Chapter 902: Chapter 56 The Conviction of Certain Death_3
Adelman and his assistant coaching staff initially opposed the idea, thinking Sabonis was not suited to help defend Jordan.
Sabonis may be agile, but Jordan is just too fast—Sabonis would easily get beaten.
On top of that, Sabonis needed to hold down the three-second zone with Gan; the interior line was the Trail Blazers’ biggest advantage, and it couldn’t be compromised.
But after conducting defensive drills that day, everyone agreed it was actually a solid idea.
Because with Sabonis helping defend Jordan, the double-team tightened up the overall defensive setup.
While Sabonis may lag in speed, his positioning and court anticipation were excellent.
Berman didn’t demand Sabonis to guard Jordan closely but to keep a reasonable distance, prevent Jordan’s drives, and force him into more mid-range jumpers.
It was as if Jordan now had a massive, retreating shield stationed around the edge of the three-second zone, waiting for him at all times.
As for other players breaking through? There’s Gan.
Bill Cartwright, Buck Williams, and Grant? There’s Gan.
Defensive rebounds? There’s Gan.
Rim protection and rotations? Gan’s got it covered.
In short, Berman further stripped Sabonis of his duties in the paint and handed them all over to Gan.
Because according to his statistical calculations, the gain from having Gan lock down the three-second zone solo versus adding Sabonis wasn’t significant.
If Gan alone achieved 80 percent, adding Sabonis would barely bump it to 90 percent.
And more importantly, by piling extra responsibility onto Gan, making him endure the grind, maybe—just maybe—he’d push it to 100 percent on his own.
Faced with Berman’s unconventional thinking, Gan Guoyang could only clap his hands and say, "I’m impressed," with nothing else to add.
Thus, the Trail Blazers set up a new defensive plan against Jordan before the game, determined to prevent Jordan from scoring as much in the second match and deny him any chance to rally his team.
On the other side, Phil Jackson found himself in a completely different situation than Bobby Berman.
Assistant coach Bach repeatedly studied the footage of Game 1 of the Finals and Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.
Bach noticed that the key to the Suns’ Game 3 victory was Charles Barkley relentlessly hounding Gan like a bulldog throughout the game.
Barkley’s pressure wasn’t limited to defense—it came even more through offense, forcing Gan to focus entirely on one-on-one situations, leaving little energy for help defense and rotations.
Thus, Bach proposed a bold strategy: have Pippen take on Gan more often—not just defensively but offensively too, targeting Gan at a 45-degree angle and draining his stamina.
Jackson and the other coaches thought Bach had lost it—Pippen going one-on-one with Gan? Bird couldn’t even do it; how could Pippen?
It had been proven time and again during the regular season that Pippen’s role in help defense was the best way to stifle Gan, with Buck or Cartwright holding the fort in the paint.
But Bach persisted, arguing Pippen may lack Bird’s all-around offensive prowess, but he had the physicality Bird did not.
"Bird and Johnson, those finesse and technique guys won’t cut it against Gan. You need to go physical, straight-up hardball. I think Scottie’s got what it takes! Our goal isn’t to overpower Gan—it’s to split his focus and create opportunities for others. Someone has to step up and challenge Gan, and it can’t be Michael. That leaves us with Scottie."
Phil Jackson was swayed by Bach’s reasoning, but during practice, when Pippen heard the coach’s strategy, he only shook his head.
"Gan’s a center. You want me to play center against him? I mean, I could, but you’d have to bump my salary—add an extra million to my contract."
Pippen was joking, of course, but subtly expressed his dissatisfaction; mismatching him against Gan, a center? That’d be suicide.
Jackson had no choice but to shelve the plan for now, sticking to the original setup with adjustments focused mainly on offensive tempo.
Bach let out a long sigh, thinking to himself that without a do-or-die determination, how could they ever defeat the Trail Blazers?
