The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 615 I was just kidding

I don't play much defense for the Phoenix Suns. I help the team win and make money for the owner by scoring and rebounding. If you want me to play defense, give me another million.

Moreover, as long as Larry (Bird) is still around, I will only become the second worst defensive player in the league!
My biggest dream would be to have Larry guard me.

— Excerpt from an interview with Barkley, The New York Times, March 12, 1991.

Unlike the Washington Bullets, the Phoenix Suns are a dynamic, offensively-minded team.

Before Barkley arrived, their offensive engine was Kevin Johnson.

In the 1990 playoffs, Gan Guoyang and his teammates ganged up on Johnson, causing the Suns' offense to lose its core player.

Although Tom Chambers can consistently contribute over 20 points per game, it doesn't help the team win; he can't motivate the other players.

The Suns' offensive activity was completely extinguished, and they were easily eliminated by the Trail Blazers 0-4, putting up only a token resistance.

With the arrival of Charles Barkley, the Suns suddenly gained another offensive core. He and Kevin Johnson complemented each other inside and outside, and the Suns achieved a dual-core drive in their offense.

This makes defending against them exponentially more difficult.

First of all, Gan Guoyang certainly can no longer afford to divert his energy to contain Kevin Johnson like he did in the last playoffs.

He has to leave a lot of defensive resources for Barkley, who has improved a lot compared to 1988.

In the first quarter, the Trail Blazers maintained their lead throughout, with Gan Guoyang finding his rhythm right from the start.

But the Suns, led by Barkley and Johnson, kept the score very close.

They have many offensive options. In addition to their two core players inside and outside, Danny Ainge and Eddie Johnson both have strong ball-handling and offensive abilities.

Mark West was the only offensive weakness, but he was matched up against Forrest Gump in the first quarter, a lower-class player against a higher-class player, so it wasn't a bad matchup.

Because if you replace him with a player who has low-post scoring ability to go one-on-one against Forrest Gump, it's basically a free win, at most it will just waste some of Forrest Gump's defensive energy.

Barkley knew he wouldn't have an advantage against either Forrest Gump or Sabonis in the low post tonight, so he took a lot of shots from the outside to find his rhythm.

Barkley's strategy was spot on. He consistently used pick-and-rolls with Kevin Johnson to avoid the defensive strongpoint of Agan and attack Sabonis and Terry Porter on offense.

Sabonis is a good defender, but his huge size becomes a hindrance when facing a powerhouse like Barkley, as he can't keep up with his speed.

Barkley's biggest improvement compared to 1988 is in his offensive skills.

He developed many skills for outside ball-handling offense, such as crossovers, step-backs, turnaround jumpers, triple threats followed by drives, and pull-up jumpers.

He shed the stereotype of someone who only knew how to stick his butt out and push in, and became a very unique, aggressive fat guy who roams the third and fourth positions.

To avoid Forrest Gump and shake off Sabonis, Barkley used a lot of step-back shots, attacking the Trail Blazers' basket from the wings, the middle, and even the three-point line.

In the first quarter, Barkley was in excellent offensive form, making 1 of 2 three-pointers and scoring 13 points, helping the Suns tie the game in the final stages of the first quarter.

The score was 33-33, with both sides scoring a significant number of points in the first quarter.

In addition to scoring, Barkley also contributed 3 assists.

This was a direct pass that led to a score; Barkley also had the function of organizing and orchestrating the team's positional offense.

Gan Guoyang scored 11 points in the first quarter. After finding his rhythm on offense at the start, Gan Guoyang began to pass the ball to his teammates to create opportunities.

Kossi scored 9 points; he had a good shooting touch tonight, hitting many mid-range shots.

At the start of the second quarter, Sabonis and Petrovic, who had rested midway through the first quarter, carried the Trail Blazers' offense.

This season, the Trail Blazers' second unit has been very strong, thanks to the team's deep roster and the rise of Petrovic.

Petrovic, the team's sixth man, possesses abilities comparable to a starting shooting guard on a typical team.

After a bumpy rookie season, Petrovic has made significant progress and become more daring on the court.

The reason the Trail Blazers were able to score over 150 points in a row was because of the seamless connection and continuity of their first and second unit offense.

Ordinary teams simply cannot withstand the Trail Blazers' offensive lineup, which launches wave after wave of powerful attacks.

However, the Suns' bench was equally strong, with Dan Mali, Cedric Ceballos, and Kurt Rambis, led by veteran Danny Ainge, putting up a good fight against the Trail Blazers' second unit.

Ceballos, a rookie for the Suns this year, scored 32 points in the Suns' game against the Denver Nuggets on November 10.

This was his fourth game in his career, and his scoring potential was already evident.

Ceballos also has a second cousin named Kobe Bryant, who was living with his father in Italy at the time—though he had not been back in the United States for long.

Dan Mali, in his third year, is becoming a well-rounded forward, excelling on both offense and defense, and his role off the bench is surpassing that of some starters.

These two young, scoring-potential forwards, led by veteran Danny Ainge, played quite well in the second quarter.

The Suns knew they had no chance against the Trail Blazers in the paint, and for the Trail Blazers, either Forrest Gump or Domantas Sabonis would have to stay on the court to provide height in the paint.

The experienced Danny Ainge controlled the pace of the game and used trash talk to provoke Petrovic, trying to induce Petrovic to have more possession of the ball and engage in more one-on-one attacks, thus speeding up the game.

"You're about to get past me, keep it up! Croatian? Should I call you Yugoslavian?" Ainge kept provoking Petrovic in both defense and offense.

At that time, Yugoslavia was already shrouded in the shadow of war, filled with ethnic antagonism and separatist sentiments.

With a Great Serbian like Milosevic seizing power in the country, separatist forces within Yugoslavia are already stirring.

In July 1990, Kosovo declared independence, and civil war in Yugoslavia was imminent.

Danny Ainge is known for his sharp and even malicious tongue. When Dennis Johnson was first traded to the Celtics, Ainge nicknamed him "Chemotherapy".

Because Dennis Johnson had a long-standing feud with the SuperSonics coach and was nicknamed "cancer," Danny Ainge called him chemotherapy, meaning he didn't want this "cancer" to spread to the Celtics.

The intention was good, but giving someone such a nickname is really despicable.

Fortunately, after joining the Celtics, Dennis Johnson's personality changed drastically. He was captivated by Boston's harmonious atmosphere and glorious history and didn't hold a grudge against Ainge for the nickname.

DJ actually thought the nickname was good, with a good meaning, and that it would eventually cure the "cancer" and stop being a scourge on the team.

But these are teammates, and everyone's intentions are friendly. They can fight side by side, so joking around is fine.

But it's different between opponents. Angie touched Petrovich's sore spot by bringing up ethnic issues, which made Petrovich very angry.

At first, he controlled his temper and used his speed and shooting to take down Ainge one-on-one on offense.

But Petrovic didn't gain much advantage; Ainge, that old fox, had a very effective defensive strategy.

He used footsteps and physical contact to stick to Petrovich.

If Petrovic uses a combination of attacking and passing, putting the defender in a difficult position, he will be able to score more easily in one-on-one situations.

But when he decided to go one-on-one, Ainge knew he wanted to go one-on-one and didn't make any other choice but to focus on Petrovic, making it very difficult for Petrovic. In two consecutive possessions, Petrovic went one-on-one with Ainge on the outside, missing one shot and having the ball stolen by Ainge in the other.

The Suns launched a counterattack, with Dan Mali leading the charge. He received a pass from Ainge and slammed home a powerful dunk!
Despite being a white player, Dan Mali possesses exceptional jumping ability, explosive power, and dunking skills that are among the best of all white players.

Every dunk he makes is accompanied by thunderous force, which is why fans gave Mali the nickname "Thunder Dan".

The Suns took the lead in the second quarter, marking their first comeback victory of the game.

Petrovic became even more anxious and angry, especially when he received the ball in his own half and Ainge pressed him all over the field.

Petrovic couldn't contain his anger, dribbled forward, and knocked Danny Ainge down, earning an offensive foul.

Dead ball. Bobby Bellman called a timeout, realizing that Petrovic wasn't playing well tonight.

In the last few rounds, Petrovic had opportunities to combine with Sabonis and then organize an attack.

Instead of making that choice, he took the ball himself and challenged Ainge. What's wrong with this kid tonight?

During the timeout, Bobby Bellman asked Petrovic about the situation. Petrovic didn't answer directly, only saying, "It's a personal matter, I'll handle it myself."

Gan Guoyang and Angie have been rivals for many years, starting from the 1986 Finals. Gan knew that Angie had a foul mouth and must have provoked Petrovic on the court, which angered Pete.

Gan Guoyang was about to go on stage, and he said to Petrovich, "That brat Angie, did he say something too outrageous? I'll go and teach him a lesson."

"Oh no, no Sonny, no... This is between him and me. I'll calm down and I won't hit him randomly anymore. I'll calm down."

Petrovic doesn't want the team's star player to get involved. If Agan does, he might get another elbow, and then Agan would have to go back to the locker room.

“I can stay out of it, but you have to handle Danny yourself, the right way.” Gan Guoyang patted Petrovich on the shoulder.

After the timeout, Gan Guoyang returned to the court, and Charles Barkley also returned to the court.

The Suns still had possession of the ball, and Barkley received it and was matched up against Forrest.

This was the first time the two faced off head-on in the game, and Barkley seemed slightly intimidated.

"Come on, Charles, are you only good at shooting from the outside now? When did you become a shooter?" Gan Guoyang also used words to provoke Barkley.

Barkley held the ball beyond the three-point line, probing and thinking, before calmly choosing to pass to Kevin Johnson, who had cut inside.

However, Johnson's layup was interfered with by Sabonis and missed. Sabonis grabbed the defensive rebound and then aimed for the frontcourt.

Gan Guoyang charged forward like a rocket, and Sabonis delivered a long rugby pass from an extremely long distance to him.

The fans at the Memorial Stadium have risen to their feet, ready to cheer and pay tribute.

A gliding dunk from just inside the free-throw line!

Bill Seanley's Rip City may be late, but it's finally here.

The score was tied at 40-40, and the battle remained very intense.

"You've got scared of Charles," Gan Guoyang said to Barkley, who had followed up, after successfully dunking.

“I didn’t, I know what I’m doing, Sonny,” Barkley responded.

His pass choice was correct; Kevin Johnson had a better opportunity.

However, Sabonis demonstrated his excellent defensive ability, preventing the Suns from making this clever play.

Next, Barkley faced Gan Guoyang's defense again, and Gan remained focused on defending Barkley's one-on-one attack.

Barkley passed the ball again, this time to Dan Mali, but Mali's drive was intercepted by Reggie Lewis with a light touch!
The two consecutive baskets demonstrate the Trail Blazers players' exceptional individual defensive abilities.

Reggie Lewis controlled the ball and passed it to Petrovic, who accelerated across the halfway line, pushing past Danny Ainge who was entangled with him.

At the high post, Sabonis came out to receive the pass, Gan Guoyang went deep into the low post, and Barkley desperately tried to front him under the basket, leaving Sabonis with no good passing opportunities.

Gan Guoyang immediately withdrew and set up a screen near the free throw line. Sabonis immediately passed the ball to Petrovic, who was circling around the cones on the wing. Petrovic received the ball, used Gan's screen, accelerated, drove past Ainge, and rushed into the basket for a layup!

After scoring, Petrovic yelled at Dani Ainge, shouting, "Stop bringing up my country, or I'll beat you up right now, I don't care if you get suspended."

Angie finally chickened out. He knew Forrest Gump was there, and if a fight broke out and he got punched by Forrest Gump again, he wouldn't be able to handle it.

The Trail Blazers executed a variation of the Princeton offense, where, when their attempts to force a low post turn failed, the center would immediately come out to screen for his teammates and make cuts.

It's clear that the Trail Blazers players are becoming increasingly adept at using the Princeton offense.

They gradually stopped being completely bound by routines and instead discovered the effective parts of those routines, organically combining them with star players' one-on-one play.

Sabonis played an indispensable role in directing the operation, and Berman was right to strengthen his tactical role.

Although Sabonis is not a true master of inside playmaking, his talent and basketball IQ are more than enough to make him the central figure in the Princeton offense.

The Trail Blazers' organizational focus gradually shifted to Forrest Gump and Domantas Sabonis, while Petrovic and Porter Jr. will gradually become primarily offensive guards.

Several rounds of offense and defense revealed the real gap between the Suns and the Trail Blazers – primarily the gap in talent.

Kevin Johnson and Charles Barkley's short stature, Dan Mallley and Danny Ainge's slowness, and Mark West's poor offense all require desperate efforts to compensate through tactics and techniques.

They executed a good tactic, but because they were a step behind and a beat too slow, it didn't work, and the point difference gradually accumulated.

For the third time on offense, Barkley faced Forrest's defense, and he didn't choose to pass the ball again; he knew he had to face Forrest directly.

This is a battle between superstars, and he has to score.

Barkley took a probing step, then accelerated to break through from the middle, with Gan Guoyang close behind.

Barkley had no space to drive, so he took a step back after gathering the ball and launched a difficult fadeaway jumper!
Gan Guoyang's hand was almost touching the ball when Barkley barely managed to release it with a fadeaway jumper from the free-throw line.

The ball traced a less-than-beautiful arc in the air, a bit too straight, but it still landed accurately in the net!
A beautiful fadeaway jumper, a beautiful basket! Charles Barkley, facing Forrest Gump, scored a goal.

"That was a great shot, Charles. You've been learning to shoot from Michael."

"I can't learn your tricks, and I don't want to! Prepare to die, Sonny!"

Barkley, who scored a goal, suddenly became arrogant.

Then Gan Guoyang scored three goals in a row from the low post, drawing a foul in the process.

They beat the Suns 7-0 again.

After committing the foul, Barkley put his hands on his hips and glanced at the scoreboard, thinking to himself, "Frankly, I was just kidding, Forrest Gump."

(End of this chapter)