Chapter 693: Chapter 61: Let Me Teach Him a Lesson
The formidable Denver Nuggets didn’t last three rounds in front of the Portland Trail Blazers, being swept 0:3, which allowed the Trail Blazers to advance with ease.
At the post-game press conference, Bobby Beelman did not show the slightest bit of joy. For the Trail Blazers, the first round was nothing to celebrate; their goal was certainly not just to get past it.
In the series against the Nuggets, Gan Guoyang’s performance was impeccable, he didn’t even give his all before the opponent was already knocked down.
He is the most reliable cornerstone of the team, and the coaching staff never has to worry about him.
Beelman’s evaluation was mainly focused on several rookie players.
The first one being Sabonis, who exhibited a very strong scoring ability in the playoffs.
During the regular season, Sabonis averaged 11.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, along with 1.9 blocks, and 1.5 assists per game.
In the first round against the Nuggets, Sabonis’s average points rose to 15 per game, scoring 21 points in the second game.
His tall stature and excellent skills allowed him to have very strong finishing ability under the basket.
Most of the inside passes and high-position plays fed to him by Gan Guoyang were converted into baskets.
Of course, this had something to do with the Nuggets’ weak interior defense.
When playing with the Soviet Team, Sabonis was a very good finishing point under the basket and an important part of the Soviet passing offense system.
Many people underestimate those big men who dunk, believing that it’s as easy as being spoon-fed, and anyone could stuff their face until they’re sick of it.
But as the final touch in the system, finishing under the basket is crucial, because if you fail to finish, all the efforts upfront go down the drain.
On the contrary, with strong finishing ability, even if the tactics in front don’t flow smoothly and the opportunities are not too good, there’s still a way to get the ball into the basket, which is like killing two birds with one stone, improving the tactics’ margin for error.
Gan Guoyang has the ability to nearly always score under the basket, a reason for his high scoring rate and tactical ball success.
It’s not a chance created by tactics, it’s forcing a chance out of nothing.
An outstanding finisher like this, of course, the more the better.
If such inside Twin Towers take shape, their power is extremely terrifying, and their margin for error is very high.
Therefore, from this series onwards, Bobby Beelman and Jerry West started considering boosting Sabonis’ tactical status and pairing him with Ah Gan, playing a Twin Towers + guards system.
To make him the second key figure of the team.
Of course, in the 89-90 season, Sabonis was still a supporting role.
At the same time, Sabonis revealed some weaknesses on the defensive end.
In the playoffs, with higher intensity and speed, he couldn’t keep up.
With his height and weight, Sabonis’ speed, explosiveness, and jumping ability were already top-notch.
Unfortunately, continuous serious injuries in the past slowed him down significantly, and his explosiveness was not as good as when he was 20.
In the NBA, full of top-notch players, any slight slackness could lead to defensive failure.
Against the fast-paced Nuggets, Sabonis sometimes struggled defensively.
Moreover, it was obvious that Sabonis struggled guarding smaller and faster players; once mismatched against Fatt Lev, it would disrupt his game.
Fortunately, the Trail Blazers had Ah Gan, who could sweep the perimeter. Sabonis’ protection of the rim in the three-second zone and defensive rebounding were still top-tier in the league.
In position battles, the Nuggets could hardly find ways to approach the basket, as the combined defense of Ah Gan and Sabonis in the three-second zone was quite solid.
Beelman was convinced that given time, Sabonis and Ah Gan’s inside pairing would become the most terrifying defensive duo in the NBA.
Compared to Sabonis, Divac was somewhat underwhelming.
That pass to Gan Guoyang on the bench turned Divac into the butt of his teammates’ jokes for a week.
And for a very long time into the future, it became a well-known laughing stock in the NBA, included in various blooper reels.
It wasn’t that Divac lacked ability, but in the hard-hitting playoffs, he somewhat couldn’t keep up with the pace and hadn’t adapted.
Additionally, with Gan Guoyang and Sabonis performing steadily, and the veteran Thompson being the first substitute on the inside, Divac had much less playing time than in the regular season, leaving him with few opportunities to perform.
However, Beelman and West were very optimistic about the future of this Yugoslavian center, who had a greater development potential.
His style was different from Ah Gan and Sabonis, who both played with force and wide swings.
Divac was more refined within the rough, swift within the slow, playing with a slick and spiritual style.
Jerry West appreciated Divac a lot, and now he was very glad that the Lakers had not agreed to that trade involving Edwards.
Sabonis + Ah Gan + Thompson, the interior line-up was plenty adequate for the time being, and Divac represented the future of the Trail Blazers.
As much as West appreciated Divac, Bobby Beelman had an even greater appreciation for Petrović.
During the regular season, Beelman gave Petrović plenty of playing time and opportunities.
Off the court, Petrović was the most diligent player in training besides Ah Gan.
After an intense regular season fatigue, Petrović’s physique actually became stronger compared to the beginning of the season.
This indicates that he trained a lot and ate a lot during the season in order to improve his ability to compete physically.
But in the playoff game against the Nuggets, his performance can only be regarded as mediocre.
The stable performances of Porter and Hornacek did not leave much opportunity for Petrović to shine.
The experience that Gan Guoyang passed on to Divac makes a lot of sense. In the playoffs, stability is key. Even without standout performances, at the very least, one cannot become a liability, a significant negative impact, or the weakest link of the team.
Because the playoffs are very targeted, if you become the weakest link, whether it is on offense or defense, you will become the focal point of the opponent.
If your offense is lacking, the opponent will leave you open, increasing the defensive pressure on other players.
If your defense is inadequate, the opponent will isolate and attack you one-on-one, turning you into a sieve through which they can score.
Petrović has considerable talent on the offensive end and dares to take shots with fervent passion.
The problem is his defense is quite weak, easily becoming the breach the opponent attacks once he’s on the court.
In the first game against the Denver Nuggets rookie Todd Lichti, Petrović was scored 22 points against and looked quite bad on defense.
Lichti, a rookie of ’89, is not very tall, but he is solid and strong, with a very accurate shot from the right baseline.
In fast breaks, he dares to charge to the basket, challenging Ah Gan and Sabonis’ defense. Although he got blocked, he could still score and draw fouls, causing no small trouble for the Trail Blazers.
While Lichti’s performance was not enough to turn the tide, it did sound an alarm for the Trail Blazers—their backcourt defense issues would be magnified in the postseason.
The relatively average height and physicality of the backcourt, ordinary rebounding, and shot-blocking meant no real defensive anchor, signaling larger defensive pressure on the Trail Blazers’ interior.
Jerry West’s signing of Mike Sanders was an effort to address this shortfall.
And Sanders’ performance was, at best, satisfactory; he was hardworking but lacked the ability to shut down the opposing team’s perimeter scorers—if he had that ability, the Trail Blazers wouldn’t have signed him in the first place.
With Ah Gan patrolling and assisting in position four, the backcourt pressure is much more manageable. However, once Gan Guoyang is troubled by fouls, or he needs to take on more pressure on offense, the backcourt’s defensive gaps and issues become increasingly apparent.
Of course, every team has weaknesses; there are no all-rounded teams. It’s all about maximizing strengths and minimizing weaknesses in the playoffs.
Although the Trail Blazers’ guards have many defensive issues, their offensive firepower is also among the league’s elite, with terrifying long-range capabilities.
As long as they can perform well at the offensive end, giving up some points on defense is acceptable.
The first round of the playoffs quickly saw results, and there were no upsets this year, with the strong teams all advancing.
The Spurs from the Western Conference won against the Houston Rockets 3:1, with David Robinson gaining the upper hand in his contest with Olajuwon.
While Olajuwon won the stats battle, David Robinson took the victory, reinforcing Ah Gan’s statement that the Houston Rockets are wasting Olajuwon’s prime.
The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 3:1, with James Worthy averaging 29 points in the series, once again displaying his brilliance in big games.
These two teams will face off in the Western Conference semifinals for a spot in the conference finals.
The only upset in the Western Conference came from the closely matched 4 and 5 spots.
The Phoenix Suns defeated the fourth-ranked Utah Jazz with a series score of 3:2.
This was the Jazz’s third upset loss since the 1987 and 1989 seasons.
In ’87 they lost to the Warriors, in ’89 to the Mavericks, and this year to the Suns.
Karl Malone and Stockton’s pairing exposed their instability and some innate talent limitations.
The series went to a decisive fifth game, which was held in Salt Lake City; the Jazz was leading the Suns by 10 points at the start of the fourth quarter.
It seemed like the Jazz team would win, and Stockton would meet Ah Gan in the semifinals for a showdown.
But the Suns turned around a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, and with 30 seconds left in the game, a pass to Karl Malone at a 45-degree angle was intercepted.
Eddie Johnson hit a tough 2+1 in the counterattack, successfully taking the lead.
Karl Malone then scored mid-range off Stockton’s assist, tying the game.
However, Kevin Johnson hit an almost buzzer-beater with only 0.8 seconds left in the game.
In the end, Stockton’s long-range triple was unsuccessful, and the Jazz team was ousted in the first round of the playoffs for the third time in four years, each time being upset.
Stockton’s disappointment was palpable. Despite impressive stats, with 15 assists in the series, he couldn’t stop Kevin Johnson’s buzzer-beater nor hit one himself.
On the final crucial defensive play, Stockton originally closely marked Johnson but mistakenly chose to double-team Mike McKie in the interior after Johnson made a pass.
Kevin Johnson found space, McKie passed the ball back to him, and though Hansen rushed over to defend, Kevin Johnson still hit the game-winner.
This demonstrates the limitations of his traditional point guard role; he played quite well throughout the game, but at the critical moments determining the outcome, his influence was insufficient, unable to seal the deal with defense or offense.
Because of that play, Stockton was upset all summer long, severely blaming himself for the wrong choice.
There’s something he’s kept to himself, not sharing with others - that he went to double-team because it was Karl Malone guarding McKie in the three-second zone.
If it had been Ah Gan there, Stockton definitely would not have left Kevin Johnson open. Never.
After the game, Gan Guoyang called Stockton and said, "I’ll teach Kevin Johnson a lesson for you. I could handle him in high school, and I can do the same now."
