The lineup with Walker Hill at its core indeed has great potential, yet Hill's injuries have once again dashed the Suns' hopes for this season.
After playing 15 games in the new season, Hill announced he would be out indefinitely due to an ankle injury.
Last season, Hill missed a large number of games due to ankle issues, leading to the team's poor performance.
Hill's fragile ankle has become the main barrier preventing him from further advancement.
Without Hill, the Suns have to rely on Antoine Walker and Anfernee Hardaway to carry the team.
Unfortunately, Anfernee Hardaway's body is equally fragile; after consecutive injuries, he has transformed from one of the league's most graceful and talented guards into a relatively average star, consistently contributing 15+5 per game.
This can be attributed to the excellent treatment by the Suns' medical team and Phoenix's dry and conducive recovery climate.
Simply put, the NBA takes an enormous toll on the body, with extremely high requirements.
In this arena, talent must be supported by durable physical quality, otherwise, all brilliance will fade in the wear and tear of time.
Of course, the Suns have their team-building plan, and they've already got a young player solidifying his position as starting point guard.
He is Tony Parker from France, picked by the Suns at the 19th spot in the first round, and they are very optimistic about Parker's future development.
Also, in two months, the Suns will trade for a rookie named Joe Johnson, who was selected by the Knicks in the first round at the 11th spot in 2001.
Currently, the New York Knicks, with Mourning retiring due to kidney disease, Shawn Kemp rapidly gaining weight and falling off, and Jeff Van Gundy resigning in the summer, are quickly descending into chaos.
A significant sign of a team in chaos is the complete impatience with the growth of rookies.
It's purely a lottery mentality: scratch and discard if there's no luck, and hope to scratch another one.
Thus, various trades are initiated, switching this for that, and even slight underperformance leads to public stirrings pushing for changes in the team lineup.
Gan Guoyang just doesn't want the Las Vegas Radiance to become like this, so he insists on bearing all pressure to provide space for young players to grow and make mistakes.
In this game, facing an opponent missing their core Hill and with a fragmented lineup, the Radiance did not perform much better than the Suns.
Throughout the first three quarters, both sides battled fiercely, with Tomjanovich continuously adjusting the lineup to reduce Gan Guoyang's playing time and not letting him handle everything, instead giving others the chance to solve issues.
Gan Guoyang is patient, yet during the game, when teammates make mistakes, he still scolds them.
He reprimands them while playing, and even more so while watching from the bench, especially when young players make silly errors.
Seeing Gerald Wallace daydream during defense, not knowing where to look, and being bypassed by the opponent in one step.
Gan Guoyang stood up angrily intending to blast Wallace, but Tomjanovich quickly stopped him, saying, "Don't use foul language, Sonny, your daughter is watching from behind, calm down, cool down a bit."
Gan Guoyang could only temporarily close his mouth and suppress his anger.
When he took to the court during the crucial moments in the fourth quarter, the score was still tied at 91:91.
The Suns' little guard Tony Parker was darting around the Radiance's zone like a little mouse.
His speed was extremely fast, with very agile ankle movements, it was during defending him that Gerald Wallace zoned out.
And Brad Miller was penetrated multiple times under the basket by Parker, unable to keep up with his speed.
In the 2001-2002 season, with offensive three seconds being enforced in this environment, Parker's ability to finish at the basket found its space for exhibition.
As a relatively low-ranked foreign rookie, the 19-year-old Parker has already displayed excellent performances in several games in November.
For instance, scoring 22 points and 8 assists against the Hornets and achieving a double-double with 19 points and 10 assists against the Timberwolves.
After Hill's absence, he's taken on more ball possession, acting like an indefatigable little whirlwind in games, causing great disturbance to opponents' inside lines.
Seeing him, Gan Guoyang was reminded of another Suns little guard, Kevin Johnson, who was once also a master at disrupting the inside line.
Of course, in Gan Guoyang's eyes, both Parker and Kevin Johnson are subjects that can be disciplined.
In the final phase of the fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang returned to the center position, beginning to guard the basket.
Even with the defensive three-second rule, Gan Guoyang could still utilize his exceptional observational and predictive skills to prevent opponents from attacking the basket.
Parker defiantly tried to charge the three-second zone but was timed perfectly by Gan Guoyang, who blocked him with a power display.
Parker was puzzled, he clearly noticed that Gan Guoyang's eyes weren't looking here.
Why did he suddenly appear and deliver a block on him?
Then Gan Guoyang in defense also drew an offensive foul, adding another turnover for Parker.
Now Gan Guoyang's explosive power and laterality have slowed, and once defending the outside line, he likes to draw fouls.
Parker, lacking experience, fell into the trap, while the Radiance leveraged the counterattack to score five consecutive points.
All came from Arenas, who effortlessly broke through Parker's defense and hit a stop-and-shoot three-pointer from the outside.
Actually, the Suns' defense is quite weak, had the Radiance committed fewer mistakes, there's no way the game would have reached the crucial moments in the fourth quarter.
In the first three quarters, Gan Guoyang, having rested enough, came out to secure the game; after two successful defenses, he once again secured a rebound.
Then, in a half-court setup, he easily outmatched Antoine Walker with a backdown, slicing into the basket for a successful one-arm dunk, extending the margin to 7 points, forcing a timeout by the Suns.
After that, the Suns couldn't catch up with the score, Parker felt the intimidation from Gan Guoyang under the basket, failing to score within the three-second zone again, and Walker's forced three-pointer attempts also went amiss.
The Radiance beat the Suns 103:96, claiming a victory.
After this game, their record is 9 wins and 8 losses, ranking eighth in the Western Conference.
After winning, Gan Guoyang returned to the locker room carrying his daughter, albeit having to temporarily part with her.
The team is about to embark on a short road trip to the Northwest, to Seattle, to Portland.
To the place where Gan Guoyang's dream began.