where passing the ball to certain players would result in one less player on offense.

The biggest problem with this lineup is defense. None of the three backcourt players are over 190cm tall, so they're likely to get blown up by the Trail Blazers' offense.

But Daly did not dismiss Versace's forward-thinking idea. After some consideration, he concluded that it was not impossible.

He said, "The defense with three defenders is indeed a problem, but the thing is, we didn't expect to use them to stop Agam, and it wouldn't have been much better with someone else, would it?"

Daly's thinking was clear: since a tall, good defender couldn't stop Forrest Gump, why not use a short, good offensive player? Since neither could stop him anyway, he could score more points.

Versace said, "What if the Trail Blazers launch their attack from the perimeter?"

"That would be even better, that would be the best defense."

Daly knew that giving the ball to Forrest Gump was the most efficient way for the Trail Blazers to score.

The next NBA team to rely so heavily on a single inside scorer is the Utah Jazz, many years from now.

It is said that Karl Malone watched every single Trail Blazers game during the 1987 playoffs, and then worked hard to improve his physical condition and skills in the gym while watching.

Gan Guoyang practiced his jump shot with a strong pull-up jumper facing the basket for 10 years before he achieved any real skill.

Having devised this rather risky offensive strategy, Chuck Daly encouraged Rodman during halftime.

"Well done, kid. If that foul had been committed at a crucial moment, it might have decided the outcome of the game."

Daly was able to manage Rodman, giving him more encouragement than reprimands and more freedom than control.

Daly knew Rodman was a wild horse; to get him to work, he needed to give him enough pasture to roam. Rodman, however, was not smug because of Daly's praise. He honestly said, "Forrest Gump was hardly affected. He was very angry, but he wasn't affected on offense."

Gan Guoyang scored 13 points in the second quarter and 23 points in the first half, making it another game where he was aiming for 40 points.

Rodman shook his head slightly as he spoke, then whispered to Daly, "I reckon he'll kill me sometime in the second half. If anything happens to me, tell my mom I'm a pretty good basketball player."

Daly waved his hand and said, "You won't die. I'm not dead, Bill and Turpin aren't dead, and Forrest Gump isn't a real killer. What, are you scared?"

Rodman shook his head again and said, "I admire him. I did a lot of disgusting things to him, but he didn't say anything. He just pushed me and then shot the ball into the basket one by one. He was as steady as a machine."

If Gan Guoyang keeps responding to Rodman with trash talk and dirty tricks, Rodman will only become more and more excited and act more and more like a show-off.

But apart from that emotional outburst and the push, Gan Guoyang didn't say anything, only responding by constantly scoring points.

Because Gan Guoyang understands people like Rodman; he's seen too many like Xu Xun. Simply insulting and suppressing them won't work; you have to make them submit.

Rodman wasn't afraid of Larry Bird's endless, arrogant trash talk; Rodman clashed with Bird more than once in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The more Bird kept nagging him, the more resentful Rodman became, determined to go against Bird.

He hated Bird, hated that white guy, and never thought Bird was a great player.

While in school, he stayed with the Pat Rich family in Oklahoma. They were all basketball fans, white, and liked Bird.

Rodman just didn't like it. He felt that those white fans liked Bird simply because of his skin color, when in reality Bird was slow and clumsy.

Of course, he only realized how strong Bird was when they met in the Eastern Conference Finals, but he was unwilling to admit it.

Forrest Gump was different; his yellow skin surprised Rodman. Could Asians play basketball?
After playing against him on the court, he realized how terrifying this guy was, truly terrifying.

“If you’re scared, you don’t need to bother Forrest Gump in the second half,” Daley said.

“No, I’m not afraid. I will keep harassing him and attacking him until he kills me.”
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Rodman slightly overestimated Gan Guoyang's emotional stability.

In the Trail Blazers' locker room, Gan Guoyang was already discussing with his teammates how many points they would be leading before he would take the shot to eliminate Rodman.

"10 points, I think a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter is enough, and then I'll throw Rodman onto the scorer's table."

"Ten points is too few. I think we need to lead by at least 15 points. Let's start at 15 points. Screw the Pistons."

The speaker was Mitchell Thompson, who, despite his usual composure, was nearly crushed by the Pistons' interior defense in the first half.

He was filled with resentment, but he endured it most of the time in order to win the finals.

"We might not even be able to lead by 15 points after the whole game, let's say 12 points. If we lead by 12 points, we can win even without Forrest Gump," Vandeweghe said.

Both Vandeweghe and Thompson are good-natured players, but seeing them both start to lose their temper is enough to show how serious the Pistons' actions were.

Gan Guoyang was clearly not the only one being harassed; after returning to the Silver Top Center, the Pistons became even more unrestrained.

The constant noise and profanity at the Silver Dome Center were so loud it made my head ache.

Adelman and Bielman watched as their players became increasingly excited, and the second half could easily turn into a chaotic brawl.

The two quickly looked at Jack Ramsey, hoping that Dr. Ramsey could step in and calm the players down.

Ramsey looked at the players and said, "I can take on Daly one-on-one. He definitely can't beat me. I can pull his hair out."

Adelman and Bellman were in despair. "Coach, how could you say something like that?"
After he finished speaking, everyone laughed. Ramsey clapped his hands to quiet everyone down and said, "You decided this game yourselves. First, you need to win, and second, you need to show your fighting spirit. I want to say that the Detroit team is no match for us this year, and the championship will definitely be ours!"

After Ramsey finished speaking, everyone's morale soared, and they were eager to get started.

Adelman and Bellman sighed, thinking that something big was going to happen in the second half.

Dr. Jack started to let loose this season, and he went a little overboard in the finals.

(End of this chapter)