Chapter 841 - 37 Li Gui_2

They missed out on Gary Payton, and watched as this talented guard shone at Oregon State University, when actually he had considered going to Gonzaga to follow Ah Gan’s footsteps.

"There’s nothing I can do about it, the school has its considerations... but I think things will get better. How has your son been lately..."

The two chatted about school and basketball and caught up on family matters before saying goodnight and hanging up the phone.

Gan Guoyang felt quite emotional. Stockton had ultimately taken root in the cold city of Salt Lake City, and frankly, it suited him well.

Stockton liked to live a simple, frugal, and low-key life. Gan Guoyang still remembers that to this day, in the bar that Stockton’s father ran in Spokane, there are no posters or portraits of Stockton—because Stockton would not allow his father Jack to use his fame to promote the bar. He didn’t like that.

So, Jack simply hung up posters of Gan Guoyang instead, which ended up having a greater impact and even improved the business.

The following evening, the Trail Blazers faced the Jazz team away, and Stockton entered the court in his white Shorts.

As time entered the 90s, the players’ uniforms were changing, and the mini Shorts of the 80s were gradually becoming history.

Like Gan Guoyang and Jordan, they didn’t like wearing traditional Shorts; they would ask for the shorts to be lengthened towards the knees, and then add a pair of tights underneath.

Gan Guoyang started wearing this style in his rookie season, and as time went by, his influence grew in the League, with many young players mimicking his attire.

Wearing tights underneath, extending the shorts, fastening useless yet stylish arm and leg guards, and chewing gum conspicuously in his mouth, he certainly looked like he was great at basketball.

Jordan was leading the trend in hairstyles among black players, making a clean-shaven head luminously smooth, which black players found to be a good look.

Black people’s hair is naturally hard to manage, and if age brings balding issues, it might be better to just shave it all off.

But Stockton was a firm traditionalist; in the 1991 season, his Shorts were the same length as when he first entered the NBA in 1984, with no changes whatsoever.

"Hey John, when are you going to change the length of your shorts? Do you really have to show off those big white legs of yours, and to whom, with all that hair?"

Gan Guoyang joked with Stockton before the game.

Stockton shook his head firmly and said: "No, absolutely not."

Stockton was conservative and steadfast like that, firmly believing in what he believed in and resolutely sticking to it.

Another example is the strategy executed by Jerry Sloan with the Utah Jazz, their UCLA system.

Frankly, the reason this system is used by the Jazz is ultimately due to a lack of talent here.

Currently on the Jazz team, Stockton and Malone have become the core of the team, but both have some pretty significant flaws.

Stockton’s issue lies in his dynamic physical fitness and his ability to score holding the ball in critical moments.

While Malone’s problem is his static physical fitness and maintaining consistency in high-intensity, high-pressure games.

These issues determine their heights in the playoffs.

Regrettably, their flaws lead to the Jazz breaking down once the playoffs begin.

They have been knocked out in the first round many times unexpectedly, and always during crucial moments of key games by their opponents.

The Jazz is a small club, located in a remote area. It is already challenging to retain a fan base in Salt Lake City, and just a few years ago, there was almost a relocation to Las Vegas.

Relying on salaries to attract star players is basically out of the question; no prominent free agent would think of coming to this place to play.

Acquiring the ideal superstar through trades, quickly dodging and shuffling is also highly unlikely, for the same reason: people are unwilling to come.

So, make good use of what little you have, since they have flaws, patiently wait for them to overcome these flaws, meanwhile, pairing them with a suitable system to maintain the team’s competitiveness.

The so-called "UCLA system" of Sloan is similar to the Princeton System used by the Trail Blazers, both are based on the original college tactical system, modified for the NBA; otherwise, directly transplanting it would not operate reasonably in the NBA.

The core of the Jazz team’s system is a basic offensive strategic idea called Flex Offense (Flexible Offense).

Contrary to what many think, the Flex Offense was not invented by UCLA coach John Wooden, but rather by UCLA’s rival, Rene Elerias from the University of California, Berkeley.

Rene Elerias invented this strategy primarily to counter UCLA’s unbeatable giant, Lew Alcindor, who later became known as Jabbar.

At that time, Jabbar posed a huge threat under the basket; standing 7 feet 2 inches in the Three Second Zone made any low post offense and drives to the basket particularly ineffective.

In the absence of a high center capable of punishing Jabbar, Elerias invented the Flexible Offense, a very simple offensive scheme involving continuous picks and cuts.

Just a few routines back and forth; therefore, after its invention, some coaches dismissed it, thinking it was too easy to predict, lacking any intelligence, and not worth studying further.

Some coaches, however, considered it a treasure, seeing countless possibilities in the Flexible Offense—because the simpler the core, the more it can derive a variety of complex contents.