At the start, Gan Guoyang used a strong low-post offense to quickly score, giving an old friend a welcoming gift.
On the defensive end, Gan Guoyang actively guarded Gasol, and when they were matched up, Gan Guoyang marveled at how tall and long-armed this young man was.
Gan Guoyang, with his well-toned physique, stands a solid 6 feet 10 inches, with an excellent wingspan.
But Gasol was clearly taller than Gan Guoyang, with an equally impressive wingspan, and when he posted up against Gan Guoyang, it had an overwhelming feel.
However, when Gasol attempted to back down Gan Guoyang to establish position on the first play, he found himself unable to move him—not at all.
Gasol twisted side to side like a noodle, leaning against Gan Guoyang, but after a long while, his position didn't change at all.
"What an idiot, trying to post up Ah Gan right at the start. Who does he think he is?"
The veterans on the Spurs and the Glory Team watched Gasol's effort to push inside and quietly mocked him.
It's true that a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. Once you push, you will know what it feels like.
Billups did pass the ball to Gasol, and the Spurs fans in the arena all stood up to cheer him on.
Gasol caught the ball in front of him and was almost pushed out, but after securing it, he quickly spun around, managing to slip inside by leaning on Gan Guoyang.
With a beautiful spin move, he faced the basket and directly raised his hand for a layup, only to find halfway through that Gan Guoyang had already come over and pinned Gasol down, blocking his layup.
Although Gasol had spun and gotten position, it was actually a trap intentionally left by Gan Guoyang, giving Gasol the chance to spin, then coming right up to him, using physical contact to pin him down and block his shot.
This was an old trick Gan Guoyang used to bully young players, and it worked like a charm every time.
Young players lack some experience and try to exploit any visible flaw without realizing it's a trap.
Not only was Gasol blocked, but in the intense physical confrontation, he couldn't withstand Gan Guoyang's tremendous power and fell to the ground.
The gap in strength was still decisive; even after reducing his weight to 245 pounds, Gan Guoyang's resistance power remained top-notch in the league.
After securing the ball and initiating a fast break, Gan Guoyang said to Robinson, "He's a bit weak in confrontation; I can't imagine if I weighed 280 pounds, how he would play against me in the low post."
Robinson, while keeping an eye on Gan Guoyang returning to defense, said, "Young people always have to try. He admires you a lot; don't be too hard on him, Sonny."
"I haven't hit anyone in a long time."
"..."
Gan Guoyang showed his prowess on both ends by facing Robinson on offense and then dealing with Pau Gasol on defense.
The Spurs' tactics centered around low-post offense quickly collapsed due to low efficiency.
The first principle of a low-post tactic is that your offensive pivot should score efficiently in the low post.
This is the prerequisite for deploying all strategies; if your offensive pivot can be easily defended one-on-one, don't even think about any related plays.
Pau Gasol's debut game was quite impressive, scoring 20 points against the relatively weak inside of the Houston Rockets with repeated success in the low post.
In the second game against the Clippers, he scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, quickly becoming the offensive hub for the Spurs.
The game tonight is Pau Gasol's biggest test since entering the NBA—how to face the best interior defender in history?
Though 37 years old, Gan Guoyang's defense was still full of detail, precise positioning combined with various small moves, and so-called gaps that you didn't know were traps.
The Spurs soon shifted their offensive focus to the perimeter, with Chauncey Billups as the offensive initiator.
Old Porter did not suffer defensively against the young and strong Billups, instead using his experience to force errors in Billups' playmaking.
The game started at a very slow pace, with a lot of defensive confrontations, many low-post possessions, and a lot of ball movement.
When the first official timeout came, the score was 8:6, with Glory Team leading Spurs by only 2 points.
After scoring 4 consecutive points in the low post, Gan Guoyang no longer forced attacks, first to conserve energy and second, because the Spurs' double-teaming and rotations were indeed well executed.
Glory Team tried to speed up, to play fast breaks, but the Spurs constantly managed to slow them down with timely retreats, effective man-to-man defense, and pressure on the ball handler.
Glory Team was not a fast-break specialist team anyway; they relied on brute force to play fast without a true backcourt playmaker.
Lacking light cavalry like Drexler or Kobe who excel in solitary charges, when the Spurs slowed them down, they had to comply.
Slowing down has its advantages too; it's not unplayable. As Tomjanovich said during the timeout, "If we can't seize the initiative of the game's pace, let's instead follow the opponent's rhythm."
The young players indeed need to learn how to adapt to the varying paces of NBA games.
They had yet to reach a level where they could dictate the game's pace and make opponents play at their speed.
Being able to keep pace with different opponents and respond well is already a significant improvement.
After the timeout, Arenas was substituted in, and in the point guard position, there's the most to learn.
There's no shortcut—it must be gained game by game, lesson by lesson.
Right after coming on, Arenas was caught by Billups for a defensive foul, suffering a setback immediately.
With patient half-court offense, the Spurs relied on Stephen Jackson to hit a mid-range shot, tying the score.