[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-golden-age-of-basketball":3,"chapter-the-golden-age-of-basketball-the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1057":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Golden Age of Basketball",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1444574,1896,"Chapter 1057 - 15 3-Minute Competition_2","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1057",1057,"\u003Cp>If the Croatia Team wants to play fast, the forwards and guards need to position outside so they can quickly move down the court, but this weakens their control over rebounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they want to protect the defensive rebounds, the forwards and guards need to position inside and compete for the rebounds along with the centers, making it difficult to launch a counterattack immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After pondering for a while, Leijubojevic decided to stick to what works best for them. Croatia, after all, was leading by 13 points, so it couldn’t easily change its fundamental strategy and style of play.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, he still instructed the players to strengthen their rebounding efforts, especially Francovic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time, Francovic’s jersey was already soaked in sweat, having been battling fiercely with Gan Guoyang throughout the first half.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the intense physical confrontations, he was completely at a disadvantage, never having experienced such a high-intensity battle in the paint before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leijubojevic patted Francovic’s face and asked, \"No problem, right?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Francovic nodded, saying he was fine, but in his heart, he thought this first half was even more exhausting and difficult than playing against the Dream Team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>David Robinson of the Dream Team was strong, but he didn’t like confrontation, preferring to use speed and jumping ability, which Francovic favored in an opponent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ewing didn’t play much, Barkley was short, while Malone was strong but his moves were mechanical, making them easier to anticipate and counteract.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang, however, was a completely different kind of center, with a strength beyond comprehension and movements that were ghost-like and hard to predict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the second half started, Francovic asked Petrović, \"How do we guard Ah Gan? How do we deal with him?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Petrović pointed to the sky and said, \"Let God bless you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The battle reignited in the second half; a 13-point lead was not too large but not small either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pressure on the China Team remained immense, yet everyone inexplicably had confidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the locker room, the usually reserved Jiang Xingquan was unusually passionate, encouraging the players to \"seize the moment and get into the semifinals!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was clear that Coach Jiang, who had always been conservative and originally thought that reaching the Olympics was an achievement in itself, was beginning to yearn for victory too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A 13-point deficit would typically mean a high likelihood of losing, but now it was different; the China Team had Gan Guoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the first half, he just tested the waters, focusing on low-post solo plays and second-chance points, getting his body progressively warmed up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first offensive play from Croatia in the second half had Petrović driving to the basket to challenge Gan Guoyang’s defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His dribbling was smooth, but Petrović didn’t have much variety in his drive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly stopping, a floater, but Gan Guoyang, who came in for the help defense, blocked it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After capturing possession, Gan Guoyang dashed directly toward the front court, with Petrović immediately committing a foul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew that Ah Gan was about to launch a ferocious assault like in the ’92 Finals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Allowing him to go unchecked would just be gifting him points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang, who was fouled, smiled and patted Petrović.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the set play, a sideline inbounds for the China Team, Gan Guoyang came out to receive the ball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Francovic and Toni Kukoc both came out to chase him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, Gan Guoyang still caught the ball and suddenly accelerated his dribble, getting past them both.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Charging through the middle, he hammered a one-handed dunk!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The all-around Gan from the 1992 Finals re-emerged!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His transcendent style of play, whether in the NBA or FIBA, was always so sensational.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, the Croatia Team also had a similar player, Toni Kukoc.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was even taller than Gan Guoyang, with the same smooth dribbling skills and diverse perimeter techniques.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his impact was far inferior to Gan Guoyang’s; he was more like an oversized nimble guard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In these Olympics, Kukoc mostly played a supporting role, assisting Petrović in offense, organizing, coordinating, distributing the ball, and spot shooting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Against the Dream Team, he was heavily guarded by Jordan and Pippen, enduring a rigorous suppression that shattered his confidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, as a tall perimeter player, Kukoc had an unavoidable flaw: he committed many turnovers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the five group matches, Kukoc’s average turnovers were the highest on the team, even more than Petrović, who handled the ball a lot and faced constant double-teams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a center, Gan Guoyang had an average of 0.8 turnovers in the 5 group matches, which with only four turnovers, his control over turnovers could be described as astounding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This attention to detail was one of the reasons for Gan Guoyang’s formidable strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the following defense, Gan Guoyang suddenly switched from a conservative, paint-guarding approach to aggressively pressing up, teaming with Sun Jun to trap Kukoc.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kukoc made a turnover, the ball was intercepted by Gan Guoyang; Gan Guoyang controlled the ball, tossed it to Sun Jun, who then executed a fast-break layup successfully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the opening two possessions of the second half, the China Team narrowed the gap to 9 points, bringing it within 10 points, a very positive signal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Subsequently, the China Team once again adopted a shrinking zone defense, letting Croatia shoot from outside, just allowing them to take threes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young players of Croatia were sharp shooters, threes and long twos, consistently piercing through the basket of the China Team with their skillful ball movement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the China Team’s offense relied even more on Gan Guoyang, as Croatia’s defense became tighter, with Gan Guoyang facing triple and quadruple-teams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He almost couldn’t receive the ball near the basket in the low post, since that area was too easy for defenders to collapse on; instead, he moved further out to get the ball, using the threat of a three-pointer, and then leveraging his drives and back-down moves to tear through Croatia’s defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The confrontation had reached a fever pitch, and Gan Guoyang’s arms were covered in scratches.\u003C\u002Fp>",997,"2026-06-06T01:41:49.959Z",1,"novelbin.me","994671dab010e6b5fe1192953f1cc3e32e6009dd495dbe5a952cb5cbffd88886","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1058","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1056",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]