The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 554 Mr. 50

Riley gave Drexler plenty of encouragement.

Drexler rallied, determined to play decently at home and not embarrass himself.

However, things did not improve after his return, and he did not immediately erupt and redeem himself after suffering setbacks, as he did in the comics.

The Trail Blazers players know him very well, especially Gan Guoyang, who has worked with Drexler for so many years and knows his playing habits inside and out.

Gan Guoyang is a very meticulous player. He knows exactly where Drexler's sweet spots are on offense and where he is most comfortable shooting.

Whenever Drexler gets to his sweet spot, Gan Guoyang will come up to help defend and interfere. You can pass the ball, I don't care.

In any case, the Heat don't have a true second playmaker; everyone else only has the ability to make small, piecemeal contributions.

Locking down Drexler effectively shuts down a large part of the Heat's offense, and unless the remaining players have a breakout performance, it will be difficult for them to upset the Trail Blazers.

They could create some scoring runs to close the gap, but as long as the Trail Blazers made slight adjustments, such as having Gan Guoyang play a few games in the low post or increasing their intensity on the defensive end, the Heat's scoring momentum would be halted, and they would be panting and unable to climb any further, like climbing a mountain.

The Trail Blazers' starting lineup in the 88-89 season, without Drexler, was underestimated by many experts and media outlets.

Although they suffered a significant decline in explosiveness, counter-attack ability, rebounding, and defense after losing Drexler.

However, with Hornacek in the starting lineup, this lineup has one advantage over the Drexler lineup: its offensive efficiency in positional play.

Berman continuously refined the team's coordination in positional play, using Gan Guoyang as the core and incorporating offensive strategies such as passing and cutting, inside-out play, and strong-weak-side transitions to improve their positional play.

This expanded the linear offensive of the Jack Ramsey era into a three-dimensional offensive model, achieving a very high level of efficiency in positional warfare.

If the Trail Blazers' bench hadn't been so weak in 89, and if Gan Guoyang hadn't encountered an accident, the Lakers might not have been a match for the Trail Blazers.

Berman's positional warfare system has evolved from the mainstream rapid offensive system of the 80s. They can defeat their opponents without relying on rapid counterattacks or chasing attacks, simply through positional warfare.

This style of play makes the Trail Blazers somewhat inconsistent in the regular season, but they become incredibly strong in the playoffs when the defense gets increasingly tough.

Starting this season, the era of NBA teams relying on fast breaks for half of their offense, reminiscent of the 80s, will be over.

Head-to-head positional warfare and a variety of defensive strategies will take center stage in the 90s, presenting a different style of competition.

The Trail Blazers are ahead of many teams.

In the first half, Drexler tried hard to break through the Trail Blazers' defensive blockade.

However, there was nothing he could do; the ever-present double-teams and defensive traps made it very difficult for Drexler to play.

His shooting weaknesses greatly limit his offense. Once opponents figure out his sweet spot and offensive habits, his next move is easy to predict.

The Trail Blazers players were too familiar with him, which resulted in him scoring only 5 points in the second quarter, 3 of which came from free throws.

With only 8 points left in the first half, the Heat weren't far behind, trailing 60-49, down by 11 points, but there was no hope of them getting back up.

During halftime in the Heat's locker room, Riley did not get angry, nor did he criticize or mock Drexler.

Drexler still harbors hope of regaining his form in the second half, but Riley wants the Trail Blazers to give him a real wake-up call.

After the start of the third quarter, Drexler played even more erratically.

The funny moment came at the beginning of the third quarter when Drexler dribbled the ball across half-court to organize an attack.

Gan Guoyang circled around to defend Sekali, but Drexler slipped and passed the ball to Gan Guoyang...

Drexler paused for a second, and Gan Guoyang also paused for a second after receiving the ball, almost instinctively turning around and going one-on-one.

When he realized something was wrong while making the move, he passed the ball to Cauchy, who was also a bit confused. "Whose side am I on? Which way should we attack?"

Hornacek, however, was clear-headed and shouted, "Attack! Attack!"

Kossie only realized what was happening and passed the ball to Hornacek, and the Trail Blazers launched a counterattack.

Hornacek passed the ball to Porter, who then passed it back to Hornacek, who caught the ball and made a mid-range jump shot!

The two defenders' smooth counter-attacking combinations, while lacking in impact, had a fairly high success rate.

Jack Ramsey, who was commentating on the scene, laughed when he saw this and said, "Clyde, how many times have you passed the ball to Forrest Gump? This time you passed it wrong. It's not an assist, it's a mistake."

Drexler was utterly helpless about his poor condition, and lowered his head with a wry smile.

Seeing this, Gan Guoyang came over and patted Drexler on the shoulder, saying, "Not bad, just pass it on to the right person next time."

The game continued, and the Trail Blazers maintained a consistent half-court offense.

As the score gap widened, Bellman began to make strategic adjustments, keeping a watch on his movements.

Sabonis, Divac, Petrovic, Mark Bryant – the newcomers took turns on the court.

Compared to last season, the Trail Blazers' bench offense has become much more consistent.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether this improvement will stand the test in the playoffs.

The good news is that players like Sabonis and Petrovich weren't complete greenhorns.

They are the same age as Gan Guoyang, in their prime, and what they need is to adapt.

At least in this game, Petrovic adapted very well. In the third and fourth quarters, Petrovic maintained the hot shooting touch he had in the first half.

Once his dribble drives and pull-up jumpers get going, he's truly unstoppable.

In 1985, Petrovic scored 112 points in a single game against the Olympia youth team.

Petrovich was 21 years old that year.

Although the opponent was an U18 youth team, the match was just an informal friendly.

However, Petrovic's 112 points still demonstrated his strong scoring consistency and explosiveness.

He made 40 of 60 shots throughout the game, a feat that requires immense physical strength and an offensive drive.

Tonight we're playing the Heat. The Heat's perimeter defense isn't bad; Riley's defensive coaching is still quite good.

Last month, they held the Pistons to just 84 points and secured the victory.

However, this performance was short-lived and inconsistent. Douglas was a good substitute in attack, but his 180cm height was too short defensively, giving Petrovic room to perform.

Petrovic had been holding back for a month since the start of the new season, and today his touch and opportunity finally came.

In the second half, Berman encouraged Petrovic to play more, letting him have more opportunities to perform and control the ball.

Petrovic scored another 11 points in the second half, bringing his total to 24 points, a new career high in the NBA.

Drexler completely lost his offensive rhythm, and when he tried to score on a fast break, his layup was blocked by Gan Guoyang!

Drexler was knocked out of bounds and flew into the stands.

But the referee didn't blow the whistle, and Gan Guoyang didn't commit a foul.

Gan Guoyang reached out his hand to Drexler, who was lying in the audience.

Drexler wanted to refuse, but no teammates came to stop him.

He could only grab Gan Guoyang's hand, and Gan Guoyang gently pulled him up.

Gan Guoyang patted Drexler on the shoulder and said, "Clyde, have you even forgotten how to dunk?"

"I haven't forgotten, I'm just... not feeling well."

"You need to pull yourself together, Clyde. I still want to see you make the playoffs and beat Michael."

"I will! I will..."

Drexler chewed his gum and replied angrily.

Drexler felt he'd had enough. At this point, the Trail Blazers were leading by 15 points, and the Heat had absolutely no chance of a comeback.

Their positional offense is too solid, and with Gan Guoyang as their anchor, if they can't handle it, they can just throw the ball inside and he'll always find a way to get it into the basket.

Drexler was well aware of Gan Guoyang's capabilities.

Because he understood, he felt despair; because of this despair, he felt anger.

He was angry with himself for forgetting to work hard and get up early after just one season.

You want to be a star, but there's no such thing as a sun that doesn't rise until 9:30.

As the game gradually lost its suspense, the second half of the fourth quarter became garbage time.

The Heat actually played quite well tonight, but the gap in strength between the two sides was too great.

In addition, their star player Drexler was targeted and had a poor performance, scoring only 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists throughout the game.

For the Trail Blazers, Gan Guoyang easily scored 27 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and dished out 6 assists, while Petrovic added 24 points.

The Trail Blazers easily defeated the Heat 101-89, extending their winning streak. They have only lost one game so far this season, making a very strong start.

With a well-integrated starting lineup, plug-and-play smart bench players, and a stable and powerful core, this Trail Blazers team has the momentum to make a comeback.

Jerry West, who came to Miami with the Trail Blazers, has temporarily abandoned the idea of ​​trading Petrovic after seeing his performance tonight.

The way Bellman nurtured and developed him deserves further observation and even high expectations.

The day after the game, the Heat remained in Miami, awaiting the start of their next game.

At 7:30 a.m., Pat Riley drove his convertible to the LaSalle High School gymnasium, enjoying the Miami morning sea breeze.

After parking his car and entering the gymnasium, he heard the sound of balls being bounced inside; people were already training.

Riley walked into the gym and saw Drexler practicing shooting on the court. He was covered in sweat and looked like he had been practicing for a long time.

Drexler noticed Riley, stopped shooting, and said, "Good morning, Coach."

Riley chewed his gum and said, "Good morning, Mr. 50. Keep it up!"

(End of this chapter)