For example, last season’s battle with Dennis Rodman for the Rebound King gave Gan Guoyang a lot of game vitality.
Earlier, there was the competition with Jordan for the scoring title, MVP, and so on.
This season, playing against O’Neal, he wants to teach O’Neal a lesson and leave the Shark with a psychological shadow.
Also, since Bernard King came, he plans to have more blowout games.
So that old friends have a chance to play in garbage time and get a good feel for the game.
After defeating the Hawks, the Trail Blazers won big at home against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Bernard King got 3 minutes and 8 minutes of playing time in the second and fourth quarters, respectively.
In 11 minutes, King scored 10 points, with 1 assist and 2 rebounds.
His performance was much improved from the last game, at least in efficiency.
Gan Guoyang in this battle scored 29 points, 21 rebounds, plus 7 blocks and 9 assists.
His offensive shooting percentage was very high, reaching 80%, and he revitalized the team’s offense.
The whole team made 7 out of 11 three-pointers, with Dell Curry hitting 3 of 4, performing excellently.
Gan Guoyang single-handedly dismantled the Clippers on both offense and defense.
His offensive playstyle is becoming more and more free, with no patterns to follow.
Larry-Brown’s methodical defensive setup couldn’t withstand it at all.
Brown is a very good defensive coach, his biggest defensive characteristic is precision.
Precise one-on-one matchups, precise rotations, precise double-teams.
Every step he calculates precisely, striving for his players to execute systematically like characters in a video game.
Such defense is very useful against ordinary players and teams, greatly reducing the opponent’s efficiency.
But for someone like Gan Guoyang, who has evolved to play all five positions, this precise defense is the least effective.
For example, Brown loves using excellent defensive point guards to pressure the opponent’s organizer full-court, half-court.
In Denver, he used Brian Taylor, at the Spurs, he used Rod Strickland, and at the Clippers, he used Mark Jackson, Rivers, Harper.
He loves such guards, striving to interfere with the opponent’s offense from the root and pressure the ball handler.
But for the Trail Blazers, Gan Guoyang often personally brings the ball up the court to organize the offense.
How to defend? Send a small guard to steal the ball?
Even Jordan and Pippen could not strip the ball from Gan Guoyang’s hands.
The result of using a small guard to defend is getting backed down and scored on easily.
If the inside players come out to defend, what about rim protection, how does the rotation adjust?
Brown’s precisely arranged defensive formation falls apart instantly.
Plus, Gan Guoyang always viciously warns Brown, "Stop yelling!"
Causing Brown to have a sullen face when playing against the Trail Blazers, unable to vent his emotions.
Eventually losing the game, feeling endlessly frustrated in his heart.
The coach and team truly suited to defending a "free man" like Gan Guoyang is George Karl and his Supersonics.
They rely not on precision, but on unparalleled energy, a tall frontline, and the ferocity of the SOS defensive system.
In tonight’s game, the Clippers were blown out early by Gan Guoyang alone, quickly entering garbage time.
Brown’s resentment towards Gan Guoyang intensified by another notch.
This resentment will grow deeper and thicker over time.
Until many years later, the two sides will come for a final reckoning.
After this game, King’s admiration for Gan Guoyang increased.
This kid really knows how to show off, and crucially, he succeeds in it.
In March, the Trail Blazers embarked on another Eastern road trip.
This was the Trail Blazers’ last long journey East before the playoffs.
Upon arrival in Detroit, a large number of reporters awaited at the airport exit.
Every time Gan Guoyang plays in Detroit, it causes a sensation.
As time passed, the aftermath of the Silver Dome massacre not only didn’t fade away.
Instead, with the NBA’s growing popularity, its influence became even greater.
Gan Guoyang and his Trail Blazers are at the peak, the most popular team in the League.
The Pistons are inevitably heading towards decline.
Fans and local media can only add a bloody hue to the games by constantly recalling former glories.
From the airport to the hotel, from the hotel to the arena, slogans written by fans were everywhere.
"Ah Gan, you can’t kill us!"
"Eat my punch, Ah Gan!"
"You’re the worst boxer and wrestler in the world."
Some signs even depicted a coffin.
Gan Guoyang lay inside with a serene look on his face.
Gan Guoyang is long since immune to such provocations.
These two seasons, Pistons fans are more aggressive than their players.
Their talents are all in trash-talking, not in team building.
The downfall of a team happens so quickly.
Competing for the championship last season, and possibly never returning the next season.
Internal corruption and decay is one aspect, but rapid changes in the larger environment accelerated this process.
The Pistons happen to be in a phase of rapid development and change in the NBA.
Firstly, their playstyle was rejected and targeted by the League.
Entering the 90s, many teams were direct or indirect successors of the Pistons.
After the malicious foul rule was introduced in 1990, NBA games did not become gentler.
Malicious injury moves did decrease, but the intensity of the game increased, with scoring getting lower each year.
The Heat, Hornets, Knicks, Hawks, Supersonics, all these teams had very aggressive playing styles.
Daley and his Pistons created a pathway of "even with average talent, competing with the geniuses."
Only to teach the disciples, but go hungry themselves.