Chapter 111: Born Superstar
(The editor said that it would be on the shelves at the end of the month, and I didn't think much about it, but I didn't expect it to be suddenly put on the shelves today.) Yesterday, because I added friends outside of class, I broke the change, and I broke the change before it was put on the shelf, the first time, which I didn't expect. So, although I can post a VIP today, I still decided to post a chapter to the public as compensation for yesterday. At the same time, thank you SpongeBob SquarePants for not killing his own wife, and also helped me send a note about it, thank you. Thank you editor Guada, I don't communicate much, mainly blame me for being lazy, but every time Guada sends a message, it's good news, so I like to see Guada's avatar shiny, and thank you to the book friends who vote to read books every day, as well as the jrs of hupu. I'm too lazy to write a testimonial on the shelf, so I'll just talk about three sentences here, subscribe if you can, if you can't, it doesn't matter, three sentences are finished! )
The third quarter of the game ended in a high-speed rhythm like a track and field race, and Gan Guoyang's feeling on the court in this section of the game was "run, run, run." ”
The main opportunity for the two sides to stop the break is when the coach calls a timeout, or someone commits a foul.
It's just that both sides don't even have very few fouls, because both sides are using jump shots as a means of finishing offense, no breakthroughs, no strong hits, no positional offenses, no fouls.
Van de Verkiw and Wilkes melted the defence on both sides with their fiery touch.
The NBA game is like this, when the rhythm of both sides is up, it will enter a strange "no defense" style of offensive battle; Or the rhythm of both sides can't get up, then it enters a tug-of-war of "can't score goals".
The Lakers are hoping to take the Trail Blazers away through the high tempo of the third quarter; The Trailblazers also use a high tempo to maintain the gap between the two, and then play a fast pace to save physical strength, so as to save hope and energy until the fourth quarter, and then start a decisive battle with the opponent!
The third quarter was a game for Wilkes and Vanderwig, as well as a game for Magic Johnson.
Gan Guoyang once again felt that when Magic Johnson was on the court, his extraordinary control ability and unparalleled creativity when pushing the fast break, under his leadership, every player of the Lakers seemed to be stained with the talent of the fast break, and everyone was using a no-look-pass to perform.
The Trail Blazers' fast offense isn't inferior in comparison, and if Magic Johnson is the Lakers' jet engine, then Drexler is the Trail Blazers' propeller.
In the third quarter, Ramsey put Drexler in charge of the team's offense, and this time Ramsey didn't set too many rules for Drexler, but told him to "play your energy according to the situation on the court." ”
Drexler began to pick up backcourt rebounds, began to possess the ball across the halfcourt, and began to give his teammates shooting opportunities with passes that were not inferior to those of super point guards.
When he runs on the floor with his head down, it always feels like he's going to run to the bottom, but in the end he can get the ball to the right place for his teammates to be comfortable shooting.
Gan Guoyang, who shone in the first half, performed mediocre in the third quarter, and in the middle of the third quarter, Ramsey replaced him off the court, he didn't want to watch the team's center do a senseless turnaround run on the court, and he couldn't even touch the ball after three rounds.
This is also the gap between Gan Guoyang and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he can't fit into this high-speed offensive and defensive rhythm well, his retreat is great, but his fast-break involvement is not enough.
When the speed on the court is very fast, Gan Guoyang can't quickly judge what he should do, whether to go fast in the middle or stay in the backcourt to prevent the Lakers from breaking and counterattacking, he still needs to accumulate game experience.
So Ramsey put him on the bench and told him to rest well and prepare for the showdown in the fourth quarter.
Gan Guoyang sat on the bench, looking at everything on the court, and he suddenly felt that maybe the Lakers were not so strong, and what they could do, the Trail Blazers could also do.
The Trail Blazers are also full of talent, they have a group of talented players, and they also have a good championship coach.
"The Trail Blazers are no worse than the Lakers!" This is the thought that comes to Gan Guoyang's mind.
When Vanderwich hit the three-pointer, Gan stood up from the bench, raised his arms and cheered for the goal with his teammates on the bench.
"We can beat them! We can be the best! Gan Guoyang couldn't help but say, and Ramsey looked at Gan Guoyang and grinned.
Gan Guoyang looked at Ramsey's expression, not quite understanding what his smile meant, whether he was encouraging himself or laughing at himself.
But when the fourth quarter of the game began, Gan Guoyang stood on the court and began the first attack of the final quarter of the game, he felt something different.
"Gan was in the low post, Rambis was defending him, oh, Cooper came up and got the ball off! Johnson takes the ball and launches a fast break! Worthy catches the ball and jumps for a dunk! Nice offense! Unstoppable Lakers! After a full third quarter of chatter, Zikerhorn showed no signs of fatigue.
Gan Guoyang felt very uncomfortable, and the Lakers no longer used Abdul-Jabbar to defend him, but let Rambis, the glasses man who looked like a white-collar worker in the company, entangle with him.
Gan Guoyang obviously underestimated the difficulty of this Sven glasses man, and with the sāo of Cooper, the spider monster, he had some difficulty dribbling.
"Don't pester me anymore!" He thought he could play well in the fourth quarter, but after being continuously destroyed by Rambis, he couldn't help but be a little annoyed and angry, and pushed Rambis.
Gan Guoyang was naturally blown foul, and Lambis's goal was also achieved, not to be verbose with Gan Guoyang.
"Calm down, calm down!" Ramsey yelled from the sidelines, he didn't want Gan Guoyang's brain to heat up again.
Gan Guoyang, who calmed down, found that the Lakers not only strengthened their defense, but the defense of the entire team has been strengthened by a notch.
After a nearly defenseless offensive battle in the third quarter, the Lakers' sudden increase in defensive intensity made the entire Trail Blazers very uncomfortable.
In particular, the Lakers no longer shrank their defense around the three-second zone as they did in the first three quarters, but actively expanded outward, pressing the Trail Blazers' passing lanes, which caused problems for the Trail Blazers' inside and outside connections.
The Lakers' usual defensive strategy is to shrink, force you to shoot, and if you can't shoot with a bad hand, they grab rebounds and launch a quick counterattack.
And now that the Lakers' defense is expanding, the best way to crack it is to play inside, and then pass it out.
However, Pat Riley finally grasped Gan Guoyang's lack of internal and external passing ability, and began to expand the defense of the inside and inside, and the Trail Blazers' offensive system was instantly pressed thin.
"Drexler broke through and was covered by Abdul-Jabbar! Abdul-Jabbar took the ball and made a long pass directly, and the ball went to Cooper's hand, but Cooper seemed to rush too deep, but Johnson followed behind, and Cooper made a pass from the back of his head! Magician catches and dunks! This is the Los Angeles Magic! ”
Only 3 minutes into the fourth quarter, the situation on the court changed abruptly, the Lakers relied on a few quick counterattacks and positional offenses to win the score, and suddenly stretched the score to 106:92, and the Trail Blazers only relied on Vanderwig to shoot the only two-point shot.
Ramsey had to call a timeout, and the fourth quarter began as it had started the game, and the Trail Blazers were a little stunned by the Lakers.
Gan Guoyang, who was still full of confidence before the start of the fourth quarter, was a little low all of a sudden, he thought that the Lakers were nothing more than that, he thought he could easily tear apart the Lakers' interior line, but he didn't expect them to play such a defense, which would make the Trail Blazers so ugly.
If the opening lag was due to the Trail Blazers' bad hand, they were beaten 10-2 in the fourth quarter, which was completely caused by the Trail Blazers being targeted by the Lakers and unable to play.
"Gan, you keep going to the high post, if you stay in the low post, the connection between inside and outside will be all broken, and you have to mention the high post to cover for your teammates." Ramsey decided to let Gan return to the top position.
When Gan Guoyang heard Ramsey's words, he could only nod helplessly.
Originally, Ramsey wanted to give it a try to see if Gan Guoyang, who turned the Lakers' interior upside down in the first half, could continue to be magical in the fourth quarter, as long as this point can be played, it is not a luxury to turn the game.
But Riley is worthy of being a "god operator", he still quickly saw through Gan Guoyang's weaknesses, used Lambis and Cooper to flank Gan Guoyang, let Abdul-Jabbar guard the three-second zone, and then strengthened the outside press.
If the Trailblazers want to crack such a defense, the best way is to break through, but Gan Guoyang Shen in the low position blocked half of the breakthrough space, the internal and external connections have been broken, and the offense has naturally come to a standstill.
Ramsey couldn't help but look at Pat Riley across the bench, the young coach with a hooked nose and unkempt hair, but already a scheming conductor.
Ramsey knew it would be best to revert to the opening style of play and continue to move Gan to the high post, open up the inside space and let Drexler, Van Dewejk and Paxson solve the problem.
But Ramsey also knows that Pat Riley just wants the Trail Blazers to play like this, and this kind of play will not kill the Lakers at all, and the game will only slowly go to the last second under the control of the Lakers.
Is it worth losing this game? Although losing to the Lakers in a regular season game is normal.
"No, no, Gan, if you can, I want you to attack from the high position, do you know what I mean?" Ramsey said abruptly after thinking for a moment, reversing what he had said earlier.
The players of the whole team were stunned, they didn't understand what Ramsay was talking about, Gan Guoyang was also a little strange, Ramsay asked him to attack from a high position? Let him win?
"Clyde, you and Gan do the blocking, so that Gan has a chance to attack from a high position!" Ramsey went on to say that he was going to change the tactical set-up.
In fact, in the first quarter, Gan Guoyang had a shocking basket breakthrough one-arm dunk, but later he mainly used the back basket to play.
When Ramsey was training in the team, he found that Gan Guoyang had quite good dribbling skills and very good first step skills, and later he learned that Gan Guoyang learned it on the street court.
Ramsey hated the habits and ways of playing streetball, and strictly forbade his players to play on the streets, but he also found that this might be an advantage that Gan could exploit.
One of the major shortcomings of the Lakers' interior line is that it is slow, Abdul-Jabbar is slow when he is older, and Rambis is a white man, so he is naturally slow.
Ramsey decided to take a gamble, he wanted to bet on Gan Guoyang, let Gan Guoyang attack from a high position, and use the style of play to impact the Lakers' inside!
"Come on, as long as you can break through the Lakers' defense, it can bring us victory." At the end of the timeout, Ramsey patted Gan Guoyang and said to him.
Gan Guoyang nodded again, took a deep breath, and no longer looked down on the Purple Gold Army opposite. He was a little apprehensive, but he decided to make one last ditch effort.
"The timeout is over, and I think the Trail Blazers' offense after this timeout will determine the situation of this game, and if they can't solve the offensive problems and stop the Lakers' fast break, then the outcome of this game is basically decided. The Trail Blazers must seize their opportunity and give it their all in the final ten minutes! "Zike Hearn, who has watched countless games with the Lakers, has an absolute expert grasp of the situation of the game.
"Gan really mentioned the high post, he no longer went to the low post to ask for the ball like before, but went to the high post to cover... Oh no, he holds the ball and breaks straight through the middle! Rambis couldn't keep up with him at all, so he jumped up and dunked with his left hand! It was his 27th point of the game! Breaking the scoring record of 25 points against the SuperSonics, this is only his fifth NBA game. ”
Gan Guoyang's choice to break through with the ball in the horn position was beyond the expectations of all Lakers players, they didn't expect that the little monster in the low post before could still choose to break through from the high position!
While his impact can't match that of a black player, his first move is not something that Rambis can stop, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can't make up for it.
“……… Gan held the ball high again, shook his shoulders, and broke through from the bottom line on the right side! fouled, Worthy fouled, and the Lakers could only use fouls to prevent him from scoring layups...... Gan and Draxler blocked, received a pass from Drexler, and broke through to the inside to score a layup! Oh my God, won't the Lakers be able to stop him? Let such a rookie do everything on the inside! ”
Pat Riley on the side was a little unable to sit still, and in the pre-game preparation meeting, the Trail Blazers' blocking and pick-and-roll was not in the preparation plan at all, because the Trail Blazers are not a team that likes to play pick-and-roll.
Ramsey's pick-and-roll position in his tactical system is also unimportant.
But in the fourth quarter, the Lakers' defense line was suddenly blocked by Drexler and Gan Guoyang, as well as Gan Guoyang's basket offense.
This is something Riley didn't expect at all, he had already planned to use a high tempo in the third quarter to try to drag down the Trail Blazers, and if he couldn't drag them down, then suddenly increase the defensive rhythm in the fourth quarter, making the Trail Blazers uncomfortable.
Then the margin was stretched to more than 15 points in five minutes, and finally the game was dragged out, and a regular season game was over.
But Gan Guoyang's firepower shattered Riley's wishful thinking again.
"Yes! Fantastic job! When the game entered the eighth minute of the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers, led by Gan Guoyang, had high morale and narrowed the score gap to six points, and the Lakers had to call a timeout.
Teammates stepped forward one after another to high-five Gan Guoyang.
Gan Guoyang high-fived his teammates one by one like the boss of the team, and his face was full of perseverance and domineering - although most of it was pretended.
But everyone, from teammates to coaches to team doctors to other staff, felt that this Chinese was going to be a superstar, or he was already a superstar, and he had already scored 35 points in this game.
Some people are born superstars.
For example, Johnson, the Magic of the Lakers, won the Finals MVP in his rookie season, which is unprecedented in the entire history of the NBA.
Now, in the face of another player who wants to step on the Lakers to climb to the superstar throne, the Western hegemon will certainly not let it succeed easily.
"Hey Pat, I think it's time for me to take over the game." On the Lakers bench, Johnson, who had been sitting there without saying a word, said suddenly.
Riley looked at Johnson, his relationship with Johnson is more than that of ordinary coaches and players, and it is because of Johnson that Pat Riley, an assistant coach who was once worried about whether he could continue to work in the NBA, became the helmsman of the Lakers, the purple and gold battleship, to realize his huge ambitions.
Now, the captain wants to take over.
"No problem, then let's leave the game to Magic."