The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 489 The Essence of the Forrest Gump Law

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is indeed bald.

In 1987, he still had a tuft of hair on his head and held his ground.

By 1988, the hair was no longer necessary, so it was simply shaved off.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can therefore be considered one of the pioneers of the bald look.

As he got older, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar not only became increasingly bald, but his temper also became increasingly eccentric.

The generation gap between him and the rookies who have just entered the league is widening.

He entered the league in 1969, and soon the newcomers born in 1969 will be entering the NBA, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is still playing.

For Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, retirement is imminent, and may even happen soon.

However, he is still very healthy. Apart from a pair of wristbands, he has no protective gear on any of his joints. He even uses the wristbands to wipe away sweat. It's simply a miracle.

When Pat Riley was in charge, he would measure the players' body fat percentage before the start of each season.

Then they conduct a cardiac stress test, attach electrodes to the players, and make them run on a treadmill until they feel like they're going to die.

Riley would conduct extensive cardio training, pushing the players to their limits in terms of energy and stamina, forcing them to reach a very high level, especially in running and jumping, to meet the tactical requirements of Show Time.

After Nelson arrived, all of this was cancelled. He believed that the Lakers were an old team, and that rest and relaxation were just as important as training. Excessive pressure would only lead to a breakdown.

Starting from the fall training camp, Nelson reduced Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's training volume. The training for the others was still very tough, but not as extreme as Riley's.

The benefit of doing this is that it allows players to get sufficient rest and reduces the risk of injury.

Even now, as the season progresses into its later stages, the Lakers still have excellent physical reserves.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's playing time was around 30 minutes, averaging 15 points per game with a high shooting percentage of 55%.

This gave him confidence when he faced Agan in the jump ball at center court. He wanted to defeat Gan Guoyang and win another championship before retiring.

The Lakers have a stronger desire for the championship this season than the Trail Blazers.

On the Trail Blazers' side, only Gan Guoyang truly had a strong desire – along with Gilmore.

The jump ball begins, and Jabbar touches the ball first.

The ball wasn't passed to either side. Using his wingspan advantage, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar passed the ball to Johnson before Gan Guoyang could jump a second time.

The Lakers launched their first offensive attack.

You could tell from the jump ball that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had a strong fighting spirit tonight.

When he first entered the league, the rules still required a jump ball at the start of each quarter.

In earlier times, after each goal, a jump ball was held to determine possession.

Back then, the young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the king of the jump ball; his wingspan and height gave him an advantage against most centers.

Now he can't jump anymore, and he's too lazy to jump. The opening jump ball is more of a symbolic gesture, since the offensive possession will always be exchanged eventually.

But Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was full of energy tonight, determined to sweep the Trail Blazers.

At the start, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar received the ball in the low post, followed the usual routine, turned, and made a right hook shot.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook has reached a state of perfection, with the entire movement executed flawlessly.

Even a top-tier defender like Gan Guoyang is unable to defend when unprepared.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar lost a little weight during the summer, maintaining a weight of around 260 pounds.

He no longer disliked fighting Gan Guoyang in the three-second zone; in fact, he had even begun to enjoy it.

Because he had a desire in his heart—a desire to defeat Gan Guoyang and the Pioneers.

It's not easy for a player to maintain this kind of mentality at 40 years old.

Let alone 40, many players who don't retire after 35 are playing more for their passion or for money than for winning.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar still wants to prove himself.

Then, during defense, he made physical contact with Gan Guoyang to prevent Gan Guoyang from receiving the ball.

Gan Guoyang held his position under the basket for a long time, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fought hard for it. In the end, Drexler took the ball and drove through the middle to shoot, but the shot missed.

A.C. Green grabbed the rebound, and the Lakers launched a counterattack.

Gan Guoyang did not attempt to grab the offensive rebound, but immediately retreated to defense.

One major reason why the Trail Blazers lost to the Lakers three times this season is that they couldn't control the Lakers' counterattacks this year.

A key difference between Nelson's run-and-gun offense and Showtime is that the role of the shooting guard was further enhanced, and outside shooting was given a very important position.

Pat Riley's Showtime was entirely based on Magic Johnson's genius in advancing the ball and passing; without Johnson, Showtime wouldn't work.

As Johnson advances the ball, players like Worthy, Cooper, Scott, Wilkes, and even Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will quickly cut down the court, run down the middle into the paint, receive a pass from Johnson, and attack the basket directly.

This is one of the most classic goals in Showtime; some of these passes could only be made by Magic Johnson.

Nelson's run-and-gun offense retained this element while expanding the wing play. Johnson would drive through the middle, and Cooper, Scott, and Wes Matthews would create space on the wings, receiving passes and taking mid-range shots, or receiving the ball and driving to the basket from the baseline.

This is the "gun" part of "run and gun," which refers to shooting during a counterattack, like shooting at the opponent with a gun.

In the past, Show Time fast breaks were mostly finished under the basket, and everyone would crowd under the basket, making it difficult to score and get offensive rebounds for second-chance opportunities.

Although this method is highly efficient and extremely lethal, it presents a problem: they are under Forrest Gump's shadow.

In last year's Western Conference Finals, Gan Guoyang not only scored explosively, but his blocks and rim protection under the basket also numbed the Lakers.

Countless counterattacks that seemed destined to succeed failed under Gan Guoyang's defense.

Not only did they lose points, but the team's offensive confidence was also dampened, leaving them with a psychological scar.

To address this, Nelson applied the classic rule from "The Forrest Gump Rule"—"avoid Forrest Gump as much as possible on offense"—by utilizing the wings, shooting, and the passing and agility of guards during fast breaks to avoid direct confrontations with Forrest Gump in the paint.

Byron Scott has become the Lakers' second-leading scorer this season, averaging 21 points per game, on par with Magic Johnson.

He and Cooper formed a two-wing combination, capable of firing mid-to-long-range shots on fast breaks, attacking the basket after receiving the ball, and passing from the wing to the inside for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Worthy, and Green to attack the rim.

The wing is not just for shooting; it's also a fulcrum, opening up the Lakers' counter-attack formation, enriching their options, and greatly increasing the difficulty of defense.

In the first regular season game between the two teams at the beginning of the season, the Lakers, who were on fire, scored 148 points, marking the biggest point deficit of Gan Guoyang's career.

Gan Guoyang felt like a lone tiger facing a pack of wolves. Even if you can defend two people under the basket, you can't defend three people, can you? And you can't possibly dive for every shot from the outside and mid-range, can you?

They lost the next two games, both due to their inability to contain the Lakers' comeback and conceding too many points.

In the opening counterattack of the game tonight, Johnson led a fast break, Scott spread out on the left wing, James Worthy made a through pass in the middle, and Gan Guoyang could only go to the middle.

Johnson passed the ball to Scott on the wing. Scott received the ball, faked out Drexler who was not yet on his feet, and drove along the baseline to break inside.

Facing Gan Guoyang's help defense, he passed the ball to Worthy in the middle.

Kossi didn't keep a close eye on Worthy, who received the ball, twisted his body, and made a quick and easy layup off the backboard, scoring two points.

Defending against Worthy is difficult enough, but if Scott draws your attention away from him, it becomes even more difficult.

Of course, it's already quite an achievement for a center to get back into the paint so quickly during a fast break.

Many centers didn't have time to get back on defense and the Lakers scored on empty baskets.

Only Gan Guoyang can force the Lakers to execute their best fast breaks.

Gan Guoyang quickly responded with a hook shot during the attack.

When facing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Gan Guoyang will use the move hook.

Because Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is relatively slow, he can use movement to shake off his opponent and launch an attack.

However, the Lakers soon began to relentlessly double-team and preemptively double-team Gan Guoyang.

This was also tailor-made for Gan Guoyang by Don Nelson.

In the 1987-1988 season, the league not only introduced the illegal offense rule, but also further modified and increased the rules regarding illegal defense.

The more they changed, the less the audience, fans, and even the players understood. Why did the game suddenly stop in the middle of the match?

The game had to be restarted because the referee called an illegal defensive play.

Even coaches and referees are sometimes confused because some rules are so detailed that referees can't keep up.

For example, the new rule requires that when the defender's matchup is above the free throw line, the defender cannot be below the middle area; when the matchup is above the top of the circle, the defender must be in the upper area.

The middle area is the dotted line below the free throw line, and the upper area is the solid arc above the free throw line.

But players can't stay at the free-throw line forever; they'll go to the wings and areas without lines, so you have to judge their movements visually.

Of course, the defending team can also temporarily leave, change their position, help defend, or move to block the opponent's movement, etc., but the time cannot exceed 2.9 seconds.

The referee has to count in his head or keep track of the time based on his intuition.

The situation on the field is constantly changing, and many things can happen, so the referees can't keep up.

This gave coaches like Nelson many opportunities to exploit the situation, with illegal defense and premature double-teaming becoming commonplace.

The Utah Jazz have been called for the most illegal defenses this season, with 11 so far.

The ones that are being touted are the very obvious ones; the ones that aren't obvious are just ignored.

For example, Drexler received the ball on the wing, and Gan Guoyang positioned himself in the low post, but Byron Scott, who was marking Drexler, almost reached Gan Guoyang's waist.

He grasped the referee's bottom line, quickly bounced back to pretend to defend against Drexler, and then bounced back again to interfere with Gan Guoyang's receiving of the ball.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of Nelson's defensive strategy.

Nelson grasped the essence of defending Gan Guoyang: one-on-one defense is pointless, it would be the same no matter who is on the field.

The real key lies in help defense, and in that small guy.

(End of this chapter)