Chapter 696: Chapter 64 You Should Come Alive
The jump ball to start the game is underway.
The Suns actually don’t have a center.
Mark West is claimed to be 6’10", but really he’s closer to 6’9".
Standing on the court, he was obviously just a bit shorter than the standard 6’10" Gan Guoyang.
He’s quite strong, but he pales in comparison to Sabonis on the other side.
However, jump balls aren’t just about height and size; leaping ability, speed, and technique are very important.
Mark West had the advantage of speed. As soon as the ball reached its apex, he leapt immediately, touching the ball first and tipping it towards Danny Ainge.
He won the jump ball over the tall Sabonis and similarly didn’t fall short against the mammoth Mark Eaton in the first round.
But Ah Gan suddenly burst forward, knocking the ball out of Ainge’s reach from behind, sending the ball flying towards the front court.
Gan Guoyang squeezed past Ainge and Tom Chambers, getting to the ball first and rushing to the basket for a quick left-handed layup!
"Sonny scores the first point of the semifinals! Woh! A beautiful steal and bursting vitality, it’s clear that Ah Gan is in great form tonight."
Bill Schonely’s voice was as energetic as ever, matching Gan Guoyang’s passionate performance on the court as if it would never diminish.
Gan Guoyang opening the scoring puts pressure on the Suns.
The pressure comes not only from offense but also defense.
The Trail Blazers didn’t employ the conventional man-to-man at half-court but had Gan Guoyang press high up, putting pressure on the Suns’ two guards.
The Suns started with a 3-2 formation, with Ainge and Kevin Johnson on the left and right wings respectively, and Tom Chambers in the middle for screens and coordination.
West and Rambis, the two players with limited offensive capabilities, were lurking near the three-second zone, creating an open formation with plenty of space.
In response, the Trail Blazers chose to give up the weak side, having Gan Guoyang move up to the foul line and together with others, double-team Johnson and Ainge near the three-second zone, while keeping an eye on Tom Chambers.
Kevin Johnson’s advantage is speed, but his height is a disadvantage. In a set play, Kevin Johnson can easily lose sight when trapped by taller players.
Not to mention that one of the players trapping him was Ah Gan.
In high school, Ah Gan was already a nightmarish presence on the basketball court.
Johnson was cornered by Porter and Ah Gan close to half-court, with Gan Guoyang not pressing too close.
With a clever position, he blocked Kevin Johnson’s routes for both driving and passing.
Along with Porter’s relentless approach, Kevin Johnson had no choice but to bounce the ball off Porter and out of bounds, to force a throw-in.
Gan Guoyang even complained to the referees, "Kevin is hitting people with the ball; that’s a technical foul!"
The referee ignored Ah Gan’s nonsense, and the Suns took a sideline throw-in.
Fitzsimmons was shouting from the sidelines, directing the players’ movements.
In their first attack, the Suns already felt tremendous pressure.
With not much time left, the Suns chose a tactical movement with Ainge cutting off a screen.
He received Kevin Johnson’s pass at 45 degrees to the right and went for a three-pointer directly.
Ah Gan’s interference caused the ball to hit the front of the rim and miss.
Sabonis grabbed the defensive rebound; with Sabonis present, Gan Guoyang could invest more comfortably in helping out on the perimeter defense.
Porter led the counter-attack, passing the ball to Gan Guoyang at the top of the arc, who took a mid-range shot and scored again!
Starting with 4 consecutive points, Gan Guoyang was in good form, causing concern for Fitzsimmons.
The game’s pace was pretty fast from the beginning, with both teams being offensive-minded.
Needless to say, the Suns with their dual guards plus three forwards clearly prioritized offense.
The Trail Blazers, after the departure of Drexler and the retirement or departure of frontcourt players like Vandeweghe, transitioned from a defensive team to an offensive one.
They can play fast or slow, go for set plays or fast breaks, and are quite versatile on the offense.
Kevin Johnson knew that getting into a set play would be tough, so he opted for a quick drive, stopping abruptly at the top of the arc for a jump shot.
Missing the shot, Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound and signaled Porter to slow down for a play.
Sabonis came to the top of the arc to facilitate, receiving Porter’s pass, while Ah Gan was getting positioned in the low post.
With a flick of his flexible wrists, Sabonis precisely passed the ball into Gan Guoyang’s hands.
Rambis became somewhat dazed the moment he made contact with Ah Gan, afraid to exert force.
Gan Guoyang received the ball, performed an inside turn, slipped past Rambis and cut into the basket area, easily scoring with a layup.
Fitzsimmons shook his head repeatedly from the sidelines, feeling helpless at having to assign Rambis to defend Ah Gan.
Even if Mark West were to defend him, what would it change? Could he stop him?
Before the game started, Fitzsimmons explicitly asked Rambis if he had any issues with matching up against Ah Gan.
Everyone knew, Ah Gan once made Rambis mentally collapse to the point he nearly retired from the League.
It was only after leaving the Lakers that Rambis gradually recovered, indeed he was a role player much liked by coaches.
On the court, he never overshadowed others, always diligently executing the tasks set by the coach.
Off the court, in the locker room, Rambis used his championship experience to lead the team.
The Suns had an unstable performance at the start of the regular season, by 1990, their win rate was still below 50%.
Before facing the New York Knicks, Fitzsimmons allowed Rambis to speak in the locker room as a veteran, boosting the team’s morale.
At that time, Rambis said, "If we do well in defense, do the dirty and tiring work, then there is no reason for us not to win the championship. I’ve been doing these things my entire career, and it’s not hard. Everyone needs to be ready to throw themselves on the floor, to dash out and fight for the ball, and then the championship will come closer to us. If you guys just want to stand and play, I’m sorry, but we cannot win against tall teams. We must hit the ground, fight, and compete for every single ball."
Rambis’s impassioned speech turned around the Suns’ situation in the regular season.
That night they defeated the New York Knicks, and in the following 11 games, they secured victories in 9 of them.
From then on, the Suns started taking strides toward the playoffs, unexpectedly overcoming the Jazz in the first round to stand before the kings.
For Rambis, Ah Gan was not just a king, but a devil.
After scoring 6 easy points, this venomous snake began to hiss at Rambis.
"Kurt, I saw your news in the New York Times, your speech was great. To throw yourself on the floor to play, seems like you really enjoy lying down, don’t you?"
Gan Guoyang joked with Rambis.
Rambis gave no response, just kept his head down and ran towards the front court, his neck slightly reddening.
The Suns, still in a positional battle, found no opportunity; Kevin Johnson had to pass the ball early to Tom Chambers.
Once Chambers received the ball, Ah Gan immediately came up to guard him one-on-one; Chambers lacked the courage to challenge Ah Gan.
He had to pass the ball to Ainge, who then passed to Mark West in the low post. West turned to make a play against Sabonis.
He got blocked instead; Jerome Kossie grabbed the ball, sparking the Trail Blazers’ counter-attack.
The ball went to Hornacek, who didn’t rush to push for a fast break; he knew Ah Gan was hot-handed.
Although Hornacek was a Shooting Guard, he was also capable of organizing the offense.
He and Porter opened the game, neither distinguishing themselves as shooting or point guards; both could handle and organize the ball as well as take the shot.
Hornacek paced himself, and Gan Guoyang once again posted up asking for the ball; poor Rambis managed to hold his ground behind him.
Tom Chambers came over to double-team, but as soon as Gan Guoyang caught the ball, he spun baseline, pressing down on Rambis, and shot his signature forward-leaning basket.
The two points were made; Rambis was pressed so hard he nearly fell. If he had leaned in, it would have been a foul, giving Ah Gan free throws.
Gan Guoyang single-handedly scored an 8:0 run against the Suns; Fitzsimmons knew it couldn’t continue like this, or they would collapse, and immediately called a timeout.
"Kurt, why didn’t you fall just now? You are ’Mr. Floor’, after all." Gan Guoyang still didn’t let go of Rambis.
And in a split second, Rambis felt a wire snap in his brain.
It had last snapped when he was with the Lakers, when he couldn’t help rushing up to fight Ah Gan.
Ah Gan had thrown him hard enough to collapse on the floor, after which he contemplated retirement.
He thought he had moved on, but it was not to be. The game had just begun, and the thought of facing Ah Gan throughout a whole series meant he would definitely break down.
So he didn’t follow his teammates back to the bench but instead turned and stormed up to Ah Gan, angrily shouting, "Sonny! Why do you always have to target me! What did I do wrong! Why target me! All these years! Why do you want to kill me! What did I do wrong!"
Referees and players from both sides gathered around, thinking the two were about to brawl.
But Rambis was just shouting at Ah Gan, it looked like he was about to cry.
He didn’t understand, after so long, why Ah Gan always had to target him, torture him.
They had no interactions off the court, and Rambis considered himself anything but a villain. So why?
Gan Guoyang was momentarily stunned by Rambis’s outburst, then he laughed and said, "It’s just a game, why so serious?"
Rambis felt as if he’d been doused from head to toe with cold water and, for a moment, he didn’t know how to respond.
Gan Guoyang patted Rambis, adding, "Surrender and you lose half, losing a game doesn’t mean real death, you need to come back to life, Kurt."
