Chapter 872: Chapter 48: Kill Charles
The Suns were almost defenseless in the first game and were slaughtered by the Trail Blazers.
During the post-game analysis, head coach Fitzsimmons criticized Charles Barkley for lacking vitality at the small forward position, where he was trapped by Reggie Lewis and Jerome Kossie.
Although Danny Ainge gained several offensive opportunities and hit three three-pointers from beyond the arc, his outstanding stats didn’t make a difference; the Trail Blazers were entirely unafraid of Ainge’s firepower.
The confident Barkley, who was brimming with energy before the game, quickly found himself deflated during the match. Staying up late, drinking, and causing a stir at the police station had all taken a toll on his stamina.
More importantly, his focus wasn’t fully on the game; he was always thinking about how to go head-to-head with Ah Gan, forgetting that even superstars are just one part of a match.
The key is figuring out how to win.
Barkley said to the coach, "Maybe I should move back to the power forward position and face Ah Gan directly."
Fitzsimmons replied, "The game isn’t about your duel with Ah Gan. You need to consider things from the team’s perspective."
Barkley responded, "I *am* considering the team. I should be the one to neutralize him, on both offense and defense. Then I can energize the whole team. Ah Gan played way too easy tonight, without any pressure at all."
Ever since Sam Bowie was traded to the Suns, Barkley had shifted to small forward, pairing Bowie with West inside.
As a small forward, Barkley possessed a power advantage over most teams’ frontlines and played exceptionally well in that role.
For this matchup against the Trail Blazers, Fitzsimmons had placed Barkley at small forward again, partly to maintain the team’s interior height to counter Portland’s Twin Towers, and partly to avoid having Barkley directly face Ah Gan.
However, this avoidance not only held Barkley back from his best performance but also made the Suns play less aggressively. As Barkley had pointed out, Gan Guoyang had played far too relaxed without any pressure in the first game.
The entire Trail Blazers team performed flawlessly while the Suns were utterly powerless.
Fitzsimmons fell into contemplation as Barkley added, "You’ve got me at small forward, which means I’ll be shooting a lot of threes from the outside."
After hearing this, Fitzsimmons immediately replied, "Alright, next game you go back to power forward and team up with Bowie. Marley, you’ll start. West will move to the bench."
Barkley’s three-point shooting percentage had remained below 30% throughout the season, yet he stubbornly loved shooting threes.
To keep Barkley happy, Fitzsimmons had never stopped him from taking long-range shots, and when he occasionally sank one, it carried some impact.
But Barkley’s real threat was inside the paint, particularly in the three-second zone; shooting too many threes only harmed the team overall.
Of course, Fitzsimmons knew deep down that the Suns were at a significant disadvantage compared to the Trail Blazers in overall strength. Winning this series was going to be a tall order.
The Trail Blazers were stacked with elite players, united under Ah Gan’s leadership, each fulfilling their roles impeccably. It was incredibly difficult to pinpoint any weaknesses in their roster.
This series, the Suns’ goal was simply to win one game—to avoid being swept by the Trail Blazers yet again and allowing them to reach the Finals unharmed for a second consecutive year.
After the Suns and Trail Blazers’ first game concluded, on May 22nd, the league announced the MVP selection for the 1991 regular season.
In the media vote, Jordan edged out Gan Guoyang, receiving the most votes and successfully being named this season’s Most Valuable Player.
Following the announcement, Trail Blazers owner Tang Jianguo furiously held a press conference, lambasting the media for their careless selection.
"These media folks don’t understand basketball at all. They vote entirely based on whims or out of some misplaced sentiment. If someone is good enough, they’ll vote for him. But if someone is *too* good, they’ll think, ’He’s already excellent enough, let’s not vote for him again. Let’s give it to someone else who’s relatively good to balance things out.’ That’s their logic! They don’t truly consider what it means to be the *Most Valuable Player*. What does ’Most’ mean? There’s only one ’Most’ in this league, and that’s the Trail Blazers’ Ah Gan!"
Ever since the league approved moving the 1992 All-Star Game to Portland, which facilitated the construction of the Trail Blazers’ new stadium, Tang Jianguo had largely refrained from ranting in the media for quite some time.
This had spared the NBA a lot of headaches, but as the playoffs and Finals drew closer, the "peace agreement" between him and David Stern steadily grew fragile.
In high-profile occasions like this, there was no way Tang Jianguo would keep silent.
The advantage of having such a loud-mouthed owner was that if the league ever wanted to target the Trail Blazers in some way, they’d have to think twice about Tang Jianguo’s potential to wreak havoc.
In fact, he wasn’t alone; quite a few media outlets also sided with Gan Guoyang, arguing that he deserved this year’s MVP.
First of all, the Trail Blazers’ 64-18 record was the best in the league—an indisputable, solid achievement.
Secondly, Gan Guoyang’s statistics were stellar: averaging 29.5 points, 15.5 rebounds, 6 assists per game, and claiming the Rebound King title for seven consecutive years.
Jordan only outpaced him in scoring. As a guard, he even fell short of Ah Gan in assists.
Lastly, many experts pointed out that while the Trail Blazers’ record this year wasn’t as dominant as the previous season, Ah Gan had become even more team-oriented and exceptional.
He elevated the players around him, while Jordan, for now, hadn’t demonstrated that ability.
The media’s debates raged on endlessly, but they couldn’t overturn the vote results.
