Chapter 761: Chapter 11: The Muscle Time
Before the start of this season, Bobby Beelman informed Ah Gan that his game time would be further reduced this year.
In the 1986-1987 season, Gan Guoyang’s game time peaked at 43 minutes, and it steadily declined each following season.
Whether it was Jack Ramsey or Bobby Beelman, they both knew that Ah Gan’s health meant everything to the Trail Blazers.
In the ’88 season, Gan Guoyang’s game time dropped to 41 minutes, 40 minutes in ’89, and down to 38 at the beginning of the ’90 season, gradually rising back to 39 minutes.
Even though it declined yearly, Gan Guoyang’s game time was always at the top of the league, just no longer the stark lead it once was, getting closer to that of other iron men.
This year, Beelman wanted to keep Ah Gan’s game time to 38 minutes, on one hand giving Ah Gan more rest to save his best for critical moments and the playoffs.
On the other hand, it provided more opportunities for the team’s young and role players to get game experience.
Reggie Lewis’s dunk got Gan Guoyang pumped up, and he stood up to cheer and applaud for his new teammate.
At the same time, he nudged the arms-folded Bobby Beelman, who was posturing by the court, and said, "Bobby, it’s my turn to play! Aren’t you going to make a substitution?"
Beelman glanced at the time, with more than four and less than five minutes already played in the second quarter, replied, "Wait a bit longer. You can go back in after six minutes."
"Wait more? I’m getting cold hands here."
"Don’t worry, you’ll play more in the second half."
Gan Guoyang’s current game time pattern is to play 10 minutes in the first quarter, 6 minutes in the second, the full 12 minutes in the third, and the full 10 minutes in the fourth quarter.
In total, that’s about 38 minutes.
In the second quarter, to give the substitutes and second unit enough time, Beelman only assigns five to six minutes of playtime to Gan Guoyang.
During the crucial third quarter that decides the outcome, Gan Guoyang plays full time to ensure the team’s victory.
He rests a bit in the fourth quarter, ready for the final sprint.
This game time arrangement is quite reasonable, fitting in with Gan Guoyang’s playing habits.
Gan Guoyang patiently waited, and midway through the second quarter during a dead ball, the game went into an official timeout.
Ever since the NBA started broadcasting live instead of taped, the concept of official timeouts began, meaning an automatic timeout occurs during a dead ball after 6 minutes and 59 seconds of play in a quarter if neither team has called a timeout.
Official timeouts not only provide players with a breather and a chance to rest on the bench but also allow broadcasters to air commercials during the game.
Gan Guoyang rested for 7 minutes in the second half, which gave young players like Reggie Lewis, Petrović, and Cliff Robinson ample time to perform.
These three showed strong offensive skills, teamed with Curry on the perimeter and the veteran Thompson inside, they formed a well-balanced tactical lineup.
But with a strong offense, their defense was fairly weak; the Trail Blazers and the Rockets were locked in a tight struggle throughout the second quarter.
The Trail Blazers went full throttle but couldn’t stop Olajuwon’s rampage inside; they had to frequently double-team him, opening opportunities for the Rockets’ perimeter.
The Rockets’ counter-attacks were particularly good that night; in their first game of the new season, the players’ legs were energetic.
After cooling down for 7 minutes, Gan Guoyang returned to the game with the last 5 minutes of the second quarter left, needing to quickly find his offensive rhythm.
He didn’t force his own shots, knowing Olajuwon was in great form both offensively and defensively tonight, so he roamed the outside, leaving the inside to Sabonis and Kossie.
In the Princeton System, Kossie would bear many of the interior offensive responsibilities. Anyway, this guy’s perimeter shooting is average, and he’s built like an ox, so letting him attack the basket is a good choice.
After Gan Guoyang passed the ball inside, he immediately followed up, squeezing into the Three-Second Zone to fight for the offensive rebound. Kossie’s layup was disrupted by Thorpe and missed, but Gan Guoyang, overpowering Olajuwon, scored with a one-handed putback.
In one-on-one defense, it was no longer Sabonis guarding Olajuwon, but Gan Guoyang himself, playing tight defense on Olajuwon.
The pressure on Olajuwon increased drastically with the ball in his hands, resulting in one turnover and one blocked hook shot, which immediately silenced him.
A well-rested Gan Guoyang played smart, focusing his energy on fighting for the ball and leaping, rather than betting on his shooting touch.
Now the Trail Blazers had many scoring options, with Sabonis, Kossie, Porter, and Petrović all capable of averaging 20+ points per game if given enough ball rights.
Olajuwon wasn’t afraid of tall centers like Sabonis; he was fast, explosive, agile, with a great shooting touch.
But players like Gan Guoyang, of similar or slightly shorter height, with a low center of gravity and stable base, quick moves, strong explosiveness, and most importantly, stronger than him, were the ones Olajuwon really struggled against.
For four or five consecutive plays, the Rockets tried to get Olajuwon to attack with the ball, but all were thwarted by Gan Guoyang.
However, the Trail Blazers didn’t have a high offensive success rate either. As the Rockets failed to score themselves, they ramped up their defense, focusing on contesting and disrupting the Trail Blazers’ passing.
Gan Guoyang and Sabonis tried to establish an offensive channel with their passing, but the synergy wasn’t quite enough, and the Rockets’ defense held firm in the latter half of the second quarter.
The game became suffocating; both teams struggled to score in the high-intensity, slow-paced half-court matchup, with giants battling non-stop in the Three-Second Zone.
Offensive rebounds and second-chance points became the best methods to score, as it was difficult to break through dense defenses in one play.
The style of basketball games in the ’90s was gradually taking shape, moving away from the high-speed, attack-heavy style of the ’80s.
Both teams had tall, strong players in the paint. In addition to Olajuwon and Thorpe, the Rockets had also acquired Larry Smith from the Warriors.
The first time Gan Guoyang met Larry Smith was ten years ago when he was a rookie for the Warriors, capable of grabbing 5 offensive rebounds a game. As a high school student, Guoyang already held his own against Smith in a one-on-one at the Oakland Center.
Ten years had passed, and Larry Smith had transformed from a promising rookie to a 33-year-old veteran in the paint.
After nine years with the Warriors, he left the Bay Area last season for the Houston Rockets and became the sixth man for the Rockets.
The fierce competition and scuffles in the paint only amplified the combative atmosphere of the game.
However, the physicality between players was clean, with basketball-appropriate contact and without unnecessary roughness.
In the last offensive play of the second quarter, Gan Guoyang leaped consecutively under the basket, grabbed an offensive rebound, went up for a layup, only to be blocked by Olajuwon.
Grabbing the rebound again and rising for another attempt, he was blocked by Thorpe from behind, but he managed to retain control of the ball, squeezed to the other side of the hoop, and finished the attack with a reverse one-handed dunk!
At the end of the first half, the teams were neck and neck at 45:44, with the Rockets leading the Trail Blazers by one point.
Tonight’s scoring was low for both sides, with each team learning defensive secrets from the Pistons, Trail Blazers, and Bulls.
While the Pistons were known for dirty plays, they also had more than that in their playbook.
Like the pseudo-zone defense, early double-teams, and the suppression and interference against ball handlers.
The Trail Blazers had taught them the paint players’ sweeping and encircling of ball handlers, and the defensive resilience brought about by an orderly rotation.
The Chicago Bulls offered another defensive approach—relying on perimeter double-teams, help defense, and full-court leader defense to pressure the ball handler, delaying the opponent’s offense and disrupting their rhythm.
In short, the NBA was slowly entering an era of defense, with teams increasing their defensive prowess and advancing their defensive strategies.
Not only were centers and power forwards bulking up their arms, but smaller perimeter players were also becoming stronger and more ferocious.
A testosterone-filled muscle era was unfolding.
As John Wetzell predicted, the Trail Blazers’ Princeton offense wasn’t smooth, and they were behind at halftime.
But in the third quarter, Gan Guoyang still persisted in leading his teammates in trying the Princeton.
They didn’t stick rigidly to the setups in the playbook but adapted according to the actual game situation.
For instance, during the execution of the "Chin" series, Guoyang would often be at the wing of the power forward position, which was a less common spot for him in the past.
The crux of this tactic was having the power forward handling the ball on the wing, clearing out underneath, while the small forward cuts backdoor, looking for the backdoor opportunity.
However, with the high defensive intensity in the NBA, finding backdoor wasn’t so easy. After executing this play twice and Kossie failing to find an opportunity, Guoyang took the initiative on the wing himself, either attacking or passing to the cutting shooting guard Reggie Lewis, letting Lewis take the reception and immediately drive towards the basket.
This wasn’t part of the Princeton System, which assumed the players were mediocre and incapable of isolation, so they needed continuous running, passing, and cutting to create the best open shot opportunities.
The Trail Blazers were different; they could adapt and assertively initiate attacks when there were no open spots.
This "Chin" series allowed Reggie Lewis space to perform. He and Guoyang formed a one-on-one interaction on the strong side, which scattered the Rockets’ defense.
Olajuwon was tied up, and with a lack of defense at the rim, Lewis consecutively scored in the third quarter: floaters, layups, dunks.
Initially tight in the first quarter, he gradually found his game rhythm in the second half and understood how comfortable it was to play alongside Guoyang.
With the Celtics, he had to cover for Larry Bird; in Portland, Guoyang could cover for everyone.
The Trail Blazers put up an 11:3 offensive surge against the Rockets in the third quarter, taking the lead in the score.
Gan Guoyang dished out 5 assists in half a quarter, dominating the game with his passing.
However, late in the third quarter, the Trail Blazers hit another offensive drought.
During tactical plays, they even faced several turnovers or players colliding due to incorrect positioning—a basic mistake.
The Rockets took advantage of this to counterattack, narrowing the gap to 3 points, with the third quarter ending at 62:65 in favor of the Trail Blazers.
Rockets’ newcomer Kenny Smith played beautifully. When Olajuwon was constrained, he took charge of the Rockets’ counterattack.
Bill Schonely found the Trail Blazers’ game progress perplexing and admitted he couldn’t make sense of some of their offensive possessions.
"Turnover, turnover, another positional error, oh~ the Trail Blazers seem hesitant."
"They have an agile and jumping player who can match Clyde, but they seem to be playing slower and more lukewarm."
"In the third quarter, they didn’t launch a fierce offense to tear apart their opponents but instead revealed weaknesses that gave the Rockets a chance to catch up."
"However, we still have full confidence in this team, because we have Guoyang, the best basketball player on the planet."
