The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 293 - 33: Going Solo

The Lakers’ dominance in the ’80s was significantly attributed to Jabbar’s evergreen vitality.

And the important reason for Jabbar’s perpetual youthfulness was that, aside from providing extremely stable output on offense, no centers from the middle or new generation could consistently outplay Jabbar one-on-one on defense.

This was crucial for the Lakers’ offensive and defensive system.

It could be said that Jabbar not being a defensive sieve, was even more important than his reliable hook shot.

In his youth, Jabbar was first-rate on defense, with both individual and help defense abilities at the top of the League.

As he aged, Jabbar’s deficiencies in protecting the backcourt rebounds, limited mobility, and aversion to physical play grew more apparent.

So, in his matchups with Moses Malone, he suffered somewhat, struggling in their encounters from ’81 to ’83.

But Moses relied on repeatedly assaulting the rim and grabbing offensive rebounds in a brute-force manner to wear down and attack Jabbar.

In static one-on-one offense and defense, Moses Malone didn’t have many strategies; he could only depend on his unreliable turnaround jump shot and his sometimes-effective hook shot to score some points, unable to create absolute suppression or threat.

When Moses’s body declined and he could no longer single-handedly break through an entire defensive line as he did when younger, and when the 76ers could no longer surmount the Celtics’ barrier, Jabbar no longer feared Moses, despite Moses being just 30 years old.

Jabbar and the Lakers viewed Gan Guoyang as the second coming of Moses Malone, a similar height, a similarly rowdy playstyle, but with added defense and a more accurate outside shot, which made him even harder to defend against.

Riley believed that the Lakers had ample wing and guard resources to handle Ah Gan; they had Rambis, Worthy, Cooper, and McGee.

If Ah Gan moved his attack to the perimeter, as long as his three-point shots weren’t explosive, the Lakers wouldn’t fear him.

Because, like Moses, you can’t really completely suppress and harm Jabbar; you’re just wearing him down, temporarily overshadowing him.

Offensive rebounds or mid-range jump shots are just "roundabout tricks" within inside confrontation, allowing for a temporary advantage through cunning, but from a long-term perspective, overpowering an opponent in the low post with high efficiency is the biggest and most troublesome issue.

Just like Jabbar’s Sky Hook, scoring 25 to 30 points with a hit rate of around 60 to 70 percent over your head in a key game means that in ten possessions against the Lakers, your defense is utterly ineffective, causing no trouble for the opponent, rendering you unable to counterattack, not to mention losing over 20 points.

To reduce such possessions, you try all means to double-team, front, and wear him down, only to find minimal results, sometimes even allowing the Lakers’ other points to open up. Such helplessness was deeply felt by all teams in the Western Conference that continually lost to the Lakers in the ’80s.

Until tonight, Gan Guoyang displayed something in the first quarter that other centers have struggled with on offense for 16 years: he consistently single-handedly dominated Jabbar in the low post.

Bill Russell, watching from the sidelines as a guest, witnessed everything:

"Sonny is holding the ball in the low post, his positioning and pivoting technique are quite excellent, and he has a very good touch, his..."

"The ball’s in, very fast and smooth, Jabbar already tried his best to block, but he seems a bit slow, after all, he’s 38 years old, I had already retired at this age, oh... the Trail Blazers’ counterattack came very swiftly, Ah Gan received a pass in the paint, tonight, this is..."

"Another score, the quick hook shot following the catch and turn, his moves remind me of Bernard King, before you can react, he’s already put the ball into the hoop."

Russell’s commentary clearly couldn’t keep up with the pace of Gan Guoyang’s scoring; as he attempted to explain the intricacies of the offensive play, other actions were already happening on the court.

Russell later said, "Television basketball requires you to process and comment on what’s happening on the court within 8 seconds, and I have a deeper understanding of basketball, the players, and their motivations."

This resulted in Russell being an exceptional basketball player, but not a good broadcaster; his mind was too full of knowledge, and live TV gave him too little time.

In Russell’s mind, Gan Guoyang’s consecutive scoring was utterly inconceivable; such a quick, straightforward, yet powerful approach to play was something he had never seen before.

He questioned himself, if he were on the court facing such an offensive, could he defend successfully?

Gan Guoyang racked up 12 points in the first quarter alone, with 8 points from static one-on-one plays overpowering Jabbar, 2 from a hook shot on the break, and another 2 from free throws.

He only missed one shot.

Courtside Pat Riley was sweating bullets; no player had ever scored consecutively over Jabbar like this.

And it wasn’t through cunning methods, no mid-range shots, no offensive rebounds, just overpowering him in the low post, using strength and skill to compensate for the difference in height and wingspan.

In earlier games, Riley thought Gan Guoyang had become faster and more agile, but his scoring methods hadn’t changed much from last season.

He might score more points, but he wouldn’t pose a greater threat.

Tonight, right from the start, Riley realized it was not so.

After Gan Guoyang received the ball for the sixth time in the low post on the left side, Jabbar was already dazed and somewhat angry from being outplayed.

But Gan Guoyang was as calm as ice, catching the ball, performing a Sigma Step turn, observing the defensive setup.

An unexpected start from the left baseline caught Jabbar off guard as Gan Guoyang cut onto the line.

Jabbar couldn’t turn around in time, as Gan Guoyang had already charged into the three-second zone. Rambis came over to help defend but was shoved aside by Gan Guoyang, who skillfully scored with a left-handed layup.

The referee blew the whistle for an additional foul, while Rambis, seemingly unable to withstand Gan’s repeated charges, lost his cool and shoved Gan Guoyang.

With his back turned and unprepared, Gan Guoyang slightly stepped back. He turned his head and stared at Rambis in disbelief, then used a football-style charge to slam into Rambis, sending him flying!

Rambis stumbled back three or four steps like he was hit by the "Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms," fell to the ground, and rolled twice, but he immediately got up and charged towards Gan Guoyang.

Lakers players quickly intervened to stop him, while on the other end, Trail Blazers players tightly held onto Gan Guoyang. Mychal Thompson hurriedly said, "Don’t be rash, Sonny. You’ll kill Rambis, calm down!"

Gan Guoyang’s movement wasn’t rough, nor did he throw his elbows; it was normal physical contact. He didn’t understand why Rambis had such an overreaction.

The game fell into chaos for a while as the referees called fouls on both sides, but no one was ejected. However, Rambis, looking emotionally distressed, went back to the locker room ahead of time.

After converting the penalty shot, Ramsay substituted Gan Guoyang out for Walton, giving Gan time to cool off and regain his composure.

The incident allowed the Lakers to catch their breath since they had already let the Trail Blazers score 25 points by halfway through the first quarter.

25:14, the Trail Blazers were leading by 11 points, and their offense was suffocating the Lakers, who had been completely breached in the low post by Gan Guoyang.

Jabbar, rarely scored on consecutively like this in the first quarter of a game, told Riley during the timeout not to double-team him; he wanted to guard Ah Gan one-on-one.

Riley disagreed, insisting that Morris Lucas should guard Ah Gan and that Cooper, Worthy, and others should double-team him, refusing to let him dominate one-on-one.

Jabbar was unhappy. After winning the Finals MVP the previous season, Jabbar was experiencing a new spring in his basketball career. People’s opinion of him had completely changed, taking a 180-degree turn.

He had defeated Ah Gan, defeated Parrish, and became the oldest Finals MVP. People continuously described him as great, and his once-called tedious sky hook was now considered miraculous every time it scored, piling up heights on the NBA scoring record.

After the new season started, Jabbar reclaimed his role as the team’s core in positional battles, with his scoring average reaching a new high for the first time in nearly five years.

His hair was thinning, but he felt rejuvenated. How could he tolerate being dominated by a second-year center like this?

Meanwhile, Gan Guoyang sat off the court, pondering for two minutes whether Riley had deliberately let Rambis pick a fight to get him off the court?

But it wasn’t Riley’s style, and besides, it was just a regular-season game; there was no need for that.

In the last two minutes of the first quarter, Gan Guoyang returned to the court, replacing Thompson, and teamed up with Walton in the paint.

The Lakers immediately brought in Morris Lucas, the NBA’s noted boxer. As soon as he entered, the fans started shouting, "Give Ah Gan a punch!" "Knock him down!" "Hit him, hit him!"

The malice from Lakers fans towards Gan Guoyang had grown, for anger often stems from fear; when people cannot deal with their fear, they often fall into futile anger.

Morris Lucas looked at Gan Guoyang and said, "They tell me to hit you, do you want to try?"

Gan Guoyang glared at the older player and said, "If you want, I don’t mind making you retire early."

Lucas was famous for his temper and excellent boxing skills in the League, but Gan Guoyang was not afraid at all.

However, Lucas wasn’t angry and said, "I won’t hit you. In fact, I should thank you for dealing with that guy Rambis—who dared to take my starter spot. Shit."

Hearing Lucas say so, Gan Guoyang figured what AC Green had said was right—there were indeed conflicts within the Lakers, rooted in Morris Lucas.

[1985 was my last year commentating for CBS. After the season ended, I left the basketball commentary profession; it wasn’t for me.

I could not present everything on the court to the audience in 8 seconds; there was too much information. I needed a minute, but that was impossible.

What stuck with me most was the Lakers versus Trail Blazers game where the second-year Ah Gan scored 14 or 15 points on Jabbar’s head in the first quarter—was it 14 or 15 points? I can’t quite remember.

All I remember is Jabbar looking gloomy after being scored on, and Rambis, after attempting to fight Ah Gan and ending up crying in the locker room.

I asked myself, could I have defended against such offense in the post?

The answer was negative. I would prefer to guard Wilt than Ah Gan.

Later, Reed also told me how much he missed the days when Chamberlain was the opponent.]

————Published in 2009, excerpt from "Red and Me: My Coach, My Lifelong Friend" co-authored by Alan Steinberg and Bill Russell.