However, Bird still spoke earnestly, "I understand how you feel. You want to perform well returning to your hometown, but playing like this tonight won’t leave a good impression on the hometown fans and friends. Doing what you should do is the best performance."
Among the many new coaches, Bird is definitely the most patient one.
His identity determines that he has a stronger ability to handle pressure and a stronger persuasive power over the players.
In comparison, Gan Guoyang’s patience is not as good as it was when he was younger.
As the second half was about to begin, Gan Guoyang again discussed with Bird, "That kid Kobe is as restless as a tomcat in heat."
Bird said, "You’re now as irritable as an old lion, don’t fuss with the kid."
Gan Guoyang said, "You know I’m anxious."
"I know, but haste makes waste, it’s just a regular season game. Also, were you too hard on Allen Iverson?"
"Hard? Didn’t I once defend you to a scoreless quarter?"
"Screw you, XXXX..."
"Larry, you’re now as irritable as an old lion, don’t fuss with a kid like me."
"What kind of kid are you! Get back to the game."
In the third quarter, the 76ers didn’t make any major changes.
The focus of the game now is whether Iverson can break the scoring drought.
As the second half began, Iverson hurriedly dribbled inside to break through.
He attempted to break the situation with a skilled stop-and-pop shot, a move he’s very confident in.
Unexpectedly, Gan Guoyang appeared like a ghost from the side and behind, reaching out lightly.
Iverson executed a dodge, and Gan Guoyang neither touched the ball nor hit the hand, so naturally, there was no foul.
A clever disruption led Iverson’s shot to be unstable, and the ball hit the neck of the basket, missing.
The audience sighed, Iverson still couldn’t score. What was wrong with him tonight?
Iverson’s face was stern and looked awful as Gan Guoyang continued his devilish whisper.
"Allen, they all call you the Answer. But why don’t you answer my question?"
Iverson remained silent. He didn’t want to fall into Ah Gan’s muddy trap again, afraid he would crumble.
"Answer me!" Gan Guoyang suddenly shouted, startling Iverson.
The referee thought they had an altercation and came over to check the situation.
Gan Guoyang explained, "There’s no problem here, we’re just having a conversation."
"I don’t want to talk to you, Sonny, don’t speak to me again."
Iverson tried to focus on the game.
Gan Guoyang rushed to the basket, grabbed an offensive rebound, and slammed it in with both hands.
As long as he wanted, scoring was simple for him, like drinking water.
Iverson used to be like this too, but tonight he just couldn’t quench his thirst.
He felt like he was about to die of thirst, yet he persisted, stubborn and unwilling to admit defeat.
In his heart, he knew he had already lost tonight, but he didn’t want to lose so badly and completely.
Iverson insisted on scoring, ignoring the opportunity at the wing for Starkhouse, relying on screens to push into the basket.
As long as the referee was slightly biased, attacking the rim would earn a whistle, and two free throws would suffice to secure points.
But Gan Guoyang’s defense tonight was impeccable; after the screen, he switched on defense, going big against small with Iverson.
Generally, when big covers small, the big man maintains distance, or it’s easy to get broken through.
Gan Guoyang was different. He liked to stick close, even if he occasionally got beaten, occasionally fouled, he still chose to press up.
Lowering his center of gravity, he engaged in the most direct tussle, not worrying at all about being shaken to the point his ankles would go weak or his head dizzy.
Because he had excellent control of his center of gravity, solid footwork, and made good use of confrontations, balancing properly.
Only experienced veteran guards, like Jordan, Johnson, Drexler, etc., could draw fouls and take advantage.
Iverson was too young. He was indeed very fast, but Gan Guoyang’s defensive style made him very uncomfortable, and the ball got knocked away!
Once again, getting the ball knocked away by a center, Iverson tried to dive for it, but Gan Guoyang already had the ball, and the referee called a jump ball.
Iverson was furious; calling a jump ball was just giving possession to the Trail Blazers. It should have been called a foul.
"That’s a foul!" Iverson glared at the referee; this move usually worked.
But the referee shook his head, insisting on the jump ball because your opponent is Ah Gan.
Iverson was extremely frustrated, forced to go into the circle to jump ball against the best center.
Gan Guoyang looked at Iverson, just mouthed to Iverson, "Answer me~"
Iverson was already on the verge of collapse; the mental questioning was a crack, but the true hammer was the gap on the court.
Actually, if Iverson had been more experienced, with a more stable mindset, and had a better shooting touch tonight, he wouldn’t have shot so poorly.
No matter how good Gan Guoyang’s defense was, it’s very hard to completely shut out an NBA player, especially one who’s not primarily a perimeter defender.
Even someone like Rodman would occasionally score one or two on Gan Guoyang’s head; it’s normal for Iverson to score a few if he played normally.
But Iverson was unsettled from the start and, being a rookie, was now in complete disarray.
Gan Guoyang easily won the jump ball, subsequently holding the ball outside and creating a mismatch against Iverson in offense.
He then showcased his dribbling skills, using a moderately paced, skillfully executed, and well-timed crossover with a step back, scoring a mid-range jumper.
Iverson tried to steal naturally with no success, watching the ball go in; this left him completely crushed. Suddenly, he looked up at the sky, then squatted down and covered his face on the court.