The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 487 Deadline

After hearing Dick Motta's advice, Barkley finally understood why Aguirre and Motta fought every day in Dallas.

"Are you trying to kill me, old man? I, Charles Barkley, am absolutely outmatched by Forrest Gump in a one-on-one situation, whether on offense or defense."

Barkley can only gain an advantage by avoiding Forrest Gump, utilizing fast breaks, outside shooting, and offensive rebounds.

This is still an offensive move. Let Barkley guard Gan Guoyang. He can help defend a few times occasionally, and if he's lucky, he might even steal a block.

But when it comes to one-on-one defense or going to the mid-range to challenge someone, Barkley knows he's just giving away points.

There's a significant height difference between the two, and Barkley's much-vaunted strength isn't an advantage either, so there's no way to defend against him.

Fortunately, Dick Motta is the Bullets' assistant coach, so he only has the authority to advise, not to make decisions.

Head coach Wes Unseld rejected the veteran coach's suggestion, telling Barkley to focus on help defense and control the defensive rebounds, and not to do anything suicidal.

Unseld asked Motta, "Dick, are you crazy? What kind of terrible idea are you coming up with now, sending Charles to guard Forrest Gump? That's giving away points."

Dick Motta said, "Defense isn't just about physique and technique; it's also about determination and momentum! If you're afraid of the opponent's star player because of your size and technical shortcomings, and you don't bravely engage in duels, you won't win the game! Have you forgotten about you and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?"

In 1971, a young Unseld led the Bullets to the NBA Finals, where they faced the Milwaukee Bucks and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—who was then known as Alcindor.

Unseld defended Kareem Abdul-Jabbar throughout the series, allowing Abdul-Jabbar to average 27 points and 18 rebounds per game with a 60% field goal percentage, effectively shutting him out.

At that time, the tall and long-armed Jabbar was performing skyhook maneuvers in front of the short and stocky Unseld, who could only see Jabbar's armpits when he looked up.

Unseld sighed, thinking to himself, "You really know how to bring up the most sensitive topics."

I was guarding Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the Finals, and I couldn't even reach his head. How could I possibly guard him?

Unseld is a well-known master of getting slammed, having been swept twice in four Finals appearances, once by a gentleman's sweep, and his only win came in a Game 7.

It was a hard-won victory, and a decisive defeat.

Therefore, Unseld knows best that talent is often something that cannot be overcome.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was 7 feet 2 inches tall with an exceptional wingspan and could even hit a hook shot; you just couldn't defend him.

You can only think about how to limit him and beat his team from the perspective of the whole team, not how to shut down this individual.

Forrest Gump was the same; although he wasn't particularly tall, he had a long wingspan and incredible strength.

Unseld doubted that even he at his peak would have a tough time playing in a low position.

Barkley is a genius, but he's lacking on defense; his physical attributes are simply too poor.

Therefore, in the fourth quarter, Unseld did not heed the advice of veteran coach Dick Motta and did not let Barkley go one-on-one against Gan Guoyang.

The mentor and student have different understandings of basketball.

But the result seems to be no different.

If you don't let Barkley guard you, no one else can guard you either.

By the fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang's touch and offensive rhythm gradually returned.

Gan Guoyang experienced all of Rick Mahorn's bench-pulling maneuvers, Moses Malone's three-quarter fronting maneuvers, Manute Bol's sheer height, and Muggsy Bogues' between-the-legs steals, but still managed to regain his offensive form.

He combines his drives and mid-range shots, launching attacks from a 45-degree angle, using only these two moves.

If you're close, just drive; if you're spread out, shoot; if you're double-teamed, pass. It's simple and straightforward.

The bullets' defensive strength is sufficient, but it lacks depth, and there is too little interference from the outside.

Gan Guoyang scored 11 consecutive points in the fourth quarter, leading the Trail Blazers on a 14-4 run to widen the gap.

Gan Guoyang has already scored 32 points, laying the foundation for the Trail Blazers' victory.

When the plan to keep Gan Guoyang's score below 30 points failed, and seeing Gan Guoyang keep scoring, Unseld and the Bullets players knew that this stalemate had also failed.

Charles Barkley faced intense defense from Gan Guoyang throughout the fourth quarter, and could only pass the ball to his teammates to score, while his own offense was completely shut down.

Bernard King's knee was heavily bandaged; he's no longer the scoring champion he was in New York, otherwise he would have definitely gone all out to score against the Trail Blazers in the fourth quarter. As for Jeff Malone, his mid-range shot was very accurate, but his defense was quite poor, and he contributed almost nothing besides scoring.

Drexler scored 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting against his defense.

Ultimately, the Trail Blazers defeated the Bullets 91-85 at the Capital Indoor Stadium, securing their first victory after the All-Star break.

Gan Guoyang scored 32 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and blocked 6 shots, demonstrating his strong dominance on the court.

Of course, his accuracy was suppressed to 51% by bullets tonight, which is quite low for him.

After the game, Bernard King and Charles Barkley went to the away locker room to greet Gan Guoyang.

"If you guys had come before the match, I might have gone easy on you during the game. What's the point of coming after the match? We've finished all our matches for this year, see you next season," Gan Guoyang joked.

"Who said that? Our goal is the Finals. Aren't you planning to play in the Finals?" Barkley said.

"Shit, now everyone's saying they want to play in the finals. Is the finals some kind of prostitute you can just walk into whenever you want?"

Gan Guoyang knew that the bullets were very powerful, but their defense was indeed problematic.

They need further coaching to make their defense more resilient and layered.

Charles Barkley, in particular, as the team's core player, will struggle to reach the Finals if he cannot make outstanding contributions on the defensive end.

Even Bird, although he was a tough opponent in one-on-one defense, did a great job in rebounding, help defense, and rotation defense.

Moreover, the Bullets have the appearance of a defensive team, but lack defensive talent and resilience.

Jeff Malone, Bernard King, and Steve Colter were not good defensive players.

The only truly defensively capable players on the team are Moses Malone and Rick Mahorn in the paint.

It's good enough if the outside players don't act like sieves, let alone the main dam.

The defensive effectiveness of bullets relies entirely on slowing down the pace and increasing intensity, lacking subtle variations.

Once Gan Guoyang found his rhythm, a simple mid-range drive and shot combination left the Bullets defense completely stumped in the fourth quarter, and the players didn't know what to do.

This meat grinder doesn't grind the meat finely enough; they need more training, or perhaps a real defense expert.

Gan Guoyang didn't take the Bullets too seriously; it was just another tough, physical battle, which was common in the NBA during the 80s and 90s.

After saying goodbye to Barkley and King, Gan Guoyang and the team returned to Portland to continue their regular season journey.

In the following games, Gan Guoyang scored high points in succession, scoring 38, 41 and 45 points respectively against old rivals such as the SuperSonics, Suns and Clippers.

In the home game against the Golden State Warriors on February 18, Gan Guoyang scored a whopping 55 points—Gan Guoyang always manages to score high points whenever he plays against the Warriors.

Joe Barry Carroll suffered again, becoming Gan Guoyang's target.

Gan Guoyang not only scored high points, but also delivered 8 blocks in the game, leaving the Warriors players dizzy.

Adelman shook his head on the sidelines, but there was nothing he could do. He knew that Gan Guoyang was in form and no one could stop him.

Thanks to Gan Guoyang's outstanding performance, the Trail Blazers achieved a five-game winning streak, and Gan Guoyang also won the league's Player of the Week award for his excellent statistics and performance on the court.

Even with such a strong performance, the Trail Blazers are still outperformed by the Los Angeles Lakers in terms of record.

On the trade deadline at the end of February, the Trail Blazers traveled to Los Angeles to face the Los Angeles Lakers on the road. This was the fourth meeting between the two teams this season.

The Trail Blazers lost all three of their previous games, including a crushing defeat at the beginning of the season.

Just before departure, a news report about a deal came over the radio:

Before the trade deadline, the Washington Bullets and the Milwaukee Bucks completed a swap.

The Bullets traded Jeff Malone and draft picks to the Bucks in exchange for Sidney Moncrief.

(End of this chapter)