"Our three-point shooting is terrible."
"Our three-point shooting has always been bad, not just in this game."
"The key is still defense. If our defense doesn’t perform well, we can’t win in the playoffs."
"The Celtics’ offense is indeed running too smoothly; we lack pressure on them."
"Our offense isn’t working either. Should we continue with the Princeton and UCLA systems that we stuck with in the regular season? If we abandon all that, what was the point of our regular-season practice?"
During halftime in the Glory team’s locker room, the players were all discussing the team’s performance in the first half.
Glory 41:45, trailing the Celtics by 4 points, they were clearly being suppressed by the Celtics.
Gan Guoyang and Jordan both expressed their opinions, and the veterans all had their thoughts too.
Tomjanovich was listening from the side. The Celtics’ performance today was, indeed, very good, unexpectedly good.
From tactics to details and player condition, they were outstanding. Ironically, the worst performer was their coach Bobby Berman.
Berman’s response on the court seemed sluggish. Old Tom could sense that there were one or two times when the Celtics had the chance to widen the gap significantly.
It’s just that Berman reacted slowly, the adjustments were not timely, and veterans like Gan Guoyang and Jordan used their individual abilities to bail the team out.
The team wanted to play the familiar Princeton system, but once Ah Gan moved to the top for more directing roles, lacking his constant low-post output and drawing double teams, Glory’s offense couldn’t sustain itself.
It’s not about collapsing, maybe just slightly lower shooting accuracy, missing a basket or two over a few possessions.
Seemingly insignificant, but in the playoffs against the Celtics, those small differences could determine the ultimate outcome.
This exposed Yao Ming and Ewing’s limitations—they aren’t Sabonis and can’t interchange roles and functions with Gan Guoyang like Sabonis can.
High-post directing and screening duties could only be done by Gan Guoyang, leaving Yao Ming as a finisher, yet tonight, his finishes were subpar.
Being a rookie, it’s hard to blame him. Gan Guoyang had to go to the low post a lot, and the Celtics indeed doubled him, but Glory’s outside shooting wasn’t accurate enough.
Overall, Glory played awkwardly and lacked fluency, whereas the Celtics were excellent in tactics, strategy, and detail control.
Gan Guoyang again doubted if Berman was holding back tactics, as he suddenly seemed so formidable.
In a passive position, the Glory team found it hard to come up with any countermeasures during halftime and could only make some adjustments.
Gan Guoyang still needed to exert force in the low post, as scoring from the high post wasn’t efficient. If the point gap widened, it would be hard to play in the fourth quarter.
For he and Jordan had put in their strength early, but they could not assure winning the game in the fourth quarter.
The uncertainty of victory increased further, and both sides were indeed evenly matched.
After a heated discussion, they still didn’t come up with any reliable plans.
Tomjanovich was always listening; it wasn’t that he didn’t want to speak but felt it was pointless.
The physical damage from cancer treatment was significant, and playoff coaching was intense work.
Even though assistant coaches took on much of the workload, the head coach who makes the final decisions and commands still bears enormous pressure.
The 15-minute break passed quickly, and the Glory team returned to the game, fighting fiercely against the Celtics in the incredibly noisy core arena.
The Celtics were in good form, and at the end of the second quarter, Bruce Bowen hit a corner three, giving the Celtics a three-point lead at halftime.
Such a shot seemed like luck but actually reflected the Celtics players’ good competitive state and ample shooting confidence, which were crucial to winning.
Encouraged by his players’ performance, Bobby Berman gradually entered the game. Before the start of the second half, he conducted tactical planning, striving to gain an early advantage and seize every opportunity.
Taking a deep breath, Berman had a premonition that this might truly be the best chance to defeat Ah Gan.
Duncan received the ball in the low post, Gan Guoyang defended one-on-one, and Duncan’s turnaround hook missed, Ilgauskas grabbed the offensive rebound, and tried again, only to be spectacularly blocked by Gan Guoyang.
Glory counterattacked, Jordan received the ball, accelerated, drove, and executed a pull-up jumper off the glass, reducing the score gap.
Yet the Celtics remained unhurried, with Duncan continuing to post up against Ah Gan, turning and passing outside, Bowen faked and drove in, then passed outside to Pierce, who passed to Nash, Nash drove in and missed a floater under pressure from Gan Guoyang.
Yao Ming edged out Ilgauskas, but Duncan grabbed the offensive rebound and scored on a putback.
Gan Guoyang could no longer defend against two players by himself. The Celtics had many follow-up plays, their offense was methodical, and their attacks on the defensive formation were very precise.
"Xie Te, this must be something Bobby arranged; he’s actively attacking my spot." Gan Guoyang immediately realized the issue.
Berman no longer dreaded it but faced the challenge directly, letting the Twin Towers challenge Ah Gan in the paint.
He realized that Ah Gan was no longer the omnipotent Twin Tower Killer, showing weaknesses.
Back on offense, Gan Guoyang also received the ball in the low post, was double-teamed by the Celtics, and passed to the middle.
Jordan drove in and passed again, Wallace received at the corner, but missed the shot.
Gan Guoyang tipped the ball to Yao Ming, who caught it and scored with a dunk!