The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 310 New Strategies

On May 21, the entire Trail Blazers team arrived in Houston once again, ready to begin their sixth game, a do-or-die battle.

Compared to 1977, the situation has been reversed. In 1977, the Trail Blazers were down 0-2 but made a great comeback to win Game 6 at home.

Now it seems like karma has come full circle. The Trail Blazers, who were leading 2-0, have been pushed to the brink by the Rockets. While there was some luck involved, the close cooperation between the twin towers on the defensive end and Bill Fitch's brilliant tactical arrangements were the key to the Rockets' comeback.

The good news for the Trail Blazers is that they lost by a total of only 7 points in the three games.

This indicates that there is no absolute gap in their strength; rather, they were outmaneuvered tactically and lacked some luck.

Luck is a conserved thing; it won't always be good or bad, and the seven-game series will eventually come to a point of equilibrium.

Gan Guoyang scored 31, 33 and 40 points in the three games respectively, with his score increasing in each game, but he did not bring victory to the Trail Blazers.

The Rockets' dominance over the Trail Blazers' backcourt was crucial, with Drexler performing poorly and Vandeweghe and Paxson no longer being accurate.

The most fatal flaw is the point guard position; both Cort and Porter are too young and struggle to gain Ramsey's trust.

The Trail Blazers' lack of a reliable point guard was relentlessly exploited by Bill Fitch, disrupting their offensive flow.

In his Houston hotel, the day before the game, Jack Ramsey was still worried about the point guard position.

He was hesitant about whether to start Cortés, whose performances in the fourth and fifth games were less than satisfactory.

He was somewhat thin and short, and struggled to find his footing when facing the Rockets' tall and strong perimeter players.

As for Terry Porter, he is still a rookie. Can he shoulder the responsibility of organizing a team's backcourt?
After the fifth game, in the locker room, Gan Guoyang and Ramsey requested that Terry Porter start in the sixth game, as he believed Porter could do well.

While Ramsey was still hesitating, Bill Walton approached him and said, "Jack, do you remember Johnny Davis?"

Ramsey looked at Walton and nodded, saying, "I remember, of course I remember."

Johnny Davis was a point guard selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in 1976. He was selected in the second round, fifth overall, and 22nd overall.

He got some playing time in the regular season, but he was just a minor player in the playoffs until the Denver Nuggets' starting point guard Dave Tvertic suffered a severe ankle sprain and had to leave the game, meaning he would miss the crucial Game 5 and the entire Western Conference Finals series.

At the time, Jack Ramsey was also struggling with the starting point guard issue. He wanted to replace Tverick with Larry Steele, a 27-year-old, more experienced guard. He believed that Larry would bring continuity to the team, and his experience and stability were what the team needed.

But on the plane to the away game, Walton dismissed Ramsey's idea, saying it was "the worst idea I've ever heard."

Walton stated that the team should start Johnny Davis because he is agile, quick, and energetic. Although he is just a rookie, he can bring energy to the team.

"The situation is similar to what it was back then, Jack. You're probably thinking about stability, playing it safe, and getting the ball across half-court to organize the offense. Yes, Porter didn't do that well, but Sonny saw something else. He saw Porter's energy, agility, and willingness to shoot! What we need now isn't a seasoned veteran who can consistently dribble across half-court, but a shooter who can directly threaten the Rockets. We can't just treat the symptoms; we need to take the initiative. Trust me, trust Sonny's intuition."

In 1977, Walton said this to Ramsey, who muttered things like "experience, consistency, seniority, I am the coach," but in the end he accepted Walton's opinion.

In the fifth game against the Nuggets, Johnny Davis started and scored 25 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals, igniting the crowd and securing the victory. This was undoubtedly a very successful adjustment.

This time, Walton once again persuaded Ramsey to start Porter. Ramsey muttered complaints about "stability, playoff experience, and random three-point shooting," but despite his opinions, Ramsey readily agreed and was willing to listen to the team's star player's ideas.

Then Ramsey made another decision. He said to Walton, "I've decided to start you at center. What do you think?"

Walton said, "No problem, even if I break my leg, I will stay on the field and help the team win this game."

As a result, the Trail Blazers' starting lineup underwent a major change in Game 6. Center Bill Walton and Gan Guoyang moved to the power forward position, while small forward remained Vandeweghe, shooting guard Drexler, and point guard Terry Porter Jr.

This lineup differs significantly from previous lineups in its playing style. Gan Guoyang has moved to the power forward position, where his role is more flexible, and Walton's presence can alleviate some of the pressure on him. Of course, Walton's ankle will also bear more stress, and he will certainly have a significant amount of playing time tonight.

The most crucial substitution was in the backcourt. Terry Porter made his first start in the playoffs this season, and his 40-year-old, weathered face remained expressionless.

Nearly 20,000 spectators at the Summit Arena roared, confident that a win would send them back to the Finals. Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson were brimming with confidence.

In just one week, the situation has reversed, but they know they must win this game, otherwise, if it goes to a Game 7, things won't be good for the Rockets.

In these three games, Hakeem Olajuwon was completely outmatched by Gan Guoyang in terms of personal statistics, from points to rebounds to blocks to steals, including assists and field goal percentage.

But Hakeem Olajuwon didn't care, he didn't care at all. All he wanted was to win the game and take the Western Conference championship.

The silver Western Conference championship trophy sits on the sidelines, ready to be awarded to the players should they win.

At that moment, red and white ribbons will fall from the ceiling, and the roar of the 20,000 home crowd will pierce the sky—it's incredibly exciting just to think about it.

"Akim, are you already thinking about how you'll celebrate after we win?" Gan Guoyang asked, looking at Olajuwon.

Hakeem Olajuwon snapped out of his reverie, smiled, and said, "I was thinking about your cooking; it was really good."

In these three games, Hakeem Olajuwon was no longer bitter and resentful, but often talked and chatted with Gan Guoyang.

Bill Fitch thought he was wrong and told Olajuwon after the game to treat Gan Guoyang as an enemy, but Olajuwon disagreed.

He said, "I know what I'm doing, I know how to look at Forrest Gump and how to deal with him," and after winning three games, Fitch shut up.

Gan Guoyang listened to Olajuwon's words and said, "If you want to eat my cooking, you'll have to go to Portland."

Hakeem Olajuwon's face darkened. The two stopped arguing and stood in the center circle to jump for the ball, and the game began.

By the sixth game, there were few secrets left between the two sides. At this point, the competition came down to the players' form, individual abilities, and tactical synergy.

The Trail Blazers' shooting touch remained poor at the start, with Vandeweghe and Gan Guoyang failing to score, while Sampson and Olajuwon's double-teaming was very effective.

By anticipating and setting up traps in advance, and by constantly interfering with Gan Guoyang through strong confrontation, they reduced his hit rate from 60% to just over 50%.

Considering that the score difference between the two sides has been within four points in the last three games, the decrease in shooting percentage of 10 points undoubtedly had a decisive impact on the game result.

The Rockets quickly took a 6-0 lead at the start of the game. In these few games, their offensive focus has shifted from the inside to the outside, with McGrady, Lloyd and others participating extensively in the offense, attacking the Trail Blazers' wing players and guards.

Gan Guoyang was tied up in the paint by the twin towers and had no time to guard the outside. As a result, the Rockets' outside shooting was on fire everywhere. Drexler, Vandeweghe, and Paxson were not defensive stalwarts in one-on-one situations.

It can be said that Fitch made a smart move by turning the twin towers into semi-blue-collar players and making the forwards the sharpest weapons, thus exploiting the Trail Blazers' weaknesses in backcourt ball handling and forward defense.

The core guiding principle behind this is the most important one of the Forrest Gump rules—avoid Forrest Gump as much as possible, so as not to embarrass yourself.

However, after going up 6-0, the Trail Blazers' offensive machine started to operate. Gan Guoyang suddenly ran to the basket and received a pass from Walton, easily scoring a layup.

Next, Gan Guoyang made a wide pass to Porter in the corner, and Porter hit a three-pointer!
After two possessions, the Trail Blazers quickly closed the gap, prompting Fitch to call a timeout.

The old fox immediately realized that the Trail Blazers tonight were different from those before.

(End of this chapter)