The Golden Age of Basketball

() (It's been a long time since I asked for a collection, let me collect a few.)

Twelve minutes into the first half, with the referee's whistle, the Gonzaga team finally called a timeout.

During the more than ten minutes of the game, neither side called a timeout. Although the game was fierce, the progress was extremely smooth.

Unlike the games between Gonzaga and Georgetown, or Houston and Virginia, in those two games fouls, turnovers, and iron strikes continued, and the entire scene of the game was blown to pieces by the referee's whistle.

The peak battle, watched by an estimated 4000 million viewers, was surprisingly smooth.

The two sides are targeting each other tactically, and at the same time, they can always find a breakthrough. They can neither kill each other with one punch, nor can they hit each other. It can be said that you come and I go pretty well.

The score is also constantly increasing. When Bellman called a timeout, Gonzaga led Houston by 30 point 29:1. If the game continues like this, the scores of the two sides in the half will exceed the score of the University of Houston in the semifinals.

And what made the audience more enjoyable to watch was the matchup between Olajuwon and Gan Guoyang.

After a period of time in the game, when other offensive methods do not work, the method adopted by both sides is to give the ball to their centers and let them solve the problem.

"Gonzaga University called a timeout. In this one-stop 12-minute game, No. 34 Olajuwon and No. 11 Gan played the greatest 12-minute duel in NCAA history; whenever one of them took the ball, the scene The blood pressure of the audience will rise instantly, because they know that there must be a wonderful goal. Neither of them can guard the other. Although Olajuwon's turnaround jumper still looks a bit lame, his strong waist The belly allows him to hover in the air to aim before shooting, and Gan's hook is so graceful and unstoppable, I think the most hated way of scoring in Olajuwon's life must be the hook."

Blackburn's explanation of the situation on the scene is detailed and humorous. No wonder he will be called the voice of the supersonic speed.

In these twelve minutes, Gan Guoyang's hook shot became smoother and smoother, and he really reached the realm of how to hook and how to hook within 15 feet of the basket.

The reason for this is that although Olajuwon has better jumping, extremely strong body, excellent defensive skills and awareness, but the moisture in his height makes him have no advantage when interfering with Gan Guoyang.

In the game against Kentucky, although Gan Guoyang beat Sam Bowie, he relied more on his footwork and offensive rebounds. The 7-foot-1 Bowie still interfered too much with him when hooking. big.

But Gan Guoyang also had no way to stop Olajuwon. His excellent footsteps and precise jump shots at the basket made Gan Guoyang a little exhausted, because other Houston players also had a huge threat to the basket.

One of the two scored 12 points and the other scored 14 points. They can be said to be the absolute protagonists on the court.

However, the reason why Bellman called a timeout was to let the trump card in his hand rest.

Although Gan Guoyang often played the whole game in various competitions, proper rest is still very necessary in such a major competition.

Otherwise, like in the game against Georgetown, Gan Guoyang only scored 4 points in the second half due to exhaustion. If it weren't for the super-level explosion of other players and Stockton's thrilling lore, it is still unclear who will win.

So even though Gan Guoyang's hands are hot now, Bellman still wants to replace Gan Guoyang, so that he can get enough rest, so that he can burst out with greater energy in the closing stage of the first half and the second half.

And it's not just Bellman who has this kind of thinking. The coach of the Houston Cougars, Lewis, also realized the physical problem of the main center, and put Olajuwon on the bench to let him take a good rest. Then send Olajuwon on.

"Oh, the coaches of the two teams replaced their hottest players Gan and Olajuwon. This is simply a crime against humanity. 4000 million people are watching the game. Replace them. Who are we going to go to? Gonzaga's No. 15 backup center? Some people in the audience are already chanting refunds."

Blackburn began to run the train with his mouth full, but his words also showed that the confrontation between Gan Guoyang and Olajuwon has become the focus of everyone's attention.

"How about Gan, take a good rest. The situation of the game is not clear now. I hope I can sprint in the second half of the first half to bring the game into our rhythm, so that the second half will be better controlled." Restart, said Behrman and Gan Guoyang, who was sitting on the bench.

Gan Guoyang understood what Behrman meant. In the first half, Gonzaga's offense was still impressive under the leadership of him and Stockton. It should be said that several other players played at a super level.

But the offensive state is really hard to say, especially the shooting touch. The basket was as wide as the ocean in the first half, and the water well was covered in the second half, which often occurs in basketball games.

In terms of absolute strength, the Bulldogs are still weak. If they want to control the entire game, they must use their strengths and avoid weaknesses.

If Gonzaga has been playing against Houston, then in the second half, the feel will drop and the offense will not work. It is very likely that it will happen, and it will be too late to adjust by then.

So Behrman thought, taking advantage of the current smooth offense and the lack of defensive strength on both sides, he rushed hard at the end of the first half and tried to get a lead of more than 5 points.

In this way, in the second half, Gonzaga can return to his old job and drag Houston into the quagmire with his grueling defense.

In the last game against Kentucky, the Wildcats were dragged to death in the second half like this, and Gonzaga's offense in that game has always been good, so the Wildcats will naturally die even worse.

Gan Guoyang nodded and did not speak. The two had an unusual understanding. This set of strategic ideas has been a common idea of ​​Bellman since Palo Alto.

And the situation on the court is also developing in the direction Bellman expected.

Replacing Gan Guoyang was the team's backup center, 15 good Love, and Williams who replaced Matthews.

After the absence of the core center, the rhythm of the two sides played more vividly.

The top scorer of the Houston Cougars, Michael Young, seemed to have lost a mountain after Gan Guoyang went off the court, and began to rush to the inside to kill without restraint.

However, the effect of his impact seems unsatisfactory. Love filled the inside line very well, and Anderson is extremely focused today. He knows that no matter whether he wins or loses, this will be his last game.

Michael Young rushed to the inside several times. Except for a successful layup and an assist for his teammates after a breakthrough, the other times were either called offensive fouls, or made no achievements under the defense of Love and Anderson.

On the contrary, Gonzaga's offense was extremely sharp under Stockton's combing, especially Mikali Williams, an old classmate of Gan Guoyang who replaced him, cut to the basket many times, or scored easily. Or cause a foul by the opponent, and get 6 points with a penalty shot.

Coupled with the fact that other players played more and more relaxed, and shot more decisively, the Gonzaga Bulldogs beat the opponent 10:4 after Gan Guoyang left the field, and suddenly opened the score gap to 7 points.

Now coach Houston Lewis couldn't sit still anymore, and hurriedly called a timeout, planning to replace Olajuwon.

"Very good lads, you've done a great job, but it's only less than halfway through the game and we still have a long way to go. We've got good touch, but we can't rely on it forever. John, wait Now we need to strengthen the impact on the opponent's inside line, Forrest Gump, pay attention to attracting the opponent's defensive attention, and must help teammates spread the space." Behrman shouted loudly on the bench.

In fact, he was also very nervous, because the camera next to him was always pointed at him, which meant that his tactics would be seen by audiences across the country.

"I don't know if Rebecca has seen me on TV, and Tracy, I hope she doesn't think I'm too scary." Rebecca is Bellman's wife, and Tracy is her 12 year old daughter.

"Okay Gan, come on, try to give them a heavy blow at this stage, so that we can play better in the second half! Come on!" Bellman knew that Lewis would definitely let Olajuwon play, so he also sent a rest. Gan Guoyang.

There are 3 minutes left in the first half.

When Gan Guoyang and Olajuwon re-entered the arena, the entire dome gave out huge cheers, as if two of the best gladiators re-appeared.

"Let's decide the outcome." Gan Guoyang said.

"No, the game is still early." Olajuwon replied.

"No, it's getting late."

Olajuwon had no time to say anything to Gan Guoyang, and his teammates had advanced past halftime.

If there is any major difference in technical characteristics between Olajuwon and Gan Guoyang at this time, an important point is that Olajuwon seldom does block screens, and he plays quite little pick-and-roll cooperation with his teammates.

Therefore, his high-position coping ability may not even be comparable to Gan Guoyang, let alone an internal pass or a 20-yard long pass.

This also leads to when Olajuwon reaches the high position, he is much less threatening tactically than when he is in the low position.

Bellman seized this weakness and used 1-3-1 in the defensive formation, forcing Houston's offensive transition point to move higher, and no longer only sent Gan Guoyang to mark Olajuwon, but let other players go. help defense.

This made Olajuwon very uncomfortable. He couldn't attack directly after receiving the ball. If he moved outward, although Gonzaga's defense was not as good as Georgetown's, it was still very fast.

In addition, today's outside players in Houston don't feel good, so the entire Puma's offense still hasn't improved much after the timeout.

"The entire offense of Houston is in a quagmire. Obviously Gonzaga's 1-3-1 defense has played an effect, which makes Houston seem a little at a loss in the offense. Whether they should resolutely play inside or combine inside and outside, they seem very Hesitating, like whether to eat the wings or the legs first for a turkey on Thanksgiving."

Although Blackburn is not a coach, he can accurately reflect the situation on the field, especially the predicament of the Cougars at this time.

In a basketball game, the most feared thing is indecision. Once he hesitates, the attack will be blocked, and once the attack is blocked, he will often hesitate even more, thus falling into a vicious circle of playing worse and worse.

At this time, there should be a player who dares to attack resolutely and make decisive shots to lead the team out of the quagmire.

But what the Pumas encountered was not only an offensive problem. On defense, after Gan Guoyang came on the court, they still couldn't find a good way to limit their opponents.

The Cougars also switched to a zone defense. They adopted a 3-2 zone defense and wanted to restrain Gonzaga's space for movement on the periphery.

Some time ago, they allowed Gonzaga's perimeter players to stay too comfortably outside, and they could move as much as they wanted, with almost no delay.

The double-teaming of the three outside players instantly put pressure on Gonzaga's defenders.

Gan Guoyang immediately moved up to the corner position to cover for the backup point guard Cherkia-Stockton has been replaced and rested.

Cherkia is only 5 feet 11 tall, limited by his height, and his passing vision is average, but his scoring ability is also quite average, averaging only one or two points per game.

Behrman put him on the floor just to give Stockton a break, and Cherkia's only job was to be able to dribble across the court, and he was a good dribble anyway.

But this is the NCAA Finals after all, and one fifth of the people in the United States are watching this game, and all basketball-related games in the United States are stopped, just this one game.

As a player, if he can score even one goal in this arena, he will probably be able to boast for a long time in the future.Until I have a grandson, I can say to him: "Grandpa, I scored a key goal in the much-anticipated NCAA game!"

Therefore, when Gan Guoyang made a good-quality screen for himself, and the passage leading to the basket was flat in front of him, Cherkia's mind became hot, and he didn't care about any tactical arrangements or his teammates' point guards. He rushed in with his head straight!

But if he really has such a breakthrough level, he won't be able to score one or two goals every game-most of these goals are open shots or fast break layups in garbage time.

Olajuwon, who came out to defend the pick-and-roll, had been eyeing him a long time ago, but he didn't stick up to make up the defense. Instead, he followed him closely at a distance of more than one meter, and at the same time he was calculating his steps.

Cherkia didn't realize that he was already being targeted by a rattlesnake like a little mouse. He only had the basket in his eyes, and only the basket that was close at hand!

"Boom!" Unsurprisingly, in Olajuwon's eyes, it was like Cherkia who was doing slow motion. He was dazed by a big peg board hat, and his weak body was also covered by Olajuwon who was as strong as a beast. Zhu Wang knocked down all of a sudden and fell out of the bottom line.

But Gonzaga's offense didn't end there. Gan Guoyang knew that when he saw Cherkia sneaking into the paint, he knew that he was going to get blocked.

However, the other Puma players were not in place. Gan Guoyang jumped up like a tiger after seeing Cherkiah being blocked. No one in Puma could stop him, but the only person who could stop him was falling with his back facing him. .

"Bang!"

After the mantis stalks the cicada and the oriole, Gan Guoyang used a back button that was bound to make Mount Taishan make Olajuwon's efforts come to naught!

"What-a-play! what-a-play!" Blackburn also yelled the phrase that the broadcasters often said into the microphone.

Gan Guoyang did not wave his arms to celebrate the ball, but walked to the bottom line, stretched out his hand, and pulled Cherkia up from the ground.

"The balance of victory has begun to favor the bulldog." The person who was with Falk in the box said that he was not only impressed by Gan Guoyang's outstanding performance, but also impressed by his general style.

The entire Gonzaga bench also jumped up. At this time, the Dome seemed to be Gonzaga's home stadium. In fact, Gonzaga University, which is also in Washington State, did receive the support of more Seattle fans.

At this moment, Gan Guoyang, who became the center of the audience, was thinking of Wang Fuxi. He wondered if she had arrived at the court and whether his performance had been seen by her.

"Fuxi, where are you?"