The home victory against the Kings showcased Glory’s strong prowess to the outside world.
Apart from the powerful dual-core, their role players are much stronger than last year.
Van Exel, Malik Rose, Jon Barry, all are players in their prime.
Any team cannot do without mid-career players, they symbolize stability.
Veterans and rookies are prone to issues with stamina, age, experience, it’s hit or miss.
In the fourth game, at home against The Warriors, Yao Ming did not get much playing time.
It’s not that Glory couldn’t beat The Warriors, but Tomjanovich was worried about Yao Ming’s speed matching The Warriors’ pace.
The Warriors played extremely fast, trying to use speed to exhaust Gan Guoyang and Jordan.
It indeed had some effect, fast-paced offense has always been one of the methods to counter Gan Guoyang’s team.
Using numerous possessions and scores, it dilutes the overpowering scoring ability of Gan Guoyang and Jordan, consuming energy in the process.
But Glory is a team, this year they are strong and well-equipped, with many players available to play.
Tomjanovich expanded the rotation, increased the playing time for bench players, and allowed young players like Wallace and Bell more court time.
Yao Ming played only 7 minutes, securing 3 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
The blocks were a lot, some began to think Yao Ming might just be the next Bradley, China’s big bamboo pole.
Providing intimidation in the paint, with everything else just average.
Eventually, Glory won the home game against The Warriors 114-105, defeating their opponents in an offensive showdown.
The first game week ended just like that, Yao Ming’s first week in the NBA wasn’t smooth.
Fortunately, with Gan Guoyang and Jordan blocking the way, Yao Ming faced fewer public criticisms.
The pairing of these two gods was even more perfect than anticipated, originally many speculated they would compete for ball possession and leadership due to playing styles, status issues, and past resentment, possibly causing a split within Glory.
Unexpectedly, the dual leadership system gave face to Jordan.
Jordan listened to Gan Guoyang in daily management and tactics, giving Ah Gan substance.
Regarding playing style, the two, being highly basketball-intelligent, had no integration issues at all.
Their pick-and-roll cooperation became more effortless, while solo plays, high-low positioning, and cuts were gradually developed.
Often during games, they displayed sudden flashes of brilliance with incredible cooperation, leaving audiences in awe.
In the battle against The Warriors, Jordan passed the ball to Gan Guoyang with a ground pass, Gan Guoyang cut into the paint, surrounded by three, delivering a behind-the-head pass to Jordan in the corner without defense, resulting in a successful three-pointer.
They did not seem like first-time partners, but old teammates playing together for twenty years.
When they executed small plays, they were clearly on a different level than others.
Others were a beat slower, unable to keep up with their thinking and rhythm, watching the ball flying around, not knowing how to react, and eventually, the ball went in.
Bill Walton said during commentary: "I think Sonny and Michael’s cooperation dragged the overall level of the NBA down. Because when they play like this, everyone else looks foolish! Slow, dull, unable to react, is this the NBA? Is this not...a junior high school match? Or are we back to the 1950s?"
Having defeated The Warriors with four consecutive wins, Glory set off for New York for consecutive away games against the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets.
Compared to the mild media in Las Vegas, Eastern New York’s media is much more sharp-tongued, Yao Ming felt the malice of New Yorkers upon arriving at the airport.
Yao Ming’s photo was placed on the front page of the sports section at the airport, followed by a big question mark.
The sports media in New York is highly competitive, with a long history and numerous journalists, editors, and commentators.
To satisfy the audience’s appetite, they always make astonishing remarks, and tend to use extreme commentary to attract attention.
Before the season, a lot of skepticism regarding Gan Guoyang and Jordan teaming up came mostly from newspapers and magazines in the New York area.
Even though Glory had an outstanding start, nearly unstoppable, New York commentators remained stubborn, saying the season had just begun, true strength would be seen later.
This statement was true, the regular season is indeed long, the biggest problem for older teams is health.
Like when Barkley teamed up with Olajuwon and Drexler, they initially advanced triumphantly, winning repeatedly.
But with Barkley injured and missing games, Drexler’s worrisome condition, they ultimately crumbled and failed.
Professional sports are ultimately a young man’s game, so Gan Guoyang and Jordan just smiled at New York media’s sharp remarks, being already used to it.
But Yao Ming was different, he faced a lot of doubts and attacks during this period, seeing his photo in front of that big red question mark certainly wouldn’t feel good.
However, Yao Ming remained open-minded, he deliberately bought a newspaper, clipped out his front-page photo after returning, keeping it as a reminder to strive and persevere.
Yao Ming was extremely diligent in training, upon arriving in New York, he immediately found a place to train without bothering to find food.
Gan Guoyang and Jordan, being older, looked for a place to relax first as preparation, instead of training hard like Yao Ming.
Yao Ming’s problem was not his ability, his innate talent and the solid foundation laid during the off-season in Las Vegas made it clear that his ability isn’t an issue.