The Golden Age of Basketball

In February, the Trail Blazers' schedule began to gradually become more difficult, because in the middle of the month they will start to play against Eastern teams on a large scale. Among them, the top teams in the Eastern Conference that have not met in December will all play against the Trail Blazers before the All-Star Game against.

Faced with an increasingly difficult schedule, the Blazers are getting better and better. After the Los Angeles game, the Blazers have won five consecutive home games.

Against the Spurs on February 2, the Blazers won a wild victory.

The backcourt core of the Spurs, Alvin Robertson, missed this game due to injury, which made the disadvantage of the Spurs, who were not as strong as the Blazers, even more obvious.

At the beginning of the game, the Spurs took the lead and beat the Blazers by surprise with a 10-0 start, but the Blazers who recovered immediately responded to the Spurs with a 15-0. Sabonis scored 8 points in this attack wave. This is the best first quarter Sabonis has played since he became the starter this season.

In the second quarter, the Blazers, who had found the feeling, couldn’t stop at the offensive end. The fast break flooded into the opponent’s position like a tide. The Spurs’ defense soon collapsed. In this quarter, the Spurs were beaten 40:20 by the Blazers. , the point difference was pulled away at once.

In the third quarter of the second half, the Spurs tried their best to catch up, while the Blazers sat firmly on the Diaoyutai. Gan Guoyang took over the game in the middle of the third quarter. The ball was leveled, the third quarter was passed, and the suspense was lost in the fourth quarter. The Blazers, who came off the bench, did not miss the opportunity to perform well and further opened up the score.

Veteran Caldwell-Jones was able to score 5 points on 3 of 7 shots from the field, and the full-blown pioneers beat the Spurs without temper. The TV cameras turned to the Spurs' bench early. Scan "All Beings".

At this time, the Spurs must really hope that this season will pass quickly, so that they can welcome their hope next season, David Robinson, just look at the frontcourt lineup of the Trail Blazers, there is a David Robinson As if that wasn't enough.

139:100. In the end, the Blazers won a victory at home with a huge advantage of 39 points. This was another night of comfort for Portland fans. The advantage leads the league.

Gan Guoyang felt like he had returned to the beginning of the season in this game. He scored 15 points on 11 of 30 shots and went to rest. By the way, he clocked in and grabbed 14 rebounds. He couldn't arouse the enthusiasm of the fans on the scene to shout mvp for him, and some fans at home even put up the slogan "Gan you go home and rest early", because Gan Guoyang was idle again in the fourth quarter.

Such a good day lasted for a few more days. The NBA always likes to line up the three teams in Texas when they arrange the schedule. Regardless of whether it is an away game or home game, the Spurs, Mavericks, and Rockets basically have to go one by one. Go through it again.

The current situation of the Mavericks is better than that of the Spurs. Blackman and Aguili are still the core of the team, and their health remains intact. However, there are problems within the team.

Aguili has always been accused of being selfish and lazy in his playing. The conflict between him and another core member of the team, Blackman, is also getting bigger and bigger. This small forward with a short stature and strong scoring ability has now been involved in In the message of the transaction, the defending champion Detroit Pistons have already expressed their intention to exchange Adrian Dantley, another super scorer in the team.

Of course, Aguili is still in the lineup and is in the starting position, but he obviously felt that he was not working hard in the game. He only made 8 shots in the game, hit 3 goals and scored 9 points. Not at all like a super scorer; and Blackman hit an amazing high percentage of the game, 22 of 15 shots, scored 37 points.

But tonight, Cauchy broke out. Because Aguili didn't work hard, Cauchy's pressure on the defensive end was greatly reduced. Cauchy's personal offensive skills are average, but he is physically strong and jumps very well. At the same time, because of extremely hard training , used sweat to make up for the lack of talent. His basic skills are very solid. In the game, as long as the pass is in place and there is an opportunity, Cauchy can find a way to get the ball into the basket.

In this game, Sabonis and Drexler played for Cauchy one after another. Aguiler not only failed to attack on the court, but also became a colander in defense. , As a result, Coxi succeeded in sneak attacks again and again, and the Mavericks coach shook his head on the sidelines. In the end, he had to replace the undercover Aguilar.

For no reason, there was a lack of a general. At the same time, the Mavericks, who were unstable internally, could not be the opponent of the Blazers who were in good condition.

At this time, Adelman distributes the ball reasonably, and the characteristics of sharp fast break are fully displayed. Playing against a weak team or a team in poor condition is called stability.

The improvement of the Blazers as a whole is not just about self-confidence. In terms of skills and tactics, several tricks developed by other teams are no longer very effective.

Double-teaming Gan Guoyang with all his strength, the original function was to suppress the Blazers' first attack point, cut off internal and external connections, and at the same time hit the morale of the Blazers. Now, Gan Guoyang has adapted to the three-person double-teaming, and his teammates are more able to use running positions and quick Move the ball to catch the gap and make the opponent's double-teaming strategy pay for it.

When dealing with three-pointers and mid-range jumpers, Adelman continued to adapt to the ever-changing situation. You can shoot whatever you want. If you make a shot, you feel good. If you can’t make a shot, I will fight back. This stabilized the Blazers’ defensive formation. , At the same time, in the NBA environment at that time, the three-point ability of the players was still insufficient, and the scoring stability was too poor. This is why in January, although the Blazers played very hard, they did not really lose too much.

However, if the opponent feels good, then the Blazers are really a huge test. In the next game against the Rockets, the Blazers encountered a three-point shot from the Rockets.

The Rockets visited Portland, and of course Gan Guoyang entertained Olajuwon again. Every time Gan Guoyang entertained Olajuwon, Olajuwon seemed to be unable to exert himself on the court. In the game on February 2, Olajuwon Zhu Wang once again performed abnormally in the Memorial Stadium. In front of Sabonis and Gan Guoyang, there were not many insiders who could benefit. Dameng only made 9 of 18 shots, scored 6 points, and only had 17 rebounds.

Olajuwon, who was not going well on the offensive end, vented his anger to the defensive end. With Olajuwon, the Rockets naturally would not double-team Gan Guoyang. Olajuwon defended Gan Guoyang throughout the game, and suppressed Gan Guoyang's shooting percentage to 17. He made 7 shots, and the price Olajuwon paid was 6 fouls and was sent off.

With the two major insiders almost exchanging each other, the performance of outside players has become the key. The third weapon against the Blazers, the sixth man played a role tonight. Derek Chivers and Walter Berry The two teamed up to score 35 points, and the Blazers' bench scored a total of 20 points, of which Buck Williams contributed 15 points alone.

At the same time, Floyd broke out from the outside with a three-pointer, making 9 of 5 shots, while Porter and Floyd on the Blazers faced each other, making 4 of 3 shots. The ball was passed from the outside and the shots were made, but the outside shooting percentages on both sides were extremely high. Drexler made 5 three-pointers from the outside and scored [-] of them.

The audience loves to watch this kind of game, but the suspense is left to the end. It was not until this time that the Blazers players remembered that they still have a key player who can be inside and outside. After Olajuwon was sent off, Gan Guoyang completely lost control His men, after scoring two free throws first, succeeded in singles against Tim McCormick. In the last minute of the game, he changed the point difference to 1 points and helped the Blazers seal the victory.

With two big victories and one narrow victory, the Blazers lifted their weight lightly and kicked all three Texas teams home.

At this time, the old creditor Lakers came to the door again, and this time the match between the two sides finally came to the home court of the Blazers.

Before the game, there was a more meaningful thing to do than the game itself, and that was to send gifts and blessings from Portlanders to "Skyhook" Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Before the start of this season, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar announced that this will be his last NBA season. This is his No. 20 year in the league. A superstar who has won countless honors and records is finally leaving this area His favorite basketball court.

To commemorate the oldest veteran, all NBA teams will hold a ceremony for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and present the great player with a gift when the Lakers visit their stadium.

For example, the Milwaukee Bucks, Kareem’s former home team, gave Kareem a brand new Harley motorcycle, which is Kareem’s favorite thing; Atlanta, as Kareem’s hometown, was given to Kareem by the Eagles in 1969 Get a replica of the best basketball player trophy in the United States; even the Celtics, the old rival of the Lakers, was given a wooden floor of Boston Garden Square by Red Auerbach.

This time the Lakers are visiting Portland for the first time, the Blazers also need to prepare a gift for this great player. After some discussions, the Blazers decided to make a statuette for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Made of sterling silver with a layer of pure gold on the outside.

Because Jabbar is a Muslim and cannot have his own statue, this statuette is not made according to Kareem's real appearance, but only highlights Kareem's body shape and movements.

Before the start of the game, amidst the warm applause of the audience, Gan Guoyang, as the last disciple of the Skyhook technique, came to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with the statue in his hand, and presented the beautiful and vivid statue to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar himself. God hooked.

Gan Guoyang also has mixed feelings in his heart. Because of his arrival, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can be said to have lost two championship trophies. This year is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's last season. He also hopes to end his long and great career with a championship, but Gan Guoyang Vow to win this year's gold cup.

The two centers, one old and one young, embraced tightly in the middle of the field. For Tiangou, his career had many shortcomings, but if he knew that his stunts would continue to be passed down in this league, the regrets in his heart might not be too much. will be less.