The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 547 The Debate on Passing and Shooting
In their last two games in November, the Trail Blazers secured two more victories at home.

Throughout November, they achieved an outstanding record of 14 wins and 1 loss, firmly holding the top spot in the league.

Gan Guoyang won the league's Player of the Month award for November with averages of 29.4 points, 13.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 2.8 blocks per game.

和甘国阳竞争的正是尤因，尤因在11月场均28分10个篮板2.1次封盖，尼克斯9胜5负，已经是很漂亮的战绩了。

However, compared to Forrest Gump and the Trail Blazers, they paled in comparison and could only rank second in the selection.

The Trail Blazers had a pretty perfect start to the season and a pretty perfect November.

As we entered December, the last December of the 1980s, the Trail Blazers' record tended to fluctuate every December.

In December, players are usually in good physical condition, but their mental state tends to become lax as Christmas approaches.

The Trail Blazers finished their sweet home schedule in November and embarked on their first Eastern Conference road trip of the season.

For this away trip, they will travel to the far south coast, to Florida, to begin their journey in the sunny Caribbean.

The Trail Blazers' No. 1 plane took off in the early hours of December 12st. The Trail Blazers players had just finished playing against the Rockets and were scheduled to arrive in Denver, Colorado, on the evening of the 2nd.

The game against the Nuggets was a warm-up game before their Eastern Conference road trip, and these back-to-back road trips are the most exhausting and tiring for the players.

When traveling by plane, people often take a break to play cards, chat, and discuss recent interesting news and events.

Tonight, everyone just wants to sleep and get some rest to prepare for the upcoming away game.

Petrovich didn't sleep. He wrapped himself in a blanket and lay half-reclined in his seat, with a reading lamp on, engrossed in reading the three hundred sets of tactics manuals that Behrman had given him.

He and Divac each took half of the book; he had already memorized his half and was now starting on the other half.

Basketball tactics may vary, but they all boil down to the same basic principles. When five players are on the court, the basic moves of passing, cutting, running, screening, and shooting are all the same.

Different tactics mainly differ in their focus and are based on different strategic ideas.

The Trail Blazers' core offensive strategy in the first half remains the same: two fewer fast breaks, less passing, and more three-pointers.

Less fast breaks doesn't mean no fast breaks; it just means the Trail Blazers are more cautious about initiating them. If the opportunity isn't perfect, they tend to stick to half-court sets.

Less passing doesn't mean one-on-one play, but rather that passing must be fast, accurate, and powerful enough to break through the opponent's defense and create opportunities for the team to move around.

Don't keep passing the ball around on the perimeter. If you're going to do that, you might as well take the ball and attack directly. Don't waste time passing it around.

The increased use of three-pointers is easy to understand; teams are now shooting more and more three-pointers more decisively.

Combining these ideas with his experience in games, Petrovic can feel that he is becoming more and more adaptable to the NBA.

In tonight's game against the Rockets, Petrovic came off the bench for 19 minutes and scored a career-high 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists, marking his best performance since entering the NBA.

Such statistics would be considered a major setback for Petrovic in European leagues, and would be subject to criticism from the local media.

But in the NBA, it became a small milestone in Petrovic's journey abroad. He was so excited that he couldn't sleep, looking at the tactics manual and muttering to himself.

Divac, who was sitting to the side, was half asleep when Petrovic woke him up and complained, "Pete, why don't you take a nap? Are you still memorizing tactics here? My God, I don't think you were this attentive in elementary school."

Petrovich said, "Hey, test me, Vlad. Give me a tactical signal, and I'll describe the movement."

Divac shook his head and said, "Oh, you really don't need to rest? Rest is just as important as studying... Water Clock Three."

"Water Clock No. 3, the center holds the ball at a 45-degree angle. After a series of fake screens, the center drives through the middle and attacks the basket directly or passes the ball to the two wingers who are cutting."

"Correct answer. Okay, don't make me test you anymore."

"Then I'll test you." "..."

Divac was speechless, but he couldn't argue with Petrovic and had to be pulled up to recite the tactics.

As the test progressed, the two disagreed on some core issues concerning the team's tactical strategy.

Divac believes that the core of the Trail Blazers' system is passing. "Surgery-like ball movement is the key to what sets us apart from other teams. During our training, Coach Bellman places great emphasis on the accuracy and power of the passes, not allowing soft passes or defensive ball-handling. This is the biggest difference between us and other teams. The coach forces us to make the best choices and the most imaginative options."

Petrovic, however, had a different idea. He believed that the core of the system was shooting. "No, no, no, Vlad, the real core of Coach Bellman's system is shooting. Look at these tactics we've memorized; most of them have one option: the ball handler can directly initiate the attack with a shot. And look at our roster; everyone has mid-range and long-range shooting ability, from center to guard, and our bench too. We are the most shooting-focused team in the league; we even have a dedicated shooting coach!"

Both of them have valid points from their respective perspectives.

Every basketball team emphasizes shooting and passing, but the Trail Blazers definitely place particular emphasis on these two fundamental skills.

As for which one is most important, Petrovich and Divac naturally have different understandings due to their different perspectives.

Petrovic is a ball-handling scorer, so he naturally believes that shooting is more important.

Divac, being a pass-oriented center forward, naturally believes that passing is more important.

Divac was supposed to go to sleep, but he didn't sleep at all because of his argument with Petrovich.

When they got off the plane, the two asked Mitchell Thompson, the most senior player on the team and the one who had played the longest, what the core of Coach Bellman's tactical system was.

Thompson looked at the two Yugoslavian idiots with the eyes of someone looking at them as if they were fools, and said, "The core of the Bellman coaching system is, of course, Forrest Gump."

Petrovic said, "We're not talking about player dominance; we're talking about whether shooting or passing is more important."

Thompson snorted and said, "Forrest Gump is the most important."

Seeing their confusion, Thompson whispered, "You should take a look at Coach Bellman's resume and see how he achieved success and won the championship."

"And I want to tell you all that in basketball, the decisive factor is always the players, not the tactics. Tactics are there to combine players, support them, and ultimately make them successful. You must understand this in the NBA."

It will take some time for European players to fully understand this.

However, in the game against the Nuggets on the 2nd, Petrovic and Divac quickly gained a better understanding of this point.

Due to the long journey and back-to-back games, the Trail Blazers were in poor form and trailed by as many as 18 points at halftime against the high-scoring Nuggets.

As a result, Gan Guoyang scored 22 points in the third quarter alone, erasing the 18-point deficit and sending the two sides into the fourth quarter.

Gan Guoyang was unstoppable every time he played against the Nuggets, because the Nuggets didn't really stop him either, which led to Gan Guoyang scoring high points frequently.

Gan Guoyang scored another 20 points in the fourth quarter, bringing his halftime total to 42 points and his total to 57 points, helping the Trail Blazers defeat the Nuggets 142-138 on the road, securing their third consecutive win and getting off to a good start to their road trip.

Nuggets head coach Doug Mo was shaking his head on the sidelines, completely helpless.

Fortunately, Forrest Gump showed mercy and didn't attempt a three-pointer on the final possession; otherwise, he could have scored at least 60 points.

Back then, Doug Mo's statement, "You can win if you score 60 points," led to a playoff loss to rookie Forrest Gump, who scored 60 points, becoming the biggest joke of his coaching career.

Now Petrovic and Divac had a deeper understanding of Thompson's words.

However, Petrovic still said, "You see, shooting is still the most important thing, otherwise how could Forrest Gump have scored so many points?"

Divac: "..."

(End of this chapter)