The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 371 - 104: Frustration

Gan Guoyang’s hands were scorching hot, and he knew he had it as soon as the last shot of the first quarter left his hands.

Years of relentless training, coupled with Dr. Ogilvy’s visualization exercises, had greatly enhanced Guoyang’s imagination and creativity on the court.

In his mind, he had simulated a variety of match scenarios and technical maneuvers countless times, most of which he could not employ during regular games.

It was only on the grand stage of the finals, where adrenaline surged and focus intensified, that a player’s body could enter optimal condition and feel omnipotent.

During the interval break, sitting on the bench, Jack Ramsey told everyone not to disturb Ah Gan, with only Kolter responsible for hydrating Guoyang.

Holding a straw-topped Gatorade to feed Guoyang, his hands were spread out, resting on his knees, palms relaxed, trying to maintain the muscle memory of his hot shooting streak.

Although no one knew if it really helped, they thought, if he wants to pretend, let him be, especially since he can score 20 points in one quarter, right?

The break was brief, and the teams returned to the game, with the Celtics subbing out Marques Johnson for An Ji.

In the first quarter, the Trail Blazers had done well in limiting Marques Johnson, with Drexler on the main defense and Gan assisting, successfully containing Marques.

Jones replaced Bill Walton for the Trail Blazers, who were determined to go with three bigs, firmly protecting the paint, leaving the backcourt to Guoyang and Drexler.

Based on his defensive performance throughout the series, Gan’s decision to lose weight last summer had been the right move. Lighter, he had become more agile, capable of guarding forwards and guards on the perimeter.

Like Kevin McHale, tall and lithesome, he would often step out to assist Bird in defending the opposing team’s powerful small forwards, such as Worthy, Wilkins, Dantley, and others.

In the paint, the 6-foot-10 McHale could guard most centers, and his help defense was also outstanding.

As the second quarter began, KC Jones assigned the daunting task of defending Guoyang to Kevin McHale, anyway, one Celtics frontcourt player after another took turns matching up against Ah Gan, with no reprieve for anyone.

McHale’s offense under the basket had a revival tonight; his performance in the first four games had indeed been below par, causing the Celtics’ most stable scoring option in the paint to drop in efficiency and their offensive sets to become more labored.

Tonight, with Guoyang shifting his focus to the small forward position, McHale got the chance in the low post to display his superior basket skills, his nimble footwork, and his uniquely fluid and invasive upper-limb control, reminiscent of a serpent.

Sometimes, even when the defender clearly blocked his position and McHale couldn’t move his feet, he was still able to leverage his agile upper body and long arms to scoop the ball into the basket.

However, this maneuver was less effective against Ah Gan’s help defense. Guoyang had a rapid response time and had studied McHale’s moves in detail with Thompson before the game, shutting him down effectively.

Now, with Thompson and Jones solidifying the inside, McHale found more room to play. At the start of the second quarter, he received the ball on the low block, used his body to squeeze inside, then suddenly accelerated his turn, thrust his upper body into the paint, and scored a quick low-flick layup off the backboard, netting two points.

Thompson had held McHale well in check, but without good help defense, that shot was unstoppable.

The Trail Blazers attacked, Guoyang slowed down slightly, and passed the ball to Thompson who overpowered Bird in the low post.

The turnaround jump shot went in, continuing to maintain an 11-point lead.

McHale executed a classic pump fake, deceiving Thompson to score.

In this pivotal game six, McHale finally demonstrated some of the finesse expected from the League’s second-best post-up player.

The number one was across the way.

This time Guoyang called for the ball in the low post, with McHale pushing against him from behind.

McHale’s defense was different from Parish’s; he wasn’t as tall or as strong as the Chieftain.

But he was more agile and had long arms with very quick hands. His blocking ability surpassed that of Parish.

After receiving the ball, Guoyang didn’t rely on strength to overpower McHale nor did he immediately turn and jump shoot along the baseline. Instead, he moved up the line, spun inside, and faked a shot to throw off McHale—he knew McHale wanted to block it.

Then with a pump fake, he slipped past, easily making a left-handed layup for two points!

Bill Schonely couldn’t help but exclaim, "Sonny just used McHale’s signature move to score two points over his head!"

Such scoring undoubtedly demoralized the opponent, and the typically arrogant McHale wondered to himself when the kid had learned that.

As if reading McHale’s mind, Guoyang shouted to him while returning to defense, "Teacher Kevin, your demonstration was good, I just learned it!"

McHale tried to score under the basket again, but this time Gan came over for the double team. McHale passed off to Bird, who hit the jump shot from the outside.

"You still have time for a double team? You’re not paying attention to who you’re guarding," Bird said to Guoyang.

"I just wanted to give you a little confidence, otherwise it’s pretty boring watching you unable to score," Guoyang replied.

Bird indeed struggled to score tonight under Guoyang’s one-on-one defense.

In the second quarter, the Trail Blazers’ offensive efficiency slightly declined, but the pace of the game remained firmly in their control.

Drexler’s shot didn’t go in, and the Celtics finally got a break for a counter-attack.

But as Bird attempted to break through, Guoyang knocked the ball out of bounds, and the Celtics had to continue grinding it out against the Trail Blazers.

Gan Guoyang, who scored 20 points in the first quarter, slightly toned down his sharpness in the second quarter since there were still the critical third and fourth quarters to play.

The Celtics attempted to regain the game’s pace in the second quarter, but it was ineffective; Guoyang’s defense on Bird was quite successful.

In strength, speed, reaction, and height, he surpassed Bird by a notch, and Guoyang was in an extremely calm and highly focused state.

Bird found to his horror that if he wanted to overpower Guoyang one-on-one, there was almost no chance at all.

He had to cooperate with his teammates, relying on screens, off-ball movement, and utilizing the moment of catching the ball to break Ah Gan’s blockade.

One-on-one, whether facing the basket from the outside or backing down at 45 degrees, Bird couldn’t find a breakthrough.

Gan Guoyang was as tall as Kevin McHale, as strong as Moses Malone, and to make matters worse, he could lower his center of gravity like Michael Cooper to play close defense.

The Lakers’ Cooper has always been recognized as the best defender against Bird. Shorter and thinner than Bird, he managed to guard him by using his speed and low center of gravity to tangle with him.

Now Ah Gan was like an enlarged version of Cooper, only strengthened in every aspect. How could he be played against?

As Bird was unable to draw double-teams and disrupt the Trail Blazers’ defense, his imagination in the set offense was greatly restrained.

At this point, he had to figure out a way to speed up the game, using fast breaks and chaotic opportunities to score or assist a teammate.

But the Trail Blazers played with extreme patience, as nearly eighty percent of their offense first went to the low post, to Ah Gan.

Gan Guoyang monopolized the ball to a great extent, holding down the game’s pace; it felt exactly like the first game.

Seeing that they couldn’t speed up the game, the Celtics started taking turns going one-on-one, with McHale contributing his highest number of shots and points in the first half of the series.

However, Mitchell Thompson’s defense was still spot on, with McHale exerting a great deal of effort on each offensive play, scoring with difficulty.

Nearing the end of the second quarter, both teams were tied at 48:58, the Celtics trailing by 10 points, biting onto the game’s score in the second quarter.

Bird, attempting to break through Guoyang from the left baseline facing the basket, found Guoyang giving him the baseline route to charge for a dunk.

Seeing this, Bill Walton on defense immediately cleared a path for Bird to break through, himself going to block Parrish.

Bird tried to jump for a dunk, but Gan Guoyang caught up from behind and blocked the ball from Bird’s hand.

Blatantly blocking it and then snagging the ball, Guoyang didn’t rush to counterattack; he passed the ball to Drexler and continued to play a set offense.

Gan Guoyang at the high post provided support for Walton, who took the ball, turned around, and scored with a hook shot!

This was the second consecutive ball that Bird had his shot blocked hard by Guoyang, both plays identical.

Gan Guoyang would give Bird a path, Bird would drive, and either Walton or Thompson would voluntarily clear space to prevent Bird from passing.

Then Guoyang, coming up from behind, would slam the ball down—both plays had a suspicion of foul play, but Jack Madden didn’t call it.

Clearly, under the Finals’ standards, both blocks were clean, traps that Guoyang had set for Bird.

"I’ll give you half a step, and if you drive, I’ll catch up and block you."

Bird’s fighting spirit was ignited, and during the next offense, he still faced Guoyang with the ball.

This time at the high post, Parrish came over to screen, Bird used the screen, and he had an opportunity for an outside shot.

But he didn’t take the shot, instead choosing to cut through the middle, Guoyang followed, and Bird, leaning on Guoyang, went up strong, and the referee called a whistle.

A defensive foul was called on Guoyang, and Bird went to the free-throw line.

The first free throw was good, and at this point, Guoyang approached and said, "Larry, tonight you might not score in double digits."

By the time of the first throw, Bird had already scored 8 points, and if he made another, it would be 9 points.

After Guoyang spoke, Bird’s second free throw missed, Walton grabbed the rebound, and passed it to Guoyang.

Seeing this, the Celtics’ players surrounded him, fearing he would make another long three-pointer.

But Guoyang didn’t shoot; instead, he turned and threw the ball to the referee out of bounds, and without looking back, he left the court for the locker room.

The first half of the game ended.

49:60, Guoyang with 31 points for the half, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals, and 5 assists.

Bird ended the half with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block, kicking the bench furiously as he left the court.

Having been in the League for so many years, the last time Bird felt this frustrated... was the last time, playing against Ah Gan.