The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 577 Helping You Teach Him a Lesson

The Denver Nuggets, a formidable team, were swept 0-3 by the Portland Trail Blazers in less than three moves, allowing the Blazers to advance easily.

At the post-game press conference, Bobby Bellman showed no sign of joy. The first round was nothing to the Trail Blazers, and their goal was definitely not to get past the first round.

Gan Guoyang's performance in the series against the Nuggets was undoubtedly impeccable; he didn't even have to go all out before his opponent was already defeated.

He never needs the coaching staff to worry about him; he is the team's most stable cornerstone.

Berman's scouting efforts are mainly focused on several new players.

First is Sabonis, who demonstrated a very strong scoring ability in the playoffs.

During the regular season, Sabonis averaged 11.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and 1.5 assists per game.

In the first round against the Nuggets, Sabonis' average score rose to 15 points in three games, including 21 points in the second game.

His tall stature and excellent hand skills make him a very strong finisher under the basket.

Gan Guoyang fed him some inside passes and high-post assists, and he was able to put most of them into the basket.

Of course, this is partly due to the Nuggets' weak interior defense.

When he played for the Soviet team, Sabonis was an excellent finisher under the basket and an important part of the Soviet passing offense system.

Many people underestimate those insiders who eat pancakes, thinking that once the food is fed to their mouths, they can just open their mouths and eat it, and that if someone else were to feed them, they would eat until they vomit.

However, finishing at the basket is crucial as the final push in the system, because if the finish fails, all the previous efforts will be in vain.

Conversely, strong finishing ability means that even if the preceding tactics are not running smoothly and the opportunities are not very good, there is still a way to put the ball in the basket. This is achieving twice the result with half the effort and improving the tactical error tolerance.

Gan Guoyang has the ability to put the ball into the basket almost 100% of the time once he gets under the basket.

This is also why he scores so many points; his tactical ball success rate is particularly high.

It wasn't a tactical opportunity, but you managed to turn it into one.

Of course, the more excellent endpoints like these, the better.

Once this type of twin towers in the paint is formed, its power is terrifying, and its margin for error is very high.

So starting from this series, Bobby Bellman and Jerry West had the idea of ​​elevating Sabonis's tactical status, placing him alongside Agan, and playing a twin-tower plus guard system.

Make him the team's number two player.

Of course, Sabonis was still a supporting player in the 89-90 season.

At the same time, Sabonis exposed some weaknesses on the defensive end.

In the higher intensity and speed of the playoffs, he won't be able to keep up.

Sabonis' speed, explosiveness, and jumping ability are already top-notch for his height and weight.

Unfortunately, his previous serious injuries have made him walk much slower and his explosive power is not as good as when he was 20.

In the NBA, where top players abound, even the slightest hesitation can lead to a defensive failure.

The Nuggets' fast-paced offense made Sabonis look rather awkward in some possessions.

Moreover, Sabonis is clearly struggling to defend smaller opponents, and if Fat Leaf gets a mismatch against Sabonis, he will be overwhelmed.

Fortunately, the Trail Blazers have Forrest Gump, who can sweep the perimeter, and Domantas Sabonis's rim protection in the paint and rebounding is still among the best in the league.

In half-court sets, the Nuggets had almost no way to get close to the basket, as the three-second zone defense formed by Agam and Sabonis was quite solid.

Berman firmly believes that, given time, the combination of Sabonis and Agam will be the most terrifying defensive duo in the NBA.

Compared to Sabonis, Divac's performance was less than satisfactory.

That pass to bench player Gan Guoyang made Divac the subject of ridicule from his teammates for a week.

And for a very long time to come, it became a well-known joke in the NBA, appearing in various funny compilations.

It's not that Divac isn't good enough, but in the head-to-head playoffs, he couldn't keep up with the pace and wasn't adapted.

Furthermore, Gan Guoyang and Sabonis performed consistently, and veteran Thompson was the primary backup center, leaving Divac with significantly less playing time than in the regular season, giving him little opportunity to shine.

But Bellman and West are very optimistic about the future of this Yugoslavian center forward, believing he has greater potential.

His style is different from Agam and Sabonis; those two guys have a fierce and wide-open playing style.

Divac, however, is both rough and meticulous, slow yet fast, with a smooth and intelligent playing style.

Jerry West greatly admires Divac, and he is now glad that the Lakers did not agree to the Edwards trade.

With Sabonis, Forrest Gump, and Thompson, this frontcourt combination is more than enough for the current situation, and Divac represents the future of the Trail Blazers.

Compared to West's appreciation of Divac, Bobby Bellman admires Petrovic more.

During the regular season, Berman gave Petrovic a lot of playing time and opportunities.

Off the court, Petrovic is the hardest-working player besides Forrest Gump.

After a season of intense and tiring regular season games, Petrovic is actually more muscular than at the start of the season. This indicates that he trained extensively and ate a lot during the season in order to improve his physical strength.

However, his performance in the playoff game against the Nuggets was only mediocre.

Porter and Hornacek's consistent performances left Petrovic with little room to maneuver.

Gan Guoyang's advice to Divac is very insightful. In the playoffs, the most important thing is to be consistent. Without outstanding performances, you must at least not become a liability, have too many negative effects, or become a weakness in the team's lineup.

Because the playoffs are very targeted, if you become a weak link, whether on offense or defense, you will become a target for the opponent.

If your offense is ineffective, the opponent will give you free space, greatly increasing the defensive pressure on other players.

If your defense is weak, your opponent will take you down one-on-one and turn you into a sieve on the defensive line.

Petrovic is highly talented in attack, and he is passionate and willing to take shots.

The problem is that his defense is really not good, and once he's on the court, he easily becomes the opponent's weak point.

In the first game, Petrovic was outscored 22 points by Denver Nuggets rookie Todd Lichtty, and his defense was in a very poor state.

Lichtty was a rookie in 89. He was not tall, but he was sturdy and strong, and his shooting from the right corner was very accurate.

In counterattacks, he dared to drive to the basket, challenging the defense of Agam and Sabonis. Although he was blocked, he was still able to score and draw fouls, causing considerable trouble for the Trail Blazers.

While Lichtty's performance couldn't turn the tide of the game, it did serve as a wake-up call for the Trail Blazers—their backcourt defensive issues will be magnified in the playoffs.

With average height and strength in the backcourt, and mediocre rebounding and blocking, the lack of a true defensive anchor means the Trail Blazers' interior defense will face greater defensive pressure.

Jerry West's signing of Mike Sanders is already an effort to make up for this weakness.

Sanders' performance was merely average; he worked hard without complaint, but he lacked the ability to shut down the opponent's outside shooting – if he had that ability, the Trail Blazers wouldn't have signed him.

With Gan Guoyang sweeping and assisting at the power forward position, the pressure on the backcourt will be much less. However, if Gan Guoyang gets stuck with fouls or has to take on more pressure on the offensive end, the loopholes and problems in the backcourt defense will become more and more obvious.

Of course, every team has weaknesses; there is no perfect team. It all depends on how you play to your strengths and minimize your weaknesses in the playoffs.

While the Trail Blazers' backcourt has many defensive issues, their offensive firepower is among the best in the league, with a terrifying long-range shooting ability.

As long as they can perform well on offense, it's acceptable for them to concede some points on defense.

The first round of the playoffs quickly came to a close, and there were no upsets in this year's playoffs, with strong teams advancing one after another.

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Houston Rockets 3-1, with David Robinson gaining the upper hand in his matchup against Hakeem Olajuwon.

Hakeem Olajuwon dominated the statistics, but David Robinson carried the victory. As Forrest Gump put it, the Houston Rockets were wasting Olajuwon's good form.

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 3-1, with James Worthy averaging 29 points per game in the series, once again showcasing his big-game prowess.

The two teams will face off in the Western Conference semifinals for a spot in the Western Conference Finals.

The only upset in the West came from a close battle between the 4th and 5th place teams.

The Phoenix Suns defeated the fourth-ranked Utah Jazz 3-2.

This marks the third time the Jazz have suffered an upset, following the 1987 and 1989 seasons.

They lost to the Warriors in '87, they lost to the Mavericks in '89, and this year they lost to the Suns.

The combination of Karl Malone and Stockton exposed their inconsistency and some inherent weaknesses in their talent.

The two teams battled to a decisive fifth game, which was played in Salt Lake City. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Jazz were leading the Suns by 10 points.

It looks like the Jazz will win the game, and Stockton will face Forrest in the semifinals.

But the Suns rallied to overcome a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter when Karl Malone was stripped of the ball at a 45-degree angle with 30 seconds left in the game.

Eddie Johnson hit a difficult and-one on the fast break, successfully taking the lead.

Karl Malone then hit a mid-range jumper off an assist from Stockton to tie the game.

But Kevin Johnson hit a game-winning shot with 0.8 seconds left in the game.

Stockton's long-range three-pointer missed completely, and the Jazz fell in the first round of the playoffs for the third time in four years, all in upsets.

Stockton's disappointment was palpable. Although his stats were impressive, averaging 15 assists per game in the series, he couldn't stop Kevin Johnson's game-winning shot, nor could he make the game-winning shot himself.

In the final crucial defensive play, Stockton was initially guarding Johnson, but after Johnson passed the ball, he made the mistake of choosing to double-team Mike McGee in the paint.

Kevin Johnson was open, and McGee passed the ball back to Johnson. Although Hansen rushed over to help defend, Kevin Johnson still made the game-winning shot.

This is the limitation of a traditional point guard like him. He performed very well throughout the game, but his influence was insufficient at the decisive moments, and he could not make the final decision with his defense and offense.

Stockton was upset all summer because of that shot; he felt extremely guilty about his wrong choice.

There was something he kept to himself and never told anyone: that Karl Malone was guarding Mike McGee on this play, which is why he chose to double-team him.

If it were Forrest Gump camped in the paint, Stockton would never leave Kevin Johnson open, never.

After the game, Gan Guoyang called Stockton and said, "I'll teach Kevin Johnson a lesson for you. I could handle him back in high school, and I can do it now."

(End of this chapter)