Chapter 647: Chapter 38 Mr. 50 Minutes
Riley gave Drexler enough encouragement.
Drexler pulled himself together, knowing that at home, he had to perform decently and not embarrass himself.
However, his return to the court did not improve the situation; he did not suddenly erupt as in the comics after facing setbacks and redeem himself.
The Trail Blazers knew him too well, especially Gan Guoyang, who had worked with Drexler for so many years and knew his playing habits like the back of his hand.
Gan Guoyang was a very meticulous player. Drexler’s sweet spots on the offense and where he was most comfortable shooting were all clear to Gan.
Whenever Drexler got to his sweet spot, Gan Guoyang would go up to double-team and disrupt, indifferent to Drexler’s passes.
Without a real second play-maker, the rest of the Heat only had the capability to chip in sporadically.
Locking down Drexler, a large portion of the Heat’s offense was stifled; the rest of the players, unless they exploded, would find it hard to overturn the Trail Blazers.
They could produce some climactic moments to close the score gap, but the Trail Blazers, with a slight adjustment like Gan Guoyang playing a few low post moves, or heightening their defensive intensity, easily curbed the Heat’s scoring momentum, making them gasp for air like struggling up a hill.
The Trail Blazers’ 88-89 season starting lineup without Drexler was underestimated by many experts and media.
Though they lost a significant amount of explosiveness, counter-attack ability, rebounding, and defense without Drexler.
However, with Hornacek starting, this lineup had one advantage over Drexler’s: the offensive efficiency in set plays.
Beelman continuously refined this lineup’s synergy in set plays, with Gan Guoyang at the core. They incorporated pass and cut strategies, inside-out, and strong-weak side shifts into their offense, heavily polishing their set play synergy.
They expanded Jack Ramsey’s era of linear offense to a three-dimensional spatial attack model, achieving a high level of efficiency in set plays.
If not for the Trail Blazers’ weak bench in ’89 and an unexpected setback for Gan Guoyang, the Lakers might not have been a match for the Trail Blazers.
Beelman’s set play system had advanced from the fast-offense mainstream of the 80s; they could quench their opponents relying solely on set plays without needing fast breaks or chase-downs.
This approach left the Trail Blazers unstable during the regular season, but it turned them into a formidable force in the postseason where defenses strengthen.
Starting from this season, the 80s NBA scene of teams majorly relying on fast breaks was gone forever.
Hard-nosed set play duels and a variety of defensive strategies would take center stage in the 90s, showcasing a different style of play.
The Trail Blazers were ahead of many teams.
In the first half, Drexler struggled to break through the Trail Blazers’ defensive siege.
But there was no way out; omnipresent double teams and defensive traps made it very hard for Drexler to play.
His limitations in shooting were a significant constraint on his offensive game; once the opponent figured out his sweet spots and offensive habits, his next move was easily predicted.
The Trail Blazers players knew him too well, resulting in him scoring only 5 points in the second quarter, of which three came from free throws.
With 8 points at halftime, the Heat were not too far behind at 60:49, trailing by 11 points, but there was no hope of catching up.
During the halftime break in the Heat locker room, Riley did not get angry or criticize or mock Drexler.
Drexler still had hope of rallying in the second half; Riley wanted the Trail Blazers to knock that notion out of him completely.
After the third quarter started, Drexler played even more dazedly.
A comical moment occurred right at the start of the third quarter when Drexler dribbled past the half-court to organize the offense.
Gan Guoyang briefly stepped up to guard Secali, resulting in Drexler’s hand slipping, and he passed the ball to Gan Guoyang...
Drexler froze for a second, and so did Gan Guoyang, who almost instinctively turned his back to play one-on-one.
Realizing something was off just as he was about to make his move, he passed to Kossie, who was also a bit confused, thinking: Which side am I on? In which direction am I attacking?
Thankfully, Hornacek’s mind was clear, and he yelled, "Fast break, fast break!"
Kossie then quickly passed the ball to Hornacek, and the Trail Blazers counter-attacked.
Hornacek passed to Porter, who passed it back to Hornacek, who then caught the ball mid-range and made a jump shot!
The dual guard’s fluent counter-attack cooperation lacked impact, but it was not lacking in success rate.
Watching the scene, commentator Jack Ramsey laughed and said, "Clyde, you’ve passed so many balls to Ah Gan, but this time you messed up; it wasn’t an assist, it was a turnover."
Drexler, very frustrated with his poor performance, hung his head and bitterly smiled.
Seeing this, Gan Guoyang came over and patted Drexler, saying, "Nice technique, just pass to the right person next time."
The game continued with the Trail Blazers consistently maintaining their stable set play mode.
As the scoring gap widened, Beelman began meticulous adjustments and substitutions.
Sabonis, Divac, Petrović, and Mark Bryant, the newcomers, took turns playing.
Compared to the previous season, the Trail Blazers’ bench offensive continuity had significantly improved.
Of course, whether this improvement could withstand the postseason test was still uncertain.
The good news was that players like Sabonis and Petrović were not completely green.
Same age as Gan Guoyang, in their prime years, what they needed was adaptation.
At least for this game, Petrović adapted quite well.
In the third and fourth quarters, Petrović maintained the hot shooting from the first half.
Once his ball-handling drives and sudden stop jump shots got hot, they were indeed unstoppable.
In 1985, Petrović scored 112 points in a game against the Olympia youth team.
That year, Petrović was 21 years old.
Although the opponents were a U18 youth team and the match was just an informal friendly.
But 112 points still showcased Petrović’s strong scoring continuity and explosiveness.
He took 60 shots and made 40 of them, a feat that required strong physicality and a voracious scoring drive.
Tonight against the Heat, while the Heat’s perimeter defense wasn’t bad—Riley’s defensive coaching was decent.
Last month against the Pistons, they held the Pistons to just 84 points and secured the victory.
But that kind of performance was a one-off, unstable; Douglas as a sub played well offensively, but defensively at 6’0" he was too short, providing space for Petrović to perform.
After holding back since the start of the new season, Petrović finally found his touch and opportunity today.
Beelman encouraged Petrović to play more in the second half, keeping him on the court to perform and letting him control the ball.
Petrović scored 11 more points in the second half, reaching a total of 24 points, setting a new NBA career-high for himself.
And Drexler completely lost his offensive rhythm. When he tried to score on fast breaks, his layup was massively blocked by Gan Guoyang!
Drexler was directly knocked out of bounds into the stands.
But the referee didn’t blow the whistle; Gan Guoyang committed no foul.
Gan Guoyang extended his hand to Drexler, who had fallen into the audience seats.
Drexler initially wanted to refuse help, but none of his teammates came to assist him.
He had no choice but to grab Gan Guoyang’s hand, and with a gentle pull, Gan Guoyang pulled him up.
Gan Guoyang patted Drexler and said, "Clyde, have you forgotten how to dunk?"
"I haven’t forgotten; it’s just... I’m not in good form."
"You need to perk up, Clyde, I still want to see you make the playoffs and beat Michael."
"I will! I will..."
Drexler, chewing gum, responded gruffly.
Drexler felt he had enough; by this time, the Trail Blazers were leading by 15 points, and the Heat completely couldn’t find a turning point.
Their set offense was too steady, and with Gan Guoyang as the Sea-Calming Needle, it seemed all they had to do was drop the ball to him inside, and he’d somehow get it into the basket.
Drexler was painfully aware of Gan Guoyang’s capability.
Because he knew it, he felt despair, and from that despair, anger arose.
Angry at himself, why he had forgotten to persevere and wake up early just within a single season.
You aspire to be a star, but what sun rises at 9:30 AM?
As the game gradually lost suspense, the latter half of the fourth quarter became garbage time.
Actually, the Heat played well tonight, but the difference in strength between the two teams was too great.
Add to this that the core player, Drexler, was targeted and off his game: only 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists for the whole game.
On the Trail Blazers’ side, Gan Guoyang easily scored 27 points, got 18 rebounds, 6 assists, and Petrović scored 24 points.
Trail Blazers 101:89, a 12-point advantage easily crushed the Heat, continuing their winning streak. So far this season, they’ve only lost one game, signaling a very strong start.
With well-integrated starters, plug-and-play, smart-playing substitutes, and stable, strong core players, this Trail Blazers team had a resurgence feel.
Jerry West, who had followed the Trail Blazers to Miami, after seeing Petrović’s performance tonight, temporarily dismissed the idea of trading him.
Beelman’s cultivation and development of him were worth another close observation and even great anticipation.
The day after the match ended, the Heat stayed in Miami, waiting for the next game to start.
At 7:30 in the morning, Pat Riley drove his convertible, enjoying the Miami morning sea breeze as he arrived at La Salle High School gymnasium.
After parking the car and entering the gym, he heard the thumping sound of basketballs; someone was already training.
Riley walked into the gym and saw Drexler practicing his shooting on the court, drenched in sweat—it seemed he had been practicing for a long time.
Drexler noticed Riley, stopped shooting, and said, "Good morning, Coach."
Chewing gum, Riley replied, "Good morning, Mr. 50-Point, keep it up."
