Malone really wanted to say thank you to Stockton, thank you for your good buddy, your good friend Gan Guoyang, who has respected and cared about me for more than ten years, constantly leaving me with deep memories.
That fall in 1992 was truly memorable, along with being eliminated time and time again in the playoffs, and forever playing under the shadow of Gan Guoyang.
Actually, Malone doesn’t mind this much; he has a pretty good mentality. He knows he’s always learning from Gan Guoyang, learning the simplest and most suitable parts of Gan Guoyang’s skills for himself.
Just learning seventy percent is enough to traverse the League and leave his mark in the NBA.
He pushed muscle training to the extreme, excavating all of his body’s potential.
He knows he’s far less talented than geniuses like Barkley and Olajuwon, but he strives to make up for it with diligence and hard work.
Malone is the best at compensating, showing all players who suffer from inadequate hardware and software talent a bright path.
So even without a championship, Malone has his own world, his own spiritual realm.
Many people don’t like him, his dirtiness on the court, and some of his bad words and deeds off the court.
But Malone truly lived his life and played a wonderful basketball career unique to him.
And this career is not over; at 36, he’s in great shape and ready to continue moving forward.
As for Gan Guoyang wanting to score 55 points on my head? Well, let him be. I’d like to see what he does next.
Malone is full of defiance, so when Jerry Sloan asked Malone not to defend Gan Guoyang one-on-one, Malone unusually refused.
"No, coach, let me defend him one-on-one. I can do it. Although I might not be able to completely stop him, it’s definitely not easy for him to score 50 points on me. I believe in myself."
Malone’s one-on-one defense skills are definitely top-notch in the League.
Restricted by his height, wingspan, and lateral speed, his help defense and rim protection abilities are indeed average.
But in low-post man-to-man defense, top defense, the experienced Malone is the League’s craftiest veteran.
In terms of strength, Malone is unafraid of O’Neal; as for skills, even Gan Guoyang must go all out to respond.
Malone also isn’t confronting Gan Guoyang for the first time; he has equally rich confrontation experience and believes he’s fine.
Since it’s the regular season, Jerry Sloan didn’t force Malone to do exactly what he wanted.
Confrontational games always heavily depend on players, especially stars’ performance and on-the-spot condition. It’s a good thing for stars to have confidence in themselves.
"Alright, I believe in you. Good luck, Karl," said Sloan.
Stockton and Hornersek both looked at Malone with slightly sympathetic eyes.
Before going on court, Hornersek whispered to Stockton, "John, do you think Karl can defend Gan Guoyang tonight?"
Stockton whispered back, "No way. Gan Guoyang is clearly in the zone tonight, and his style has changed a bit; Karl has totally missed it."
Hornersek said, "Then Karl is doomed."
"Doesn’t matter, we can’t really help him either."
Stockton knows Gan Guoyang very well; as a good friend and rival, Stockton also seriously studies Gan Guoyang.
He clearly feels that in the past two years, Gan Guoyang has reached the limit of his technical skills with no more space for further improvement or development.
Gan Guoyang’s changes lie mostly in his offensive choices, stamina allocation, and tactical awareness, playing increasingly "smart."
Because age has caught up with him, in the past, even at his technical peak, Gan Guoyang often brute-forced his way through, regardless of how one dealt with him, saying, "Even without a spear tip, I can still stab you."
In this match, Gan Guoyang is clearly employing smart changes, playing very intelligently, even slightly opportunistically, evidently aiming for better scoring while saving energy for crucial moments.
If Malone doesn’t realize this, thinking about going head-to-head with Gan Guoyang around the Three Second Zone, he’ll definitely suffer.
The timeout ended, and the game continued; Stockton first did a pick and roll with Malone, who cut outside, Stockton delivered a skilled bounce pass to Malone.
Gan Guoyang indeed didn’t chase out, instead guarding the Three Second Zone, allowing Malone the long two-pointers, which Malone scored.
However, the Trail Blazers didn’t care. As Malone retreated, he eye-balled Gan Guoyang and said, "You’re not letting go anymore, Sonny?"
"I see your head is itching again, Karl," Gan Guoyang retaliated, the two were old friends, well-versed in trash-talking, and it caused not even a ripple internally.
Then, Gan Guoyang held the ball outside the three-point line and did a screen play with Brellock, who cut in pulling away the help defense.
With Gan Guoyang and Malone challenging one-on-one from the wing at a 45-degree angle, instead of forcefully attacking with the ball or backing Malone down, Gan Guoyang suddenly pulled back after a series of dribbles, feigning a shot.
Malone lunged forward, but Gan Guoyang didn’t shoot. He paused briefly then lowered his body and broke through with dribbles, driving from the baseline into the basket for a one-handed dunk!
This magnificent ball-handling left Jazz fans in awe, with some shouting at the referee, "Traveling, he walked!"
Some fans gestured traveling signs, but more were shaking their heads lightly; Gan Guoyang’s move was indeed impressive.
At that height and position, executing a Kiki-step while convincingly faking a shooting motion was unique.
Right before gathering the ball, Gan Guoyang opted to continue dribbling, dancing on the edge of carrying, faking out Malone, shifting his center of gravity to score.