The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 610 The Muscle Era
Before the start of this season, Bobby Bellman informed Forrest Gump that his playing time would be further reduced this year.

In the 1986-1987 season, Gan Guoyang's playing time peaked at 43 minutes, and then steadily declined in each subsequent season.

Both Jack Ramsey and Bobby Bellman knew that Forrest Gump's health represented everything for the Trail Blazers.

In the 88 season, Gan Guoyang's playing time dropped to 41 minutes, in the 89 season it was 40 minutes, in the early 90 season it was 38 minutes, and then it gradually rose back to 39 minutes.

Even though his playing time has decreased year by year, Gan Guoyang's playing time has always been the highest in the league. However, his leading position has gradually become comparable to that of some other players.

This year, Bielman hopes to limit Agan's playing time to 38 minutes, giving him more rest time and saving his best form for crucial moments and the playoffs.

On the other hand, it gives the team's young players and role players more opportunities to play and gain experience.

Reggie Lewis's powerful dunk ignited Gan Guoyang's passion, and he stood up to cheer and applaud his new teammate.

At the same time, he nudged Bobby Bellman, who was standing on the sidelines with his arms crossed, looking cocky, and said, "Bobby, it's my turn to play! Aren't you going to make a substitution?"

Bellman checked the time; it had been a little over four or five minutes into the second quarter. He said, "Wait a little longer. You can come on after six minutes."

"Wait again? My hands are getting cold."

"I'll let you play more in the second half, don't worry."

Gan Guoyang's current playing time is 10 minutes in the first quarter, 6 minutes in the second quarter, 12 minutes in the third quarter, and 10 minutes in the fourth quarter.

The total time is around 38 minutes.

In the second quarter, in order to give substitutes and second-string players enough time, Berman only gave Gan Guoyang five to six minutes of playing time.

In the crucial third quarter that determines the outcome, Gan Guoyang will play the entire quarter to ensure the team's victory.

Take a short break in the fourth quarter and make a final sprint.

This playing time arrangement is reasonable and suits Gan Guoyang's playing habits.

Gan Guoyang could only wait patiently until halfway through the second quarter, when the game went into an official timeout after a dead ball situation.

Since the NBA switched from live television broadcasts to pre-recorded games, the concept of an official timeout has emerged. This means that if neither team calls a timeout after 6 minutes and 59 seconds of play in a quarter, a dead ball situation occurs, and an official timeout is automatically initiated.

Official timeouts allow players to catch their breath and rest on the bench, and also make it easier for television broadcasters to insert commercials during the game.

Gan Guoyang rested for 7 minutes in the second quarter, which gave young players such as Reggie Lewis, Petrovic, and Cliff Robinson ample time to perform.

These three players have all shown strong offensive aggression, and when paired with Curry on the perimeter and veteran Thompson in the paint, they can form a very balanced tactical lineup.

However, while their offense is strong, their defense is relatively weak, and the Trail Blazers and Rockets were evenly matched in the second quarter.

The Trail Blazers were firing on all cylinders, but they couldn't stop Hakeem Olajuwon from wreaking havoc in the paint, forcing them to double-team him frequently, which gave the Rockets opportunities on the perimeter.

The Rockets' counterattack was quite good tonight; in the first game of the new season, the players' legs were full of energy.

Gan Guoyang was cold for 7 minutes before returning to the game. With 5 minutes left in the second quarter, he needed to find his offensive rhythm as soon as possible.

He didn't try to force his way to the basket himself. He knew Olajuwon was in great form on both offense and defense tonight, so he roamed the perimeter, leaving the inside to Sabonis and Korsey.

In the Princeton offense, Cauchy will take on a lot of inside scoring duties. After all, his outside shooting is average and he's as strong as an ox, so having him attack the basket is a good choice.

After Gan Guoyang passed the ball inside, he immediately followed up and rushed into the three-second zone to fight for the offensive rebound. Kersey's layup was interfered with by Thorpe and missed, but Gan Guoyang overpowered Olajuwon and scored with a one-handed putback.

In one-on-one defense, it was no longer Sabonis who was marking Olajuwon, but Gan Guoyang who personally stepped in to closely guard Olajuwon.

Hakeem Olajuwon's attack pressure suddenly increased, he was stripped of the ball once, and his turnaround hook shot was blocked once, and he immediately fell silent.

Having gotten plenty of rest, Gan Guoyang played very smartly, focusing his energy on competing, grabbing, running, and jumping, rather than gambling on his shooting touch.

The Trail Blazers have many scoring options right now: Sabonis, Kersey, Porter, and Petrovic. Give them more playing time, and they're all players who can average 20+ points per game.

Hakeem Olajuwon was not afraid of tall players like Domantas Sabonis. He was fast, explosive, agile, and had an excellent shooting touch.

The only player who is similar to or slightly shorter than him, with a low center of gravity and stable chassis, equally fast footwork, strong explosiveness, and most importantly, better strength than him, is really difficult for Hakeem Olajuwon to play against.

For four or five consecutive possessions, the Rockets' attempts to get Hakeem Olajuwon to attack with the ball were unsuccessful, as Gan Guoyang thwarted all their efforts.

However, the Trail Blazers' offensive success rate was also not high. The Rockets couldn't score themselves, so they focused all their defense on physical play, collapsing and double-teaming the Trail Blazers to disrupt their passing.

Gan Guoyang and Sabonis tried to create offensive channels through passing, but their chemistry was clearly lacking, and the Rockets' defense was very solid in the latter part of the second quarter.

The game became suffocating, with both teams struggling to score. It was a high-intensity, slow-paced half-court battle, with the big men relentlessly battling in the paint.

Offensive rebounds and second-chance opportunities have become the best ways to score, as it is very difficult for a first-chance player to penetrate a dense defense.

The style of basketball in the 90s was gradually taking shape, and the era of fast-paced, high-scoring basketball in the 80s was over.

Both teams have tall and strong interior players. In addition to Hakeem Olajuwon and Thorpe, the Rockets also have Larry Smith, who was transferred from the Warriors. Gan Guoyang first met Larry Smith 10 years ago when he was a rookie with the Warriors and could grab 5 offensive rebounds a game. When Gan Guoyang was in high school, he was already holding his own against Smith one-on-one at the Oakland Center.

Ten years have passed, and Larry Smith has gone from a promising rookie to a 33-year-old veteran center.

He played for the Warriors for nine years before leaving the Bay Area last season to join the Houston Rockets as their sixth man.

The intense battle and competition for possession in the paint between the two sides made the atmosphere of competition on the court increasingly intense.

However, both sides played cleanly, and the confrontation was purely basketball-style, with no unnecessary moves.

In the final offensive play of the second quarter, Gan Guoyang jumped repeatedly under the basket, grabbed an offensive rebound, and made a layup, which was blocked by Hakeem Olajuwon.

He grabbed the rebound again, rose up again, and was knocked away by Thorpe from behind. But he was still able to control the ball, squeeze to the other side of the basket, and finish the attack with a one-handed dunk!

At halftime, the score was 45-44, with the Rockets leading the Trail Blazers by one point.

Both teams scored very little tonight, and each team learned some defensive secrets from the Pistons, Trail Blazers, and Bulls.

Although the Pistons are known for their dirty plays, they have a lot of other things to offer besides dirty plays.

For example, a pseudo-zone defense, early double-teaming, and pressure and interference on the player with the ball.

They also learned from the Trail Blazers how interior players could sweep and surround the ball handler, and how well-organized rotations brought defensive resilience.

The Chicago Bulls offered a different defensive approach, relying on perimeter double-teams, help defense, and full-court pressuring of the ball handler to delay the opponent's offense and disrupt their rhythm.

In short, the NBA is slowly entering a defensive era, with teams becoming increasingly stronger defensively and employing more sophisticated defensive strategies.

Not only are centers and power forwards increasing the muscle mass in their arms, but smaller perimeter players are also making themselves stronger and more aggressive.

A testosterone-fueled, muscle-bound era is dawning.

As John Weitzer predicted, the Trail Blazers' Princeton offense faltered, and they trailed at halftime.

But in the third quarter, Gan Guoyang still insisted on leading his teammates to try the Princeton offense.

They did not adhere rigidly to the tactics outlined in the tactical manual, but adapted them to the actual situation.

For example, when they execute the "chin" series of tactics, Gan Guoyang will appear frequently on the flank of position 4, a position he has rarely used in the past.

The core of this tactic is that the power forward has the ball on the wing, clears the area under the basket, and then the small forward makes a backdoor cut to the basket to look for a backdoor opportunity.

However, in the high-intensity defense of the NBA, finding a backdoor is not so easy. After trying this tactic twice and failing to find an opportunity, Gan Guoyang simply launched an attack from the wing or passed the ball to the cutting shooting guard Reggie Lewis, allowing Lewis to receive the ball and directly attack the basket.

This is something that is not present in the Princeton offense, because the Princeton offense assumes that players are mediocre and do not have the ability to dribble past opponents one-on-one. Therefore, players need to constantly run, pass, and cut to find the best open opportunities.

The Trail Blazers are different; they can be flexible and can force an attack even when there are no open shots.

This "chin" series gave Reggie Lewis room to operate, and he and Agan formed a one-on-one interaction on the strong side, making it impossible for the Rockets' defense to coordinate.

Hakeem Olajuwon was also tied up, leaving the rim unprotected. Lewis then attacked the basket repeatedly in the third quarter, scoring with floaters, layups, and dunks.

He was a bit awkward in the first quarter, but gradually found his rhythm in the second half, and he also realized how comfortable it was to play alongside Forrest Gump.

In the Celtics, he had to clean up Larry Bird's messes; in Portland, Forrest Gump could cover for everyone.

The Trail Blazers went on an 11-3 run against the Rockets in the third quarter to take the lead.

Gan Guoyang delivered 5 assists in half a quarter, dominating the game with his passing.

However, in the latter part of the third quarter, the Trail Blazers' offense went cold again.

They made several mistakes while running tactics, or players collided with each other during runs, which were basic errors.

The Rockets seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack, narrowing the gap to 3 points. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 62-65, with the Trail Blazers in the lead.

Rockets' new addition Kenny Smith played exceptionally well, spearheading the Rockets' comeback when Hakeem Olajuwon was contained.

Bill Shawnley was somewhat confused by the Trail Blazers' game, saying he didn't understand some of the offensive possessions.

"Mistake, mistake, another positioning error, oh~ the Trail Blazers seem to be playing a bit hesitantly."

"They have a player who can run and jump like Clyde, but they seem to play slower and more sluggishly."

"In the third quarter, instead of launching an explosive attack to tear their opponents apart, they exposed weaknesses and gave the Rockets a chance to catch up."

"However, we still have full confidence in this team because we have Forrest Gump, the best basketball player on the planet."

(End of this chapter)