The Golden Age of Basketball

() On March 3th, the game between the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks at the Salt Palace Arena should be said to be a strong confrontation.

Among the 1984 teams in the Western Conference in 12, the two teams belonged to the first echelon. In the second half of the regular season in mid-March, they ranked second and fourth in the Western Conference.

The stars of the two teams are two top scorers in the same position, Adrian Dantley of the Utah Jazz and Mark Aguilar of the Dallas Mavericks.

Therefore, this game can be described as full of highlights, and the Yangong Arena was also full of spectators, and Gan Guoyang was deeply impressed by the extremely noisy cheering sound.

When Gan Guoyang used to watch the game at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles, even in the finals, the audience was generally very quiet and elegant. Their applause always appeared at the right time, as if watching a scene colorful opera.

The Salt Palace Arena is full of all kinds of noises all the time, especially when the Mavericks players make free throws, the booing sounds, which makes Gan Guoyang a little unbearable.

He also has to admire those professional players who can play in such an environment.

During the game, Dantley and Aguili, two scoring masters who averaged around 30 points per game, launched a battle of soaring points.

Although both of them played the position of small forward, they both showed outstanding low-post skills, which is quite different from the styles of later generations of forwards and guards.

This is also related to the uncommon shooting of three-pointers at that time, and the lack of three-point tactics. Playing inside is the first choice of all players.

Among them, Dantley's foul-making skills made Gan Guoyang amazed. As soon as the Jazz's offense was stagnant, they handed the ball to Dantley, and Dantley fouled in the low post.

And his free throws were unstoppable, which really made the Mavericks very depressed.

This made Gan Guoyang shake his head straight. He wondered if he was playing in the NBA, how would he deal with such foul players?

Watching games in the past, especially in later generations, what he hates the most are these players who make fouls. He thinks they are "tricks", have no sense of basketball beauty, and destroy the fluency of the game.

But now, on the road to becoming a professional player, Gan Guoyang's mood and perspective when watching NBA games have also changed.

He began to look at the players' skills and the team's tactics more from the perspective of learning, not simply looking at "whether they look good", but more about "whether they are useful or not".

Dantley used all kinds of tricks near the free throw line and fouls in the low post, and relied on free throws in the fourth quarter to stabilize the Jazz's offense.

The presence of Mark Eaton on the defensive end has reduced the Mavericks' offensive efficiency. He is too tall and his arms are too long. He can reach the basket almost on tiptoe.

In the end, the Jazz beat the visiting Dallas Mavericks 118:103 in a noisy home court, consolidating the second position in the Western Conference.

"My ears are still buzzing. The Salt Palace Arena is really terrible." Gan Guoyang said on the way back.

"I didn't expect the fans here to be so enthusiastic. It's even scarier than Seattle." Stockton was also very surprised. He didn't expect the fans in Salt Lake City to be so crazy.

"I think you will get used to it. I don't know if our game at the Salt Palace will be so noisy tomorrow."

This ncaa game is also the first time for Gan Guoyang to play in a real NBA-level venue like the Salt Palace Arena. The feeling is completely different from that in a university gymnasium with 4 or 5 thousand people.

Back at the place of residence, the two of them washed and rested early, and Gan Guoyang went to bed and fell asleep after talking on the phone with Wang Fuxi.

Before such a big game, other players often suffer from insomnia symptoms, but Gan Guoyang never seems to know what nervousness is.

However, when he really stood under the tall dome of the Salt Palace Arena the next day, Gan Guoyang's heartbeat still accelerated a little.

"The feeling of standing on the field is really different from being in the audience." Gan Guoyang thought while doing warm-up training on the field.

However, unlike yesterday's nba game, there were not so many spectators at the scene, and there were many vacant seats in the stands.

After all, this is only the first round of the NCAA, and both teams are still unknown, so the audience's enthusiasm for watching the game is naturally not very high.

But this game was enough to make the Bulldogs players nervous, and even Behrman was a little antsy.

In particular, Bellman saw the head coach of Princeton University, Pete Carell. He once asked this respected old coach for advice on Princeton tactics. He did not expect that the two teams would meet in the first round.

Compared with other NCAA university teams, a major feature of the Princeton Tigers is that they are dominated by white players, which is in stark contrast to other teams that are mostly black.

Of course, the bulldog has a yellow-skinned guy, and their other core is also a white guy.

Compared with black players, white players are generally slower, have poorer jumping, and have a grade of physical talent than black players.

But white players also have the characteristics of playing smart, reasonable, and strong execution, and the shooting ability of white players is generally better than that of black players.

Princeton University has no basketball scholarships, so those talented players flying around in the sky are reluctant to go to this school. All the basketball teams can pick are white guys with very good grades, good brains, but mediocre talents. players.

After a preliminary understanding of the composition of the team, Gan Guoyang stood on the court and looked at the opponent's players. He always felt that he was not playing with athletes, but with a group of future bankers, lawyers and politicians.

But when the game really started, Gan Guoyang discovered that with a good set of tactics, bankers, lawyers and politicians can also play.

The Bulldogs, which easily won the jump ball in the opening game, took the lead in attacking, and their routine was also very simple. They let Gan Guoyang do it alone in the opening game. Behrman also wanted Gan Guoyang to find his form earlier.

Facing the opponent's 6-foot-9 white center, Gan Guoyang made an easy back turn after receiving the ball and wiped it to the basket. 2:0.

Back to defense, the Bulldogs used a 1-2-2 zone defense at the beginning, because according to Bellman's understanding of Princeton's tactics, this tactic that requires a lot of cover should be very afraid of zone defense.

Covering is the simplest and most commonly used coordination tactic. When facing area defense, it often happens that the screener does not know where to go.

As the pillar of the inside line in the joint defense position, Gan Guoyang guards in the three-second zone, and the tiger does not come out of the hole, waiting for the meat to come to the door.

Because one of the most important tactical scoring methods in Princeton tactics is to cut and run back to the basket. In this case, Gan Guoyang will stick to the basket. No matter how you run, there is no way to make the basket empty.

The opponent's center suddenly pulled to the periphery, and stood at the top of the arc in the Tigers' 2-3 offensive position.

At this time, Gan Guoyang found that his two sides were empty. Not only did he have no opponent's players, but even his teammate mentioned the line. He was the only one in the low position.

The Tigers point guard first passed the ball to the small forward standing with him on the outermost side, and then began to cut in from the edge of the left three-second zone with the cover of the top center.

At the same time, the No. 19 small forward who received the ball passed the ball to the leftmost power forward, and also used the cover of the top center to cut obliquely from the right and go straight to the right bottom corner.

The shooting guard who was originally ambushing on the right was raised to 45 degrees to the right.

The Tigers' running positions are obviously very skilled, so skilled that the defenders in the four areas outside the Bulldogs suddenly lost their heads and didn't know who to stare at.

And Gan Guoyang also hesitated all of a sudden, there are people coming from both sides, where should he make up for it?

Before he could react, the Tigers' No. 15 power forward had already passed the ball to the shooting guard on the right at 45 degrees. Because the No. 19 small forward on the right cut in, disrupted the Bulldogs' defensive position, making the 45 degrees Make room.

No. 7 shooting guard Carter made a direct shot from 16 yards, and no one stepped forward to interfere with the direct hit, 2:2.

"How the hell is this defended?" Gan Guoyang frowned and thought when he was serving the bottom line. He felt that standing in the three-second zone was of no use at all.

The entire bulldog defense system is not working at all. The 1-2-2 defense is a variant of the 2-3 zone defense. It is also a defensive formation that Bellman likes to use very much because it looks similar to man-marking at first glance. But in fact, he can change into a 2-3 style with strong retraction at any time, or he can change into a 3-2 style to oppress the opponent's outside ball.

However, the Tigers' opening position was extremely outside, and they didn't drill into the Bulldogs' defensive pocket at all. Instead, they used two inside cuts to easily cut a big hole in the Bulldogs' defensive formation.

If the bulldog uses man-to-man marking, as long as the defense does not lose its position, the two in-cut running positions will not work at all, but the bulldog uses zone defense, which is a typical pony tail rubbing the rope, and it will not work hard.

Obviously, as a new college coach, Bellman still lacks experience, so he risked using zone defense in the opening game, but was caught by the cunning Karel of the opponent.

Fortunately, back to the offense, the Tigers have nothing to do with the Bulldogs, or they have nothing to do with Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang was still asking for the ball in the low post, and the whole team opened up. Facing the double-team, Gan Guoyang turned around from the baseline, hooked and made an easy hit.

Since the low-touch game against the Blue Jays, Pisa Gan Guoyang's touch has stabilized, especially his ability to finish at the basket. The rate is also increasing.

It is rare for a layup under the basket to fail, and the basketball slips out after turning around the basket.

His right-hand hook is even more invincible on the northwest coast, and he is becoming more and more proficient in using it. The main shortcoming is that the development of the left-hand hook is not perfect, and he rarely uses his left hand when playing singles. < Ren man-to-man.

Gan Guoyang has always been the commander of the team's defense. He immediately directed the team to change formations, and he himself mentioned the position of the arc of the free throw line.

This position can not only take care of the basket, but more importantly, it can delay the opponent's inside cut. If Gan Guoyang was blocked in this position in the previous attack, the opponent's cut would definitely not be so easy.

But the Tigers' offensive mindset has also changed with the Bulldogs.

They still use the outer 2-3 position, but compared with the last offensive position, the entire formation is flatter, and there are no Tigers below the arc of the free throw line.

And their center pulls to the top of the arc again, and the opposing small forward takes possession of the ball and hands the ball to the center.

The No. 19 small forward then made a screen for the point guard on the left side. The point guard began to move up the line, and began to roll from the middle with the help of the center forward's screen.

Of course, Gan Guoyang would not let him succeed. He blocked the middle goal by himself, leaving the opponent's center with no chance to pass the ball to the inside.

At this time, the No. 19 small forward who had finished covering for the point guard also wanted to walk around the center again. Gan Guoyang thought that with another one, he could still block you.

But I didn't expect that No. 19 was just pretending to go up, he suddenly turned around and went directly to the basket!

The Bulldogs were completely empty from the free throw line down, and the Bulldogs small forward Leinart, who was marking No. 19, was the same as Gan Guoyang, thinking that the player he was facing would continue to use the cover to run in. The people suddenly disappeared.

At this time, Gan Guoyang realized what the back door is, and what it means to "open the back door as soon as you turn your head".

The entire defensive formation of the Bulldogs was stretched into a flat shape by the Tigers' positions. No one took care of the basket with the hole in the back of their heads. Don't rely on the defender to pass the ball at all, but use the center forward.

This looks soft and slow, not as thick as Gan Guoyang's white center, but he has an outstanding pass, and the No. 19 small forward catches the ball at the basket and scores easily.

The few spectators on the sidelines also began to applaud Princeton University, because their cooperation was really beautiful, and the Bulldogs' defense was simply brushed around with this exquisite cooperation.

Gan Guoyang, who was completely weak on the defensive end, could only vent all his energy on the offensive end. Today, he opened the game surprisingly well. After two successful singles, he played the third ball with Stockton once. Simple pick and roll, then straight down, receive a pass from Stockton, dunk with both hands under the basket! 6:4.

Obviously, Carell is an excellent offensive tactician, but his team's defense is really not flattering. This is also due to the lack of talented players in his hands, and defense still requires physicality.

The first half of the two sides can be said to be evenly matched. The problem is that Princeton University tried its best on the offensive and defensive ends, but the defensive end was really unstoppable, especially against Gan Guoyang. He scored 20 in the first half. point.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are extremely easy and simple on the offensive end, just hand the ball to Gan Guoyang, but they are too weak on the defensive end. After changing various defensive formations, the Tigers will always find a way to deal with it.

In this way, Gonzaga University was brought into the rhythm of Princeton University, and it became an offensive battle. The audience at the scene found it extremely enjoyable, and the golden autumn continued.

However, Gonzaga's strength is still superior. At the end of the half, they led Princeton by 43 points 39:4.

"Guys, I think we're in trouble. Although we're still leading by 4 points, don't you think your defense is a fucking piece of shit? Anyone who sees it will go around it! A piece of shit!" In the locker room, Bellman was furious.

The Bulldogs players didn't bother to appreciate the locker room of the professional league arena. They all lowered their heads and listened to Behrman's reprimand. In the first half, they also felt that the game was not in their rhythm at all.

"Okay, I'm also responsible. I thought we could break Princeton's tactics according to our usual training, but unfortunately that's just because the Princeton we use is really bad." Bellman also began to criticize himself.

"However, we still played well, and the opponent couldn't stop us at all in defense. By the way, we still have to be careful about that No. 19, Kevin Mullin. We gave him too many opportunities." Behrman thought of the opponent The No. 19 small forward, he was the player who scored the most points for the Tigers in the first half, scoring 11 points.

"Leinart, pay attention to your footsteps when marking, don't look forward and backward too much, and don't be scared by the opponent's air-cut counter-run." Bellman said, pointing to the team's starting small forward.

"But Mr. Behrman, I've had three fouls," responded Laettner, who was called for a foul near halftime and had already had two.

"I've done it three times too!" It was the team's power forward Anderson who spoke.

"I fouled twice." Gan Guoyang also said, these two times he was so angry that he rushed forward from a long distance and pulled down the opponent who was open for a layup.

"Damn it, it's really terrible, our foul..." Bellman realized that the team started to have foul problems at this time. He made frequent mistakes today, probably because he was too nervous in the first NCAA game.

The Bulldogs had few players in the first place, and two main players were dismissed because of unqualified results. Now the team's frontcourt players have fouled to a certain extent, so how to play in the second half will be a big problem.

"That number 19, that Kevin Mullin, he fouled us at least three times in the first half. This guy is very capable of fouling." Stockton said on the side, his observation ability has always been very keen.

"That's right, this guy is just like Dantley!" Gan Guoyang also remembered that he had to pay for a foul on No. 19, and his foul-making ability was simply that of Dantley.

"Since this is the case, we will use the most familiar method to strangle our opponent!" Behrman said firmly.