The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 647 Killing Charles

The Suns offered little resistance in the first game and were quickly defeated by the Trail Blazers.

In the post-game analysis, head coach Fitzsimmons criticized Charles Barkley for lacking energy at the small forward position, saying he was stifled by Reggie Lewis and Jerome Cahill.

Although Danny Ainge got a lot of offensive opportunities and hit three three-pointers, his excellent stats were not enough, as the Trail Blazers were not afraid of Ainge's firepower at all.

Barkley, who was full of confidence before the game, was dealt a blow. His excitement was quickly dissipated during the game, as his energy was affected by staying up late, drinking, and getting into trouble at the police station.

Most importantly, he wasn't fully focused on the game. He was always thinking about how to compete with Forrest Gump, forgetting that even superstars are only part of the game.

The key is how to win.

Barkley told the coach, "Maybe I should go back to the power forward position. I want to go head-to-head with Forrest Gump."

Fitzsimmons said, "The game isn't just about you versus Forrest Gump; you have to think about things from the perspective of the whole team."

Barkley said, "I was thinking from the team's perspective. I should have been trying to contain him, both on offense and defense. Then I could have led the team. Forrest played too easily tonight; he didn't feel any pressure at all."

Since Sam Bowie was traded to the Suns, Barkley has moved to the small forward position, with Bowie and West forming the frontcourt pairing.

Barkley, playing the small forward position, has a strength advantage against most teams' forwards, and he plays very well in that position.

In this game against the Trail Blazers, Fitzsimmons still played Barkley at the small forward position, firstly to maintain the team's height in the paint to compete against Portland's twin towers, and secondly to allow Barkley to avoid directly matching up against Forrest Gump.

However, this avoidance not only failed to allow Barkley to perform at his best, but also resulted in the Suns playing without any aggression. And as Barkley said, Gan Guoyang played too relaxed and without any pressure in the first game.

The entire Blazers team was on fire, and the Suns were completely helpless.

Fitzsimmons fell into thought, and Barkley added, "If you let me play the three, I'll be shooting a lot of threes from the outside."

Upon hearing Barkley's suggestion, Fitzsimmons immediately replied, "Okay, next game you'll go back to power forward and partner with Bowie. Mallley, you'll start, and West will be on the bench."

Barkley's three-point shooting percentage has been consistently below 30% this season, yet he still loves to shoot threes.

To keep Barkley entertained, Fitzsimmons never stopped him from taking long-range shots, and when he did make one, it was quite effective.

But Barkley's real threat is still in the paint, in the three-second zone; taking too many three-pointers is too damaging to the team.

Of course, Fitzsimmons knew that the Suns' overall strength was far behind the Trail Blazers', making it extremely difficult to win the series.

The Trail Blazers have a wealth of talented players who, under Forrest Gump's leadership, are united and each perform their duties well, making it very difficult to find any weaknesses in their team.

The Suns' goal in this series is to secure a victory and prevent the Trail Blazers from sweeping them again, thus advancing to the Finals for the second consecutive year without injuries.

On May 22, after the Suns and Trail Blazers' first game, the league announced the winner of the 1991 regular season MVP award.

In the media vote, Jordan beat Gan Guoyang to receive the most votes and was successfully elected as the Most Valuable Player of the season.

After the results were announced, Trail Blazers owner Tang Jianguo was furious and immediately held a press conference to denounce the media for making a random selection.

"These media outlets don't understand basketball at all. They vote based entirely on gut feeling or sympathy. If someone is good enough, they'll vote for him, but if that person is too good, they'll think, 'He's already so good, we can't vote for him anymore, we should give some to another relatively good guy to balance things out.' That's their logic! They don't consider what the Most Valuable Player is or what the Most is! There's only one Most in the entire league, and that's the Trail Blazers' Forrest Gump!"

Since the league agreed to move the 1992 All-Star Game to Portland, which led to the construction of the Trail Blazers' new arena, Tang Jianguo has not made any outrageous remarks in the media for quite some time.

This saved the NBA a lot of trouble, but as time went on, the "peace agreement" between him and David Stern became increasingly fragile, especially with the playoffs and the Finals approaching.

In such a high-profile setting, Tang Jianguo couldn't possibly keep quiet.

The advantage of having such a loud-mouthed boss is that if the league wants to target the Trail Blazers in any way, they have to think twice about Tang Jianguo's destructive power.

In fact, besides Tang Jianguo, many media outlets also sided with Gan Guoyang, believing that Gan Guoyang should win this year's MVP award.

First of all, the Trail Blazers' 64-18 record is the best in the league, which is an undeniable and hard-earned achievement.

Secondly, in terms of statistics, Gan Guoyang averaged 29.5 points, 15.5 rebounds, and 6 assists per game, winning the rebounding title for seven consecutive years.

Jordan was only better at scoring; as a guard, he wasn't even as good as Forrest in assists.

Finally, many experts said that although the Trail Blazers' record this year was not as good as last year, Agan was a better team and more outstanding than last year.

He can make the players around him better, while Jordan hasn't yet shown that ability.

The debate raged in the media, but it couldn't change the voting results.

On the night of the 22nd, during halftime of Game 2 between the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons, David Stern presented Michael Jordan with the MVP trophy.

This time, Jordan humbly said, "This is not just my honor, but the honor of the entire Chicago Bulls. Without the Bulls and my teammates, I would not have been able to receive this honor. Thank you to them, thank you to each and every one of them."

However, it is said that Jordan did not say that in a pre-game interview, but believed that "I deserve this award every year."

When asked if he could make his teammates better like Forrest Gump, Jordan got angry and said, "I'm not a babysitter, I'm part of the team. If a teammate wants to be better, he should step up, make the shots, and earn respect. They have to play well themselves, not rely on others."

Jordan's sharpness is a major reason why he could never truly connect with his teammates. His thorns were too sharp. As a consistently successful genius, he found it difficult to understand and empathize with ordinary players—even though these players were once extraordinary themselves.

Gan Guoyang is different. He is more successful than Jordan, but it is precisely because he had a very unsuccessful period in his life and had no connection with sports that he is able to understand everyone around him.

This unique dual life experience is probably unique to this world, and it's perfectly normal that Jordan can't compare to Forrest Gump.

However, on formal occasions, Jordan still had to be polite. After receiving the trophy, he took a group photo with his teammates and accepted their applause and cheers.

Phil Jackson was pleased with this scenario, which was what he had always been aiming for—at least on the surface, Jordan should be united with his teammates.

This is one of the things that made Phil Jackson successful: he wasn't a perfectionist, and he never thought about completely changing Jordan to make him a team player.

He only hoped that Jordan could integrate into the team appropriately, without losing his personality, and maintain harmony with his teammates to the greatest extent possible, seeking a balance and harmony.

This is what Phil Jackson calls "Eastern philosophy," which he summarized from the concepts of Zen, Taoism, and Buddhism. It does not seek rational perfection, but strives to achieve harmony and balance in terms of emotion.

Of course, when Jackson saw this harmonious scene, the shadow of Forrest Gump still lingered in his mind.

In Jackson's view, Forrest Gump was a more perfect embodiment of Eastern philosophy, after all, he was Chinese.

Jackson had inquired about the situation within the Trail Blazers team through various channels and clearly understood that Forrest Gump was a better leader than Jordan.

Therefore, Jackson was both worried about the upcoming Finals and very much looking forward to facing Forrest Gump head-on.

Every matchup in the regular season is thrilling, but the finals are the only stage where the attention and pressure are incomparable.

Just imagining it made Jackson's palms sweat.

Therefore, tonight's game against the Detroit Pistons is somewhat unremarkable.

The Bulls took the lead in the first half, although the Detroit Pistons resorted to their old tricks, using some aggressive moves in an attempt to disrupt the Bulls' offense.

For example, Dumars fouled Armstrong in the second quarter, Pippen was knocked down by Mahorn and Tpin during a drive, and Rick Mahorn knocked John Paxson away with his butt during a defensive play.

However, the Pistons' actions resulted in three flagrant fouls, giving the Bulls free throws and possession, which led to the Bulls taking a 10-point lead over the Pistons at halftime.

In the third quarter, Jordan, who had just received the MVP trophy, began to unleash his power, scoring 13 points in the quarter and helping the Bulls further extend their lead.

The Pistons' tough defense began to lose its effectiveness; they couldn't stop Jordan from scoring, and their bigger problem was their inability to contain Pippen. Phil Jackson adjusted Pippen's role in this game, giving him more ball-handling time and involving him in the offensive organization.

The reason for this was that when guards like John Paxson and Armstrong had the ball, they faced too much defensive pressure.

The Pistons' guards and forwards are very good at attacking the opponent's backcourt, especially the point guard, which hinders the Bulls' offensive organization and makes their first pass unreliable.

So Jackson simply had John Paxson, Armstrong, Hodges, and others play shooting guard, running to open spots on the court to catch the ball and shoot.

The task of ball control and organization was handed over to Pippen, who was tall and not easily double-teamed or attacked, and who distributed the ball in conjunction with the team's triangle offense.

This tactic rendered the Pistons' pressure defense ineffective, instead creating numerous scoring opportunities for players like Paxson and Armstrong, leaving them overwhelmed and unable to defend effectively.

In the third quarter, with a lead, Jordan took over the game and established an even greater advantage.

In the fourth quarter, the Bulls unleashed their defensive magic, having Pippen, Jordan, and Buck Williams relentlessly double-team the Pistons' interior defense.

Melvin T. T. Pinn, a key low-post offensive option for the Pistons, faced the Bulls' toughest defense. Whenever he received the ball in the low post, Pippen would immediately come over to double-team him.

This season, Turpin has grown into a very important low-post offensive option for the Pistons, and is the only interior player on the Pistons with low-post tactical value, making him an important tactical pivot for the team.

In this game, the Pistons' offense often relied on Tuppin's passing and movement to keep going. Without him, the pressure on Thomas and Dumars on the perimeter would be too great.

In the fourth quarter, the Bulls stopped pretending and launched an attack targeting the Pistons, a key player.

If Turpin tries to continue his attack, Jordan will come over, and Buck Williams will provide a solid low screen. He will never jump to block, but will hold his position firmly and be ready to steal the ball at any time.

Horace Grant was also on the Bulls' bench, wearing goggles on the advice of his doctor. He was ready to come on at any time to replace Buck Williams and continue the Bulls' suffocating defense at the power forward position if needed.

Tepin, who scored 18 points and had 4 assists in the first three quarters, went completely silent in the fourth quarter.

This defensive lineup and treatment are just too good; Teping really can't handle it.

Not only could they not score, but their passes to the outside were also prone to errors; Jordan, Pippen, and Williams all had too quick hands.

After a few rounds, the Pistons dared not give the ball to Tpin for a one-on-one in the low post anymore.

Therefore, the Pistons could only let Thomas and Dumars handle the ball and attack the Bulls' basket.

Bill Cartwright was lurking in the Bulls' paint, and Williams and Pippen were also very strong in terms of help defense.

Chuck Daly was surprised to find that, in terms of defense alone, the Bulls' current lineup was even stronger than the Pistons at their peak.

The Bulls' only weakness was their point guard, but Pippen and Jordan's rotation ability made up for that.

Moreover, John Paxson isn't a perfect sieve, able to take whatever he wants.

Meanwhile, the Pistons' backcourt rotation was severely lacking after losing Vinnie Johnson.

Rick Mahorn and Dennis Rodman are both defensive players with limited offensive capabilities.

The Pistons rely more on their two guards plus Melvin Tppin on offense, as well as Mark Aguirre's isolation plays off the bench.

This strategy works well against other teams, but it's not effective enough against the Bulls anymore; they no longer have a way to break through their defense.

Isaiah Thomas' performance in the first two games was disastrous; in fact, he has never performed well against the Bulls.

The Bulls' perimeter defense was too aggressive, with a lot of height, while Thomas's height and outside shooting were weaknesses.

He couldn't penetrate the Bulls' defense; his outside shooting percentage was low, and his efficiency was poor. He also lacked the physical attributes to force a shot against them.

The score gap widened further and further, and the final score was 93-109, with the Bulls winning by 16 points at home against the Pistons.

The Bulls are leading the series 2-0, getting closer to the NBA Finals.

After the game, Phil Jackson was very satisfied with the team's defense in the fourth quarter.

In particular, the double-teaming of Melvin Turpin was key to disrupting the Pistons' overall offense.

With Turpin out of the game, the Pistons' offense was reduced to isolated perimeter plays and piecemeal attacks, making it impossible for them to organize effective positional offense and thus unable to mount a counterattack.

Jackson was certain that even in the third and fourth games, back in Detroit, the Pistons would still not find a way to cope.

Now Jackson is more concerned about whether this defensive strategy can deal with Forrest Gump if we go to the Finals.

In their two regular-season matchups, Jackson didn't really put in the intensity of his defense, and besides, the Bulls' defense wasn't fully developed when the two teams played each other.

So Jackson was still confident.

However, he also knew that during the regular season games, Forrest Gump hadn't really gone all out on offense.

At that time, the Trail Blazers' offense was also not yet fully developed.

As the Eastern and Western Conference Finals progress, the media, fans, and players from both teams are all looking forward to the NBA Finals.

After all, neither the Suns nor the Pistons should be able to stop either team.

On May 23, the Trail Blazers and Suns faced off in their second game. The Suns, with a revamped starting lineup, continued to challenge the Trail Blazers' dominance in the Western Conference.

The game was surprisingly intense, with Barkley delivering his best performance of the season's playoffs.

He went head-to-head with Forrest Gump, using his excellent touch and diverse offense to score 36 points and grab 17 rebounds.

The Suns and Trail Blazers battled all the way into overtime, and in the final moments, Gan Guoyang made a crucial and fatal defensive play against Barkley.

He stole the ball in a one-on-one situation in the low post, then dribbled up the court and dunked over Kevin Johnson!
Kevin Johnson could only stare blankly as Gan Guoyang spread his wings like a roc, without any intention of stopping him.

He knew that the only consequence of blocking him would be giving away another free throw and increasing his own risk of injury.

This combination of defense and offense caused the Suns, who were initially down by 2 points, to fall behind by 4 points.

With Dan Mali missing a three-pointer, Gan Guoyang secured the rebound and the Trail Blazers clinched the victory.

With a 2-0 lead, the Trail Blazers are also closer to the NBA Finals.

Of course, Barkley played exceptionally well tonight, posing a significant threat to Gan Guoyang.

More importantly, the Suns found the feeling of competing with the Trail Blazers.

Unlike the Pistons, they are not old; on the contrary, they are rising.

Barkley's willingness to confront Gan Guoyang head-on and his outstanding performance were key to the Suns' victory tonight.

So, even though he won the second game, Gan Guoyang had no thoughts about playing against Jordan in the finals after the game.

"I have to get rid of Charles first," he kept thinking to himself.

(End of this chapter)