[{"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-1490":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},1444907,1896,"Chapter 1490 - 6: My Grandma_2","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1490",1490,"\u003Cp>The photo frame held a close-up of Larry Bird. Gan Guoyang placed the photo on the empty bench and said to Carl, \"This way you won’t be nervous, Rick. Larry is with us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carl: \"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Uh...Sonny, Larry is just sick, not dead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, he will forever live in our hearts, don’t be nervous.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m not nervous, really.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don’t worry, we’ll definitely win tonight. I’ll score 30 points with 20 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the team to victory for your coaching debut. Also, being a head coach is easy, trust me, stay focused.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carl wanted to say something, but Gan Guoyang had already jogged onto the court, ready to start the match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carl’s originally uneasy heart gradually calmed down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought, so this is what it feels like to coach Ah Gan?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s really reassuring. No wonder people say coaching Ah Gan is the easiest job.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being an assistant coach watching from the side felt nothing, but being a head coach bearing the responsibility and pressure, he finally realized the peculiarity of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tonight, the Trail Blazers’ starting lineup has greatly changed compared to last season. Sabonis has returned as the starting center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang moved to the power forward position, playing a Twin Towers lineup with Sabonis. The two can actually switch positions, with no fixed role as either power forward or center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This poses a huge challenge for other teams, with interior pressure suddenly increasing, rekindling the interior fears of 1990-1993.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the small forward position, Chris Mullin has become a starter. His arrival hasn’t solved the defensive issues at the small forward position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But offensively, the Trail Blazers now have pass and organize relay points both inside and outside, eliminating the stagnant, monotonous issues.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At shooting guard, Riddle is still the starter. Although his playoff performance was unsatisfactory, he’s still useful during the regular season.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At point guard, Brellock donned the Trail Blazers’ number 10 jersey. Though not tall, he’s incredibly solid, with a stable lower body, clearly a defensive ace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they encounter John Stockton again, the Trail Blazers absolutely won’t let him score over thirty points in a game again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three of the five positions have been replaced, and currently, the Trail Blazers are most concerned about age and health issues.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the addition of three veterans, the team’s average age has suddenly increased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The team is either filled with veterans over thirty or young and reckless players in their twenties, with a lack of middle-aged strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, these will all take time to prove, and the Trail Blazers’ players are quite apprehensive themselves. Can they reach their goal this season?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The game began with Sabonis and PJ Brown jumping for the ball at mid-court. Brown, who wore the Trail Blazers jersey last season, is now part of the Heat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No choice, the Heat offered more, willing to pay. With a championship already secured, PJ was bound to seek a bigger contract and more US Dollars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During the entry ceremony, Trail Blazers fans gave PJ Brown applause, thanking him for his contributions over the years, accompanying the Trail Blazers through a pitfall period.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now serving different owners, PJ Brown can’t help but feel uneasy facing the two veterans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the very first possession, Gan Guoyang caught the ball in the middle and made a strong drive, drawing a foul from Brown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It came from a pass by Sabonis. Their coordination is still that seamless, giving the Heat’s defense little time to react.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Barkley’s task tonight was to guard Ah Gan one-on-one. He didn’t even react to this play, being cleanly outmaneuvered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, PJ Brown wouldn’t have needed to come over for secondary defense and commit a foul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Barkley was quite self-aware, raising his hand to admit it was his mistake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Gan Guoyang made both free throws, he followed up by intercepting Barkley on defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He passed the ball to Mullin, who back-passed to Riddle, and after Riddle dunked with both hands, Barkley licked his lips, too embarrassed to speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In recent years, under Riley’s coaching, the Heat has become a very tough defensive team. Riley himself has very high demands on man-to-man defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For someone like Barkley, who has strong personal attack capabilities, Riley will slightly relax his defensive demands, but it’s still much stricter than at the Suns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With two mistakes right at the start, Riley already felt that this season’s Barkley seemed incapable, probably hard to endure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After causing such a scene in Orlando, almost landing in jail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lacking discipline, 300 pounds, easily beaten on defense, and unable to push through on the offense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost five years have passed since 1993, and Ah Gan is still the same Ah Gan, while Barkley has already begun to show signs of aging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Barkley is not entirely done for; he still has some gas left in the tank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the unfavorable opening, Barkley started partnering with Tim Hardaway, continually using pick-and-rolls and high post coordination to find opportunities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drexler utilized a cut, receiving the ball, turning, and making a jump shot to score Heat’s first point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers’ defensive intensity wasn’t high, employing ordinary one-on-one marking, and Drexler found it relatively easy to handle whether facing Mullin or Riddle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Heat found it increasingly difficult to defend the Trail Blazers, as Riley had devised a strategy to double-team Ah Gan heavily, placing numerous defensive traps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, in the first quarter, Gan Guoyang wasn’t the focal point of the team’s offense. Apart from drawing a foul from PJ on the first play, in the remaining offensive possessions, Gan Guoyang blended into the team offense, not standing out particularly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is entirely different from last season.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old guys have their faults, but they also have their advantages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The slow pace of late 90s NBA was just the right era for these experienced old folks to shine.\u003C\u002Fp>",975,"2026-06-06T01:41:56.527Z",1,"novelbin.me","aebebf44d79e3ac99976455b34065e8ddc3f76321882e251df332e70041425ca","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1491","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1489",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]