The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 609 Reggie
It's impossible for players to become familiar with a system in just one or two games.

If it's a complex system, it might not even be possible to successfully integrate the systems throughout an entire season.

Like the Chicago Bulls in the 1989-1990 season, they spent most of the season adapting to the triangle offense.

Even after the entire season was over, the Bulls dared not say that they had mastered the triangle offense.

Furthermore, there has always been a force within the Bulls opposing the triangle offense: that person is Michael Jordan.

The conflicts between Jordan and the role players, the differences between Jordan and the coaching philosophy, and the role players' execution of the triangle offense all made it difficult for the Bulls to fully implement this system.

The Trail Blazers don't have the first two problems. Forrest Gump appreciates the Princeton system, and he and Bobby Bellman are very compatible in terms of philosophy—they've worked together for ten years and know each other very well.

The main problem facing the Trail Blazers is the third one: whether the other players can understand and execute the tactics of this system.

At the Bulls, Tyx Winter, the creator of the triangle offense, served as the team's assistant coach, personally guiding the players in learning how to use the triangle offense.

With the Trail Blazers, Pete Carell has a job at Princeton University, so he can't come to Portland as an assistant coach.

Therefore, the pioneers, from top to bottom, had to learn and explore on their own to understand the essence of the Princeton system.

Fortunately, the Trail Blazers players have good tactical awareness, and their original playing style is compatible with the Princeton offense, so understanding the Princeton offense is not particularly difficult.

In the second quarter of the game against the Rockets, when Gan Guoyang and Sabonis went to the bench for a rest, Bobby Bellman substituted Petrovic and Cliff Robinson, while Reggie Lewis remained on the court.

Bobby Bellman wants to give rookie Lewis more time to adapt to the Trail Blazers' playing style.

Lewis played very cautiously in the first quarter. To be honest, he never expected to come to Portland; he thought he would stay in Boston forever.

The story of Forrest Gump and Boston could fill an entire news anecdote page: shattering rims twice, his verbal sparring with Bird, winning the championship at Boston Garden, and his game-winning shot against the Celtics, among other things.

The two teams have a long history of rivalry, but after 1986, the Celtics declined rapidly and gradually lost the ability to compete with the Trail Blazers.

From 87 to 90, every time Forrest Gump went to Boston, he could beat the Celtics to a pulp. Even Lewis, who was just a rookie at the time, could feel Forrest Gump's ferocity from the bench.

As Lewis gradually matured, Forrest Gump had already dominated the league, and the Celtics' Big Three were getting older year by year. It was widely believed that Lewis would be Larry Bird's successor.

Unexpectedly, Lewis had a conflict with the Celtics' management over the contract renewal issue. In fact, Lewis still wanted to stay in Boston, but the offer from the Portland team was very attractive to Auerbach, so he changed into a Trail Blazers jersey overnight and became an assistant to Agan.

Lewis felt a mix of excitement, worry, anticipation, and confusion regarding his collaboration with Gan Guoyang.

In Boston, Lewis knew he was about to become the next leader after Bird.

In the 1988-1989 season, Bird missed the rest of the season after playing only six games due to bone spurs.

With the star player absent, only second-year player Reggie Lewis has stepped up to fill the role at the small forward position.

His scoring average soared from 4.5 points in his rookie season to 18 points, becoming Boston's biggest surprise.

1988年12月6日，凯尔特人对阵公牛的比赛中，雷吉-刘易斯拿下33分6篮板4助攻，帮助凯尔特人击败了公牛。

Reggie Lewis rose to fame after his performance against Michael Jordan, holding his own.

In the final weeks of the season, his average points per game rose to 23.5, making him an excellent forward scorer.

Last season, after Larry Bird returned, Reggie Lewis had to give up his starting small forward position and take on more defensive and post-up duties at the shooting guard position.

At the time, some Boston fans said that Lewis should start at small forward instead of making way for Bird, and that he was better than Bird now.

Lewis had a vague feeling that he would replace Bird as the Celtics' next generation of star player.

But when Lewis arrived in Portland, he knew he could never replace Forrest Gump; at best, he would become the team's second-best player.

The shift from Boston's crown prince to Portland's prime minister requires Reggie Lewis to adjust his mindset.

Now that Forrest Gump is off the field to rest, Berman keeps Lewis on the field, and Lewis knows this is his chance to shine.

Lewis quickly demonstrated something the Trail Blazers lacked last season: the ability of an outside ball handler to attack the basket.

He has a very fast start, a long wingspan, and excellent jumping ability. Although his dribbling skills are somewhat limited, they are enough for him to attack the basket.

With the Trail Blazers trailing, Reggie Lewis repeatedly drove to the basket, scoring 2 out of 3 baskets.

He also stole the ball on defense and assisted Cliff Robinson for a layup, leading the Trail Blazers on a 6-0 run to turn the tide.

Seeing the situation was not good, Rockets head coach Don Chaney immediately called a timeout and substituted Hakeem Olajuwon back into the game.

The Trail Blazers have a deep rotation pool, and Bobby Bellman isn't in a hurry, continuing to keep Mitchell Thompson on the court.

Cliff Robinson will play power forward, Reggie Lewis will play small forward, and Petrovic and Dell Curry will play guard.

This is a relatively short roster that relies on speed to initiate attacks, with veteran Thompson still providing relatively stable defense and rim protection. The team's offensive engine has shifted from the inside to the outside, with Petrovic, Reggie Lewis, and Robinson all possessing the ability to attack with the ball.

Dell Curry, on the perimeter, serves as a shooter who can create space and launch long-range attacks on the opponent's basket.

After Olajuwon returned to the court, he backed down Thompson and drove to the basket for a layup, tying the score.

The Trail Blazers quickly launched a counterattack, with Petrovic rushing across half-court and passing the ball to Reggie Lewis.

Lewis drove to the basket for a layup but missed. Cliff Robinson grabbed the offensive rebound, but his putback attempt was also blocked by Hakeem Olajuwon.

Robinson controlled the ball and passed it back to the outside, where Petrovic received the ball and made a mid-range jump shot!
The pace of the score suddenly became fast and intense.

Even if the Trail Blazers played like this, they would still be very strong.

Without needing too many set-piece tactics, the ball handler attacks, then goes for offensive rebounds and second-chance points, and every team in the league can withstand that.

With his body becoming stronger and more robust, Petrovic appears more energetic on the field, no longer the frail figure he was last year.

Maxwell then hit a three-pointer, and the Rockets regained the lead.

Then both teams went into a scoring drought, missing several consecutive possessions, and the defensive intensity on the court became increasingly stronger.

In the 90s, referees made some significant changes to their standards for calling fouls.

Under normal circumstances, the referee's whistle is becoming increasingly lenient, encouraging players to engage in physical contact.

But when the competition becomes intense enough, like the Detroit Pistons' approach of aiming to hit and injure someone, the referees' calls become very strict.

This summer, after another serious brawl during the Finals, the NBA decided to introduce a "flagship foul" system.

In the past, the league still called serious fouls as ordinary fouls. For example, Kevin McHale's clothes rack move against Rambis was only called as an ordinary foul.

Therefore, teams like the Pistons can injure their opponents with some big moves, and as long as they don't fight, the final result is just a regular foul.

The league now has a two-tier flagrant foul rule. When a player makes unnecessary contact with an opponent, he will be called for a flagrant foul 1. Two flagrant fouls will result in ejection from the game.

When a player makes unnecessary and excessive contact with an opponent, he will be called for a Flagrant Foul 2, and once a Flagrant Foul 2 is called, he will be immediately ejected from the game.

After this rule was established, it put a tight rein on the players of each team. They had to be careful with their defensive actions, and could aim for the ball, not the player.

Of course, the judgment is still in the hands of the referee. If the referee doesn't think you acted maliciously, then it wasn't malicious.

Overall, the referees have more control over the game, so the players' defensive actions will definitely be more restrained.

If Hakeem Olajuwon, the 1984 rookie fighting champion, had played in the 1990-1991 season, he would probably have been ejected every few games.

Hakeem Olajuwon is no longer fighting; he is the NBA's second-best defender in the paint after Forrest Gump, a legendary rim protector.

When he entered the game, it became significantly more difficult for the Trail Blazers to attack the basket.

After both players missed several rounds in a row, Olajuwon regained his composure and attacked Mitchell Thompson in the low post.

With a successful turnaround jumper and a layup after a fake move, the Rockets regained a 5-point lead.

Bobby Bellman stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed. Instead of calling a timeout, he encouraged the players to attack and solve the problem themselves.

This is the regular season, and Berman has always emphasized developing players' ability to solve problems and get out of trouble on their own.

Reggie Lewis stepped up, received the ball on the outside, and used Mitchell Thompson's screen on the left side to suddenly drive straight to the basket.

Facing Hakeem Olajuwon's help defense, Reggie Lewis suddenly launched an attack, delivering a one-handed dunk over Olajuwon!

Memorial Stadium was ignited by Reggie Lewis's dunk over an opponent.

Bill Shawnley’s “Rip City” played again, and the Trail Blazers’ bench rose to their feet to cheer for Lewis.

The team's morale soared instantly.

Portland fans haven't seen a dunk like that from the outside for two seasons since Drexler left!

Given Olajuwon's past temper, if he had dunked on him like that, he would have at least punched Lewis.

But now that Hakeem Olajuwon is more mature, he's bound to get dunked on when he's in the paint.

Serve! When Forrest Gump comes on, we'll get our revenge on him.

(End of this chapter)