Therefore, Glory team stands out as mediocre on both offense and defense, with the sophisticated use of zone defense being a notable feature on the defense side.
Their offensive coordination is becoming smoother, but lacks a cohesive system, relying heavily on individual player performances and Gan Guoyang as the safety net.
As the season approaches its halfway point, the team is stabilizing in various aspects, and Gan Guoyang believes it's necessary to plan some new strategies.
He thinks the team still needs to accelerate—scores are not high enough, and the offensive pace is not fast enough.
Currently, Glory team's scoring is only mid-level in the league, and their firepower is insufficient.
Every time they face a team with strong offensive firepower, Glory team easily falls behind by 10+ points, then struggles to catch up from behind.
Moreover, a light-paced offensive system can help reduce the burden on players.
As long as they don't run too fast, like the Showtime Lakers who ran opponents to exhaustion, both veteran and young players prefer to focus more on offense.
"But, if we go faster, our defense..."
"Offense and defense are integrated. Plus, we're not planning to take the iron-defense route. I played offense with the Trail Blazers all my life, and didn't win few championships."
Tomjanovich was hesitant; he believes that the current balanced state is most suitable for Glory.
If they further accelerate, it might disrupt the balance, worsen the defense, and lead to poorer performance.
"But Sonny, don't forget, the Trail Blazers could rely on offense to win championships. First, the players' individual abilities were very strong, solving problems without relying on tactics. Second, your defense was historically best—it could guard five positions, and your backcourt rebounds vastly surpassed others. Trail Blazers' defense was always very solid, more stable than many defensive teams. In such circumstances, focusing resources on offense was correct because the returns from further improving defense were minimal. But Glory's situation is different; your current defense..."
"What's wrong with my current defense? I'm just occasionally putting my hands on my hips. Don't misunderstand, I want to play fast breaks, not to take more breaks."
"It's not the hands on hips; you often say you've declined to Larry Bird's level—how was Bird's defense? You know it in your heart, don't you?"
Tomjanovich's words left Gan Guoyang silent.
When aging, the legs go first. Gan Guoyang's current defense, if limited to the four position, is still the best in the League.
But when placed at the five position, the weight becomes insufficient; against the outside, it's even worse—the reaction speed and lateral movement are not what they once were.
The once unparalleled expansive defense and defending small players are becoming less effective—no longer Gan Guoyang's defensive trump cards.
The young Gerald Wallace is being developed into an excellent defender at the three position, but he needs to start by controlling his fouls.
Raja Bell is destined to be a good defender at the two position, but requires more experience, and his physical conditions are just average, making him disadvantaged in real high-level matches.
"But for ticket sales, we still need faster and visually appealing offense for better fan enjoyment."
With Gan Guoyang's words, Tomjanovich understood this was not just basketball demand but also a commercial one.
Playing stylish offense sells tickets. Nowadays, Gerald Wallace's fast-break dunk show every game might not satisfy the live audience's appetite.
For such strategic changes, some temperamental coaches might argue with Gan Guoyang, but Tomjanovich was famous for his good temper, always trying to convince with emotions and reason.
He sighed helplessly and said, "If we speed up the pace, more mistakes will appear in the short term. Can you tolerate that, Sonny?"
Gan Guoyang shook his head—more mistakes for him is like torture on the court.
Gan Guoyang believes he's destined to never become a head coach. Seeing his players make a bunch of mistakes, he would definitely take off his suit, go on the court, and beat his players first.
"Also, as Point Guard, Arenas' personal offensive ability is obviously stronger than his organization. And you, Bird II, your passing and organization might be the only aspect not reaching Bird's level—who will become the one allocating ball rights?"
Faced with Old Tang's relentless exposure, Gan Guoyang wasn't upset; their private relationship is very good.
Old Tang is an open-minded, humorous person, with no airs and genuinely respects and cares for players as a coach, not practicing locker room Sparta.
He's far better than many coaches who treat players as pawns and tools, driving them to play hard, work diligently to increase their own performance metrics.
For a coach to survive in the NBA, having firm hands and a dark heart is often necessary to succeed.
Among many coaches with dark hearts and firm hands, Old Tang really counts as the best in character and personality. Speaking straightforwardly, Gan Guoyang didn't mind.
"How about we try Princeton?" Gan Guoyang thought about the team heading to Sacramento, and an idea suddenly struck him.
The Trail Blazers once adopted Princeton for a long time, and their offense was significantly influenced by Princeton offense philosophy.
Even today, even though Carl transformed the Trail Blazers into a defensive team, their offense still occasionally reveals traces of Princeton.
Backdoor cuts, high post response, cuts to the basket—these elements become ingrained, affecting a player and a team's offense.
"Who will play Sabonis?"
"Miller."
When recruiting Miller into the team, Gan Guoyang had the intention of playing Princeton.
From Brad Miller's performance over the past two seasons, including this season, he indeed possesses skills for high-post response, and his top-of-the-key mid-range shooting percentage is decent—not a traditional Three Second Zone center.
During his NCAA career, Miller had a season averaging 2.9 assists per game.
This data is not low, because as Point Guard Arenas, at University of Arizona, averaged only 2.3 assists per season—not as good as Miller, a center.
"Consider our configuration: Kings Team has Divac, we have Miller. Kings have Wei Bo, and me. Kings have Christie, we have Bell. Kings have Stojakovic… Hmm, our three-point shooters are slightly worse, but Bell's three-point can be trained; Gerald can also be a good defender. Gilbert's offense, won't be worse than Mike Bibby's."
With Gan Guoyang's comparison, Tomjanovich stroked his chin, thinking it indeed makes some sense—if Kings Team can excel at Princeton, surely Glory's configuration can too.
This year the Kings are quite dominant in the Western Conference; after two years of integration, the acquisition of Mike Bibby propelled the team.
Princeton offense swept through the League, defeating many teams badly.
Especially after the November integration period, from late December, Kings Team were almost invincible in the League.
Up until the game against Glory, they had already secured 12 consecutive victories, including a 40-point advantage win over Suns, and back-to-back 30-point victories over Jazz, crushing Celtics, and a 132-point domination over Nuggets.
It can be said that they are currently the brightest team in the NBA—especially the matchup between the top-seeded teams in Western and Eastern Conferences, where Kings Team triumphantly took a victory at Fleet Center, significantly boosting team morale.
Through this battle, Kings Team emerged into the championship contention and cast the whole League again under Princeton's shadow.
King's Princeton System was inherited from Trail Blazers.
Adelman brought Pete Carrell to the most inconspicuous NBA team, gathered a group of elites, intending to accomplish something great.
Tracing King's glory back to the distant 60s, during Oscar Robertson's reign, they were then based in far-off Cincinnati, known as the Royals.
Due to Boston Celtics' existence, Robertson couldn't reach the finals throughout his Royals career, let alone win a championship—not until he joined the Bucks did he fulfill his wish.
Afterwards, Royals left Cincinnati, changed cities several times, finally settled in Sacramento—their NBA growth and journey to glory only a footnote in history.
Gan Guoyang remembers his career's first regular-season game was against Kings—they were still in Kansas, a less-watched away game.
Besides that, Kings didn't leave many profound impressions.
This season, however, they've been quite forceful, having beaten Glory twice; their offense is indeed strong.
This time in Sacramento, Gan Guoyang is set to meet old friends once again, exchange ideas, and further develop Princeton.