[{"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-1926":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},1445293,1896,"Chapter 1926 17: He's Still Too Merciful to You","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1926",1926,"\u003Cp>At the start, Gan Guoyang used a strong low-post offense to quickly score, giving an old friend a welcoming gift.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the defensive end, Gan Guoyang actively guarded Gasol, and when they were matched up, Gan Guoyang marveled at how tall and long-armed this young man was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang, with his well-toned physique, stands a solid 6 feet 10 inches, with an excellent wingspan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Gasol was clearly taller than Gan Guoyang, with an equally impressive wingspan, and when he posted up against Gan Guoyang, it had an overwhelming feel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, when Gasol attempted to back down Gan Guoyang to establish position on the first play, he found himself unable to move him—not at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gasol twisted side to side like a noodle, leaning against Gan Guoyang, but after a long while, his position didn't change at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What an idiot, trying to post up Ah Gan right at the start. Who does he think he is?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The veterans on the Spurs and the Glory Team watched Gasol's effort to push inside and quietly mocked him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It's true that a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. Once you push, you will know what it feels like.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Billups did pass the ball to Gasol, and the Spurs fans in the arena all stood up to cheer him on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gasol caught the ball in front of him and was almost pushed out, but after securing it, he quickly spun around, managing to slip inside by leaning on Gan Guoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a beautiful spin move, he faced the basket and directly raised his hand for a layup, only to find halfway through that Gan Guoyang had already come over and pinned Gasol down, blocking his layup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Gasol had spun and gotten position, it was actually a trap intentionally left by Gan Guoyang, giving Gasol the chance to spin, then coming right up to him, using physical contact to pin him down and block his shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was an old trick Gan Guoyang used to bully young players, and it worked like a charm every time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Young players lack some experience and try to exploit any visible flaw without realizing it's a trap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only was Gasol blocked, but in the intense physical confrontation, he couldn't withstand Gan Guoyang's tremendous power and fell to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gap in strength was still decisive; even after reducing his weight to 245 pounds, Gan Guoyang's resistance power remained top-notch in the league.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After securing the ball and initiating a fast break, Gan Guoyang said to Robinson, \"He's a bit weak in confrontation; I can't imagine if I weighed 280 pounds, how he would play against me in the low post.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Robinson, while keeping an eye on Gan Guoyang returning to defense, said, \"Young people always have to try. He admires you a lot; don't be too hard on him, Sonny.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I haven't hit anyone in a long time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang showed his prowess on both ends by facing Robinson on offense and then dealing with Pau Gasol on defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Spurs' tactics centered around low-post offense quickly collapsed due to low efficiency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first principle of a low-post tactic is that your offensive pivot should score efficiently in the low post.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is the prerequisite for deploying all strategies; if your offensive pivot can be easily defended one-on-one, don't even think about any related plays.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pau Gasol's debut game was quite impressive, scoring 20 points against the relatively weak inside of the Houston Rockets with repeated success in the low post.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the second game against the Clippers, he scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, quickly becoming the offensive hub for the Spurs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The game tonight is Pau Gasol's biggest test since entering the NBA—how to face the best interior defender in history?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though 37 years old, Gan Guoyang's defense was still full of detail, precise positioning combined with various small moves, and so-called gaps that you didn't know were traps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Spurs soon shifted their offensive focus to the perimeter, with Chauncey Billups as the offensive initiator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Porter did not suffer defensively against the young and strong Billups, instead using his experience to force errors in Billups' playmaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The game started at a very slow pace, with a lot of defensive confrontations, many low-post possessions, and a lot of ball movement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the first official timeout came, the score was 8:6, with Glory Team leading Spurs by only 2 points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After scoring 4 consecutive points in the low post, Gan Guoyang no longer forced attacks, first to conserve energy and second, because the Spurs' double-teaming and rotations were indeed well executed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Glory Team tried to speed up, to play fast breaks, but the Spurs constantly managed to slow them down with timely retreats, effective man-to-man defense, and pressure on the ball handler.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Glory Team was not a fast-break specialist team anyway; they relied on brute force to play fast without a true backcourt playmaker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lacking light cavalry like Drexler or Kobe who excel in solitary charges, when the Spurs slowed them down, they had to comply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowing down has its advantages too; it's not unplayable. As Tomjanovich said during the timeout, \"If we can't seize the initiative of the game's pace, let's instead follow the opponent's rhythm.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young players indeed need to learn how to adapt to the varying paces of NBA games.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had yet to reach a level where they could dictate the game's pace and make opponents play at their speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being able to keep pace with different opponents and respond well is already a significant improvement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the timeout, Arenas was substituted in, and in the point guard position, there's the most to learn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There's no shortcut—it must be gained game by game, lesson by lesson.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right after coming on, Arenas was caught by Billups for a defensive foul, suffering a setback immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With patient half-court offense, the Spurs relied on Stephen Jackson to hit a mid-range shot, tying the score.\u003C\u002Fp>",997,"2026-06-06T01:42:08.816Z",1,"novelbin.me","407fe69fbc2e89c3316f7eb6cc77fc63348d584d05a463327619ef5ca77f65eb","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1927","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1925",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]