[{"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-985":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},1444452,1896,"Chapter 985 - 25: The Tortoise and the Hare","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-985",985,"\u003Cp>The advantage of the Jazz is stability, but their weakness is also stability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since Larry Miller took over the team and built the small city club around the core of Stockton-Malone, the Jazz has always been an unignorable force in the League.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their stability mainly manifests in the entire team’s genuine focus on basketball. Jeff-Malone, upon joining the Jazz team, remarked that \"the atmosphere here is just like in college, not at all like a professional team.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many professional teams resemble companies; everyone gets together for work, trains in the morning, plays at night, finishes the game, clocks out, goes for a drink, eats something, and finds some amusement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Basketball is work, a part of life, even a small part.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s different with the Jazz. Salt Lake City is a small city with not much entertainment; basketball itself is the biggest entertainment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, even the fringe players are celebrities. Players rarely go to the movies or dine out beyond playing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s not that they don’t like it, but in Salt Lake City, they’re very famous, and anywhere they go, people ask for autographs, which is a nuisance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, the team leader often dictates the team’s temperament; the Jazz’s two core players, Stockton and Malone, are fellows who don’t fancy nightlife.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stockton, besides playing, is a family man, while Karl Malone enjoys fishing, hunting, logging, and driving trucks, none of which involve much with the city’s neon lights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Additionally, these two guys have a frighteningly high attendance rate. Since the 84-85 season until now, the number of games they’ve missed combined can be counted on one hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Together with the city, they have shaped the Jazz’s low-profile, united, basketball-focused stable team culture, which makes the Jazz always formidable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, on the other hand, being too stable often means lacking surprises, lacking explosive power that captivates the world, and the ability to turn things around in a series.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, over the years, in the playoffs, the Jazz, when facing teams with less hard strength but instability, have been embarrassed and upset by teams like the Warriors and Suns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Against teams clearly stronger in hard strength, there’s no hope. In the ’80s, it was the Lakers; now it’s the Trail Blazers. They don’t see many hopes of winning, only that they don’t lose too badly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the first quarter, Stockton and Malone, when facing the backcourt and forward talent, which are obviously superior from the Trail Blazers, played rather laboriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially Stockton, by the end of the first quarter, he had already committed 3 turnovers, which is quite fatal for a point guard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Porter, Lewis, and the others’ rigorous defense and strategic double-teaming made it tough for Stockton, whose individual attacking capability isn’t great.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a timeout, Sloan made personnel changes, substituting the offensively lagging and defensively aged Mark-Eaton with backup center Mike Brown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brown isn’t very tall, but he has a strong body and an impressively broad back. From the back, he resembles a big brown bear, affectionately called \"Big Bear\" by the fans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Brown came on, the Jazz’s offense became more flexible. Brown also has better independent scoring ability compared to Mark-Eaton, which can somewhat relieve Malone’s inside scoring pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the showdown with Ah Gan, Brown is one of the few tough players in the League who can slightly hold off Gan Guoyang in the low post one-on-one; he’s one of the League’s best low post defenders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As David Banotte sinks into the low post on offense, quickly posts up, catches the ball, turns, and lays it in for two points, the Jazz slightly catches a breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the Jazz’s offense this time, Gan Guoyang shook his head involuntarily, running back to defend, he said to Stockton, \"Too tedious, John... too...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stockton glanced at Gan Guoyang, realizing that they were playing a game and it wasn’t necessary to discuss this, he didn’t continue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just now, the Jazz first used Stockton’s breakthrough to pull the defense, then fake-attack and truly pass it to Malone, who was at a high post for a response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Malone took a step inside, handed off a screen to Stockton, who came around, and at this moment, Mike Brown pulled to the right wing to draw away Gan Guoyang’s defense, and David Banotte sank to the basket to finish the attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cooperation was beautiful, from passing to screening, to responding, then spreading the defense, finally completing the offense. The Jazz’s five players played very cohesively, missing any step would fail the tactic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in Gan Guoyang’s view, it was somewhat too tedious, obviously, it could have been simpler.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time, Porter made a breakthrough on the flank similar to Stockton’s, pulling the Jazz’s defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang pulled out to make space for Porter while going to a high post to support; Porter spun back and distributed the ball to Gan Guoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang, catching the ball almost in the same position as Malone, facing Mike Brown’s defense, directly shot a three-pointer from the top of the arc!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A high, beautiful arc, the ball went through the net! Three-pointer made!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the goal, Gan Guoyang pointed at Stockton, indicating that they should have handled the ball like this, simply, and even got an extra point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stockton slightly shook his head, not wanting to bother with Gan Guoyang, aside from you, who else can make such a shot?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, there was a good open position in front of Malone just now; after catching the ball, he could’ve adjusted and thrown it, but Jerry Sloan would definitely think Malone went crazy and then sub him out for a scolding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first quarter ended with the Jazz trailing the Trail Blazers by 7 points, 24:31. These 7 points are the insurmountable gap for the Jazz in this match.\u003C\u002Fp>",960,"2026-06-06T01:41:40.447Z",1,"novelbin.me","78dd87818a5caaa20a275de04ed38f86cfa80cc49e9ee25d2dd269237e2e9724","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-986","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-984",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]