The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 283 - 23 Teaching Whip _2

And these were precisely what Stockton liked; he did things this way normally, and Miller didn’t even have to establish any rules, so Miller was very fond of Stockton.

If it weren’t for the need to respect seniority within the team, Stockton would already be the Jazz’s starting point guard.

As things stand, the day when Stockton would replace Rickey Green as the starter didn’t seem too far away.

Stockton sat off the court, carefully watching the game against the Trail Blazers and Ah Gan; games against Ah Gan’s team always required his utmost concentration.

He knew that against Ah Gan’s team, one must always be observant, playing the game with intellect and wisdom, or else one wouldn’t know how they were being played to death.

In the opening, the Jazz took the advantage on the court, with Henson hitting three consecutive outside shots. His nifty movement and accurate shooting caused some disarray in the Trail Blazers’ perimeter defense.

On the defensive end, the towering defense formed by Mark-Eaton and Thurl Bailey was blocking the Trail Blazers’ offense.

The Jazz’s defense against Gan Guoyang was consistent as ever; Eaton would handle him down low, and as soon as Gan Guoyang came out, Bailey would stick close to him.

Most of the time, Eaton would squat in the three-second area, rarely venturing out, guarding the backcourt rebounds, and thwarting perimeter breaks.

The 4:10 score lasted for over a minute, neither side scoring, entering a stalemate.

At that moment, Gan Guoyang suddenly received the ball and found a gap in the middle, driving straight to the basket!

His layup drew a foul from Eaton, and Gan Guoyang headed to the free-throw line. For Gan Guoyang, free throws were like giving away points.

He made both free throws.

"Damn," Stockton sensed a change in Gan Guoyang’s offense.

He used a deceptive tactic, first going low to attract Mark-Eaton, then immediately coming out pretending to screen for his teammate.

As Bailey was about to defend, Gan Guoyang received the ball and suddenly started moving; Bailey and Eaton were both caught by surprise, letting him slip through.

Actually, Bailey was thinking of defending Gan Guoyang’s shot from the arc, not expecting that Gan Guoyang would opt for a ball-drive through the middle.

Center players rarely drive directly like this, but he is Ah Gan, not to be judged by the usual standards of a center player.

"This guy, he lost weight during the summer, becoming even faster," he muttered.

During the summer, Stockton and Gan Guoyang trained together at Gonzaga, where Coach Delong had designed different training plans for them.

Gan Guoyang focused on agility and explosiveness, slightly reduced weight to become faster and more nimble, while Stockton opted to gain weight to enhance his ability to withstand physical challenges.

Malone watched Gan Guoyang taking free throws with such ease, almost not needing any preparation time, just taking the ball from the referee and throwing it.

Malone’s free throws were not like that, though he was not accurate, he had many preparatory movements, dilly-dallying as though a Louisiana wizard was casting spells.

After all that chanting, it was embarrassing when he still missed.

Malone couldn’t help asking Stockton, "John, how does Ah Gan practice his free throws? They’re so accurate?"

Stockton didn’t even glance at Malone, still intently watching the game, replied, "Practice, at least 1000 times a day."

Malone cursed under his breath, ’Xie Te,’ at least 1000 times, you’re joking, and asked, "Isn’t 1000 times too much? Doesn’t he get tired?"

Stockton expressionlessly said, "No, he never gets tired. His training times are longer than you can imagine."

At that moment, Gan Guoyang started to play in form; on defense, he delayed Henson’s ball-handling, forcing Henson to pass, and then quickly shrunk back into position.

Henson’s shooting touch from the perimeter was disrupted, Dantley’s attempted floater in the paint missed under pressure, and Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound to ignite the counterattack.

Drexler, with his head down, sprinted forward. Gan Guoyang launched a long pass to him; catch, dribble, lift off, dunk completed!

Over the summer, Drexler had become stronger as well. His shoulders were wider, and his legs and arms were more muscular with noticeable muscle definition.

Of course, his head began to show a little balding, with his hairline obviously receding.

Starting with this dunk, the Trail Blazers’ form improved. They were like a spring being wound up tighter and tighter, becoming more resilient and powerful.

Gan Guoyang seized the Jazz’s weakness of lacking offensive power in the interior, frequently disrupting and stalling the Jazz’s perimeter, disrupting the shooting rhythm of Henson and Dantley.

Dantley was in poor form tonight, failing to score on three drives to the basket, and the Trail Blazers were determined not to foul. If you can make the shot, go ahead; if not, we strike on the counter.

When Vandeweghe hit a mid-range shot from the outside, the Trail Blazers took the lead over the Jazz by 4 points, 16:12. Frank Layden called for a timeout.

He pointed to Stockton and Malone on the bench and said, "You two get in there, make something happen, and don’t let the Portland people fast break."

Malone hurriedly shed his warm-up jacket. This wasn’t his NBA debut, yet his heart was pounding, even more nervous than on his first game.

"John, do you have any tricks for playing against Ah Gan?" Malone couldn’t help but quietly ask Stockton.

"Just shut up," Stockton replied.

"..."

Layden said to Malone, "Karl, you’ll be defending Ah Gan one-on-one. He’ll be playing until the end of the first quarter, and you’ll have to hold your ground during this time."

This substitution came early because it was the start of the season, and Layden was still adjusting his lineup. Malone was starting as early as his third career game.

He and Thurl Bailey were essentially splitting playing time. Who started mainly depended on the opposing team’s lineup and tonight’s tactical setup.

Malone didn’t start tonight not because Layden wanted to protect him from Ah Gan; quite the contrary, he knew when Walton came on, Ah Gan would shift to power forward.

He wanted Malone to experience the intensity of an NBA top-tier power forward from Ah Gan and to give him a target to aspire and work towards.

Malone had no idea of the many schemes running through old Layden’s head. Though he had won the League’s worst dressed award, enjoyed telling jokes, and was often ridiculed by the media as a clown-like figure in the NBA coaching circle, similar to Doug Moe.

But the real Layden was no clown. Many of his antics were aimed at drawing some attention to the Jazz, a no-name team from a small city. Without a bit of a gimmick, they had no appeal at all.

The downside was that many players, referees, NBA officials, and even fans didn’t respect him much, treating him as a comical figure open to ridicule. He wasn’t as widely respected as Ramsay.

Layden was often cooperative, but he never considered himself a clown deep down. He saw himself as a teacher, guiding and molding talented kids like Malone who needed refinement.

He knew the Jazz were no match for the Trail Blazers in terms of strength, and the outcome of a regular-season game wasn’t all that important. What mattered was what they could learn from each game.

Especially Karl Malone, he had high hopes for this kid from Louisiana. There was a stubborn, rash quality about him that matched well with Salt Lake City.

He might just become a landmark figure here, Frank Layden thought to himself.

At the moment, he needed a stern teaching tool to discipline this impatient young man with a free throw accuracy of only thirty percent.

And Gan Guoyang was the perfect rod for that, steel-made, with edges, and ample weight—a strike guaranteed to leave a lasting impression.