The Golden Age of Basketball

Although Gan Guoyang was optimistic about the Rockets in the semifinals, the Lakers kept suppressing the Rockets throughout the first game. They took the lead in the first half and scored an 11-0 lead in the third quarter to tie the score. Pull it away, so the rocket has no resistance anymore.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who thought he would be blown up by the Rockets Twin Towers before the game, scored a game-high 31 points, and Magic Johnson even shone with 26 points and 18 assists; With a comprehensive performance of 28 rebounds, 16 assists and 3 blocks, the performance of the outside players was too weak, and he was played by the magician alone in the applause.

After watching the game between the Lakers and the Rockets, Gan Guoyang wanted to put all his thoughts on the contest with the Nuggets. While he was watching the game, the entire Nuggets team had already arrived in Portland by plane and had a pre-game of joint training.

In the interview after training, English said that the whole team is ready. Last season they lost to the Trail Blazers 3:4. It couldn't be better to meet the opponent in the final.

Gan Guoyang saw the interview about English in the newspaper, but he still paid more attention to it, because English did perform superbly in the playoffs last season, including the regular season. Every time I meet the Blazers, I will score 30 or 40 points.

In a game of this level like the playoffs, once a certain period of time cannot withstand the indiscriminate bombardment of the opponent's superstars, the damage to the team's defensive confidence and offensive rhythm will be very serious. has such capability.

For the Blazers, it is impossible to expect Vandeweghe to defend English on the defensive end. We can only hope that Vandeweghe can burst back on the offensive end. The balance between the two sides may be better.

But basketball games are not simple addition and subtraction. It does not mean that Vandeweghe can offset the role of English by scoring the same points on the offensive end as English. The Blazers need to be more fully prepared to deal with the Nuggets. revenge.

………………

"I met the Nuggets again in the semifinals this year. Do you think the strength of the two sides has changed? How will your contest be different from last year?" Before the start of the game, Blazers head coach Ramsey was interviewed by a reporter from CBS TV interview.

"In fact, the lineups on both sides have not changed much. We have played against each other many times in the regular season, and we are quite familiar with each other in the playoffs last season. But we will make corresponding arrangements according to our own characteristics. I think You will see it during the game." Based on the principle of tactical confidentiality, Ramsey circled the reporter twice without saying anything important.

From the starting point of view, the Blazers' starting lineup has not changed. It is still the most stable starting lineup of Colter, Gan Guoyang, Drexler, Sampson, and Vandeweghe. After all, from the comparison of the book strengths of the two sides , the Blazers are at an advantage, as long as they remain unchanged to respond to all changes, it is the best way to deal with it at present.

The Nuggets have made a change. Their starting center did not use Wayne Cooper, nor did they use Russ Manson, who is said to be used to deal with Gan Guoyang, but let the white center Danny Shays enter the starting lineup. List, and Gan Guoyang directly on the field.

Danny Schayes is a well-known family, and his father is the early NBA star player, Dolph Schayes-a 6-foot-7 white power forward who is known to fans for his two-handed behind-the-head shooting position. , he led the Syracuse Nationals (the predecessor of the Philadelphia 1955ers) to the NBA championship in 76.

The son of a former superstar player, Danny Shays surpassed his father at 6-foot-11 but failed to achieve his father's achievements in basketball.After entering the NBA in 1981, he first played for the Utah Jazz, and was traded to the Denver Nuggets in the second year. He performed well in the 83 and 84 seasons and was a qualified insider with an average of 12+7 per game.

But the injuries in the 84-85 season kept him on the injured list for most of the time, his statistics plummeted, and he didn't get too many opportunities in the playoffs.

He returned from injury this season, his performance has picked up, and he played well in the first round of the playoffs against the Mavericks. The double-white insider combination formed by him and Rasmanson allowed the Nuggets to see how to make up for the insider Vulnerability to hope.

"The Nuggets let Shays sit in the starting position. He had a 20+10 performance in a single game against the Mavericks in the last round. Although the Nuggets' data is not worth money, at least this is the playoffs I don’t know if his starting can bring some troubles to the Blazers and Gan.” Gan Guoyang just listened to Stockton and Hainsohn’s commentary yesterday, and will be explained by these two people tonight.

"I personally think that Shays will not cause too much trouble to Gan on the defensive end. With Gan's current state on the offensive end, I don't think anyone in the West can cause him too much trouble except Olajuwon. Trouble. But on the offensive end, I think Schayes, including Rasmanson, will make Gan uncomfortable. Because we know that facing the strong perimeter offense of the Nuggets, Gan must assist the perimeter players to defend, so that the inside There will be loopholes, Schayes and Rasmanson will get some scoring opportunities, if they can take advantage of it, it will be a big problem for the Blazers."

Haein Thorne's concern is not unreasonable. For the Blazers' defense that relies on Gan Guoyang's assistance, if there are two points in the interior that are often missed, it will be very annoying to the entire Blazers' defense.

Sure enough, when the game started, despite the cheers of the fans, Gan Guoyang succeeded in slam dunking the alley-oop pass from Drexler at the beginning of the game, and after running back to halftime, he gave Calvin Knight a big cap. In turn, he hit an inside hook and scored four points in a row at the beginning.

But soon, the Nuggets began to play a smooth and sharp offense, repeatedly and patiently passing the ball, and won many easy scoring opportunities.

The most terrible thing is that Danny Schayes got open layup opportunities under the basket twice in a row, because Gan Guoyang moved almost to the three-point line in order to destroy the Nuggets' passing line.

"English catches the ball and turns over and hits a jumper. Although his scoring method is so monotonous, it is so effective. The Blazers still can't find a way to deal with him. Early double-teaming does not seem to be a good strategy."

In order to deal with English, the Blazers asked Coulter to double-team English in advance, but the problem is that Coulter and Vandeweghe's double-teaming is really not oppressive, and the Nuggets' pass is too smooth However, no matter how proficient the Blazers' rotation defense is, there will inevitably be loopholes.

"The Blazers called a timeout, 14:17. The Blazers' offense was already playing very well in the opening game, but the Nuggets' offense was even better. It seems that the Nuggets are very well prepared. Shays scored 6 points in the opening game. It's an easy-ball at the basket, and it seems that the Nuggets' starting adjustment has had some effect."

Ramsey is indeed a bit of a headache for the situation on the court. If Gan Guoyang is allowed to defend Shays alone, then the goal of the Nuggets will be achieved. Take a blue-collar on the offensive end and directly exchange the opponent's defensive core. How can we not make money? ?

If Gan Guoyang is not allowed to pay attention to the defense of the inside line, it is not a solution to allow Schayes or Rasmussen to open up. Letting the opponent get too many easy-ball points in the first two quarters is not good for the bayonet in the next two quarters.

As a result, Ramsey made a decisive substitution, replacing Mitchell Sampson, who seemed relatively useless off the court, with old center Caldywell Jones, and put Gan Guoyang in the power forward position. .

Cardiville-Jones is tall and experienced. It is completely reliable to let him sit on the inside for 20 minutes. Players like Shays who basically rely on picking for scoring, Jones is very handy against them-because he is also Such a player.

Sure enough, after the game restarted, Jones released Gan Guoyang's pressure on the defensive end. Gan Guoyang handed over the three-second zone to Jones, and then he actively filled up and assisted defense like a small forward, which made the Nuggets' pass The line was affected, and more importantly, because Jones stared at Shays inside, the Nuggets couldn't pass the ball inside at all, and could only guide it around the perimeter, greatly reducing the offensive efficiency.

On the other hand, for the Trail Blazers, because Gan Guoyang has become a power forward, it is nothing for Knight to match Gan Guoyang.

"Gan holds the ball and hits a jumper directly. On Knight's head, Knight is indeed too short. It is really difficult for him to defend Gan."

On the offensive end, Gan Guoyang used his jumper, which he is not particularly good at, to help the Blazers lead the score.

"Who is guarding me, who is it? Why can't I see?" Gan Guoyang made 5 of 5 shots in the first quarter after scoring consecutive goals. He threw two mid-range shots over the 6-foot-6 Knight to make him look Some "get carried away".

"You'd better not be too complacent, boy, keep your mouth clean." Knight has always had a good temper, but he couldn't help but burst into flames when he encountered a "cheap" mouth like Gan Guoyang, and stepped forward to warn Gan Guoyang.

"Who is talking to me? Who is it? I advise him to be careful when he speaks, otherwise he won't know what's going on if he gets trampled on by accident." Of course Gan Guoyang smacked to the bottom and sprayed at Knight.

At this moment, Fate-Leeve broke through directly from the right side with the ball. Colter was no match for the old man in terms of strength. Leeve used his back against Colter to keep rolling in, and then suddenly turned around. Go from the baseline to the basket.

Gan Guoyang did not go up to help defend, but spread his arms, covering the middle, not giving the Nuggets a chance to cut inside, and let Liv rush to the basket, and Jones was waiting for him inside.

Leaf, who originally wanted to break through the ball, saw that Gan Guoyang did not come to make up for it, so he could only bite the bullet and lay up, but he missed the layup under Jones' interference.

Gan Guoyang seized the best position and easily got the backcourt rebound. Drexler was already ready outside the three-point line. Front.

"Gan made a long pass, Drexler caught the ball, and gliding for a dunk! The Blazers overtook the score!" Drexler's dunk is always the best igniter in the Memorial Stadium, and the fans were all jubilant.

Seeing the reversal of momentum, the Nuggets immediately called a timeout.

As soon as the first quarter of the game started, the two sides started a lineup intrigue.