The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 61 Explosive Power

Thornton and Gan Guoyang jumped almost at the same time. Thornton was a strong white center, 6 feet 10 inches tall, about the same height as Gan Guoyang.

However, Gan Guoyang's legs were clearly more explosive, and he had less time to prepare for the jump, so he touched the ball first and passed it to John Stockton.

The match officially began, and Thornton landed, preparing to go to the backfield to defend.

Then he saw Gan Guoyang accelerate and rush to the front, heading towards the three-second zone.

"Shit..."

Suo Dun cursed inwardly, then immediately lowered his head and sped up to chase after Gan Guoyang.

However, Stockton's pass had already reached the three-second zone with precision, and Gan Guoyang received the ball and jumped directly to slam dunk with both hands under the basket!

Just as Gan Guoyang came down from the basket, Thornton arrived, arriving just in time to inbound the ball from the baseline.

The game started with a lightning-fast attack, and before the Anteater players could react, they had already lost two points.

A cheer erupted inside Kennedy Center, and the cheerleaders on the sidelines jumped up and down.

"A very good offensive start, very unexpected," said Fitzgerald, now the team's assistant coach, while clapping.

But Bellman said, "It wasn't arranged; they decided to cooperate like this themselves."

Berman is quite skilled at setting up defense, but he is still learning how to attack.

In attack, he gave full authority to Gan Guoyang and Stockton, allowing them to play according to the situation of the game.

They were made to memorize hundreds of tactics so that they could adapt to changing situations on the field.

Bellman's coaching philosophy may seem a bit lazy, but it is his optimal solution.

He already knew from Beiqiao Middle School that when you have a core player who is both outstanding and intelligent, you shouldn't try to restrict him with too many tactics.

In this respect, Bobby Bellman was a coach who became enlightened very early; he even began to learn to use data to guide team tactics.

However, this is still under development; he has not yet formed a mature theory in his mind, let alone put it into practice.

Gonzaga returned to the defensive end, and the Anteaters, like most NCAA teams at the time, began to grind out half-court offense in the face of zone defense.

Even if Bellman's zone defense wasn't masterful, it was still considered excellent by national standards.

His teacher was Teague Phelps, the famous coach of the University of Notre Dame, who was known throughout the United States for his full-court press and half-court pressure defense.

In 1974, he led his team to end John Wooden's 88-game winning streak at UCLA, relying on high-pressure defense and consecutive scoring in the final stages to achieve a comeback victory.

He led his team to numerous comebacks in the NCAA, earning him the title of "King of Comebacks" in college basketball.

Berman inherited his teacher's understanding of defense: high pressure and forcing, using intense daily training to keep players highly sensitive to defense.

If there's any weakness to this kind of defense, it's that it's too rigid and therefore prone to breaking, which is why Teague Phelps' teams often suffer heavy defeats.

If the defense doesn't find the right spot, or if the opponent is in good form, it's easy to collapse completely.

Gan Guoyang is very calm and intelligent when defending. When playing against Beiqiao Middle School, Gan Guoyang often ignores Berman's instructions and makes defensive judgments based on his own understanding.

His strengths perfectly compensated for the shortcomings of Berman's defensive system.

The Anteaters are a very strong team; they created opportunities by repeatedly passing the ball around the baseline.

Guard George Turner shook off Stockton's defense and made a mid-range jump shot.

Last season, the Anteaters defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs 75-61, a 14-point victory.

Gan Guoyang did not actively come out to help defend, but instead stayed under the basket to protect the rim and the defensive rebounds.

At the start, both sides were still in the probing stage of offense and defense.

However, Thornton soon found himself unable to hold on any longer.

On the second offensive possession, Gan Guoyang received the ball in the low post, quickly turned around, and made a jump shot.

Unlike the slow, low-post attackers he had encountered before, Gan Guoyang's backhand attack was extremely fast.

He almost never pauses; the moment he receives the ball, he starts moving, quickly turns around, and then shoots with a straight arm.

Thornton didn't even have time to jump and reach out to interfere before the ball was already out and went in cleanly for two points.

Then the Anteaters missed a shot, and Gan Guoyang launched a fast break. Thornton felt like a dog running behind them.

Just then, Gan Guoyang received a long pass from Stockton and slammed it home with a gliding dunk!
He moved with the elegance of Dr. J, who was 6 feet 10 inches tall, effortlessly catching the ball with one hand and dunking it behind his head, bringing the atmosphere at Kennedy Stadium to a small climax.

The Anteaters' offense failed again—they found the Bulldogs' defensive formation to be extremely solid. The Bulldogs would give you opportunities for mid-range shots from the outside, but it was very difficult to break through their defense.

They could only attempt mid-range shots from the top of the key, but they missed.

Gan Guoyang firmly controlled the defensive rebound and passed the ball to Stockton.

The two completed an easy pick-and-roll at the top of the arc, and Gan Guoyang received a comfortable bounce pass from Stockton and slammed it home with one hand!

Anteater coach Bill Mulligan called a timeout, completely unprepared for this year's Gonzaga Bulldogs to be in such a state, so different from last year.

As the best coach in the Pacific Division during the 1982s, Mulligan certainly knew that Gonzaga's number 11 had brought about a huge change to the Bulldogs. It's just that the change seemed a bit too great; the team was practically a completely different one from last year's Gonzaga.

"You need to step up your defense on number 11, Thornton," Mulligan reminded Thornton, noting that Gan Guoyang had scored too easily in the first quarter.

"I know, I know," Thornton nodded in agreement as he drank water, then kept wiping his sweat.

"Are you hot?" Mulligan asked worriedly, looking at Thornton who was already drenched in sweat as soon as the game started.

"A little."

"But the game has only just begun."

"Fuck, the game has only just begun?"

During the timeout, Mulligan emphasized the importance of retreating defensively and not allowing the team to launch another quick counter-attack.

We also need to be persistent in our attacks, and not let Gonzaga's zone defense shut us out.

But on their first drive after the timeout, Anteater's forward and leading scorer, Benjamin McDonald, was blocked by Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang maintained firm control of the ball and, after realizing there was no opportunity for a fast break, passed it to Stockton.

Berman was very satisfied on the sidelines. After a year of rest, Gan Guoyang's control on the defensive end had not changed at all, which was the thing that Gonzaga Bulldogs lacked the most before.

In the past, the Gonzaga Bulldogs were an all-white team, and their lack of athleticism was a major weakness.

(In 1985, Gonzaga welcomed their first Black player, Stockton had already graduated.)
Under Coach Deron Williams, Gonzaga's players have become stronger through strength training, and their static physical strength is probably the best among West Coast Conference teams.

However, their lack of dynamic movement ability makes their game rhythm lack explosiveness.

Although Gan Guoyang has yellow skin, as a cyborg, his speed and explosiveness are quite astonishing (yellow people are inherently more explosive than white people).

During the defensive play, Soton felt as if his legs were filled with lead, and he couldn't keep up with Gan Guoyang's pace at all.

Gan Guoyang received the ball in the low post, made a quick turn and went to the baseline, completely bypassing Soton.

With an easy left-handed dunk under the basket, Gan Guoyang scored 10 points in a row at the start of the game, 8 of which came from dunks.

It's good to be taller; dunking is much easier now than before.

Thornton was frustrated, and thinking about what Gan Guoyang had said to him during the opening jump ball made him even more frustrated.

It turns out he wasn't lying; his experience tonight was indeed pitiful!
Mulligan stood on the sidelines watching his team get off to a bad start, feeling very frustrated.

After a few rounds, he understood the Gonzaga Bulldogs' defensive strategy: a solid perimeter zone defense, and that number 11 center taking on all the defensive work under the basket.

The other four starters for the Bulldogs were tasked with tightly guarding the area outside the three-second zone. If they couldn't hold it, they would let players in and leave it to their center to handle.

Previously, Gonzaga lacked such an inside player, which made their defense easy to penetrate.

Sitting on the bench, Gonzaga's starting center Tim Love, who started last year, doesn't have the same defensive presence as Gan Guoyang.

食蚁兽队开局竟被斗牛犬打了16:2，甘国阳一人独揽12分4个篮板1次封盖1次助攻，打得食蚁兽没有还手之力。

The referee probably couldn't stand it anymore and called a defensive foul on the Bulldogs, sending their player to the free-throw line where they scored 2 points.

After taking the lead and dominating the game, the Bulldogs slowed down.

Gan Guoyang started to cooperate more with his teammates, helping them find their offensive rhythm so they could quickly climb the ranks.

Stockton is far superior to the Northbridge High School's defenseman. As a senior this year, his organizational skills and individual techniques are already mature, and he commands positional play with ease.

Once they took the lead, Gonzaga maintained a solid defense and a relatively efficient offense, making it very difficult for the Anteaters. They were clearly unprepared for Gan Guoyang's ironclad defense and didn't know how to deal with it.

Being at a disadvantage and unable to penetrate the paint to score is an extremely difficult situation for a team that lacked long-range shooting ability in 1983.

Fitzgerald was grinning from ear to ear on the sidelines. Last year they were getting thoroughly beaten by the anteaters, but this year they turned the tables and crushed them.

Fitz couldn't help but yell at Mulligan, who was standing on the other side of the court with a furrowed brow, "Think of something, Bill! The fire's about to start! Aren't you going to call a timeout?! Is the game that exciting?!"

Bellman pulled Raffiz aside and said, "Dan, have some manners."

"To hell with manners... Hey, Bobby, how dare you talk to me about manners?"

For more than 10 minutes into the first half, the Bulldogs maintained a lead of more than 10 points.

When the Anteater player drove to the basket and made a close-range mid-range shot, the score was 19-33, with the Bulldogs leading by 14 points.

But Berman was not satisfied with the defense. He believed that the team's defensive urgency was decreasing, which would give Anteater an opportunity. So he called a timeout and criticized the players for their declining defensive focus.

Of course, this is inevitable in a game; no team can maintain focus all the time.

After saying that, Berman gently reminded Gan Guoyang, "Gan, you could have gone up to block and interfere with him just now, but you didn't move under the basket. Are you tired?"

Gan Guoyang wiped his sweat and said, "Do you understand this strategy? I'm the only one guarding the basket, so I won't be easily drawn out by shots. I need to control my fouls and protect the defensive rebounds. My primary goal is to prevent them from getting easy balls. As for these mid-range shots, let them have them."

Bellman nodded repeatedly, indicating that Gan Guoyang was right and made a lot of sense.

(End of this chapter)