Gan Guoyang was once again hit by a bullet he had fired in the past.
In 1993, at a high school game of Kobe’s, Gan Guoyang was present to watch.
Kobe scored 47 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and had 11 assists, but his team at Lower Merion High School still lost the game.
After the game, Gan Guoyang asked Kobe if he knew what he did wrong in the game.
Kobe said maybe he was too selfish, not passing the ball, that he wasn’t a good team player.
At the time, Gan Guoyang shook his head, saying it wasn’t that he was too selfish, but that he didn’t score enough.
"If you had scored 60 points today, wouldn’t you have won?"
This sentence, even now, nearly seven years later, remains fresh in Kobe’s memory.
To a certain extent, this sentence shaped Kobe; no matter what kind of basketball education and training he later received, he always believed he could change the team’s fate and achieve victory on the court through his own efforts.
He trained himself toward this goal, no matter what others said or how coaches instructed him; he believed that path was his own bright avenue.
After four years in the League, Kobe matured significantly, having a more comprehensive view of things and knowing basketball is a team game.
Yet his heart never gave up the dream of heroism, and in his view, the entire meaning of basketball is to stand out and become a hero at that moment.
That’s how he thought, and that’s how Ah Gan acted, and he perfectly realized it all.
Now, during this time of injury, he sees Ah Gan seeming to hold something back.
Rationally, he understands that Ah Gan is conserving strength for the playoffs.
But emotionally, Kobe feels this isn’t the hero he admired.
Especially since this might be his last season; he should clearly be more magnificent and brilliant.
As a dedicated Ah Gan fan, Kobe can’t help but wish for Ah Gan to have his best season performance this last run.
Of course, that’s unrealistic, but that doesn’t stop Kobe from sarcastically taunting Ah Gan, letting him taste the sting of a boomerang.
Gan Guoyang has taken more than one or two bullets over the years; hearing Kobe’s words, he chuckled to himself.
After warming up and returning to the bench, Gan Guoyang asked Kobe, "Kobe, are you coming off the bench tonight?"
Kobe nodded, "Yes, I’m coming off the bench tonight; the coach said he’d see how things go before putting me in."
Gan Guoyang patted his shoulder and said, "Then you’re likely not going in tonight, so you might as well rest well on the bench."
Kobe didn’t quite understand what Gan Guoyang meant; Rick Carlisle chimed in, "Sonny, I’ve seriously studied it, and I think we have a problem with our current perimeter defense. But the core issue is our offense; defense can’t be fixed in a short time, but if we ramp up our offensive firepower, I think it could ease our defensive struggles."
Gan Guoyang nodded and said, "I get it, everyone wants me to score more. I think it makes sense; all problems stem from a lack of firepower. Then tonight, I’ll focus more on offense and less on defense. What do you all think?"
No one had any objections, all expressing agreement.
Basketball is essentially a game of who scores more.
So, theoretically speaking, the root of all problems is a lack of firepower.
Including defensive teams, why do they focus on defense?
Frankly, it’s also a lack of firepower and offensive talent, forcing them to concentrate on defense.
Offensive resources are always scarcer than defensive resources; those who score more become stars, while good defenders often become role players.
In recent games, Gan Guoyang also realized some issues; his investment in defense hadn’t yielded good results.
When he spent much of his time and energy guarding the basket and keeping the Three Second Zone impenetrable, opponents became adept at avoiding his defense, attacking the Trail Blazers’ defensive weaknesses from other areas.
In games against the Suns and Nuggets, both teams used their wing players to launch attacks from the three-point and mid-range areas.
With the Trail Blazers’ insufficient perimeter defensive intensity and pressure, they achieved high shooting percentages.
Even when Gan Guoyang extended his defense outward, lacking teammates’ cooperation made it easy for the basket to be left unguarded, losing rebounds.
So, the Trail Blazers urgently need Kobe’s return, and Gan Guoyang perhaps should adjust his defense-to-offense investment ratio.
With his energy waning and stamina no longer unlimited, he should shift more energy to the offensive end.
No wonder Larry Bird once suggested Gan Guoyang move to the small forward position, allowing him to rest his hands-on-hips defense, provide defensive stares, and seize fast-break opportunities—it was foresighted.
After several games of shuffling wins and losses, Gan Guoyang realized this point.
Just as tonight, Kobe remarked about "losing because you didn’t score 50, 60 points," why not try to see if I can still score 50, 60 points?
Even at this age, facing challenges, Gan Guoyang still gets excited, otherwise, playing wouldn’t be much fun.
And Carlisle had precisely this in mind; he also wanted Ah Gan to score more points, what’s the point of dog eight tactics or flow offenses, as long as it’s scoring, why not let the best player on our team score a few more points?
If we score six or seven more points each game, wouldn’t we win the game?
Carlisle, having recently finished reading "The Sun Rises from the West," increasingly felt Beelman’s perspective made sense.
If I give the ball to the best player on the team, how is that not a strategy, not a tactic?