Not just to develop Kobe, but also because the Trail Blazers currently don’t have a good perimeter defender.
Nick Van Exel and Riddle already not being blown out is considered good luck.
Van Exel has a lack of innate conditions; too thin and short, and in college, he didn’t properly practice defense as the main offensive player.
Riddle has an attitude problem; the fact that he consistently trains and isn’t late is already a miracle, Bird is not expecting more from him for now.
In the absence of better trade resources, tapping into internal potential is the most realistic method.
Kobe Bryant and Alon Magee both have good defensive potential.
Although Bird hasn’t spelled it out, his actual intention is to show through rotations and playing time: whoever’s one-on-one defense is better gets more time on the court.
This is a common tactic for coaches to stimulate players’ competitive attitudes, by having players in the same position compete, coaches particularly like and favor those who work hard on defense.
Back then, Mario Ely on the Trail Blazers beat the veteran Jerome Kossie in playing time competition with his diligent and excellent defense.
Now, Ely is with the Indiana Pacers on a good contract, while Kossie has ended his career under Beelman in Los Angeles Lakers.
Kobe is ready for such defensive challenges.
Recently, his personal trainer has arrived in Portland, and he’s preparing to focus on enhancing his defense.
He needs to stay on the court first, with enough playing time to have enough opportunities to perform.
If everything forms a positive cycle, he can establish himself with the Trail Blazers and in the league.
Keep in mind, fans, media, and sponsors have limited patience with a new star.
Maybe two seasons, or even just half a season or a few weeks.
Once it’s noticed you can’t meet expectations, or even stick in the league, abandonment happens quickly.
At that time, trying to climb back up again requires going through a tough journey.
Tonight’s game is at Gund Arena, and with the Trail Blazers’ visit, it’s packed once again.
Since Price, Daugherty, and others left or retired, the Cavaliers have returned to their ’80s era "playing in a submarine" days.
Brandon is playing well, but he’s not a ticket-selling player, so Gund Arena games often aren’t full.
A popular visiting team often can save this sluggish basketball market.
The game starts on time; both sides are playing extremely competitively, with an unbelievably slow pace.
Mike Fratello is a very experienced coach, and Bird has always admired him.
Fratello understands Gan’s power and constantly asks his players to slow down the pace during the game, dragging it into a mud-style battle.
Although the Cavaliers’ roster is quite average, under Fratello’s guidance, they play with great discipline.
The offense is strictly by the playbook, and the defense rarely makes significant mistakes; this tests the Trail Blazers’ players’ patience and fundamental qualities.
Van Exel and Riddle struggle with this pace; Van Exel tries to speed up the pace a few times, but to no effect.
The first quarter ends tied at 18:18, with Gan Guoyang having an average performance, scoring 5 points with 6 rebounds.
He grabs a fair amount of rebounds, but the pace is not under his control, and the Cavaliers’ double team is very timely, forcing Gan Guoyang to keep passing.
The Cavaliers are the best team in the league at limiting opponents’ scores, achieved by sacrificing their own offensive rhythm.
On the bench, Gan Guoyang drinks water, saying: "Now the team’s defense is getting tighter and tighter, every team’s triple-team and defensive traps are very fluent."
The NBA environment is continuously evolving towards more defense, less offense, more physical play, and less speed.
Since the new season started, the Trail Blazers have had only one game where they scored over 100 points, which is quite low.
Other teams aren’t much better; games with scores in the 90s are normal, 80s are common, and 70s aren’t impossible.
Gan Guoyang still remembers just five or six years ago, when the 1990-1991 season started, the Trail Blazers’ firepower at the start of the season was incredible.
Back then, at the start of the season, their schedule was light, consecutive home games, and consistently scoring 130, 140, up to 150 points at Memorial Coliseum.
Now the Trail Blazers aren’t the same, and neither is the NBA; everything is changing constantly.
Bird admits Gan Guoyang is right, now defenses are getting better, with all sorts of strategies emerging, dual-team, triple-team, fast rotations, many teams can do quite well.
But what frustrates Bird about going against Mike Fratello is that in the first half, Fratello called three timeouts, and each time after the timeout, the Cavaliers were able to score immediately.
This shows Fratello’s adjustments are very targeted, each timeout adjustment addressing the Trail Blazers’ issues precisely — their perimeter defense has problems.
The first half ends with a 41:43 score, the Cavaliers leading the Trail Blazers by 2 points at home.
During the halftime break, Rick Carlisle again emphasized the ball’s fluidity, and Dick Hart pointed out the team’s consistent errors in perimeter defense.
The offense that flowed like water against the Kings two days ago disappeared at Gund Arena.
Regardless of the team, strong or weak, stable or chaotic, the game state is always fluctuating, with situations happening every day.