Chapter 760 - 10 Reggie

A few games are not enough for players to familiarize themselves with a system.

If it’s a complex system, it might even take an entire season to mesh successfully.

Like the 1989-1990 Chicago Bulls, they spent most of the season adapting to the triangle offense.

By the end of the season, the Bulls couldn’t say they had fully mastered the triangle offense.

And within the Bulls, there was always a faction opposed to the triangle offense: that person was Michael Jordan.

The conflicts between Jordan and role players, the differences between Jordan and the coaching philosophy, and the role players’ execution of the triangle offense, all made it not so easy for the Bulls to fully implement this system.

The Trail Blazers didn’t have the first two problems, as Ah Gan appreciated the Princeton System, and philosophically, he and Bobby Beelman were very well aligned—they had been collaborating for ten years and understood each other very well.

The main issue the Trail Blazers faced was the third problem: whether other players could understand and execute the tactics of this system efficiently.

In the Bulls, Tex Winter, the founder of the triangle offense, as an assistant coach, helped the players learn to apply the triangle offense hands-on.

In the case of the Trail Blazers, Pete Carrell had duties at Princeton University; he couldn’t possibly come to Portland to be an assistant coach.

Therefore, the Trail Blazers had to learn and explore from top to bottom, understanding the essence of the Princeton System on their own.

Fortunately, the tactical literacy of the Trail Blazers’ players was quite good. Their original style of play had similarities with the Princeton System, making understanding Princeton not particularly difficult.

During the game against the Rockets in the second quarter, when Gan Guoyang and Sabonis rested, Bobby Beelman substituted Petrović and Cliff-Robinson, while Reggie Lewis stayed on the court.

For Lewis, the rookie, Bobby Beelman wanted to give him more time to adapt to the Trail Blazers’ style of play.

In the first quarter, Lewis played very cautiously; honestly, coming to Portland was completely unexpected for him; he thought he would always stay in Boston.

The story between Ah Gan and Boston could fill whole pages of news anecdotes: dunking hard enough to break backboards, verbal sparring with Bird, winning championships at the Boston Garden, last-second victories over the Celtics, etc.

The two teams had many grievances, but after 1986, the Celtics rapidly declined and gradually lost the capability to compete with the Trail Blazers.

From 1987 to 1990, each time Ah Gan went to Boston, he played so fiercely that the Celtics would be left searching for their teeth; even as a rookie, Lewis sitting on the bench could feel Ah Gan’s ferocity.

As Lewis gradually grew, Ah Gan was sweeping through the league, while the Celtics’ big three aged year by year, and people generally believed Lewis would be Larry Bird’s successor.

Unexpectedly, due to contract issues, Lewis and the Celtics’ management had a falling out; actually, Lewis wanted to stay in Boston, but the Portland offer was very attractive to Auerbach, so overnight he switched to wearing a Trail Blazers’ jersey, becoming Ah Gan’s sidekick.

For working with Gan Guoyang, Lewis felt excited yet worried, hopeful yet confused.

In Boston, Lewis knew he was about to become the next leader after Bird.

In the 1988-1989 season, due to a bone spur issue, Bird only played six games before being sidelined for the season.

With the leader absent, only the second-year Reggie Lewis took up the responsibility of the small forward position.

His scoring average rose dramatically from 4.5 points in his rookie season to 18 points, becoming Boston’s biggest surprise.

On December 6, 1988, during a game between the Celtics and the Bulls, Reggie Lewis scored 33 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, helping the Celtics beat the Bulls.

Reggie Lewis became famous overnight, standing toe-to-toe with Michael Jordan.

In the final weeks of the season, his scoring average even soared to 23.5 points, already making him an excellent forward scorer.

Last season, after Larry Bird returned, Reggie Lewis had to give up his starting small forward position to take on more defensive and spot-up duties at shooting guard.

At that time, some Boston fans claimed that Lewis should have been the starting small forward rather than yielding his position to Bird, stating that he was stronger than Bird at that moment.

Lewis vaguely felt that he was going to replace Bird and become the next key player for the Celtics.

But coming to Portland, Lewis knew he could never replace Ah Gan; at most, he could only become the team’s second-in-command.

Transitioning from being the Boston prince to the Portland prime minister required a mental adjustment that Reggie Lewis had to make on his own.

Now, with Ah Gan resting off the court, Beelman kept Lewis on the floor, and Lewis knew this was his chance to shine.

Quickly, Lewis displayed some qualities that the Trail Blazers lacked last season: the driving force of a ball-handler on the perimeter.

His acceleration was very fast, and with long arms and excellent jumping ability, his somewhat basic dribbling skills were already enough for impactful drives to the basket.

With the Trail Blazers trailing in the score, Reggie Lewis continuously drove to the basket during his possessions, making 2 out of 3 attempts.

He also managed a steal on defense and assisted Cliff-Robinson in a layup, leading the Trail Blazers to a small 6:0 run that turned the score around.

Seeing the unfavorable situation, Rockets’ head coach Don Chaney immediately called a timeout and brought Olajuwon back onto the floor.

The Trail Blazers had a deep rotation, and Bobby Beelman was not in a hurry, continuing to let Mitchell Thompson stay on the court.

Cliff-Robinson is at power forward, Reggie Lewis at small forward, with Petrović and Dell Curry as the guards.

This lineup, reliant on speed by its shorter stature, still allows veteran Thompson to provide stable defense and rim protection.

The team’s offensive drive shifted from inside to outside, with Petrović, Lewis, and Robinson all capable of ball-handling attacks.

From beyond the arc, Dell Curry, ready to spread the floor as a shooter, constantly poised to launch long-range assaults on the opponent’s basket.

When Olajuwon re-entered the game, he back-powered Thompson, squeezing into the basket for a layup to tie the score.

The Trail Blazers quickly countered; Petrović sped across half-court, passing to Reggie Lewis.

Lewis drove to the basket for a layup that missed, but Cliff-Robinson followed up with an offensive rebound, his putback disrupted by Olajuwon.

Robinson retained possession, passed back outside where Petrović received and made a mid-range jump shot!

The pace of the scoreboard suddenly became brisk and intense.

Indeed, this is how the Trail Blazers play, possessing formidable strength.

They don’t rely much on structured plays, focusing on ball-handlers attacking and then pursuing offensive rebounds for second-chance opportunities, a strategy few league teams can withstand.

Now physically stronger and more solid, Petrović appeared more energetic on the court, no longer the frail presence from last year.

Subsequently, Maxwell hit an outside three-pointer, giving the Rockets the lead again.

Following this, both teams entered a scoring drought, with several rounds of failed offenses, and the defensive intensity on the court grew stronger.

Entering the 1990s, referees began to call fouls with significant changes in tolerance.

In normal physical contests, referees became more lenient to encourage player confrontations.

However, when physicality escalated to Detroit Pistons-like aggression, intending harm, the referees’ calls became increasingly stringent.

This summer, after another severe brawl in the finals, the NBA decided to introduce a "flagrant foul" system after deliberation.

Previously, large-scale foul actions were still treated as common fouls, like Kevin McHale’s clotheslining of Rambis, which resulted in just a regular foul call.

Thus, teams like the Pistons could injure opponents with extreme actions without brawling, resulting in only a common foul.

Now, the League has implemented a two-tier system for flagrant fouls; unnecessary contact leads to a tier-one flagrant foul, and accumulating two leads to an ejection.

When a player makes unnecessary and excessive contact, it results in a tier-two flagrant foul and an immediate ejection.

This rule clamps down on all players, urging them to be mindful during defense, to target the ball, not the player.

However, the interpretation still lies with the referees; if they don’t deem it malicious, it isn’t.

Overall, referees now have greater control over the game, and players are definitely required to be more restrained defensively.

Olajuwon, the rookie fighting champion of 1984, would probably face frequent ejections if he played with the same temperament in the 1990-1991 season.

Now, Olajuwon has matured, no longer fighting; he stands as the NBA’s best defender just after Ah Gan, a master of protecting the rim.

His presence significantly increased the difficulty for the Trail Blazers’ attempts at the basket.

After several consecutive misses from both sides, Olajuwon regained his rhythm and powerfully attacked Mychal Thompson in the low post.

With a spin move, his shot went in, and he followed with a pump fake and a step-through layup, leading the Rockets to regain a five-point lead.

Bobby Berman, arms crossed, stood by the court but didn’t call for time. Instead, he encouraged his players to attack and solve problems on their own.

This was a regular season, and Beelman always focused on fostering players’ abilities to overcome difficulties independently.

Reggie Lewis stepped up, receiving the ball outside, and using Mychal Thompson’s screen on the left, he burst to the basket.

Facing Olajuwon’s help defense, Lewis exploded and dunked over Olajuwon with one hand!

Memorial Coliseum erupted with Lewis’ dunk over a defender.

Bill Schonely’s "Rip City" resounded once again, as the Trail Blazers’ bench rose to cheer for Lewis.

The team’s morale surged instantly.

Since Drexler left, it had been two seasons since Portland fans witnessed such thrilling perimeter dunks!

Given Olajuwon’s past temperament, such a dunk over him would typically prompt a punch in retaliation from him.

But now, Olajuwon has grown mature. Mixing it up in the three-second zone, getting dunked on is inevitable.

Inbound the ball, and wait for Ah Gan to take the court, then take it back on his head.