The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 343 - 78: Silence

"Sonny Gan scored 11 points in the first quarter, with 3 blocks, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. He took a rebound and dribbled all the way down the court then slam-dunked it. Hakeem Olajuwon couldn’t defend against Ah Gan’s offense, and the Trail Blazers took a 4-point lead over the Rockets, 25:21!"

During the intermission at Paramount Music Hall, after the first group of symphonies had finished and before the next began, a substitute musician who had been listening to the live broadcast of the game with headphones, stepped onto the stage and reported the first quarter’s results to the audience.

Upon hearing that the Trail Blazers were leading after the first quarter, the crowd cheered even louder than they had at the end of the musical performance.

Gan Guoyang’s performance in the first quarter was as dominant as ever.

He rarely started the first quarter quietly because setting the tone early on is crucial; falling behind early on makes the game difficult to play.

The Trail Blazers are an offensive team, unlike some that prefer defensive counterattacks, enjoying a slight deficit in the first half and looking to make a stunning comeback in the second half.

The Trail Blazers often suppress the opponent from the start to the end, not giving them the slightest chance to surge ahead.

Gan Guoyang possesses tremendous stamina; he doesn’t need to conserve his energy early to unleash it later. He can keep up a high intensity throughout the game.

This is what makes him formidable; defending against Gan Guoyang is extremely painful—others might take breaks, giving both themselves and the defender a moment to breathe.

But not Gan Guoyang. One-on-one defense against him is sheer torture, and by the end of the first quarter, Olajuwon had already felt that pain.

This was even more unbearable than the regular season games. The extreme offense-defense duels, the continuous physical contact, and the strength disparity made Olajuwon struggle even more.

Olajuwon was not discouraged, though; he remembered what Coach Lewis had told him during the NCAA Finals, "Ah Gan might be more flamboyant, but you will win the game."

It was not easy for his pride to accept this. Who would readily admit that an opponent’s individual capabilities were stronger than their own?

Even within the Rockets, Olajuwon never thought he was less capable than Sampson. In fact, his statistics had already surpassed Sampson’s.

Sampson was only older, had joined the team earlier, and became famous sooner; Olajuwon believed he was the strongest on the team.

But Ah Gan?

"I have to win."

Olajuwon reminded himself again that what he wanted was to win the game, not necessarily to outperform Ah Gan.

"Hakeem, let Ralph take the primary defense against Ah Gan in the second quarter, and you continue to help defend, just like how you did with Karim," said Bill Fitch.

During the half-time break, Bill Fitch decided to change the strategy, letting Sampson take the lead defense with Olajuwon assisting.

After all, testing these two strategies is all about trial and error. In the previous round against the Lakers, it was Sampson who mainly guarded Jabbar, with Olajuwon assisting, and it worked quite well.

This defensive pairing had previously been effective against Gan Guoyang as well; relying on strength alone did not stop Gan Guoyang, but using height could cover him.

At least it could disrupt his turn-around fadeaway shots; Sampson’s height and long arms had an effect when raised.

The initial decision to let Olajuwon defend was mainly to avoid committing so many defensive resources to Ah Gan.

The Trail Blazers are not the Lakers—the Lakers’ power forwards lack independent scoring capability and are blue-collar, but the Trail Blazers have Thompson, with Walton on the bench.

The Triple Tower lineup was what Bill Fitch feared and was most troubled by. If Olajuwon couldn’t handle Ah Gan, and both Twin Towers had to attend to him, then how would they deal with the Triple Tower?

But there was no choice; the first quarter had proven that Olajuwon just couldn’t defend one-on-one.

"Coach, let me try again."

"You’ve already tried."

"I’ll call for help defense. You said, Ah Gan is a challenge, and I haven’t failed a challenge yet."

Bill Fitch looked at Olajuwon and nodded in agreement.

At least for tonight, Fitch decided not to change the strategy and kept Olajuwon on single coverage.

Fitch realized that if he couldn’t completely build up Olajuwon’s confidence against Ah Gan, the Rockets might never overcome the Trail Blazers.

The second quarter began with both teams’ rotation lineups on the floor, and Bill Walton had replaced Gan Guoyang.

Both sides had low shooting percentages this evening and many turnovers, indicating the extreme intensity of the game.

Both teams were tall, so the pace of the game was slow, the battle was simple, and the competition exceedingly fierce.

From the style of play of both teams, it was evident that these rising stars were diverging from old-guard teams like the Lakers and the Celtics.

The essence of the Lakers and Celtics was still college basketball; though they had superstars, they played very much like a team with plenty of cooperation and movement.

And the Rockets, in defeating the Lakers, relied not on movement, not on tactics, but on some more simple and effective things: rebounds, steals, height, intensity, speed, small cooperations, and individual abilities.

Bill Fitch was gradually building a new basketball model, eliminating what he considered to be too cumbersome, attempting to win games in a simpler, more primal way.

In the semi-finals, their shooting and free throw percentages were both lower than the Lakers, with 15 fewer assists. However, they had 15 more blocks, 21 more rebounds, 14 more offensive rebounds, and 40 more free throws.

They won not with more accurate shooting, more precise tactics, but with better physical fitness, better rebounding, more opportunistic chances, and more confrontational free throws won.

The Trail Blazers were similar, as Ramsay had already ceased to shout "run, run, run" at the players this season, at times letting them slow down instead of initiating fast breaks every time.

He paid more attention to defense, meticulously weaving and repairing the team’s defensive traps, while leaving the offense more to Gan Guoyang, Drexler, and Vandeweghe to handle themselves.

Both veteran coaches were striving to keep pace with the times, and the games between the two were different from the past, with the struggle between giants growing more and more intense.

Drexler and McGrady got tangled up during an offense and defense, and the referee blew the whistle to separate them. The two’s grudges had begun during the 1983 draft.

Drexler had always hoped the Rockets would choose him with the third pick, but the Rockets chose McGrady instead, and Drexler dropped all the way to the fourteenth pick.

It wasn’t just an emotional betrayal that he suffered, but also a financial loss and the inability to play for his hometown, which had bothered the Glider for a long time.

Therefore, every time he faced the Rockets, he wanted to prove he was better than McGrady.

Ramsay temporarily benched the Glider and brought in the bigger Kenny-Carl.

Meanwhile, Gan Guoyang also geared up for action, having very little rest time in the playoffs.

Ramsay’s principle for using Walton was: rest whenever possible, and play him at crucial moments.

His principle for using Gan Guoyang was: rest only when absolutely necessary—if he doesn’t perish, use him to the brink.

Gan Guoyang didn’t care; he liked to be on the court, constantly putting pressure on the opponent.

As soon as he entered, Olajuwon also re-entered the game, and the two continued to grapple under the basket.

The tension and hesitation at the start of the game had long since disappeared, with Olajuwon and Gan Guoyang almost always at each other’s side.

"McGrady grabs the rebound, Sampson brings the ball up, passes to Olajuwon, Olajuwon goes for the layup... and Gan blocks it! Reed follows up with a layup from behind, and Gan blocks it again! Hakeem gets the ball back, but Ah Gan knocks it away!"

Olajuwon was frustrated to find that he wasn’t just weaker than Ah Gan under the basket, but also a step slower in reaction time.

Against any other center in the League, Olajuwon was the faster one, except when facing Ah Gan.

Gan Guoyang, after the steal, didn’t pass the ball but instead drove it himself all the way from the backcourt to the front!

The Rockets’ players didn’t know how to defend again, and when Floyd charged up, he committed a foul, sending Ah Gan to the free throw line.

Gan Guoyang stood at the free throw line and made both shots. He had already scored 13 points, with 5 blocks, almost single-handedly suppressing the Twin Towers.

Tonight he didn’t listen to Chamberlain’s advice to focus on just one thing; instead, he set out to take on both together.

Under Gan Guoyang’s close defense, Sampson was nearly ineffective, too in love with perimeter shooting.

Out of six shots, he only made one; his height couldn’t compensate for the lack of strength, and he couldn’t get into the three-second area at all.

And on the defensive end, Gan Guoyang kept taking the baseline instead of the top line, refusing to give Sampson the chance to double team.

When Walton came on, the Trail Blazers’ three-second zone was even more impregnable, and the backcourt rebounds were well protected.

The Twin Towers tried to rush for offensive rebounds crazily, as they did in the semi-finals, but to little effect, and instead they were hit by Trail Blazers counter-attacks due to slow retreats.

The second quarter was when the gap between the two sides widened. The Trail Blazers went on a 12:3 offensive surge after Gan Guoyang entered the game.

The difference stretched to over 10 points, and the Rockets’ rhythm centered around the Twin Towers started to collapse, forcing Bill Fitch to call for a time-out again.

But the Trail Blazers were growing stronger as they fought, and in the second quarter, Drexler scored consecutive fast breaks, layups, dunks, and even pulled up for jump shots.

By halftime, the Trail Blazers were leading 58:47, 11 points ahead of the Rockets. The 47 points in the first half indicated big problems in the Rockets’ offense.

Throughout the first half, Gan Guoyang maintained silence, not communicating with Olajuwon or Sampson, not even trash-talking.

But this silence made it all the more fearsome, especially with the score falling behind, pressuring the Twin Towers to the point of breathlessness.