The Golden Age of Basketball

Bill Fitch believed that Gan Guoyang, who had been silent in the first half, would definitely break out in scoring in the third quarter, so he made a strict arrangement in the midfield, and basically the Rockets' defense revolved around Gan Guoyang.

But what Fitch didn't expect was that Gan Guoyang did ask for the ball frequently in the low post in the third quarter, which attracted a lot of defensive attention from the Rockets. However, unlike the previous game, Gan Guoyang didn't directly attack many times. Choose to pass the ball in many places.

This time, due to the presence of Drexler, when Gan Guoyang made a pass, Drexler was able to clear the pass well, or he could hit the basket again after receiving the ball, regardless of the direct attack. Whether it is the basket or the ball, it is extremely threatening.

This made the Rockets' defense very uncomfortable. Without Drexler in the first two games, the Blazers' internal and external lines were out of touch. Now that Drexler is back, the first half was okay. Everyone knew that Gan Guoyang was going to exert his strength, but because of the existence of the glider, the Rockets lost sight of the other.

When Drexler received Gan Guoyang's pass from the middle and made a strong dunk, the Blazers had already overtaken the score by 4 points. The Rockets immediately called a timeout. It's getting messy, and I don't know whether it is for internal defense or external defense.

Once the defense is weak, the offense will also become difficult, because without backcourt rebounds, there will be no chance to launch a quick counterattack, and the Rockets' athletic ability advantage will not be reflected, and the offensive efficiency will definitely be compromised.

Fitch had to adjust his strategy, but he was also beating drums in his heart, because he didn't know if this guy would explode if he took his defensive attention away from Gan Guoyang.

After thinking about it for a while, Fitch still decided not to make any changes on the defense, but on the offensive end, he asked the outside line to increase the strength of breakthroughs to increase the aggressiveness and success rate of the offense.

This adjustment still had an effect. The Rockets played more passionately on the offensive end. After the breakthrough, the internal pass allowed Olajuwon and Sampson to perform consecutive dunks, and the fans cheered even more.

But the gap in the score has not changed much, because the Blazers' offense has already felt good. The internal and external cooperation of Gan Guoyang and Drexler revitalized the Blazers' offense. In terms of appreciation, these dry shots are by no means as shocking as dunks, but the effect is the same, both are two points.

Gan Guoyang is still taking on the role of a transfer station. Although his passing is not particularly good, Drexler is very familiar with his passing techniques. As a first passer, he can always pass the "change the situation" pass the ball.

Bill Fitch was suffering on the sidelines. He was hesitating whether he should change the defensive formation and not allow outside players to double-team Gan Guoyang.

If you switch to a simple one-on-one, the Blazers will never get so many shots from the outside, and their offensive efficiency will definitely decline.

But if it was switched to one-on-one, Fitch couldn't guarantee that Gan Guoyang would not explode. This reminded him of the situation when they dealt with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the last round against the Lakers.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Gan Guoyang are both hook masters, but there is a major difference in style between the two. Due to his age and style of play, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar does not have an advantage in weight and strength, so Sampson resisted Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the time. Rajuwon's strategy of blocking shots behind has played a very good role.

Gan Guoyang is different, and Olajuwon can't stand him, let alone Sampson, but Gan Guoyang's passing is not as good as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It is not feasible to deal with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's harassment by outside players, but it is feasible to deal with Gan Guoyang. Give him a chance to make a move.

But the experience gained in the previous game lost its effect in this field. Gan Guoyang's passing performance was not bad. After he was double-teamed, he moved the ball very quickly, and the support of key outside players was very good.

Fitch hesitated for the entire third quarter, and Fitch didn't change until more than half of the fourth quarter.

But soon, when Vandeweghe received a pass from Gan Guoyang and hit a three-pointer from the bottom corner, opening the score gap to 6 points, Fitch couldn't sit still again, and he applied for a timeout to the referee.

"Let's switch back to man-to-man defense! Don't give the Blazers easy shots outside, stick tight, increase the pressure. Offensively, stay aggressive, grab the offensive rebounds and finish them off in the last few minutes , and then we enter the finals!"

Fitch finally made up his mind to return to the conventional style of play, took advantage of the Rockets, and knocked down his opponent in one fell swoop in the last few minutes.

However, in order to prevent Gan Guoyang from erupting, Fitch carefully told Olajuwon that if Gan Guoyang is in the low position, he will move forward, and if he is in the high position, he will retreat to prevent Drexler's air cut and breakthrough.

Fitch knew that Gan Guoyang still had a mid-range shot, but it was unreliable, and his time was not working. In the high position, especially the horn position, instead of defending Gan Guoyang and making Gan Guoyang a long-range hook, it is better to let him go mid-range. Gan Guoyang's 15-foot hook is more accurate than CIC.

Back on the court, Reed received Lloyd's point and missed a three-pointer from a distance of 23 feet, but Olajuwon grabbed an offensive rebound and passed it to Reed for another shot and hit.

It was an extremely bold offensive shot, but the ball went in and the three-pointer Vandeweghe had just hit was canceled out.

All the fans at the scene breathed a sigh of relief, including Fitch. If the three-pointer misses, the Rockets will be very passive.

For the Rockets, the more critical thing is to defend against it.

The Blazers' players immediately realized that the Rockets' defensive strategy had changed. It became more difficult for outside players to pass and receive the ball, and the opponent's defense was very tight.

Gan Guoyang also felt that the Rockets players were no longer staring at him, and wanted to ask for the ball in the low post, but Olajuwon was desperately going forward.

Seeing that the outside pass was not smooth, Colter was forced by Lloyd to make a mistake. Gan Guoyang immediately changed his position and ran to the top of the arc to respond.

"Cort! Here!" Gan Guoyang shouted.

At this time, Colter seemed to see a life-saving straw, and immediately handed the ball to Gan Guoyang. Inexperienced, he still cannot adapt to the changes in the strength of the Rockets' defense so far.

Gan Guoyang got the ball outside the free throw line. This is a position where he is not too threatening. He generally does not make more than two mid-range shots per game.

Gan Guoyang turned around with the ball in his hand, trying to find the next receiver, but found that everyone was being watched closely. The inside line Olajuwon was in the three-second zone, and no one had a chance to make an empty cut.

This is a great opportunity to shoot!

But at this extremely critical moment, a center who is not good at mid-range shots is tantamount to suicide, just like he shot a three-pointer in the second game.

However, Gan Guoyang had a clue in his heart.

Usually in training, Gan Guoyang has summarized and analyzed his shooting. 15 feet is the dividing line of his shooting rate. If it is outside [-] feet, his shooting rate will be very erratic. Within [-] feet, his shooting rate will be stable. Not a lot.

15 feet, or 4.6 meters, Gan Guoyang took ten small steps from the basket, which was about 15 feet away, and the free throw line was a little outside.

Gan Guoyang judged that he was about twenty feet away from the basket, which was too far.

He put the ball down, and Olajuwon was about three strides away, his attention on Drexler.

Gan Guoyang suddenly rushed in with the ball, but when he rushed near the free throw line, he made an emergency stop and shot a jumper!

"Shua!" Olajuwon didn't even have much reaction, just watched the ball go into the basket.

Gan Guoyang hit a fifteen-foot mid-range shot!

"**! Have luck with the ball, keep it steady, we want to hit the success rate!" Fei Qi didn't expect Gan Guoyang to be so bold, he directly made a jumper instead of passing the ball, and the key point was that he made it.

Fitch didn't call a timeout. There was 1 minute and 15 seconds before the end of the game. The Rockets only had one timeout. They had used up too much before. Fitch wanted to use this timeout for a more critical moment.

The rocket propulsion is still very fast, they want to play fast, Lloyd quickly cut into the three-second zone, but Gan Guoyang blocked his way, at this time, Olajuwon cut in from the left diagonal, Lloyd hugged The ball turned around and saw Olajuwon, and directly hit the ground and passed the ball to Olajuwon. Olajuwon jumped when he caught the ball, wanting to layup directly.

This is Gan Guoyang too late to take off and block the shot.

But Mitchell Sampson rushed up from the right and directly blocked Olajuwon's layup!

Veteran Sampson!

Olajuwon's ball was too hasty, he took off hastily, and was a little far from the basket, so Sampson took a strong shot.

Drexler got the ball from behind, and the Blazers launched a fast break!

The Rockets are a little behind, but Ralph Sampson has rushed to the basket, and he blocked Drexler's layup line.

Drexler was blocked by Ralph Sampson, unable to find a gap for a layup, and everyone else rushed behind the basket.

However, he looked back and saw Gan Guoyang who was keeping up with him. When he was about to pass the line, he jumped up to pass the ball back and threw the ball into Gan Guoyang's hands.

Gan Guoyang catches the ball at the corner, Ralph Sampson is waiting for him in the paint, Olajuwon is chasing him!

It is ten steps away from the basket.

Gan Guoyang made a mid-range shot before Olajuwon's big hand came up!

This is a goal that determines the outcome of the game. If the goal is scored and the difference is 7 points, the Rockets will be powerless in less than 1 minute.

No score, five points, the Rockets are suspended, and there is still a fight.

Time stood still at this moment, and the hearts of Rockets fans were raised in their throats.

As the ball arced toward the center of the basket, the fans' hearts sank.

"Shh!"

The ball is hollow into the net!

"Beep!"

Rocket paused.

After the ball was scored, Gan Guoyang remained expressionless. He just clenched his fists lightly and walked to the bench.

"Killing a person in ten steps, you won't stay behind for a thousand miles, and when it's done, just brush off your clothes and hide your merit and fame."