[{"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-1656":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},1445073,1896,"Chapter 1656 - 14: Calm Lake","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1656",1656,"\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers’ style of play is not something every team can mimic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the contrary, in this playoff series, among the top six teams in three-point attempts and shots made, apart from the Trail Blazers, the other five teams were all eliminated in the first round.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers’ three-point tradition has been gradually developed since Gan Guoyang entered the NBA in 1984; they are the most shooting-focused team in the league, bar none.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every player who joins the Trail Blazers must pass a test of their long-range shooting skills, and they are also the first team in the league to equip a shooting coach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the most important factor is their center, Gan Guoyang, who possesses extremely refined shooting skills; his presence has overturned the traditional game yet is difficult to emulate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Jordan retired, many guards have been labeled as Jordan’s successors, but so far, none have truly inherited his legacy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And what about Gan Guoyang? With so many \"Ah Gan IIs,\" it seems no one can match his shooting average.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tim Duncan, claimed to be the closest to Ah Gan as a super interior player, only has a free-throw percentage of just over sixty percent, a barely passable level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In comparison, Gan Guoyang’s free-throw shooting percentage has never dropped below 88% in so many seasons, most of which are above 90%.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is an astonishingly accurate and stable shooting ability, even Reggie Miller, known as the league’s top shooter, has had seasons where his free-throw percentage was around 85%.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tim Duncan, who is said to have peaked from the start with a high degree of skill completion, certainly cannot reach the shooting heights of Ah Gan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faced with the extremely sharp blade that is Gan Guoyang, the entire Knicks team maintained a tense mentality throughout, using a wheel strategy in defense to deal with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Van Gundy, summarizing from a lot of video and match experience, told himself one thing: \"Ah Gan is terrifying, but he’s declining; we can limit him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was his judgment of the situation and his self-encouragement: no matter what, they must limit Ah Gan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the first quarter, Shawn Kemp and Kurt Thomas alternated in front to guard, and after the second quarter began, Alonzo Mourning took on the heavy responsibility of countering Ah Gan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Sabonis went to rest, the Trail Blazers brought in Little O’Neal and Ben Wallace, utilizing a three-inside lineup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Porter and Kobe on the outside, the probing and tactical change period of the first quarter was over; Bird decided to initiate a head-on confrontation with the Knicks in the second quarter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When facing the Trail Blazers’ three-inside setup, Mourning no longer cared whether Ah Gan was playing center or small forward; he kept a close guard throughout, not daring to relax for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The center guarding the Three Second Zone for the Knicks was former Trail Blazer Chris Dudley.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dudley left the Trail Blazers last summer, signed with the Knicks, and became an important interior substitute for them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Van Gundy thought that since Dudley worked with the Trail Blazers, he understood his former teammates well and early on put him in to guard the basket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, precisely because Dudley had played for the Trail Blazers, he deeply knew how terrifying Ah Gan was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, Mourning was defending Ah Gan instead of him; Dudley stayed in the Three Second Zone to complete other tasks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a result, Gan Guoyang seized the opportunity to face Mourning on the perimeter and broke through strongly, scoring on him twice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mourning, being a slightly shorter and stout interior player, was most susceptible to being beaten in front of Gan Guoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without the advantage of height, he couldn’t stand his ground, and once drawn to the perimeter, he could easily be overcome in a single step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After being beaten twice consecutively, Mourning complained to Dudley, \"Why aren’t you coming over to help?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s useless, I might as well look after others; you handle Ah Gan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mourning shook his head helplessly, then tried to score in the low post using the Georgetown bunny hop and hook shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The result was a clean block; such formulaic and unimaginative low-post offensive methods were likely to be blocked by Gan Guoyang’s super quick reactions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the good news for Mourning was that after scoring twice in a row, Gan Guoyang didn’t maintain his firepower to crush the Knicks’ inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, he stepped out more to set screens for his teammates, creating scoring opportunities for Kobe and Little O’Neal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kobe and Little O’Neal dominated the Trail Blazers’ offense in the second quarter, playing pick-and-rolls and high-low coordination with great finesse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to Gan Guoyang’s presence, the Knicks’ defensive setup was constantly being controlled, but they didn’t know when Ah Gan would explode.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, in the whole second quarter, Gan Guoyang only scored those four points at the beginning, spent the rest fakely attacking, and facilitated and passed to his teammates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, after the Trail Blazers widened the gap to 10 points, the guy even stood with hands on hips watching after teamwork on the defensive end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He left rim protection and help defense to Ben Wallace and Little O, while on the outside he was leisurely walking and opportunistically reactive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, they failed to catch opportunities for fast breaks; the Knicks were extremely quick in transition defense, putting a stop to fast break chances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid high-intensity duels, the superior strength of the Trail Blazers still saw them leading 57 to 50, ending the first half 7 points ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Knicks’ roster truly isn’t lacking in talent, but their mini Twin Towers couldn’t get the best performance against the Trail Blazers’ deep interior strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mourning had 4 points and 6 rebounds at halftime, and Kemp had 3 points and 4 rebounds, completely failing to exert their offensive prowess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alan Houston was the Knicks’ best player in the first half, scoring 14 points with a high shooting percentage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Trail Blazers were clearly allowing Houston to attack, not deploying any defensive tactics against him, always guarding him one-on-one.\u003C\u002Fp>",1015,"2026-06-06T01:42:06.061Z",1,"novelbin.me","9a94def1e5988a530a4c0671b15846b81a45791357f9f97dd1bca3691b48f2d9","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1657","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1655",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]