Chapter 904 - 57: Nightmare_2

Cartwright, Williams, and Grant were under immense pressure. To be honest, in their entire careers, they had never encountered an interior defender with as much suppressive force as Ah Gan.

Elite defensive centers like Olajuwon, Parish, Gilmore, and Jabbar paled in comparison to Ah Gan.

Ah Gan’s defensive aggression was overwhelming, and the psychological pressure he exerted on opponents was enormous—this stemmed from the day-by-day accumulation during the regular season.

A defensive player who doesn’t defend seriously in the regular season, letting his guard down and allowing opponents to put together standout performances, loses the ability to psychologically suppress them later. Guarding them becomes much harder afterward.

Gan Guoyang never let that happen. He consistently maintained dominance over all the League’s inside players, using his relentless desire to win, powerful and explosive physique, astonishing technique, and superior psychological tactics to ensure that nearly every big man matched up against him developed a case of "Gan-Phobia."

Cartwright suffered from an extremely severe case of "Gan-Phobia." He always performed miserably whenever facing Ah Gan. What reason was there to believe tonight would be any different?

But regardless of belief, Cartwright was a crucial offensive option for the Bulls in the paint. He had to play, he had to perform, whether he wanted to or not.

Jackson, with a restless heart, led his players back to the stage of the Memorial Coliseum—similar to two days ago, the relatively compact arena reverberated with deafening cheers.

Tang Jianguo had set up a group of dazzling cheerleaders for tonight, even bringing in a group of little-person basketball players for a live performance, creating a lively atmosphere.

To be frank, Jackson felt uncertain about tonight’s match. Although he was naturally optimistic and had comforted his wife after losing Game 1 by saying, "We only lost one game; when we win the next one, the advantage will shift back to us,"

deep down, Jackson knew that to defeat the Trail Blazers, they had to neutralize Ah Gan. They needed to create significant trouble for him on both offense and defense.

Jackson had a faint sense of the Trail Blazers’ Achilles’ heel—their dependency on Ah Gan.

Indeed, Ah Gan was their strongest point—a terrifying stronghold.

But it was precisely because he was their strongest point that he might also be their breaking point.

Back when Pat Riley was crafting "Forrest Gump’s Law," he emphasized an important principle: the principle of avoidance.

The avoidance principle suggested that one should never challenge or provoke Ah Gan; the ideal strategy involved avoiding him while attacking and keeping the ball away from him while defending.

These rules were widely adopted by coaches throughout the League. Initially, they showed some success, but come playoff time, these strategies proved utterly ineffective.

Avoidance could never solve the core problem.

Teams then tried severing Ah Gan’s connection with his teammates or deploying unique double-teaming strategies against him, but again, nothing worked.

Jackson pondered deeply. Upon reviewing the Suns vs. Trail Blazers games, he seemed to have uncovered something.

Bach’s suggestion carried merit: perhaps Pippen really should target Ah Gan.

The Trail Blazers were undeniably strong, but their reliance on Ah Gan was immense. Their entire operation revolved too heavily around him.

Jackson recalled a concept from Eastern philosophy: strength and weakness are relative. What appears to be one’s strongest point might also become their weakest link, their fatal vulnerability.

Besides Ah Gan, the gap between him and the rest of the Trail Blazers was enormous—even Sabonis couldn’t be considered a true secondary core player.

This was the Trail Blazers’ fundamental issue.

Nonetheless, with the game about to tip off, Jackson could no longer alter the strategy and had to navigate it step by step.

These were the inevitable growing pains due to inexperience—a point where the Trail Blazers were more seasoned and streetwise than the Bulls.

As Ah Gan stepped into the center circle once again to jump against Bill Cartwright, he flashed a knowing smile at Cartwright: "So to start off tonight, Phil Jackson is letting you take charge, isn’t he? I’ll be waiting for you, Bill."

Judging by Cartwright’s expression, Gan Guoyang knew he had guessed correctly.

The Bulls were going to stick with their path dependence—starting with interior attacks to establish rhythm, then working inside-out to gradually unleash Jordan’s talents.

In Game 1, the Bulls had lost due to pace rather than tactics. Their execution of details had been solid, which led Gan Guoyang to bet Jackson wouldn’t revise his opening strategy.

However, Cartwright was under tremendous pressure, so much so that during the jump ball, he committed a violation for trying to anticipate too quickly, handing possession to the Trail Blazers.

"You’re too tense. If you keep this up, you won’t be able to make your shots," Gan Guoyang remarked.

Moments later, during the Trail Blazers’ first offensive play, Gan Guoyang caught the ball at the high post, took on Buck Williams, and sank a strong mid-range jumper.

His smooth shooting immediately intensified the anxiety permeating among the Bulls.

Predictably, the Bulls’ opening strategy revolved around Cartwright and Buck Williams working the paint together.

But when Cartwright tried to back Gan Guoyang down for a post-up, Gan used a clever pull-the-chair tactic, causing Cartwright to lose balance and helplessly plop down on his rear. The referee called him for traveling.

Gan Guoyang’s defense thrived on ambiguity, shifting between feigned and genuine pressure, masterfully exploiting multiple points to dismantle his opponent’s mental state.

Porter followed with a pull-up jumper, while Buck Williams’ pick-and-roll drive for a layup was stuffed by Ah Gan.

In transition, Porter hit another pull-up jumper, with the Trail Blazers’ offense blitzing like a whirlwind.

Jackson refrained from calling a timeout, choosing instead to let his players resolve the situation on their own.

This time, Jordan displayed more patience than in the previous game. The Bulls worked the triangle offense with repeated ball movement, probing and swinging the ball back and forth.

But Jordan quickly noticed that Sabonis moved like a ghost around him, lurking close by and sealing off paths to the basket whenever he caught the ball.