The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 536 Evenly matched
Gan Guoyang has threatened those on the sidelines with his savage charges and brutal elbows more than once or twice.

It left everyone wondering whether it was intentional or accidental, but in any case, if you got hit, being carried off on a stretcher was inevitable.

From players to owners to coaches to referees, everyone has been affected. Currently, apart from the fans, Gan Guoyang has basically played every position, making him arguably the most well-rounded player in the league.

Of course, some people raised concerns, saying that some of Gan Guoyang's actions were too dangerous and suspected of being intentional harm.

However, due to insufficient evidence, and because Gan Guoyang always acted with restraint and did not cause significant harm, the cases were never resolved.

In fact, David Stern knew perfectly well that it was precisely because you never caused any serious harm that he was able to be certain that this kid was doing it on purpose.

However, Gan Guoyang is extremely popular, and just like with fights, the media always reports on such incidents extensively.

Anyway, no one was injured or killed, so what's wrong with everyone having a good time? Consider it as increasing the NBA's attention and viewership.

It is through this tacit understanding and unspoken rules that Gan Guoyang walks on the edge of morality, law, and rules, making the league's players and coaches tremble with fear.

During tonight's charge, reporters on the sidelines snapped photos in time. The photos showed Gan Guoyang and Larry Brown facing off at close range. Gan Guoyang charged at Brown like a giant, while Brown's face turned pale and he leaned back slightly, while the bench behind him scattered in panic.

This photo alone could guarantee a week's worth of sales for major newspapers and would most likely become the cover of the new season's Sports Illustrated.

With the Spurs on possession, Robinson set a screen at the edge of the paint, blocking Gan Guoyang and allowing Elliott to drive to the basket and score.

Then, Hornacek dribbled through the middle and passed to Kossie, who cut to the basket. Kossie was fouled on his layup attempt and went to the free-throw line.

The two sides played for more than five minutes in the first game. There were not many low-post attacks, but there were a lot of drives, cuts, cuts, passes, screens, and picks.

This is also a major difference in playing style between the NBA as it was about to enter the 90s and the early to mid-80s.

In the early to mid-80s, teams generally started their offense by targeting their own low-post players.

Once the low-post offense is established, the perimeter players can then create opportunities through ball movement.

Moreover, many perimeter players have strong low-post back-to-the-basket skills.

Especially some small forwards, such as Worthy, Aguirre, and Dantley, have post-up skills that are comparable to many centers.

Now, the league's new small forwards, like Elliott and Korsey, no longer play like their predecessors.

They are taller, stronger, faster, and more aggressive, and they all employ an assault-style fighting style.

The pace of the game increased in the first quarter, with the Spurs initially hoping to use their tough defense to contain the Trail Blazers' offense and set the tone for the game.

However, the Trail Blazers' half-court offense is very smooth, with quick ball movement, frequent screens, and each player has the ability to create their own offense.

As the game progressed, the Spurs' defensive focus gradually waned, and their intensity decreased. The players unconsciously began to engage in a back-and-forth offensive battle with the Trail Blazers.

The players on the court could feel it; playing a half-court game was indeed difficult, as the Trail Blazers' defense collapsed significantly.

After being blocked by Robinson once, Gan Guoyang learned his lesson and paid close attention to his positioning, building a solid air defense network in the three-second zone.

The Spurs missed opportunities in the corner, but their shooting percentages were low for both corner threes and mid-range shots, and offensive rebounds were out of the question.

In the last game, David Robinson grabbed 17 rebounds over the Lakers, including 7 offensive rebounds.

When he grabbed the offensive rebound, the Lakers had no choice but to foul, giving Robinson 14 free throws and their interior defense crumbled.

In this game against Gan Guoyang, Robinson found it too difficult to grab offensive rebounds and could only rely on luck.

As the game progressed into the latter part of the first quarter, the situation became increasingly chaotic, and the Trail Blazers extended their lead to 8 points.

The Spurs sped up their offense, trying to capitalize on the chaos; they desperately needed to score.

After conceding a point, Willie Anderson suddenly made a long pass to the frontcourt, where Cheeks received the ball, evaded the defense, and scored a layup.

Then Gan Guoyang missed a mid-range shot, and David Robinson immediately made a fast break. Cheeks and Elliott made three passes and two layups, and the ball came to the basket. Robinson received the ball and dunked it with both hands!
20:16, the Spurs narrowed the gap to 4 points.

Bobby Bellman called a timeout, not because the Trail Blazers were playing poorly, but because he needed to make a substitution.

Although the competition between the two sides was very intense, with players falling to the ground from time to time, the referee's whistle was relatively lenient.

Berman replaced Thompson with Sabonis and Hornacek with Mike Sanders.

This is a taller, more solid lineup that can free up Gan Guoyang from the center position.

In the past two years, Gan Guoyang's responsibilities at the center position have become increasingly heavy, especially last season, when he had to handle almost all the work.

The obvious offensive and defensive plays are definitely indispensable, but Gan Guoyang also needs to step up in terms of behind-the-scenes screens, support plays, and receiving passes.

Tonight, the Spurs repeatedly applied full-court press defense against the Trail Blazers' backcourt, and Gan Guoyang had to run to the mid-court line to receive passes and facilitate the team's offense.

In some extreme situations during the playoffs, Gan Guoyang even had to dribble the ball across half-court himself to direct the team's offense.

This is the price the team has to pay for losing Drexler. Gan Guoyang did a good job, but the team can't just let their core player go to waste like this. Sabonis and Sanders can help Gan Guoyang a lot with those miscellaneous and trivial tasks, allowing him to use his talents more effectively.

As soon as Sabonis stepped onto the court, the television cameras began to focus on the Soviet giant, and a few boos were heard from the audience.

American fans still harbor resentment over losing the Olympic gold medal in 1988.

For the Spurs, Larry Brown substituted Vernon Maxwell in to bolster the team's outside shooting.

As for the task of defending Gan Guoyang, it was handed over to forward Terry Cummins.

Cummins' defense is outstanding, and Larry Brown was very satisfied with him after he was traded from the Bucks to the Spurs.

He scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the opening game, making him a great partner for David Robinson in the paint.

He is capable of handling most power forwards in the league.

But Gan Guoyang is clearly not your average power forward; he's too strong.

After the timeout, Gan Guoyang ran to the left side to receive the ball.

This is his preferred position because it's near the sideline, which helps him avoid being double-teamed.

Theoretically speaking, the bottom edge is a dead end for the ball-handling attacker.

Because of the boundary lines, your room for movement is very small.

The sideline is a natural defender, so many teams like to push their attackers towards the sideline to force them to pass the ball out.

But the sideline is fair; it's a natural defender and a natural strong screener. No one can come over from this side to double-team—someone might be able to get around the three-second area under the basket, but between the three-second area and the three-point line, there are only referees and photographers.

Gan Guoyang received the ball, took a probing step against Cummins, and immediately pulled up for a mid-range shot that went in.

A stable two points.

Sabonis then blocked Maxwell's layup under the basket.

The Trail Blazers didn't counterattack, and Gan Guoyang continued to run around to the baseline to receive the ball.

It was still a tentative step. This time, Cummins made a move, and Gan Guoyang squeezed through the gap at the bottom.

He drove into the paint, faced David Robinson who was helping him defend, jumped up, and slammed the ball in with his left hand over Robinson!
The referee blew his whistle and called a defensive foul on David Robinson, meaning the point counted and he had to take a free throw.

Robinson looked helpless. Gan Guoyang patted Robinson and said, "Don't defend these kinds of shots in the future. You'll just commit a foul and give away points."

Robinson wasn't sure whether he should heed this piece of advice; if he didn't take precautions, Larry Brown would definitely be furious after the game.

After making the free throw, Gan Guoyang scored 5 consecutive points, widening the gap back to 9 points and maintaining his dominance over the Spurs.

This time it was Larry Brown's turn to call a timeout. Gan Guoyang had already scored 10 points in the first quarter, and he was unstoppable.

Larry Brown knew that the key was to work on the team as a whole and exploit the Trail Blazers' weaknesses on the perimeter.

He replaced Cheeks with David Wingate, using a tall backcourt lineup to continue pressuring the Trail Blazers' backcourt.

Wingate is 6 feet 5 inches tall and can play both guard and small forward.

After the timeout, Wingate attacked Sanders on the wing, using his speed to cut to the basket.

Sabonis came over to help defend, and Wingate made a clever pass to Robinson.

Robinson took a step and slammed the ball in with his left hand!

Like the Trail Blazers, the Spurs' offense is simple and direct, without overly complicated passing.

He bursts through the defense, passes, and attacks the basket directly.

The passes were all highly aggressive, with no back-and-forth passing or meaningless passes.

From this perspective, Larry Brown's coaching ability is solid, and the Spurs are no longer the easy target they were last season.

At the end of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers led the Spurs 33-27, a six-point advantage.

During the break, Bobby Bellman patted Petrovic on the shoulder, signaling him to get ready to take the court.

Petrovic immediately jumped up from the bench and watched the entire quarter of the game. Seeing Sabonis battling on the court, he was eager to get on the court and make his own.

However, reality is cruel. In the second quarter, Gan Guoyang and Sabonis went to the bench to rest, while for the Spurs, David Robinson went to the bench in the latter part of the first quarter and returned to the court in the second quarter.

Petrovic's first offensive possession after entering the game involved a drive down the middle followed by a pull-up jumper, which was blocked by David Robinson!
The block was so solid that Petrovic was completely disoriented, and the ball seemed to have flown off somewhere.

(End of this chapter)