Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Seven-Foot Man
The second half of the game was about to begin, and Gan Guoyang finally put on a simple red vest and stepped on the wooden floor of the gymnasium.
Throughout the summer, Gan Guoyang spent his physical strength on the concrete floor of the streets of Oakland, and did not go to the regular basketball court once. Now standing on this maple floor again, I feel strange that I am not used to it.
"Hello rookie, you're amazing, you made Famar's face look like that on the first day, I hope you can enjoy your stay at UCLA." The point guard of the first team walked up to Gan Guoyang and said to him.
"I feel like throwing up when I see his face, does this guy always have such a constipated expression?" Gan Guoyang also had no scruples when he spoke, but he didn't expect that this was not Palo Alto, where no one would care if he said anything.
The point guards of the first team didn't say anything, just smiled and started getting ready for the game.
Gan Guoyang took the ball to the sideline and prepared to serve.
"Beep!" With the referee's whistle, the 15-minute game of the second half officially began, and the second team was still 2 or two points behind the first team.
At halftime, Gan Guoyang discussed with his teammates on the second team and decided to continue to implement the offensive tactics of the first half at the beginning, relying on outside transmission and jump shots.
At the same time, Gan Guoyang replaced the 6-foot-9 power forward, so that the lineup of the second team is one big and four small, one center with three guards and a small forward.
This lineup configuration would have been a mainstay in the 21st century, but in the eighties, it was a naked freak.
Gan Guoyang can't control freaks or freaks, and when there was no offensive burden at the beginning of the second half, he began to conscientiously complete the task of blocking and covering for the outside.
The blocking of regular centers and power forwards is different, Gan Guoyang is taller and stronger, and the quality of his covering blocks is obviously higher.
The point guard of the second team relied on Gan Guoyang's cover at the top of the arc to successfully avoid the entanglement of the defender, and cut in with the ball, and the inside of the first team had to be raised to make up for the defense.
But the second team didn't want to play inside at all, and the point guard immediately attracted the defense and immediately passed the ball back to Gan Guoyang, who took a step out.
After Gan Guoyang received the ball, he held the basketball high with one hand and did not make an offensive move. Obviously he was looking for a passing opportunity.
At this time, the scoring guard on the left wing understood and immediately moved laterally from the perimeter to Gan Guoyang.
Defenders naturally have to keep an eye on it, because once the scoring guard relies on Gan Guoyang's cover to cut in from the front, then Gan Guoyang can pass a through ball directly to the guard, forming an opportunity to cut to the basket.
However, when the scoring guard circled Gan Guoyang's big pillar for half a circle and cut into the three-second zone, Gan Guoyang did not stuff the ball inside, because the players of the first team had followed up to the inside line and blocked the second team's air cutting opportunities.
But the second team didn't think about playing inside at the beginning, and their attention was actually focused on the outside attack.
The contraction of the first team's defense gave the second team a chance on the outside, and just after the second team's point guard handed the ball to Gan Guoyang, he had already relied on the cover of the small forward and slipped around the baseline to the left side, just filling the gap for the shooting guard to turn to the front door.
In this way, the defense of the left baseline of a team has been taken away by the scoring guard, forming a large vacancy, Gan Guoyang is a person to the ball, and immediately passes the ball to his own point guard after reaching the zero degree angle of the bottom line.
Shot, hit, equalize!
The second team's hot hand in the first half has not completely cooled down, relying on this open shot to equalize the score, 28:28.
"Yes! Well done, you fucking geniuses! Gan Guoyang shouted loudly, ignoring the ugly faces of the old players of the first team.
"Gray, give this arrogant guy some color, he thinks he's amazing." The point guard of the first team dribbled the ball and said to the team's center, Gray.
"No problem, pass me the ball later."
Soon, the second team fell into position, and this time they continued to use a conservative but most secure man-to-man defense.
The first team didn't use the telescopic offensive tactics anymore, and their seven-foot center Gray began to ask Gan Guoyang for the ball in the low post, and he wanted to go straight to the single.
Although Gan Guoyang did not conduct formal tactical training this summer, he never fell behind in honing his center skills.
The use of center skills in street play is inevitably criticized for not being good-looking, but Gan Guoyang is always able to flexibly switch between center and defender, which has brought some changes to the street blind outside singles.
It also made him famous on the streets of Auckland.
Now back in the regular game, Gan Guoyang will face a seven-foot-tall center.
In the card matchup, Gan Guoyang had already begun to feel some pressure, which he had not experienced in high school competitions, because he had never met a seven-foot man in high school competitions.
The difference in height of 2 inches may not seem like much, but the length of a finger in basketball often determines whether you can dodge a block or score a key shot.
Moreover, the difference in height also brings a difference in weight and body shape, and Gan Guoyang has grown to 210 pounds after a summer. But against an opponent who is seven feet tall and should weigh 220 pounds, he still struggled.
Gray pressed in front of Gan Guoyang like a gate board, and Gan Guoyang could hardly do anything other than desperately push forward.
It seems that the card position skills of the college center are very solid, and it is not so easy for Gan Guoyang to rely on technology to win as before.
Gan Guoyang failed to stop Gray from receiving the ball, and the point guard of the first team easily hoisted the ball into Gray's hands and quickly cut in, taking away the defense on the one hand, and posing a certain threat to the defense of the second team on the other.
Obviously, Gray didn't think about passing, he just wanted to single Gan Guoyang and give this arrogant newcomer a little color.
Gray dribbled inward twice and found that the newcomer behind him didn't seem to be as easy to deal with as he imagined, because he couldn't resist Gan Guoyang at all.
Although Gan Guoyang is underweight, he used to practice against Thurmond every day, which was not a joke.
But after a slight adjustment, Gray still pressed Gan Guoyang to turn over and get up directly, lightly picked up his right hand in the air, and wiped the ball into the basket without anyone interfering.
At 28:30, the first team scored a goal to regain the lead.
"Boy, don't be too arrogant, be more restrained, and remember that you are still a newcomer." Gray said to Gan Guoyang after the goal.
Gan Guoyang glanced at him and didn't pay much attention to it, because he knew that he would call back sooner or later.
If it were replaced by the previous Gan Guoyang, he would definitely say to Dippenbrock that he would return one if he gave him the ball.
But now, Gan Guoyang is more calm, and he understands that the sweetest smile is when he laughs at the end.
The second team remained resolute in their previous tactics and continued to use the outside line to find opportunities.
However, the first team also began to adjust, and their defensive formation began to expand outward, and began to use small range of pinch shots to disrupt the flow of the second team's outside passing.
This move caught the second team off guard, the fluidity of the pass was destroyed, and people couldn't reach the ball, and some of the empty spaces that ran out in this way also lost their meaning.
Seeing that the control of the ball was getting weaker and weaker, and he was about to be cut off, Gan Guoyang knew after barely getting the ball that he couldn't pass it like this anymore, so he was still at the top of the arc and began to attack independently and break through with the ball!
At this point, the defenders of the first team did not expect that this 6-foot-10 center would actually break through.
What they didn't expect was that Gan Guoyang's breakthrough technique turned out to be quite good, not like an inside player at all!
I saw him suddenly accelerate at the top of the arc, one step past the big forward who came out to make up for the defense, and then jumped directly on the edge of the three-second zone and flew into the air before Gray on the inside pounced on the block.
Before Gray even had time to jump, Gan Guoyang had already made a layup, and his body had already begun to fall.
At 30:30, the two sides are tied again!
"Well, I didn't dunk on your head, it's been a lot more restrained." Gan Guoyang pretended to be well-behaved and said to Gray, as if he was not arrogant to score a layup like this.
"If you can dunk on my head, I'll buy you a boxed lunch." Gray obviously didn't have a good temper as Gan Guoyang, Gan Guoyang provoked, and he immediately shot back.
In the team, the newcomers generally have to buy this and that for the old players, just like handymen. After training, it is generally a fixed old rule for newcomers to buy food.
"Then I'm here to thank you in advance." Gan Guoyang naturally will not show mercy.
But on the basketball court, the best way to fight back is to play well on the court.
Gray was clearly riveted with Gan Guoyang, and when it came to attack, he once again took a position on the left side of the waist, stretching out his long arm to ask his teammate for the ball.
The point guard of the first team directly hoisted the ball to Gray, and the defender of the second team did not go to the pinch, and put the two of them in the interior heads-up.
Gray's offensive skills are quite monotonous, and he is still the same three-board axe, in the position, and he pushes inward and turns to make a layup.
Gan Guoyang tried to resist the gate board in front of him, making him more uncomfortable when he made movements, and at the same time stretched out his long arms to interfere with his shooting vision.
Sure enough, Gray turned over to the basket because of Gan Guoyang's full interference, and the ball smashed on the neck of the basket.
But Gan Guoyang didn't notice to protect the backcourt rebounds because he had been trying his best to defend himself, so Gray threw himself and grabbed himself, took off the frontcourt rebounds directly under the basket, and put the ball in easily.
“Fuck!” Gan Guoyang was really annoyed at this time, he had already prevented it, but he lost the rebound.
In fact, Gan Guoyang's single defense technology should be said to be very immature.
In high school, he encountered interior players who were either shorter than him, lighter than him, unskilled, or powerless.
Therefore, Gan Guoyang's defensive pressure comes more from blocking the outside line and supplementing the inside line, while in one-on-one defense, he lacks special training and rarely has the opportunity to practice in the game.
The entire state of California has produced the most NBA players in history, but the most famous here are their guards.
Gan's strong opponents in the California league are also those famous defenders, such as Gary Payton, Kevin Johnson, and Reggie Miller.
In the future, California will also have excellent backcourt players such as Russell Westbrook, Baron Davis, and Jason Kidd, and their interior line, only the last glory of white center, Bill Wharton, and the future Kevin Love, can really make a difference.
In this case, Gan Guoyang suddenly encountered a 7-foot college center, and he was naturally more difficult to deal with.
Gan Guoyang adjusted his mentality, finished serving the ball on the baseline, and continued to concentrate on attacking.
He knew that tantrums, if they weren't turned into motivation, would only make things worse.
Since the first team has changed its defensive strategy, the second team's attack has not been as smooth as it was in the first half.
What's more, what really supported the second team in the first half was their sudden hot feel, and the feeling couldn't be stopped, and the feel was not as good as a pig.
"Phew!" Knight relied on Gan Guoyang's blocking to get a glimmer of opportunity, but the shot couldn't go in. The second team's shooting percentage began to drop.
Fortunately, because the first team's defense was more open and the interior was understaffed, Knight's ball jumped farther, so the small forward of the second team got the frontcourt rebound, and the second team was able to reorganize the offense.
At this time, Gan Guoyang cut from the top of the arc to the waist position, but did not carry the basket to the position, but to face the basket to ask for the ball.
The small forward of the second team passed the ball to Gan Guoyang, and Gray immediately stepped forward to defend.
Gan Guoyang is a good hand at hitting the back basket, but his basket is not bad either, especially when playing on the street, his one-step breakthrough to the basket and the pull-up jump shot after dribbling are extremely lethal weapons.
But against Gray, he didn't force a break, and he didn't make a direct jump shot.
Gan Guoyang's palm is huge, and it can be said that it is extremely easy to catch the ball with one hand, and he is holding the basketball in his right hand, and suddenly sends his hand forward and puts it behind Gray's head!
Gray was startled, thinking that Gan Guoyang had passed the ball to the inside, and hurriedly turned around to make up for the defense or grab the rebound, but when he turned around, he found that the basket was empty.
When he looked back at Gan Guoyang, Gan Guoyang had already pulled up the shot directly, "bang", and the ball hit the board directly into the frame. The two teams were tied again.
It's a common street move, fake a pass behind the head, and then shoot directly after the opponent's attention is distracted, which Gan Guoyang learned on the streets of Oakland.
At this moment, Gray can be said to be a little angry, he didn't expect Gan Guoyang to use such a means to tease him!
Gray, who was already unhappy with Gan Guoyang in his heart, was tricked like this, and then saw Gan Guoyang running back casually, as a senior, he could no longer control his emotions and rushed directly to Gan Guoyang!
Gan Guoyang was still running back to prepare to return to defense, but suddenly felt the wind in the back of his head, as if someone was rushing towards him!
He subconsciously lowered his head, but a fist grazed his scalp and swung it over, it was Gray, and he actually punched Gan Guoyang in the back.
Fortunately, Gan Guoyang reacted quickly, otherwise he would have been punched by a 7-foot man, but he would have been dizzy for a long time.
Gan Guoyang also reacted suddenly, and the fire in his heart also bubbled up, but he was teased a little, and he was about to beat someone.
This is a basketball game, as long as you don't foul it, no matter what kind of provocation you suffer, the best thing to do is to respond with basketball.
Even if you want to fight, then it is not a big deal to fight from the front, and Gan Guoyang has not fought with each other on the street.
But punching from behind looks a little "dirty".
Gan Guoyang is not a bully, seeing Gray sneaking up behind him, he lowered his head to avoid him, and hugged Gray directly from below.
With a stumbling rope under his feet, he exerted another force with his whole body, and directly knocked Gray to the ground!
"Beep beep!" The referee blew a quick whistle.
This time the game can't go on, and the field is also a mess, and people on both sides are running to fight, trying to separate the two people who are entangled on the ground.
Famar's face was even more difficult to see, he didn't expect an intra-team training match to be played like this.
"Stop, stop!" Farmar rushed up and yelled, while Gan Guoyang and Gray were already scuffling on the floor.
Finally, under the drag of their teammates, the two separated from each other and stood up from the floor.
Gray's basketball jersey has been torn out of shape, and Gan Guoyang's red vest has been torn off, and his hair looks messy.
The two gasped and glared at each other, and if no one stopped them, it was estimated that they would have to fight another three hundred rounds.
"Ban ban! Both of them are banned! Don't even think about the warm-up game! Famar yelled angrily and banned the two of them, but now that school has just started, how can there be any games to play.
In this way, the first intra-team training match ended in this way, Gan Guoyang fought with the veteran players on the first day of joining the team, and he couldn't escape the reputation of "thorn head".