The Golden Age of Basketball

() The Portland Trail Blazers in the second quarter finally played a smooth offense. The players' touch gradually recovered, and everyone began to gallop across the court like clockwork.

In the enthusiastic Portland Memorial Stadium, every time the Blazers scored a goal, they could get huge cheers.

For Gan Guoyang, this feeling is really great. On consecutive away trips, no matter how wonderful his goals are, most of them are still booed, and the three-game suspension makes Gan Guoyang can only sit on the sidelines and grind his ass.

Now, he's standing at the Memorial Coliseum once again, enjoying the cheers of the fans, and doing it in a way he's never tried before -- passing the ball.

More than halfway through the second quarter, Gan Guoyang has sent 5 assists, and his performance on the field is far from what these 5 assists can show.

He did his best in support, screens, first passes, ball transfer transitions, and rebound protection. He didn't have a low attack, he didn't compete with Gilmore, and he put all his energy on creating opportunities for his teammates.

Although sometimes some of his handling of the ball still seems too blunt, and it seems that he is too pursuing a reasonable offense, but his unrestrained passing creativity that day made the entire Blazers' offense as smooth as lubricating oil.

When Drexler received a hand-off pass from the low post Gan Guoyang from the bottom line and cut inside with one hand, the Blazers beat the Spurs to a 10:2 **, rewriting the score to 50:40, expanding the advantage to 10 point.

The Spurs could only call a timeout. Their defense was obviously loosened by the Blazers, and they could no longer form a formation.

The Spurs are quite dependent on their formation defensively. Although they cannot adopt a zone defense, their defenders are all around the three-second zone, and they are very good at protecting the front of the basket, especially when Gilmore is sitting at the basket. Gan Guoyang passed the inside and outside pass to Drexler to cut the ball, and it was difficult for the Blazers to form an effective offense from the middle.

The weakness of the Spurs' defense mainly comes from the flanks. Excellent flank defense relies on the players' strong running ability, which is what the Spurs players lack.

Drexler stayed on the floor after being subbed in the first quarter.Although his shooting on the wing is still sloppy, but with the screen cooperation with Gan Guoyang, coupled with his strong impact, he can always use the wing as a breakthrough point, not only rushing into the inside to score, but also breaking through to create for teammates. Chance.

Ramsey also saw the great power of Gan Guoyang and Drexler's pick-and-roll cooperation, so he kept the two on the court.

This is a pain for Gilmore and George Gervin, two veterans in their 30s. Gilmore is quite old, and Yu Wei is still there. As long as he is in the three-second zone, it is basically impossible for the Blazers to layup easily. .

But he couldn't help Gan Guoyang scurrying around like a monkey, but he didn't play low singles, but Gan Guoyang still had such a breakthrough to the basket. If Gilmore left him alone and let him charge up, it would be really hard to guard against.So the locomotive is a little bit exhausted.

In comparison, George Gervin's defense is very average. His thin body is good for roaming in offense, but it makes him a piece of paper in defense. It's okay to face shooting guards like Paxson. Dre Kesler came up and really beat up this old idol.

Just after the timeout, Ramsey replaced Drexler and replaced Paxson again, because Drexler's stipulated playing time had come.

Gan Guoyang could see some dissatisfaction on Drexler's face, and he also felt aggrieved for Drexler, because he was really, really good, and when he was on the court, the Blazers would be a different team Feeling - although Paxson is also very good.

It can only be said that the two are different types of players, and Paxson is relatively more appreciated by Ramsey because he shoots better, moves more accurately, and has more experience.

At the same time, Sampson also replaced Kenny Carr, and partnered with Gan Guoyang inside again to deal with the strange inside combination of the Spurs.

Sampson's performance today is much better than the last game against the Suns. He is no longer facing the bitter hand Larry Nance, but the 6-foot-7 Gigi Banks.

Generally speaking, when a small man fights against a big man, he mainly relies on his strength, and the second is those small moves, and Sampson is the least afraid of small moves, he is afraid of jumping men flying around.

So the combination of Gan Guoyang and Sampson is actually quite good, one specializes in treating ADHD, and the other specializes in treating old fried dough sticks.

In the first quarter, Sampson took over the Blazers' inside singles. He used his height to fight against Banks, and he used his footsteps to deal with Gilmore. He scored 9 points in the first quarter, which is the most stable output point for the Blazers. .

After Sampson came back on the court, he felt much more pleasing to the eye looking at Gan Guoyang. This kid no longer always competed with himself for low-post attacks, but would feed himself the ball in high positions.

"Gan, this guy used to let him do high screens. The boss was always reluctant. Why is he so active today, and he even gave Sampson a lob." Ramsey sat back on the bench and watched Gan Guoyang in the high post with Valentine, Sampson made a triangle and lobbed the ball to Sampson.

"He must have listened to the prophet's guidance and decided to be a good team player." Kenny Carr, who had just been replaced, said.

After the timeout, the Spurs were ready to play a tactic, but they didn't know that they made a serve error and the tactic was in vain. Fortunately, they retreated in time and were not counterattacked by the Blazers.

The Spurs have also made defensive adjustments, allowing Gilmore to deal with Sampson. Sampson is obviously more active in the low post tonight; and letting Banks entangle with Gan Guoyang will save the monkey from jumping around. hair.

This trick really worked. Sampson played Gilmore in the low post obviously more difficult than playing Banks. Although he used his flexible feet to create a layup space, he was still interfered by the super long arm of the locomotive. Missed.

The Spurs, who were defending intensively in the middle, protected the backcourt rebounds very well, and the Blazers didn't even think about grabbing the frontcourt rebounds. If the ball didn't go in, they immediately retreated across the board.

The Spurs didn't get a fast break opportunity, they immediately slowed down and looked like they were going to play a good position attack.

Gervin held the ball outside the three-point line on the right. He passed the ball to Gilmore who responded outside, and then began to cut to the middle.

Unlike the Spurs, the Blazers' defensive formation is more varied, because they are man-to-man and do not switch defenses. This defensive strategy makes them weaker when facing screen pick-and-rolls.

Sure enough, after cutting in from the middle, Gervin suddenly walked to the outside of the right. Relying on the double screen of Banks and Gilmore, he came to the right 45 degrees, one step inside the three-point line.

Gilmore passed the ball to Gervin. Paxson had no time to get around the screen, and Gan Guoyang couldn't break through Gilmore's barrier.

"Shua!" Gervin used a shot with a weird posture to send the basketball into the basket, and scored with a simple but effective cooperation.

Ramsey, who had just sat down, immediately stood up from the bench. What he was most afraid of was that the opponent relied on this kind of personal ability plus small cooperation to score. This is often fatal to the Blazers who rely on individual defense.

Ramsey's worry is not unreasonable. Soon the Blazers' offense will no longer be as quick as before. The Spurs firmly defend their core area. If you want to follow you from the outside and attack from the middle, that is the goal. nothing.

The Blazers' offensive efficiency is much lower. They can only rely on Sampson's singles to get a few points, and the mid-range shooting percentage is as bad as the first quarter.

On the contrary, the Spurs have entered "Iceman time".

Gervin began to show the beautiful offensive skills from Texas to the Trail Blazers fans at the Memorial Stadium. His emergency stop jumper on the wing and the "finger-roll" after breaking inward made Gan Guoyang sigh several times.

His sense of rhythm is really too difficult to grasp. After breaking through, he couldn't completely avoid the defenders, but when he raised his hand and gently touched the basketball, it was as smooth as silk, so smooth that the basketball always Sliding through Gan Guoyang's fingertips.

Then when Gan Guoyang turned his head, he could see that the basketball was either going into the basket with an unbelievably high rebound, or directly swiped into the basket under high-speed rotation.

"How the hell did this goal go in?" George Gervin drifted from the right side of the basket to the left side against Gan Guoyang's defense. He made a layup with a low hand, his arm didn't move, and the ball flew to Basket, then hit the board into the basket.

Gan Guoyang has already extended his left arm with all his strength to block Gervin's layup line. If Gervin stretches his arm for a layup, he will most likely be caught.

Unexpectedly, he didn't move his arm at all, and he scored the ball with a flick of his hand. Gan Guoyang hit the floor hard with the ball after landing.

After the goal was scored, Gervin scored 5 goals, and the Blazers scored a total of 4 points after returning from a timeout. The Spurs tied the score at the end of the second quarter.

In this situation, Ramsey has nothing to do. The opponent's super scorer bursts out to score. It is really difficult to stop, especially facing George Gervin, who once scored 33 points in a single quarter and has super explosive scoring power.

Although he is now 32 years old, his scoring ability should not be underestimated.

The main problem of the Blazers lies in the offense. Without Drexler's active energy, the Blazers playing in the position did not feel good tonight.

Vandeweghe and Paxson, who have always provided enough firepower for the Blazers in the past, have average shooting touch, which also makes the Spurs, who are sticking to the core area, more at ease.

Sampson obviously struggled a lot after meeting Gilmore. It was okay to hit him once in a while, but it was too much to beat him consecutively.

"Steady, score one, score one!" Ramsey did not call a timeout, he hoped that the players could solve their own difficulties on the court.

Valentine dribbled the ball across the half court steadily, and Gan Guoyang immediately mentioned the top of the arc to respond.

Then, Paxson still slid to the bottom line, Vandeweghe cut in the middle, and Sampson screened Paxson in the low post. This is a common offensive routine for the Blazers.

However, the Spurs have already figured out the Blazers' routines. Paxson wants to go around the bottom line to shoot, and Vandeweghe makes a 45-degree mid-range shot.

If the two want to cut to the three-second zone to catch the ball and score, they don't even think about it. The Spurs players around the three-second zone are strictly guarded, and Gilmore is the last line of defense under the basket.

Therefore, the Blazers can only hand the ball to Sampson and let the inside singles to end the offense.

But Sampson was really struggling to deal with Gilmore. After scoring 13 points in the half, he had already played well, and letting him play again would only increase his mistakes.

Gan Guoyang was holding the ball and was about to pass it to Sampson, but found that Sampson had given up his position and went to the outside instead.

Gan Guoyang had to transfer the ball back to Valentine on the right, and Valentine passed the ball to Vandeweghe who moved to 45 degrees.

Vandeweghe raised the ball over his head with both hands, and then pointed to the low position on the right side. Obviously, he was signaling Gan Guoyang to go to the low position!

Gan Guoyang knows that now is the time when the team needs his offensive energy.

He pushes away Banks who is entangled with him, and drives to a low position like a tank. Banks still follows Gan Guoyang closely, but Gan Guoyang crosses his legs, pushes his butt, and spreads his arms, like a well-established Like a cannon stuck in the Spurs basket.

Banks couldn't interfere with Gan Guoyang receiving the ball at all. In fact, as a small forward, he rarely encountered such fierce low-post requests as Gan Guoyang.

In the NBA at that time, many big centers had relatively simple positions because of their height and long arms.

Their positioning is often relatively shallow. First, it is easier to do so, and their mid-range shots also allow their attack distance to reach the basket; second, it is convenient for teammates to move to the basket, which can enrich tactics.

Like Gan Guoyang, there is only Moses Malone of the 76ers who is as vicious and cruel as putting up a cannon in front of someone's door. The 6-foot-10 guys have only one purpose in holding a position at the basket, which is to score the ball.

After Gan Guoyang received the ball, he didn't give Banks any chance to react, nor did he give Gilmore or other players a chance to defend. He dribbled the ball, turned around in the middle, and then hooked with his left hand!

In the pre-match preparations for the Spurs, they were all required to guard against Gan Guoyang's right-handed hook. They never thought that Gan Guoyang would make such a left-handed hook.

Gan Guoyang's left-handed hook had been practiced thousands of times in training, but it was the first time he used it in a game.

It was also the reason why the opponent was caught off guard. Gan Guoyang was not disturbed too much, and the ball entered the frame steadily!

"Yes!" Gan Guoyang punched hard with his left hand. This was the first time he scored in a low position in this game!

The Portland Memorial Stadium, which had been silent for nearly 5 minutes, burst into warm cheers again. They were happier than anything else when they saw Gan Guoyang score a goal.

But before the cheers of the fans lasted 10 seconds, George Gervin dribbled the ball all the way from the backcourt to the Blazers basket. Surrounded by three Blazers players, he made a small throw with his left hand and scored again. !

Gervin didn't have any celebrations, but ran back to the backcourt without looking back. Whether he entered or not, he always had a cold and numb expression-this seems to be the tradition of the Spurs.

Ramsey sat on the sidelines, already thinking about how to limit the Iceman in the second half.