The photo frame held a close-up of Larry Bird. Gan Guoyang placed the photo on the empty bench and said to Carl, "This way you won’t be nervous, Rick. Larry is with us."
Carl: "..."
"Uh...Sonny, Larry is just sick, not dead."
"Yes, he will forever live in our hearts, don’t be nervous."
"I’m not nervous, really."
"Don’t worry, we’ll definitely win tonight. I’ll score 30 points with 20 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the team to victory for your coaching debut. Also, being a head coach is easy, trust me, stay focused."
Carl wanted to say something, but Gan Guoyang had already jogged onto the court, ready to start the match.
Carl’s originally uneasy heart gradually calmed down.
He thought, so this is what it feels like to coach Ah Gan?
It’s really reassuring. No wonder people say coaching Ah Gan is the easiest job.
Being an assistant coach watching from the side felt nothing, but being a head coach bearing the responsibility and pressure, he finally realized the peculiarity of it.
Tonight, the Trail Blazers’ starting lineup has greatly changed compared to last season. Sabonis has returned as the starting center.
Gan Guoyang moved to the power forward position, playing a Twin Towers lineup with Sabonis. The two can actually switch positions, with no fixed role as either power forward or center.
This poses a huge challenge for other teams, with interior pressure suddenly increasing, rekindling the interior fears of 1990-1993.
At the small forward position, Chris Mullin has become a starter. His arrival hasn’t solved the defensive issues at the small forward position.
But offensively, the Trail Blazers now have pass and organize relay points both inside and outside, eliminating the stagnant, monotonous issues.
At shooting guard, Riddle is still the starter. Although his playoff performance was unsatisfactory, he’s still useful during the regular season.
At point guard, Brellock donned the Trail Blazers’ number 10 jersey. Though not tall, he’s incredibly solid, with a stable lower body, clearly a defensive ace.
If they encounter John Stockton again, the Trail Blazers absolutely won’t let him score over thirty points in a game again.
Three of the five positions have been replaced, and currently, the Trail Blazers are most concerned about age and health issues.
With the addition of three veterans, the team’s average age has suddenly increased.
The team is either filled with veterans over thirty or young and reckless players in their twenties, with a lack of middle-aged strength.
However, these will all take time to prove, and the Trail Blazers’ players are quite apprehensive themselves. Can they reach their goal this season?
The game began with Sabonis and PJ Brown jumping for the ball at mid-court. Brown, who wore the Trail Blazers jersey last season, is now part of the Heat.
No choice, the Heat offered more, willing to pay. With a championship already secured, PJ was bound to seek a bigger contract and more US Dollars.
During the entry ceremony, Trail Blazers fans gave PJ Brown applause, thanking him for his contributions over the years, accompanying the Trail Blazers through a pitfall period.
Now serving different owners, PJ Brown can’t help but feel uneasy facing the two veterans.
In the very first possession, Gan Guoyang caught the ball in the middle and made a strong drive, drawing a foul from Brown.
It came from a pass by Sabonis. Their coordination is still that seamless, giving the Heat’s defense little time to react.
Barkley’s task tonight was to guard Ah Gan one-on-one. He didn’t even react to this play, being cleanly outmaneuvered.
Otherwise, PJ Brown wouldn’t have needed to come over for secondary defense and commit a foul.
Barkley was quite self-aware, raising his hand to admit it was his mistake.
When Gan Guoyang made both free throws, he followed up by intercepting Barkley on defense.
He passed the ball to Mullin, who back-passed to Riddle, and after Riddle dunked with both hands, Barkley licked his lips, too embarrassed to speak.
In recent years, under Riley’s coaching, the Heat has become a very tough defensive team. Riley himself has very high demands on man-to-man defense.
For someone like Barkley, who has strong personal attack capabilities, Riley will slightly relax his defensive demands, but it’s still much stricter than at the Suns.
With two mistakes right at the start, Riley already felt that this season’s Barkley seemed incapable, probably hard to endure.
After causing such a scene in Orlando, almost landing in jail.
Lacking discipline, 300 pounds, easily beaten on defense, and unable to push through on the offense.
Almost five years have passed since 1993, and Ah Gan is still the same Ah Gan, while Barkley has already begun to show signs of aging.
Of course, Barkley is not entirely done for; he still has some gas left in the tank.
In the unfavorable opening, Barkley started partnering with Tim Hardaway, continually using pick-and-rolls and high post coordination to find opportunities.
Drexler utilized a cut, receiving the ball, turning, and making a jump shot to score Heat’s first point.
The Trail Blazers’ defensive intensity wasn’t high, employing ordinary one-on-one marking, and Drexler found it relatively easy to handle whether facing Mullin or Riddle.
But the Heat found it increasingly difficult to defend the Trail Blazers, as Riley had devised a strategy to double-team Ah Gan heavily, placing numerous defensive traps.
However, in the first quarter, Gan Guoyang wasn’t the focal point of the team’s offense. Apart from drawing a foul from PJ on the first play, in the remaining offensive possessions, Gan Guoyang blended into the team offense, not standing out particularly.
This is entirely different from last season.
The old guys have their faults, but they also have their advantages.
The slow pace of late 90s NBA was just the right era for these experienced old folks to shine.