The Golden Age of Basketball

"Beep!"

"The referee's whistle blew again. I can't remember how many times the whistle was blown in the second quarter. The referee blew McGregor's defensive foul, and the Blazers served from the sidelines." Duan felt helpless with frequent whistles.

Since Mitchell Sampson and Ralph Sampson had some small conflicts, the actions of the two sides have gradually become bigger, and the referee is also merciless. It should be blown and punished, so the first The game began to become fragmented in the second half of the second quarter.

This is actually not good for the Blazers, because the Blazers are not a team that is good at disrupting battles. Their offense is relaxed, and the combination of singles and teamwork is very good. Can be torn.

The Rockets are obviously using the ever-increasing physical confrontation and appropriate fouls to destroy the Blazers' offensive feeling. Several times the offensive Blazers just ran out of tactics, but they were fouled by the Rockets and had to start all over again, several times in a row. The tactical enthusiasm of the players will definitely take a hit.

"Drexler catches, gets double-teamed by Rockets, Gan comes up to catch... nice through ball, but Ralph Sampson blocks Drexler's layup! Rockets fast break , Olajuwon, jumper near the free throw line! The ball goes in... Olajuwon's jumper hit."

Olajuwon's ball is a typical non-routine play. Just after Drexler was double-teamed at the left corner, Gan Guoyang on the right immediately stepped up to the top of the arc to meet him. Drexler After passing the ball back to Gan Guoyang, taking advantage of the diversion of the defender's attention, he immediately cut inside the three-second zone. This move is a common combination of the two. Gan Guoyang will push the ball straight in with his heart. It is a very beautiful move. pass the ball.

But Ralph Sampson came up to make up the defense. Drexler's ball was too strong to get rid of the defender, and he was not prepared enough to take off. He didn't choose to dunk. It was slapped off with a slap.

During the fast break, Gan Guoyang returned to the basket to defend at the fastest speed, but Olajuwon caught the ball at the free throw line. Generally, receiving the ball at this position in the fast break of the center means that the fast break failed and the center got the ball. After a transition, the team was ready to play position, but Olajuwon made a direct shot, and the shot was returned.

This is Olajuwon's personal ability. A shot with a bad rhythm, he hesitated after catching the ball, but he still relied on his superb body control ability to make a shot.

There are not many shots like Olajuwon, and the rhythm is not good, but he can always control the balance of the body with the core strength of the waist and abdomen, and then use a slightly awkward but very gentle posture to shoot the ball. middle.

Except for Olajuwon, the other four Rockets starters all have this ability. This is the Rockets' advantage-they have the capital to disrupt the battle.

This is also the reason why the Rockets keep fouling. They want to muddy the water and bring the game into a chaotic rhythm. It is best to get the Blazers into the ditch. Anyway, the Lakers can't get out of the ditch. up.

"Pull away, open up! We need space!" Ramsey shouted "space" from the sidelines, asking the players to run more and open up more space. Only when there is space can tactics be effective.

But with the twin towers, the space is not so easy to open.

Due to the existence of the twin towers inside the Rockets, the defensive players on the outside are particularly oppressive. They are not afraid of their opponents breaking into the inside. With two big fly swatters inside, they can press the defense as much as they want.

Drexler broke through twice, and finally made a pass. Kexi wanted to feed Gan Guoyang from the outside, but Olajuwon actually launched a defensive defense against Gan Guoyang. With Kexi's passing skills, he still I really dare not pass it on.

At this time, Gan Guoyang played in the second half of the second quarter and hadn't scored many rebounds. He had grabbed 11 rebounds, but only scored 6 points. Olajuwon had already scored 15 points.

In addition to the Blazers' offensive focus, Olajuwon spared no effort to go around the front and top defense, which also prevented Gan Guoyang from getting too many shots.

"**!" Gan Guoyang was annoyed by Olajuwon's entanglement like a gum candy, and the arms of the two were twisted together. Finally, Gan Guoyang couldn't help shaking off Olajuwon's entwined arm. And yelled angrily.

Fortunately, the referee took a look and found that Gan Guoyang's move was not too big, so he showed mercy.

Olajuwon did not respond, but continued to press the defense, making Gan Guoyang angry and even losing his mind, which is exactly what he wanted to see-Gan Guoyang made him lose his mind before.

In terms of strength, Gan Guoyang is better than Olajuwon, but the strength, skills, and weight of the basket are indispensable. In these aspects, the gap between Olajuwon and Gan Guoyang is very small, and the more important thing is that he wants to beat Gan Guoyang. Faith makes him more focused.

"Cauci had to force a shot, the ball missed, Sampson got the rebound...the Rockets fast break again!"

On the court, playing blindly is also contagious, especially for a young player like Cauchy who doesn't have much experience and doesn't have rich offensive methods. He also wants to show off when he sees the Rockets rushing in and out. As a result, McGregor blocked the breakthrough route, and the pass could not be passed. The time was running out, so he had to force his shot.

Any team likes this kind of quick counterattack after grabbing backboards, which is definitely a good opportunity to score points, and the Rockets are no exception. What's more frightening is that their forwards are often two insiders.

"Olajuwon dribbled the ball, passed a pass to Sampson who followed up from the middle, and Sampson dunked...and was blocked by Gan from behind! Gan took the ball, dribbled forward from the second half, and dribbled from behind The ball eluded Reed's steal, went straight up, and dunked hard with both hands!"

"Bang!"

"Beep!"

With Gan Guoyang's shocking furious dunk, the referee's whistle sounded, and Olajuwon, as the last line of defense under the basket, fouled Gan Guoyang's dunk.

At this time, the technical platform on the sidelines raised a sign, saying that Olajuwon had fouled three times.

Apparently, Gan Guoyang was on the rise for this ball, and Olajuwon, who had two fouls on his back, could have avoided Gan Guoyang's dunk and scored these two points. dunk.

However, Gan Guoyang took off very well, and dunked with both hands just to be on the safe side, avoiding Olajuwon's hands in the air.

Olajuwon, who had been playing passionately but rationally in the first half, had to leave the game early because of a foul. This time, a small defensive foul could have an impact on the progress of the game.

Conversely, for the Blazers, Gan Guoyang's goal greatly boosted morale. After scoring the goal, Gan Guoyang also clenched his fists and roared, and the dull game suddenly became restless.

Chasing Sampson's block before was actually suspected of a foul. Gan Guoyang caught up from behind and his body was already on Ralph Sampson. However, Gan Guoyang's hands were clean. After all, he was at home, so the referee didn't blow it. .

With Gan Guoyang's successful three-pointer with an additional penalty, the Blazers finally curbed the momentum of the Rockets chasing points, and when the score was forced to close to one point left, they opened up to 4 points.

The four-point gap is a very important safety gap psychologically. With this gap, the Blazers can maintain their mentality advantage over the Rockets.

The Rockets lost Olajuwon inside and replaced Jim Peterson.

In front of Gan Guoyang, Jim Peterson immediately became white and soft, and Gan Guoyang's advantage in the matchup was fully displayed.

"Gan got the ball on the right side, Ralph Sampson came up to double-team, Gan moved the ball to Drexler, Drexler broke through, Mitchell Sampson got the ball, bottom Corner jumper hit!"

Once the Rockets lost the link of Olajuwon, a loophole would soon appear in the defense line. Ralph Sampson must come to help defend Gan Guoyang, otherwise Peterson's defense against Gan Guoyang would be for nothing.

The more terrible problem is that Mitchell Sampson is in good form this game, and Ralph Sampson really can't defend Gan Guoyang. Sen threw one, and Mitchell had already scored 13 points in the first half, the second highest score for the Blazers.

"Petersen misses a jumper, Ralph Sampson gets the rebound, thinks for a jumper, but Mitchell Sampson knocks him off the ball! It goes outside McGray, McGray Three-point shot! Missed, Gan got the backcourt rebound, and the first half was over."

When the second quarter ended, the Trail Blazers continued to maintain a four-point lead with 54:50. Gan Guoyang finally caught a backcourt rebound and raised his halftime rebounds to 13. In terms of scoring, he only got 10 points.

However, judging from the results, Ramsey's strategy in the first half achieved a certain degree of success. Gan Guoyang fought hard to defend, Sampson attacked and put pressure, Drexler dispatched, Vandeweghe scored, Cauchy made trouble, Except for Cauchy who made trouble for his team due to experience problems, the performance of several other players basically met expectations.

Of course, Gan Guoyang discovered that defending against Olajuwon alone does not seem to be that simple. The regular season and playoffs are indeed completely different. Sometimes Gan Guoyang can take care of Sampson in the regular season, but in the playoffs he feels that his energy is not enough. , Olajuwon is definitely a big killer in the playoffs.

Fortunately, Gan Guoyang allowed Olajuwon to commit three offenses in advance, otherwise, with Olajuwon at the end of the first half, it is still a question of whether the Blazers can withstand the Rockets' counterattack.

At the same time, Ramsey also realized that simply letting Gan Guoyang fight against Olajuwon on the defensive end is not worth the loss. He must be allowed to put more pressure on Olajuwon on the offensive end at the same time, and Gan Guoyang must run and catch the ball. , It depends on Gan Guoyang's offensive performance in the second half.

The third quarter has always been Gan Guoyang's best performance.