The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 605 System
Bobby Bellman and Rick Adelman were in Los Angeles attending a coaching camp when they heard the news of Divac's trade, meeting with coaches from college and professional teams across the country to discuss and learn new basketball tactics.

This training camp is hosted by Coach John Wooden. Gan Guoyang participated as a special guest once. Every year during the offseason, elites in the basketball world gather together to share coaching experience and basketball philosophies.

During the training camp, Berman had his first opportunity, as a championship coach, to introduce his coaching philosophy to his peers and seniors, including his use of advanced data and his views on space, rhythm, and efficiency.

Berman's ideas have inspired renowned coaches, especially his skillful use of mathematical tools to describe player performance and on-field play, which has given them a lot of insights.

However, some of his coaching philosophies are considered unorthodox by traditional coaches. For example, he doesn't pay much attention to ball sharing, is too strict in controlling the rhythm, and relies heavily on one-on-one play.

His obsession with three-pointers was something many coaches couldn't understand at the time. Although the expected value of three-pointers was indeed better than that of two-pointers, the inconsistency of three-pointers was obvious.

One of the reasons Hornacek was traded was that his inconsistent three-point shooting led to poor performances in the Western Conference Finals and the NBA Finals, with some games even being disastrous.

Thanks to the Trail Blazers' overall strength and Forrest Gump's exceptional ability to provide a safety net, the Trail Blazers won the championship in 1990 with overwhelming force.

In fact, in the Finals, the Trail Blazers' backcourt duo was completely outmatched by Thomas and Dumars, with Porter and Hornacek unable to contain their opponents on both ends of the court.

The Trail Blazers had a huge advantage in the frontcourt, and Forrest Gump single-handedly dominated them, defeating Mahorn, Tppin, Sally, Rodman, and Laimbeer, and scoring 50 points in one game to take a 3-1 lead and win the championship.

So it's no wonder that during the training camp, one coach pointed out sharply: "Bobby, although your idea is very innovative, it doesn't seem to be universally applicable at present, because not every coach has Forrest Gump under their wing, and there's only one Forrest Gump."

Indeed, without Forrest Gump, Behrman never truly proved himself.

In Gonzaga, he was known for his meticulous defense and his control over defensive details.

Bellman doesn't mind that his success is built on having Gan Guoyang.

Jack Ramsey, who was also at the meeting, defended Berman: "When you have a player like Forrest Gump, if you don't maximize his potential as a coach, you're a failure."

During breaks in training camp, Bellman, Adelman, and Jack Ramsey discussed how to further develop Forrest Gump and what other aspects of him could be "exploited".

They then learned of the trade between the Trail Blazers and the Celtics, with Hornacek and Divac being sent to the Boston Celtics, and the Trail Blazers receiving Reggie Lewis and Pinkney in return.

Jack Ramsey said, "Jerry West has found a replacement for Drexler for the Trail Blazers."

Bobby Berman thought that if Reggie Lewis and Pinkney came to the Trail Blazers, the team's defense would definitely improve next season, and perhaps they should return to the era of wave defense.

Both of the Trail Blazers' head coaches expressed optimism about the trade, but Adelman shook his head repeatedly, saying, "Trading Vlad and Jeff would be a mistake! Our perfect offense is no longer perfect."

Adelman values ​​Divac the most on the Trail Blazers team. The two communicate a lot during training. Adelman believes that Divac has great potential and may be a better fit for Forrest Gump than Sabonis.

Of course, this is Adelman's personal opinion. Judging from the performance in last season's playoffs, Sabonis' defense is unmatched by Divac. He greatly relieved Agan's pressure in protecting the rim in the three-second zone and served as Agan's replacement on the offensive end, perfectly matching the tactics of the others.

"We will be a more balanced team on both offense and defense, and we can play the wave-like half-court press defense we had in 1987 again," Berman said.

Adelman sighed and said, "Basketball is ultimately an offensive game. I think Vlad is a better fit for Forrest Gump. If they team up, no one can stop the Trail Blazers' offense."

Bellman had reservations about Adelman's idea, but he still respected Adelman and believed that there must be something to consider when Adelman said it.

Although Bellman is the Trail Blazers' head coach and Adelman had a history of "defection," Adelman still has a lot of influence in the coaching staff after returning to the Trail Blazers.

This offseason, the Trail Blazers signed two new assistant coaches, expanding their coaching staff to four, to help the team further improve its structure. They are Jack Shalov and John Weitzer.

The two were the team's second and third assistant coaches, Adelman's assistants—they were primarily responsible to Adelman, who in turn reported directly to Bellman.

The reason for establishing this working structure is that Berman did not want to spend too much energy coordinating the work of the coaching team; he wanted to control the direction.

At the same time, Bellman is unwilling to have overly close relationships with his colleagues, as this would hinder him from giving orders, making ruthless decisions, and also affect his use of profanity.

In this respect, Adelman is more of a nice guy. He is kind, equal, and unpretentious, which makes him lack the ruthlessness of a top coach.

This year's Trail Blazers rookie training camp was mainly hosted by Shalov and Weitzer, while Bellman and Adelman took time out to come to Los Angeles for a meeting to make final preparations for the new season's training camp.

Unexpectedly, a major trade occurred during the meeting, and the training camp began to discuss what new strategies the Portland Trail Blazers would adopt to try and defend their title in the new season.

This is a learning opportunity for Bellman, but too much information is not always a good thing. Every coach has his own unique ideas, and they all make a lot of sense.

For Berman, the biggest challenge is how to effectively communicate his philosophy to every player. His understanding of data and efficiency is sometimes too abstract, even counterintuitive.

The "two reductions and one increase" strategy set in 1988 has been well implemented in the past few seasons. However, as times continue to move forward, this one sentence is far from enough to summarize the core content of the Trail Blazers' tactics.

On the final day of the meeting, another major trade announcement excited the coaches: the Chicago Bulls traded rookie power forward Stacy King and a future first-round draft pick to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Buck Williams.

The Nets tanked last season, and Buck Williams was waiting to be traded, but no good trade partners were available.

In the 90 NBA draft, the Nets got the first overall pick and selected the talented forward Derrick Coleman.

The Nets no longer need Buck Williams; they have a new cornerstone for building their team.

Now he has finally achieved his wish, joining a strong team that can compete for the championship and teaming up with Michael Jordan.

Even before the 1990-1991 season began, the arms race between the Trail Blazers and the Bulls had already filled the entire league with tension.

After acquiring Buck Williams, the Bulls' odds of winning the 91 championship rose from fourth to second, second only to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Jack Ramsey, who is familiar with the Trail Blazers, reminded Berman, "Bobby, perhaps you need a clearer, more defined system to help the players understand your offensive and defensive strategies. A system is not a panacea, but a good system will make the team more durable and allow the players to get through the long regular season and maintain their fighting spirit and enthusiasm in the year-after-year championship battle."

"The Bulls are a formidable challenger, and everyone is looking forward to your matchup against Chicago. But you can't forget that the Los Angeles Lakers are also a huge threat; with Sam Perkins, their core roster remains very competitive."

"The current competitive environment in the league is really scary. Everyone is using the system to better communicate, train, and fight with the players, forming a solid group."

Bobby Bellman agrees with Ramsey that as the 90s progressed, more and more coaches began to develop their own unique tactical systems, combining logically consistent basketball philosophies with classic tactical routines to form a complete "pack."

The advantage of this approach is that it has a complete theoretical framework, clear logic, and practical experience, making it readily applicable. Coaches can follow the instructions precisely, and players can learn and understand it systematically.

For example, John Wooden's "UCLA system" is a huge, complex, and all-encompassing system that, theoretically, is not very suitable for NBA teams because there are too many aspects that need to be worked out.

Moreover, the style of play in the NBA is very different from that of college basketball. Individual heroism is very important in the NBA, especially in the playoffs.

After taking over the Utah Jazz, Jerry Sloan began to build the team using the UCLA tactical system, but judging from the Jazz's playoff performance in the last two seasons, it seems that the system has not been quite right.

In crucial moments of the playoffs, the tactical system tends to fail under high-intensity defense, and individual player performances falter, leading to the Jazz's repeated first-round eliminations.

There's also the "SOS pressure defense system" proposed by Seattle SuperSonics assistant coach Bob Croppenburg, which worked in the late 80s, but its effectiveness was short-lived.

In the playoffs, they had some effect against Forrest Gump and the Trail Blazers, but ultimately they were overwhelmed by Forrest Gump's powerful offensive firepower and flexible decision-making.

Defense-focused systems always face the challenge of sustainability, as players struggle to maintain defensive intensity for extended periods, whether it's a single game or an entire season. This summer, the Seattle SuperSonics let go of Xavier McDaniel, head coach Bickerstaff resigned, and Dale Ellis was put on the trading block. This signified the failure of Seattle's rebuilding effort around Chambers McDaniel Ellis after Jack Hickma's departure. They then drafted Oakland point guard Gary Payton in the 1990 NBA draft, beginning a new round of rebuilding.

However, Bob Kloppenberg remained in his position as the team's assistant defensive coach, continuing to pass on the SOS pressure defense system, which has become the SuperSonics' signature tactic.

Then there's the Chicago Bulls' "triangle offense," a system without tactical routines but based entirely on basketball philosophy. It was highly praised by Phil Jackson and considered the best way to integrate Jordan with his teammates.

Of course, the failure in the 1990 playoffs cast a shadow over this unproven basketball philosophy.

This is Bobby Bellman's third season as head coach of the Trail Blazers, and he is about to put in a lot of effort to help the team defend their title.

As Jack Ramsey said, Behrman has taken over the "golden branch" from Ramsey and become the new king of the forest.

This summer, aside from spending a relaxing and happy day with his daughter during the championship parade, Berman returned to his basketball workaholic mode and began preparing for the new season.

While the West deal was good, it also disrupted Bellman's preparations to some extent.

Hornacek and Divac still play important roles in the Trail Blazers team, especially Hornacek.

As the team's second playmaker in the backcourt, there are many tactics played around Hornacek.

雷吉-刘易斯是和霍纳塞克截然不同的球员，刘易斯上赛季场均17分2.8助攻4.4篮板1抢断0.8盖帽。

A typical Black forward/guard, tall and long-armed, with excellent physical attributes, quick lateral movement on defense, good mid-range shot, but no three-point shot.

The Trail Blazers have indeed patched up their defensive weaknesses at the shooting guard and small forward positions, but their offensive flexibility, range, and consistency have certainly been affected.

Bellman and Adelman repeatedly discussed whether the team should revert to the tactics of 1987 and 1988 next season, going from being the league's best offensive team back to being the league's best defensive team.

Then, on the offensive end, they once again relied on Agan's one-on-one play, utilizing the players' individual abilities and using grappling to tear apart the opponent.

The two discussed it for a long time, and Adelman insisted that the team should not give up its smooth half-court offense and that Lewis and Pinkney should be integrated into the Trail Blazers' half-court offense.

After careful consideration, Bellman concluded that Adelman's idea made sense; the environment and configuration of 1987 could not be replicated, and clinging to outdated methods was not a viable approach.

But with Hornacek and Divac gone, who will fill the gap in the team's organization during positional attacks? Develop Lewis?
After discussing for a while, Adelman had a sudden inspiration and said, "Why don't we continue to enhance Forrest Gump's playmaking abilities? He has evolved from a player averaging just over one assist per game to an excellent playmaker who now averages four assists per game. I believe he still has potential to be further developed!"

Bobby Bellman nodded, and then discussed it with Jack Ramsey, who also nodded, indicating that it was a good idea.

No need to add players, no need to consider team cohesion, no need to worry about salaries, and no need to discuss with management—the problem can be solved.

However, simply exploiting Forrest Gump is not enough to make him a better playmaker; at least two players are needed to pass the ball and provide assists.

At this point, a solid offensive system is needed to help the center lead the team's offense and provide the Trail Blazers with a more sustainable foundation for building the team.

At this point, Rick Adelman introduced Bellman to a friend of his, Pete Carell, a coach from Princeton University whom he had met at the training camp.
-
Phil Jackson finally received a call back from Michael Jordan in early autumn. He had called Jordan countless times during the offseason, hoping to discuss things for the new season.

But Jordan gave himself a complete break, unplugging the phone or simply not answering or returning, going to training camps, playing golf, gambling in Atlantic City, appearing on television programs, and shooting commercials for People magazine—anything to avoid Jackson.

At this time, Jordan's wife was six months pregnant and their eldest son was two years old. Jordan stayed at his mother-in-law's house, accompanying his wife and child, and keeping an eye on the developments in the trading market.

When the Trail Blazers made the trade, he communicated with the owner and manager to express his dissatisfaction. Then, Jerry Krause finally "threw a beautiful uppercut" to acquire Buck Williams. Jordan knew that his battle with Forrest Gump in the new season had begun.

"I thought you went to fight in the Gulf in place of your brother, to serve your country!" Jackson expressed his dissatisfaction with Jordan's disappearance.

"The battle on the court is just as important. I want to win an NBA championship for the Americans," Jordan said.

With Gan Guoyang winning four championships in five years, the more people who support and like him, the more people will oppose him.

After all, he is Chinese, and Americans still hope that an American will win the championship, rather than having the title of the strongest basketball player dominated by Chinese players for four years.

During the phone call, Phil Jackson and Jordan inevitably discussed the system and the Bulls' triangle offense.

Jordan had thought that after the failure of the previous season, Phil Jackson would change his strategy, abandon the triangle offense, and return to a system centered around Jordan as the absolute tactical core.

In Jordan's view, the so-called triangle offense was, to some extent, a "de-Jordanization," which made Jordan very unhappy because in Portland, everything revolved around Forrest Gump, and they were very successful.

However, things didn't go as planned. Phil Jackson stated that they would be more committed to the triangle offense system in the new season, and Jackson also said, "If you're no longer focused on winning a scoring title, that's definitely a good thing for the team."

Jordan dismissed Jackson's claim, saying, "Forrest Gump won the scoring title in 1987, practically snatching it from me, and then they still won the championship that year!"

Jackson told Jordan that Forrest Gump is Forrest Gump, and you are you. The interior players have an inherent advantage in terms of defensive influence, and the Trail Blazers have a better roster foundation.

Jordan also asked Jackson if Jerry Krause had said, "If we had Olajuwon instead of Jordan, the Bulls would have made it to the Finals long ago, and even won the championship."

Jackson gave a vague answer, saying that after the Trail Blazers acquired Lewis in a trade, Krause had considered getting Olajuwon, but that was impossible.

As a second-best option, the Bulls acquired Buck Williams in a trade, one of the few trades in recent years that Jordan was satisfied with.

In addition to the Bucks, Krause also signed Scott Williams, an undrafted player.

What's most intriguing about Scott Williams is that he was once a member of the North Carolina Tar Heels.

For years, Jordan had hoped to have a North Carolina teammate playing alongside him, and Krause finally granted his wish.

Jordan was very satisfied with all of this, so he quickly threw himself into the Bulls' new season training camp for the 1990-1991 season and devoted himself to it with 100% focus.

During training camp, Jackson continued to stick to his triangle offense—a basketball system that Tex Winter introduced thirty years ago, relying on quick passing and minimal tactical arrangements to allow players to enter a free and diverse offensive state.

Winter originally designed this tactic to enable the short-statured, mediocre Kansas State University to compete against the University of Kansas, which boasted the giant Wilt Chamberlain.

Therefore, the triangle offense is actually a grassroots tactic, which is why Jordan was skeptical of this system. He believed that Jackson wanted to promote egalitarianism with the Bulls.

But Jackson didn't see it that way. He believed his system was helping Michael Jordan play in a more comfortable team and get more support.

During a break in training camp, when Phil Jackson was interviewed, he said, "Frankly, I didn't like everything the Bulls did before. I don't want to create conflict between Michael and the team, but I know he could have done better and integrated better with the team. Many of the Bulls' past games involved giving the ball to Michael, then letting him go one-on-five and solve the problem. Most defenses couldn't stop him, but do you know how many times he had to fall, how many injuries he had to suffer? Why would he take such risks?"

“I don’t want him to exhaust himself in 40 minutes. I want someone to step up and help him when the score is close. If we have a system, put Michael in that system, let him develop some kind of tacit understanding with his teammates, and then Michael can find them in the crucial moments, and they can step up, then I think that will be the moment when Michael truly achieves success.”

When asked why Forrest Gump was so successful, did it prove that Forrest Gump was better than Jordan?

Jackson shook his head and said, "If Forrest Gump also had a system that fit him perfectly, I think they would be even stronger."

(End of this chapter)