If you harden up, apart from peak Gan Guoyang and Karl Malone, no one in the League can withstand O’Neal. Yao Ming is a bit too thin.
O’Neal slowly found his rhythm. Gan Guoyang said nothing; he wanted to see how Yao Ming would handle the gap in strength against a seasoned veteran.
"Ah Gan, why aren’t you yelling..." Porter asked at the right moment, knowing Gan Guoyang was surely unsatisfied with Yao Ming’s performance.
"Shut up!"
"You’re only yelling at me now."
Just like O’Neal, Yao Ming also didn’t opt for a head-on clash in the following rounds.
He wasn’t impulsive; instead, he calmed down and sought opportunities, which was good.
The game is long. It’s sweetest to laugh last. Don’t play too fiercely at the start.
Of course, Gan Guoyang wasn’t like this before. When his stamina was good, he would press his opponent constantly from the first ball to the last moment, which was his truly fearsome attribute.
Yao Ming doesn’t have such stamina. He must first hide, cooperate with teammates, relax O’Neal’s vigilance, and wait for the right moment.
Meanwhile, O’Neal’s form got better and better. He even participated in Miami Heat’s counterattack, receiving a pass from Best and scoring a fast-break dunk!
The shot went in, and cheers erupted throughout the American Airlines Arena. O’Neal smiled and shook his head, seeming to say to Yao Ming, "I am the number one center."
On Turner Television, Charles Barkley shouted: "I declare! Shaquille O’Neal is the League’s number one center this season! Although I’m a fan of Ah Gan, I still have to say, go Shaq!"
As the first quarter was nearing its end, both sides were tied at 23:23. The Glory Team called a timeout, and Gan Guoyang replaced Yao Ming.
Yao Ming started well, but later, he struggled to cope with O’Neal. There was a significant gap in both offense and defense.
Gan Guoyang took off his sports jacket and said to Yao Ming, "You played well. Some areas need improvement. I’ll go up and show you."
The timeout ended, and as Gan Guoyang prepared to go up and demonstrate, O’Neal had already gone to rest.
Once he reached the bench, O’Neal said to Riley, "Coach, it’s time to substitute me out. Ah Gan is coming on. I know their rotation schedule. I need to rest, rest."
So O’Neal returned to the bench, grinning broadly at Gan Guoyang, who was now on the court looking frustrated. Want to use me as a teaching sample? Not a chance.
With O’Neal absent, Gan Guoyang vented his frustration on old teammate PJ Brown, driving along the baseline for a reverse layup.
Then, he hit a mid-range jump shot from the top of the arc, helping the Glory Team lead the Miami Heat 28:25 by three points at the end of the first quarter.
During the break, Gan Guoyang chatted with Yao Ming about coping in defense and offense, and how to observe and judge whether an opponent’s turn would be an attack, a feint, or a setup.
Grasping this point allows offense and defense to be well-paced and helps get into the rhythm of the game.
Many newcomers struggle because they can’t get into the rhythm, so they don’t know what to do at any given time.
Yao Ming was the same. Once he slowly got the feel, knowing what to do, he wouldn’t seem like a rookie.
In the second quarter, Gan Guoyang and Jordan were on the court together, both playing with full focus and leaving no room for error in either offense or defense.
Even though they were extremely skilled, they never treated the game lightly or played carelessly, no matter how weak the opponent.
Their pick-and-roll tactics were varied, with various strategies and solutions, exposing many gaps in the Heat’s disorganized defense.
Under their threading and weaving, Glory opened the second quarter with an 11:2 attack wave, forcing the Miami Heat to halt the game.
With such stellar performance, back on the bench, the two were still bickering.
"Your pass was really crap. I almost lost the ball."
"Why don’t you say your catching was crap? You didn’t calculate the lead time properly."
"I told you not to make so many bounce passes, direct passes are faster and more efficient!"
"I’ll judge based on the situation. Your responsibility is to catch the ball and execute the next step, OK?"
Gan Guoyang complained about Jordan’s poor passing, while Jordan felt his passes were fine, and it was Gan Guoyang who didn’t catch them properly.
Actually, it was just that their regular season collaboration was still too little. The season had just started, with only a single-digit number of games played, so there wasn’t yet close-to-perfect coordination.
However, the standards for geniuses are always high, for themselves as well as for their teammates.
Then Yao Ming quietly said, "Boss, I think Michael’s passes are pretty good. It’s not like... they’re too crappy."
Gan Guoyang gave Yao Ming a look and said, "What do you know? I can catch passes like that, but do you think you can? Fast-spinning bounce passes are the most difficult for you, understand? If you can’t catch Michael’s passes, you’ll lose half the offensive action! Direct passes are best suited for you."
It turned out Gan Guoyang was arguing not for himself, but for Yao Ming. For passes like Jordan’s inside pass, it was difficult for Yao Ming to catch.
Because he was tall, with short arms, a high center of gravity, and small hands, tricky bounce passes with fast spins, needing lead calculation and stooping, were easy to mishandle and drop.
Yao Ming hadn’t expected that Gan Guoyang was thinking for him, feeling a bit ashamed, he said, "I understand, I can catch bounce passes too."
"There’s a difference between can and proficient. First, catch the direct passes well, then remember to follow the team’s pace on offense and defense later. Be fast!"
Yao Ming nodded repeatedly. At this moment, O’Neal returned to the court, and Yao Ming also got back into the game.
Right after returning, O’Neal cut into the Three Second Zone, pushing against Yao Ming for the ball. The Heat’s outside players, under Jordan’s interference, managed a bounce pass inside.