The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 305 - 44: The Extreme

Low-post play is very physically demanding, involves jockeying for position, dribbling after catching the ball to squeeze inside, and putting in full effort to avoid the interference of the defense, and sometimes even facing double-team distractions.

After going through the process, it’s much more exhausting than pick-and-roll, catching and shooting from the perimeter, or fast-break layups. Excellent interior players in the League average about 10-15 post-up plays per game.

If the post-ups and one-on-one plays exceed 15 times, the player’s efficiency begins to decline due to the effect of stamina. Around 20 attempts is about the efficiency limit, beyond which the shooting percentage starts to plunge sharply—Chamberlain during the regular season being the exception.

Jabbar, during his peak, would attempt about 15 to 18 hook shots from the low post per game, making him the strongest low-post offensive player in the League.

Moreover, his movements were varied, he had a strong resistance to interference, and he always managed to find the space to release his Sky Hook, scoring with a shooting percentage above 50 percent.

Entering the 80s, as he aged, Jabbar’s low-post attempts gradually decreased to around 12 per game, yet his efficiency remained at a high level.

In the 1983 playoffs, the Trail Blazers faced the Lakers, and Jabbar completely shattered the Trail Blazers’ interior line with his low-post play and hook shots during the series.

The then 35-year-old scored with over 70 percent efficiency in two games, exceeding 30 points in four out of five games, averaging 30.8 points per game for the series, with a 62 percent shooting percentage, and also recording an average of 5 blocks per game defensively, playing Wayne Cooper, Mychal Thompson, and Ramsay out of their minds.

Now, Ramsay finally got to experience the thrill of having a low-post monster on his team. All that aversion to one-on-one plays, disdain for endless low-post offenses, boil down to not having one himself!

The NBA regulations at the time were very favorable to one-on-one low-post play, not only because zone defenses were prohibited in the paint but also because weak-side off-ball double teams were banned, as well as requiring that if your defensive matchup was above the free-throw line, the defender had to be above the free-throw line as well.

For instance, when Gan Guoyang called for the ball in the low post on the right side, opponents could not double-team in advance, and defenders at the top of the arc, like Moncrief and Paul Pressey, could not sneak close to Guoyang to easily double-team. They had to stand above the free-throw line and could only double-team after the ball was passed to Gan Guoyang, and by that time, it was often too late.

Of course, every team would exploit loopholes to circumvent illegal defense restrictions. Nielsen would as well, such as using a 1-3-1 zone formation, which most teams would employ.

However, tonight Don Nelson stubbornly refused to make any defensive adjustments in the first quarter, allowing Gan Guoyang to play one-on-one. The result? Gan Guoyang finished the first quarter with 10 out of 12 from the low post, and 2 for 2 from the free-throw line, scoring 18 points in the quarter alone, causing Brule and Cummings to shut down.

As the game progressed, the Bucks players couldn’t help themselves and began to double-team spontaneously, which finally made Gan Guoyang pass the ball.

But the point gap had already been widened. By the end of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers were leading the Bucks by 14 points with a score of 32:18.

During the break, Gan Guoyang couldn’t help but say to Ramsay, "Jack, did you make a deal with Don to not double-team tonight and let me practice my low-post offense?"

"He’s just arrogant," replied Ramsay. "If you’re not tired, just keep playing that way until you can’t make any more shots."

Gan Guoyang wiped his face and said, "My hands will only get hotter, it’s impossible not to make shots."

Gan Guoyang was confident in his stamina. Although he didn’t sleep well yesterday, he caught up on sleep in the afternoon, so it wasn’t a problem.

On the Bucks bench, the team’s new Director of Player Personnel, Yin Man, was perplexed by Nelson’s approach.

"Don, why didn’t you double-team and disrupt Sonny in the first quarter? His passing is not that good, double-teaming him would reduce his effectiveness. Letting him play like this, he’s just going to keep scoring, of that I’m certain." Yin Man said.

"I know. I just want to see what his limit is," replied Nelson, showing interest in Guoyang’s limit.

Yin Man was speechless and said, "Ah Gan’s limit is that he could play five overtimes without feeling tired; trying to exhaust him is futile. I’ve said it before: we should avoid him, both on offense and defense, minimize his impact, and let others perform instead."

Nelson glanced at Yin Man and asked, "Are you that afraid of Gan?"

Yin Man shook his head, "I’m not scared, I understand him."

"Then do you hate him?"

"I... no. But I hope the Bucks win, is there anything wrong with that?"

"Nothing’s wrong with that, but you shouldn’t have had someone disturb them at the hotel."

"...that...that’s an old trick used by the Celtics."

"I only played for the Celtics; it doesn’t mean I agree with their approach."

"So you deliberately refused to double-team and let Ah Gan keep playing like that?"

"No, I told you, I want to know his limit."

With nothing left to say, Yin Man knew Nelson well since they had a good relationship. He was aware of how obstinate Nelson could be.

Of course, in the NBA, there wasn’t a single successful coach who wasn’t stubborn in his beliefs.

In that regard, Yin Man knew he couldn’t be a coach and could only work behind the scenes.

As the two talked, the second quarter had already been underway for three minutes, with Gan Guoyang resting off the court.

Bill Walton was on the court, and his style was the complete opposite of Gan Guoyang’s. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Lots of high-post possession, constantly directing teammates to move, and this way of playing was more to the Bucks’ liking.

No matter how you move, the Bucks just kept switching defensively to ensure there was always someone in front of the Trail Blazers’ players.

This made the Trail Blazers’ passing and cutting plays struggle to find gaps, leaving Walton no choice but to drive the ball in himself.

His stop-and-pop jumper didn’t go in, and Cummings grabbed the defensive rebound. Kenny-Fields then quickly transitioned to a fast-break layup.

Walton’s defensive transition speed was a problem. The injuries plaguing his legs made him cautious with every run, preventing him from sprinting desperately to block opponents’ fast-break layups like Gan Guoyang.

The Bucks quickly closed the gap in the transition phase. The Trail Blazers were exhausted tonight, while the Bucks played fiercely, intensifying their defense in the second quarter and decisively countering with fast breaks.

Compared to the Bucks’ experienced and efficient backcourt, the Trail Blazers’ guards were significantly weaker—not in terms of talent, but in experience and tactics.

Ramsay’s strategy centered around the frontcourt, with the backcourt merely supporting.

Moreover, the on-court experience and gameplay skills of Drexler and Terry Porter fell short compared to the Bucks’ backcourt.

Nelson had been refining this guard system for many years, with players like Moncrief, Pressey, Pierce, Kenny-Fields, Craig-Hodges, and Mike Glenn.

No team in the NBA at the time hoarded as many sub-6-foot-5 guards as the Bucks did.

Like the Trail Blazers who usually had only two small guards, last year they had Valentine and Kolter, and this year it simply became rookies Porter and Kolter.

Moreover, the 12th player on the Bucks roster was different from other teams, while other teams were signing 7-footers, Nielsen opted for a 195cm guard Derek-Roland.

In the second quarter, the Bucks used their speed and high-speed rotating defense, as well as sharp counterattacks to quickly close the gap, at one point narrowing the score to just a 5-point difference.

Ramsay called a timeout, and Gan Guoyang replaced Mychal Thompson back on the court, his appearance slightly muting the noise from the home crowd.

The entire game’s tempo slowed down instantly, and in a high-low play between Walton and Gan Guoyang, Guoyang, facing a triple-team, received the ball and made a difficult left-handed hook shot!

On defense, Ramsay made changes too, keeping Gan Guoyang out of the four spot and instead putting him with Walton down in the post.

While this approach gave up on the pressuring and delaying of the Bucks’ perimeter offense, it better protected the basket, basically saying ’shoot the threes if you wish.’

’If you make them, there’s nothing I can do, but don’t even think about penetrating, we’ll cover all the defensive rebounds, and we won’t counterattack, we’ll just grind it out slowly.’

Cummings received the ball on the low left block to back down Guoyang, but his turnaround shot was disrupted and missed.

Walton grabbed the defensive rebound, passed it to Kolter, and they slowly set up their offense.

The Bucks were happy to grind it out with the Trail Blazers, with Cummings and Moncrief suddenly double-teaming Kolter in defense.

Kolter turned the ball over, Cummings made the steal and passed it up court, Moncrief caught it and went for a fast break layup.

However, Gan Guoyang chased him down, rushing from behind and swatted the ball away with a massive block!

The ball conveniently flew back into Kolter hands, and Gan Guoyang shouted at Kolter, "Don’t lose the ball again!"

Milwaukee Bucks fans were all ready to celebrate the fast break points, only to be greeted with a spectacular block.

This play reflected a core issue that’s long plagued the Bucks: they lack top-tier talent in the League.

Moncrief is excellent, but if the player had been Jordan, Worthy or a prime Irving, it’s highly likely that Gan Guoyang wouldn’t have managed the block.

The disparity in core player talent means that despite being an excellent team, the Bucks have always struggled to make a breakthrough.

After the successful block, Gan Guoyang immediately posted up low; this time he was defended by the big guy Paul Mokeski.

This fellow believed he had a good grasp on defending Jabbar, but he was clueless against Gan Guoyang.

His 255-pound weight couldn’t help him hold back Guoyang, rather, his slow movements couldn’t keep up with Guoyang’s tempo.

Guoyang faked and Mokeski immediately lost his balance; Guoyang scored over Mokeski with a right-hand hook and even drew the foul from the big man.

The referee blew the whistle, and Gan Guoyang stepped up to the free-throw line, making the bonus shot.

Typically, Paul Mokeski liked to trash-talk opponents during their free throws.

But tonight, he didn’t dare utter a word; although he didn’t have a glass jaw and couldn’t be knocked out in a boxing match, the problem was that Gan Guoyang’s forte was wrestling.

With Guoyang’s entrance, the tide of offense and defense reversed again, and the Trail Blazers regained control of the game, stabilizing the situation.

Seeing that Mokeski also couldn’t handle it, since neither tall nor heavy could shake Guoyang’s stable output in the low post, Nielsen then subbed in the team’s second center, the 7-foot tall and immensely talented Alton Lister.

In the past few seasons with the Bucks, he served as the starting center, boasting an impressive physique, good at rebounding and blocking shots.

This year, due to tactical adjustments by Nielsen, he was moved to the bench, becoming the team’s second center, but his playing time remained about the same.

He was aggressively bodying up against Guoyang in the paint, trying to prevent him from receiving the ball inside, while using his wingspan and height to try to disrupt Guoyang’s shots as much as possible.

Guoyang had already played more than a dozen times in the low post in the first half and racked up 31 points, a feat not many players could achieve in an entire game.

Under the Bucks’ relentless defense, Guoyang missed twice, leading Lister to believe that Guoyang was nearing the limit Nielsen had mentioned.

Yet, in the last offensive and defensive possession before the end of the first half, Moncrief’s perimeter jumper didn’t connect, and Thompson grabbed the defensive board.

Drexler took the ball and pushed hard; with the first half nearly over, the Bucks suddenly tightened their defense to stop the "Glider."

Drexler jumped but had no space to shoot, so he passed out to the perimeter, where Guoyang caught the ball beyond the three-point line.

He was a three-point threat, but instead of shooting after a pump fake, he dribbled past Cummings and charged to the basket.

Confronted by Lister, who was camping in the paint, Guoyang exploded with a one-handed dunk over him!

Lister was knocked flying onto the floor, completely dazed and confused.

Whilst Guoyang landed smoothly, pointing at Lister as if to say, "You were in my way."

The entire MECCA Arena erupted in astonishment, while the Trail Blazers’ bench bubbled like oil splashing into water.

The first half ended with the Trail Blazers leading 63:55, an 8-point advantage over the Bucks.

The radio commentator for the night’s game exclaimed, "Sonny Gan, the sky is his only limit."