The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 800 Never Forget Your Roots
On April 24, after a few days of rest, the NBA 1996-1997 season playoffs began.

In the Western Conference, the Utah Jazz, who achieved the best regular season record in their division for the first time in franchise history, faced the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round – a matchup with little suspense.

The third-ranked Houston Rockets will face the sixth-ranked Phoenix Suns in the first round, having lost to the Seattle SuperSonics in the race for fourth place.

If they win this round, they will face the winner between the Trail Blazers and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the semifinals—the Timberwolves' first playoff appearance since the team's inception.

The SuperSonics will face the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. Although the SuperSonics did avoid the Trail Blazers in the semifinals, they also got a very tough opponent in the first round.

在鲍比-贝尔曼的带领下，本赛季湖人取得了55胜27负的战绩，自1990-1991赛季魔术师约翰逊退役后球队再度拿到50胜。

They have a chance to go further in the playoffs and teach the SuperSonics, who picked their opponents in the first round, a lesson that can backfire.

The Trail Blazers have been playing and training in Portland since mid-April, and they will remain in Portland for the first two games of the first round of the playoffs to prepare for the next round.

Bird didn't schedule too much training, but maintained a rhythm of one training session a day until the game officially started on the 24th.

The Trail Blazers missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons after Gan Guoyang retired in December 1994.

For Portland fans, the disappointment of seeing the former Western Conference champions fail to even make the playoffs is truly overwhelming.

Fortunately, Forrest Gump returned, and everything returned to normal. The familiar Sunrise Symphony once again played during the playoff entrance ceremony.

The Trail Blazers players, dressed in white tracksuits, emerged from the player tunnel with a different aura than in the regular season, and Gan Guoyang looked serious.

During the regular season, he always had a relaxed expression, but he suddenly changed during the playoffs, which even his teammates found difficult to adapt to.

Gan Guoyang told the young players in the locker room that the playoffs are a completely different battlefield, unlike the regular season which has a certain showy nature.

The Timberwolves may be a relatively weak opponent, but if we don't take them seriously and underestimate them, we will definitely suffer a great loss in the playoffs.

Young players understand this principle, but they cannot truly comprehend it yet; they still need to experience it.

For most players, they won't learn anything without experiencing one or two heart-wrenching defeats in the playoffs.

Even a perennial champion like Gan Guoyang has lost a series in the playoffs, and it was a lesson he learned.

Bird shared the same idea as Gan Guoyang, and he made relatively thorough preparations before the game.

However, after discussing with the coaching staff, Bird realized that he didn't have many options left.

Forrest Gump is our biggest and only trump card; we must trust him completely.

In addition, the Trail Blazers have too few veterans, especially those with extensive playoff experience.

In the 90s, the playoffs were slower-paced, with fewer rounds and more physical contests than the regular season, making them suitable for experienced veterans to compete.

Currently, only A.C. Green and Terry Porter meet the requirements for the Trail Blazers, but their performance is no longer at the level of core starters for strong playoff teams, so they can only be important rotation players.

PJ Brown had experience winning a championship with the Trail Blazers, but he was young and a fringe player at that time. The Trail Blazers didn't make the playoffs in the two seasons he developed.

Bird should still boldly use young players. The first round against the Timberwolves is a good opportunity for young players to train. The Timberwolves are even younger and more inexperienced than the Trail Blazers. None of their starting five are over 30 years old.

Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal, and Ben Wallace, three young players who had outstanding performances in the regular season, entered Bird's rotation system.

The Timberwolves, on the other hand, approached this match with a learning attitude, as it was a game with little suspense.

Kevin Garnett and his teammates arrived in Portland two days early for acclimatization training, with their goal of winning one game against the Trail Blazers in the first round.

Gan Guoyang lost very few games in the first round, most of which were sweeps. Winning even one game was already an honor for the Timberwolves.

In the pre-game media, both teams were quiet. The Trail Blazers had nothing to say, and the Timberwolves dared not say anything.

The first game between the two teams started promptly at 7:30 p.m. The game was not much of a surprise. The Trail Blazers took the lead in the first quarter with a strong offense, scoring 38-25, a 13-point advantage.

If the Trail Blazers hadn't played more conservatively in the second half of the first quarter, the gap between the two teams would have been even greater.

The Trail Blazers' offense flowed smoothly, but the more important reason for their 13-point lead was the Timberwolves' poor performance.

They lacked any defensive strategy and were repeatedly exploited by the Trail Blazers' increasingly fluid offense.

Carlisle's "fluid offense" finally started to take shape by the end of the season, and he was hoping that this tactical system could make a difference in the playoffs.

In the second and third quarters, the Trail Blazers maintained a firm grip on the Timberwolves, and finally broke them down in the final stretch of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves went on a runaway run. Bird substituted in a young lineup in the last half of the quarter and made a demand: "You must hold onto the lead, or you won't get a chance to play in the next game."

Kobe, Jermaine O'Neal, and Ben Wallace played exceptionally well in the final half of the quarter, ultimately securing a 116-95 victory for the Trail Blazers at home, giving them their first win in the series.

For Gan Guoyang, it was an unremarkable game, with a near triple-double of 25 points, 17 rebounds, and 8 assists.

He exerted his strength at the beginning of the first quarter and the end of the third quarter, while maintaining a steady pace at other times, which made it easy for him to control the rhythm of the game and defeat his opponent.

For the Timberwolves, making their first playoff appearance brought them the bitter taste of defeat, giving them a better understanding of the difference between the playoffs and the regular season.

From start to finish, the Timberwolves had no chance, failed to mount a comeback, were controlled by the Trail Blazers the entire time, and trailed behind them for the whole game without even a single planned acceleration to overtake them.

The young players clearly haven't adapted to the change in the pace of the playoffs. The high intensity and tightness throughout the game made it very difficult for them. It was good enough if they could keep up with the pace, let alone think about launching a counterattack.

Marbury had a good performance, scoring 21 points and dishing out 3 assists. However, most of his achievements were due to individual efforts, and he failed to play a role in connecting the whole team.

Both teams will rest for a day and then resume their rematch at the Rose Garden on April 26. This game is not much different from the previous one, and the Timberwolves simply cannot find a way to beat the Trail Blazers on the road.

开拓者较为轻松的以99：87，12分的优势击败了森林狼，大比分2：0领先。

Gan Guoyang continued to perform steadily on both offense and defense, giving the Trail Blazers a lot of room for error. This game exposed a major problem for the Trail Blazers in the playoffs: apart from Gan Guoyang, the others on offense relied too much on their outside shooting touch.

In the 90s, driven by Michael Jordan, there were higher demands on the ball-handling and penetration abilities of perimeter players.

Especially in the high-intensity, slow-paced playoffs, perimeter breakout players and offensive specialists become extremely important in the back-and-forth battles.

If you lack such players, you can also have an efficient screen and cut system like the Utah Jazz to create more opportunities to attack near the basket (in fact, this is also a weakness of the Jazz, as they rely too much on the system and lack an outside ball-handling explosive player).

The Trail Blazers rely heavily on shooting from the perimeter. Liddell and Van Exel have the ability to drive with the ball, but Liddell relies too much on his back-to-the-basket game, and Van Exel is short and his finishing ability near the basket is average. Once his three-point shot is off, his drives will also be affected, rather than relying on reliable drives to solve the problem when his three-point shot is off.

In the two games, Van Exel's field goal percentage was 33%, while Riddell's was slightly better at 37%... Van Exel's three-point percentage was even lower at 25%, going 2 for 8 in the two games, making one in each game.

This was against a young team like the Timberwolves, and they were already so bad that Bird turned pale and wished he could go out and play himself.

The two low-quality players performed reasonably well in the regular season, but their true colors were immediately revealed in the playoffs.

Ultimately, he's not cut out to carry the team's outside offense; he can't efficiently utilize the ball. It's already quite good if he performs well in one or two games of the series.

The Trail Blazers' best penetrator is none other than Gan Guoyang, who can initiate attacks from the perimeter with the ball.

The problem is that Gan Guoyang takes on too many outside ball-handling and attacking duties, which leads to a lack of depth in the Trail Blazers' offense.

Imagine if the Trail Blazers had an outside offensive player who could drive to the basket a lot, with Gan Guoyang constantly following up. The combination of the two would be very powerful.

Back then, having Drexler, Petrovic, or Lewis was enough for the Trail Blazers' offense to sweep the West.

Currently, the Trail Blazers' ball-handling skills on the perimeter are not up to that level. When Gan Guoyang attacks from the perimeter, the follow-up from the inside becomes less threatening.

He receives the ball in the low post inside, but if the perimeter doesn't provide enough support, his defensive appeal will be wasted.

After the two games, former general manager Buckwalt remarked that back in the day, the "Foxbat" Trail Blazers could at least withstand the power of Forrest Gump's engine and reach Mach 3.

If the current Trail Blazers put in any more effort, they might fall apart and won't be able to unleash Forrest Gump's signature powerful, high-flying style.

Regular season encounters are relatively easy; just go all out and rack up stats. If you can't win by 30 points, then go for 40.

In the playoffs, where everything comes down to details and targeted strategies, it can be fatal if teammates can't keep up with the leader.

On April 28, the two teams moved to Minnesota, with the Timberwolves returning to their home court, which was their best chance to win a game in the series.

Back at home, the Timberwolves played with unusual aggression, and both teams went all out in a high-scoring shootout.

The Timberwolves have realized that the Trail Blazers' outside offense isn't very good, so they're going to go all out on shooting percentage and see who can shoot more accurately.

The Trail Blazers' outside shooting lived up to expectations, remaining inaccurate. Van Exel and Riddell continued their poor form from Games 1 and 2, missing numerous shots in the first half.

Bird flew into a rage during halftime, berating the perimeter players for wasting opportunities, which he described as unprofessional.

After venting his anger, Bird knew that this was partly a consequence of the players relying too much on Forrest Gump towards the end of the regular season.

Fortunately, the Timberwolves aren't strong; they only led the Trail Blazers by 5 points at halftime. They can win and can adjust their strategy.

Before the game, Bird and Gan Guoyang said, "They rely on you too much, and now they don't even know how to solve the problem."

"Then let me help them solve the problem, what else can I do?"

So, in the second half, Gan Guoyang started his scoring spree at the Minnesota Target Center.

Having scored 14 points in the first half, he unleashed his full offensive power in the second half, starting to relentlessly attack in the low post.

He doesn't choose to play with the ball on the outside, because that's too tiring and doesn't last long. He can play continuously in the low post with one-on-one attacks.

He played from the first minute of the game until the last minute, as long as he wanted and as long as his teammates supported him.

The Timberwolves initially double-teamed Gan Guoyang, but he scored 5 consecutive baskets, going 7-for-8 in four minutes.

After the timeout, Gan Guoyang continued his strong attacks in the low post, drawing fouls and going to the free throw line repeatedly, scoring another 4 points.

The Trail Blazers took the lead, and the Timberwolves started triple-teaming them, fronting them to prevent them from receiving the ball, closing in early, and using a rotation strategy.

The result was that it only slightly reduced Gan Guoyang's shooting percentage, but it wasn't very effective, because Gan Guoyang started passing the ball in a more deceptive and feinting manner later on.

Van Exel, Green, Riddell, and others began to regain their shooting touch, and the Trail Blazers' offense got back on track.

In the third quarter, Gan Guoyang scored 24 points, single-handedly breaking through the Timberwolves' already weak defense, making Garnett doubt that he should have entered the NBA so early.

If he hadn't entered the NBA so early, he wouldn't have ended up with the Timberwolves; if he hadn't been with the Timberwolves, he wouldn't have faced Forrest Gump in the playoffs at the age of 20; and if he hadn't faced Forrest Gump, he wouldn't have been beaten so badly...

Before the start of the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers took a 6-point lead. Gan Guoyang rested for two minutes in the fourth quarter before returning to the court and continuing his strong attacks in the low post.

He wielded the long-lost hook with exceptional agility and skill, making it even more difficult to defend than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook, as he could use both hands.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's left hand was slightly weaker, and his turnaround jump shot was generally ineffective. Defenders could sometimes use targeted three-quarters side defense to force him to shoot with his left hand or turn around and shoot.

This move was completely ineffective against Gan Guoyang; his turnaround jump shot and hook shot were just as good.

Gan Guoyang then scored 10 more points, bringing his total to 48, and helped the Trail Blazers secure the victory.

With a score of 121-110, Gan Guoyang's outstanding performance of 48 points led the Trail Blazers to a 3-0 sweep of the Timberwolves in the first round, advancing them to the semifinals.

In this game, Gan Guoyang didn't attempt a single three-pointer; he scored the vast majority of his points under the basket, with a few mid-range shots and a lot of free throws.

Garnett fouled out, and the other two big men both had five fouls. They were completely overwhelmed by Gan Guoyang's low-post attacks.

This game truly showcased Gan Guoyang in the playoffs and demonstrated his prowess as a top center – one must not forget one's roots.

He will seize upon his opponent's weaknesses and use the safest moves to crush you to death.

Garnett was very frustrated after fouling out, and he shed tears as he left the court.

And so the season came to an end.

Before the series began, they were ambitious, hoping to win a game and dreaming of defeating their opponents.

Only after truly competing did he realize the enormous gap between them; Forrest Gump was not on the same level as any of the other players.

He doesn't know how many more times he'll have to face Forrest Gump and the Trail Blazers in the future, and he hopes to grow up quickly.

Garnett was unaware that Gan Guoyang did not immediately leave Minnesota to return to Portland after tonight's game.

He was in his hotel room discussing a major event with his agent, Eric Fleischer, that would affect Garnett's future and even the fate of the league.

(End of this chapter)