The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 965 Carry Forward and Develop
Gan Guohui successfully paved the way for Yao Ming to enter the NBA, signing what could be the future second-best player in Chinese basketball.

After successfully holding a press conference in China, Gan Guohui called his brother to report on the situation on his end.

"Everything is just as you predicted, brother. Everything is settled. You truly are a master strategist, worthy of being called Zhuge Liang, a living god..."

"Alright, alright, enough with the nonsense. It's good that you've signed them. There's still a lot to come. Now that you've resigned from Glorious, you should travel to China more often, learn about the basketball talents here, and bring them to the United States, Europe, and other places."

"You're going to Europe too?"

"American basketball experience is not necessarily the best; Europe is more suitable for playing FIBA."

The two brothers talked it over. Although Gan Guoyang was not involved in the matter, he must have provided some guidance and support behind the scenes.

Regarding Yao Ming's NBA journey, like Wang Zhizhi, Hu Weidong, and others, Gan Guoyang would offer some assistance but would not interfere much.

Nowadays, Gan Guoyang focuses more on the Guanghui team, and the team is in much better shape than at the beginning of the season.

Gan Guoyang began to enjoy the basketball game more. Every night, the 48-minute competition, even though it had been repeated thousands of times, brought new situations, new opponents, and new difficulties.

The joy lies not only in victory, but in every achievement and progress made in the pursuit of victory.

Gan Guoyang continues to strive for improvement, learning new game knowledge, such as zone defense, how to play the game more efficiently and effortlessly, and how to organize fast breaks. Gan Guoyang has begun to delve deeper into these areas.

During Jack Ramsey's era, the Trail Blazers were a team with a very strong fast break.

I still remember Ramsey's "Run Run Run" during every training session and match; I used to dream about it every night when I was younger.

After Gan Guoyang joined the team, he became the team's core player, and the Trail Blazers' fast breaks decreased, since the center is the core player.

For many years afterward, the Trail Blazers were a team with excellent half-court offense, good three-point shooting, and decent fast breaks, but they weren't that important.

By the 2001-2002 season, the league's offensive pace had dropped to its lowest point.

Despite a high number of three-point attempts, the team's average score was only around 90 points.

比分经常是9X：8X，80：7X多，有时候甚至会7X：6X，比分那叫一个低。

Gan Guoyang and the Portland Trail Blazers' more than ten years of hard work in offense and three-point shooting has had a huge impact on the NBA, but it has not changed the general trend of offensive and defensive development.

Ultimately, the real force behind the scenes is the league's bigwigs, the will of David Stern and the owners. They want basketball games to be more intense, with lower scores, a slower pace, and to highlight the one-on-one role of superstars.

In addition, Stern disliked the league's style of play being unchanging, preferring something new every season and a significant change at each stage to keep things fresh for fans.

Therefore, the NBA has undergone tremendous changes in terms of the viewing experience over the past ten years, from the mid-80s to the 90s and then to the early 21st century.

New fans of this era will likely find watching game footage from over a decade ago boring, uninteresting, and incomprehensible.

Gan Guoyang is 37 years old (38 in the lunar calendar), and Mao Yimao is 40 years old, yet he remains very interested in developing tactics and strategies.

He likes to stand at the forefront of the times, at the forefront of trends, and be a leader.

He disagrees with the current trend in the league of prioritizing defense over offense; he has always been an offensive player.

In the first month of 2002, the Glory's record steadily improved. After a three-game winning streak, although they unexpectedly lost to the visiting Detroit Pistons, the Glory then achieved another three-game winning streak.

During this period, a church sexual abuse case was exposed in Boston, USA. An investigation by the Boston Globe revealed that such horrific crimes existed in the Catholic Church in the United States, and that the victims were mostly underage boys.

The five scandals that were initially revealed spread from Boston to both sides of the Atlantic as public opinion grew.

More and more cases are being exposed, not only in the United States, but all over the world. Such crimes are widespread in the Catholic Church. Over the past few decades, there have been thousands of cases in more than a dozen countries and regions, and this is only what has been exposed.

Gan Guoyang, a parent himself, was shocked and outraged by this and joined the condemnation.

A wave of anti-Catholicism swept across the United States, and it is said that the Church of Agan has gained many more followers as a result.

As February approached and the All-Star Game drew near, the Glory's record began to decline due to fatigue among their young players.

For a rookie player to play this many games in college, the season is over, and it's time to go back to school.

In the NBA, it's not even halfway there yet; the rookie wall is about to be hit.

The veteran players, including Gan Guoyang himself, were complacent due to the approaching All-Star Game and various family matters that affected their performance on the court.

Angie hasn't made any moves in the trading market either; it's unclear what he's thinking, perhaps he doesn't have a good target for the time being.

Ahead of the All-Star Game, the Glorious embarked on another road trip, heading to California, which was destined to be a tough schedule.

On the plane to Sacramento, the first stop, Gan Guoyang and Tomjanovich discussed the team's offensive strategy.

Because the team was assembled in a hurry, the hastily put-together lineup lacked a clear tactical direction.

Therefore, Glorious stands out as mediocre on both offense and defense, with his skillful use of zone defense being a major characteristic on the defensive end.

The offensive coordination is becoming increasingly fluid, but it lacks a cohesive system, relying more on individual player performances and Gan Guoyang providing support from behind.

With the season nearing its halfway point and the team gradually stabilizing, Gan Guoyang believes it's necessary to make some new plans.

He believes the team needs to speed up; they haven't scored enough points, and their offensive pace isn't fast enough.

Currently, the Glory's scoring is only at a mid-level in the league, and their firepower is insufficient.

Whenever they encounter a team with a strong offensive firepower, the Glorious team always falls behind by 10+ points and struggles to catch up.

Furthermore, a fast-paced offensive system helps reduce the burden on players.

As long as they don't run excessively fast, like the Showtime Lakers who relentlessly try to outrun their opponents, both veteran and young players prefer to play more offensively.

"But if they go any faster, our defense..."

"Offense and defense are one. And we're not going to go down the path of a tough, defensive style. I played offense my whole career with the Trail Blazers, and I won a lot of championships."

Tomjanovich hesitated, believing that the current relatively balanced state was the best fit for Glorious.

"If we speed things up further, it might disrupt the balance, worsen the defense, and make the record even worse. But Sonny, don't forget, the Trail Blazers won the championship back then because: first, their players were incredibly talented individually, able to solve problems without relying on tactics; second, your defense was arguably the best in history, capable of guarding all five positions, and your rebounding was far superior to everyone else. The Trail Blazers' defense was consistently solid, more so than many defensive teams. In that situation, investing resources in offense was the right thing to do, because further improvements in defense wouldn't yield significant returns. But Glorious's situation is different; your current defense..."

"What's wrong with my defense right now? I just occasionally put my hands on my hips. Don't get me wrong, I want to play fast breaks, not so I can put my hands on my hips more often."

"Don't just stand there with your hands on your hips. You yourself often say you've declined into Larry Bird. Don't you know how good Bird's defense was?"

Tomjanovich's words silenced Gan Guoyang.

As people age, their legs are the first to show signs of aging. If we limit Gan Guoyang's defense to the power forward position, he is still the best in the league.

However, if he plays center, he's a bit underweight, which makes him even worse for outside shooting, as his reaction speed and lateral movement are not as good as before.

The once unparalleled expansion defense, as well as the ability to defend smaller opponents, has become less and less effective and is no longer Gan Guoyang's defensive trump card.

Young Gerald Wallace is being developed into an excellent small forward, but he needs to start by controlling his fouls.

Raja Bell is destined to be a good shooting guard, but he needs more experience, and his physical condition is only average, which will be a disadvantage in high-level games.

"But for ticket sales, we still need faster and more exciting attacks to give fans a better attacking experience."

After Gan Guoyang said that, Tomjanovich understood that this was not only a basketball requirement, but also a business requirement.

A well-executed offense sells tickets, but Gerald Wallace's current fast-break dunk show at every game might not satisfy the appetite of the live audience anymore.

Because of this improvement strategy, a coach with a bad temper might have argued with Gan Guoyang, but Tomjanovich is known for his good temper, and he still tried his best to reason with him and appeal to his emotions.

He sighed helplessly and said, "If we speed up the pace, there will definitely be more mistakes in a short period of time. Can you tolerate that, Sonny?"

Gan Guoyang shook his head; making too many mistakes was torture for him on the court.

Gan Guoyang believes he is destined not to become a head coach because seeing his players make a lot of mistakes, he would definitely take off his suit and go on the field to beat his players up first.

"Furthermore, Arenas, as a point guard, is clearly stronger in individual offense than in playmaking. As for you, the next Bird, your passing and playmaking might be the only area where you don't reach Bird's level. Who will be the one to distribute the ball?"

Despite Lao Tang's ruthless exposure, Gan Guoyang was not angry; the two had a very good relationship in private.

Old Tang is an open-minded, humorous, and down-to-earth person. As a coach, he genuinely respects and cares for the players and doesn't engage in the Spartan-style locker room politics.

He is much better than many coaches who treat players as pawns or tools, whipping them to play hard and work hard to increase their own performance.

To succeed as a coach in the NBA, you need to be tough and ruthless; otherwise, it's very difficult.

Among all the ruthless and tough coaches, Lao Tang is truly one of the best in terms of character and personality. Gan Guoyang doesn't care at all that Lao Tang speaks bluntly.

"How about we try Princeton?" Gan Guoyang had a sudden inspiration when he thought about the team going to Sacramento soon.

The Trail Blazers played Princeton offense for a long time, and their offense was influenced by the Princeton offensive philosophy for a long period of time.

Even today, despite Carlisle transforming the Trail Blazers into a defensive team, their offense still occasionally shows traces of the Princeton offense.

Backdoor runs, high-post playmaking, and cuts to the basket—these skills become ingrained, influencing a player's and a team's offense.

"Who will play Sabonis?"

Miller.

Gan Guoyang insisted on recruiting Miller into the team because he had the intention of playing against Princeton.

Judging from Brad Miller's offensive performance in the previous two seasons and this season, he does have the ability to facilitate from the high post, and his mid-range jump shot from the top of the arc is also quite accurate. He is not the kind of traditional center in the paint.

During his college years, Miller played in the NCAA, and in his best season, he averaged 2.9 assists per game.

This is quite a high number, because Arenas, as a point guard, only averaged 2.3 assists per season at the University of Arizona, which is less than Miller, a center.

“Look at our roster. The Kings have Divac, we have Miller. The Kings have Webber, and me. The Kings have Christie, we have Bell. The Kings have Stojakovic… Hmm… our three-point shooters are a little lacking, but Bell can work on his threes, and Gerrard can play great defense. Gilbert’s offense is no worse than Mike Bibby’s.”

After Gan Guoyang's comparison, Tomjanovich stroked his chin and thought there was some truth to it. If the Kings could play well against Princeton, the Glory lineup could definitely do the same.

The Kings have been very strong in the Western Conference this year. After two years of adjustment, the team took off after acquiring Mike Bibby in a trade.

The Princeton offense swept through the league, leaving many teams utterly defeated.

Especially after the adjustment period in November, the Kings were virtually invincible in the league from late December onwards.

Before their game against the Glorious, the Kings had won 12 straight games, including a 40-point victory over the Suns, two consecutive 30-point sweeps of the Jazz, a crushing defeat of the Celtics, and a 132-point blowout against the Nuggets.

They are arguably the brightest team in the NBA right now, especially after their victory against the Celtics, the top teams in the East and West, which significantly boosted the team's morale.

After this victory, the Kings entered the championship race and once again cast Princeton's shadow over the entire league.

The King's Princeton system was inherited from the pioneers.

Adelman brought Pete Carell to this least prominent team in the NBA, assembled a group of capable players, and intended to make a name for himself.

The Kings' glory days date back to the 60s, when Oscar Robertson dominated the team, back in faraway Cincinnati, and the team was called the Royals.

Because of the Boston Celtics, Robertson never reached the NBA Finals, let alone won a championship, during his entire career with the Royals, until he joined the Bucks and finally achieved his dream.

After leaving Cincinnati, the Royals moved to different cities several times before finally settling in Sacramento. In the history of their growth and rise to glory in the NBA, they are just a footnote.

Gan Guoyang remembers his first regular season game in his professional career, against the Sacramento Kings, who were still in Kansas at the time. It was an away game that didn't attract much attention.

Aside from that, the king didn't leave much of a lasting impression.

They have been very strong this season, already defeating Glorious twice, and their offense is indeed powerful.

During his visit to Sacramento, Gan Guoyang plans to reconnect with old friends, exchange ideas, and work together to further promote Princeton.

(End of this chapter)