The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 405 - 24 Keeping an Eye on You While I Fight

Chapter 405: Chapter 24 Keeping an Eye on You While I Fight

Gan Guoyang certainly wouldn’t be afraid to continuously play one-on-one in the low post; after all, he was the man who relied on one-on-ones to score 54 points against the Bucks.

In the summer, he further organized and strengthened his low-post offensive footwork and his ability to observe tactics and distribute the ball while holding it.

It could be said that at this time, Gan Guoyang’s low-post technical and tactical abilities were beginning to fully mature, and Bobby Berman’s suggestion to let him take full control of the offense undoubtedly came at a very suitable time.

However, even with full confidence in himself, Gan Guoyang still worried that his teammates might not be able to keep up with his pace. As the core of the team, he had to consider the overall situation.

After training ended, Gan Guoyang went to see Bill Walton, who was still in recovery, to talk about the current problems facing the team and the changes that were going to be made.

Walton’s cast had been removed from his leg, and he spent most of his time cooped up in that big log house, resting, sunbathing, and enjoying the rare Portland summer sunshine with his wife and children.

Walton was quite surprised to learn that the Trail Blazers were changing their tactical system to one that focused on one-on-one offense, saying, "What Dr. Jack hated most in the past was one-on-one play. I remember the first time we talked about tactics, it was in 1976, on my doorstep. We sat on the steps and discussed a lot of tactical ideas. He was very close to Coach Wooden, valued coordination, teamwork, details. He was a treasure trove of tactics, and I was impressed by him during that conversation. I can’t believe he would change so much in such a short time."

Gan Guoyang said, "It’s been quite a long time, already 10 years."

"I’m not talking about since then until now, but the season has just begun. We’ve only lost a few games so far."

"The Lakers have put a lot of pressure on us, honestly, if you’re not there, we would have a lot of trouble facing the Lakers in the playoffs."

Gan Guoyang had watched recent Lakers game recordings. The Lakers had evolved from the former Jabbar-Magic dual-core team to one that was thoroughly dominated by Magic as the outside driving force.

Jabbar’s scoring average had plummeted from 23 points per game in 1986 to around 17 points, with both his shot attempts and tactical status experiencing a steep decline.

This meant that on the Lakers, Magic Johnson had completely replaced Jabbar as the team’s first core, with Jabbar becoming the second or even third option, ranked lower in offensive priority than Worthy and sometimes even Byron Scott.

So the Lakers had become faster, their backcourt firepower had significantly increased, and Magic Johnson’s individual offensive power had greatly enhanced; his outside shooting ability had made significant progress compared to before.

"The Lakers are indeed a problem. If we play with our traditional frontcourt passing and cutting style, we indeed won’t be a match for the Lakers. I watched their game recordings. Not only are they fast, but their offense is now very three-dimensional and balanced. Scott and Cooper pose a significant threat with their three-pointers, Jabbar is a point you can’t ignore, but he’s not the focus, which is most troublesome. Magic Johnson can lead a lot of one-on-one offense now, his shooting has become outstanding, you can’t defend him one-on-one, and double-teaming him is suicide. We really need a major change to face the Lakers."

Although Walton was recovering at home, he never stopped paying attention to the League’s teams, especially championship contenders like the Lakers and Celtics.

The Lakers indeed looked terrifyingly strong at the start of the year, not just their winning streak, but also the brand-new content of their games.

If the Trail Blazers were to just get through this season, using their old system and relying on the individual abilities of people like Gan Guoyang and Drexler, earning 55 to 60 wins would not be a problem.

But if they continued to play this way, defending their championship title would undoubtedly be very difficult; they had to get past the Lakers.

Gan Guoyang had dinner at Walton’s home, and afterwards, the two sat out in the yard, discussing many basketball-related topics under the twinkling stars.

Walton shared everything he knew–how to observe the defense and teammates in the low post, how to pass the ball to teammates in time, and how to make the choice between passing and scoring.

Once stuttering Walton was now able to speak unceasingly in front of Gan Guoyang, laying out his decade’s worth of precious experience for Gan to learn.

In terms of skill, there wasn’t much Walton could teach Gan Guoyang, whose skills were undoubtedly top-notch.

What Walton was most praised for was his control over the game, as well as the wisdom and experience in distributing the ball.

This was exactly what the Trail Blazers had been missing since the start of the new season—they lacked an experienced guide.

"When you have a lot of ball-handling responsibilities, you need to learn how to distribute them. You’re the one cutting the cake, learn how to slice it, and you’ll become even better,"

Gan Guoyang remembered every word Walton said, but to perfectly implement it was clearly not an easy task.

Thinking about the upcoming new challenges, Gan Guoyang began to get excited—years later, when Gan Guoyang looked back on the 1986-1987 season, he said, "I reasonably speculate that Dr. Jack adopted this tactical system, which was at odds with his basketball philosophy, to stimulate me, to lead everyone to victory."

Of course, Jack Ramsay and the old Trail Blazers scoffed at this, thinking he was giving himself too much credit.

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On November 21, the Trail Blazers kicked off the third week of the new season, facing the Houston Rockets at home, their opponents from last season’s Western Conference Finals.

After the bitter defeat in the Western Conference Finals, the Rockets spent the off-season licking their wounds, determined to overthrow the Trail Blazers and Lakers’ dominance in the new season.

At the ’86 draft, they picked forward Buck Johnson and center Dave Filteau, further bolstering their frontcourt.

In the free market, they signed the 6-foot-10 power forward Richard Anderson, still reinforcing the frontcourt.

Clearly, the Rockets’ target was the Trail Blazers, intending to use their cadre of big men to counter the Trail Blazers’ trio of tall players. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Hakeem Olajuwon worked like crazy during the off-season, practicing at the big man camp alongside Gan Guoyang. After the camp ended, he returned to Houston to continue training.

He gained some weight to improve his physicality, and further refined his shooting skills, hoping to match Gan Guoyang’s offensive output in crucial moments.

However, soon after the new season started, the Rockets faced a major problem: Ralph Sampson was injured, his knee was giving him trouble.

By the third week of the season, Sampson had only played one game. Tonight, Sampson was on the roster, but he wouldn’t start the game.

Sampson’s injury could be traced back to a game against the Boston Celtics last season, where he hurt his back, leading to a series of injuries.

After playing in the Western Conference Finals, fluid was found in his knee, and despite a series of treatments, the situation did not improve.

So tonight, as the Rockets faced the Trail Blazers, Sampson’s presence was not seen in the starting lineup, only Olajuwon stood alone against Gan Guoyang.

Before the game even began, Gan Guoyang said to Olajuwon, "Tonight our team will employ a new tactic, I hope you’re prepared."

Olajuwon and Gan Guoyang shared a strange relationship of both rivals and friends. Off the court their relationship was good, but on the court, Olajuwon hated Gan Guoyang, yet he couldn’t do much about him.

And Gan Guoyang rather admired Olajuwon, considering him a formidable opponent on the inside.

"What tactic?" Olajuwon asked.

"Focusing on you."

Olajuwon didn’t believe his ears, but then he calmed down.

He thought this was just another one of Ah Gan’s psychological tactics, don’t fall for it, don’t fall for it.