However, Glory is much more composed. If one strategy doesn’t work, he switches to another approach.
Jordan gets the ball in the low post and passes it to Gan Guoyang at the high post. Gan Guoyang takes the catch and launches a mid-range jump shot that goes in.
Glory overtakes the score, and the Trail Blazers call for a timeout. Carl is very angry.
Because the defense started according to plan, but the offense was a mess.
Kobe twice went overboard playing recklessly. He didn’t pass the ball even when his teammates were open, completely failing to unleash the team’s offensive power.
"What are you doing, Kobe? Do you think you can win the game on your own, win the victory? Then I’ll give all the ball control to you in the future, let you attack alone while others just grab rebounds, is that possible!"
Compared to Carl of 2000 who took the blame, by 2003, he has matured a lot and has started to scold people.
Including Kobe, who receives the scolding without resistance, lowers his head indicating he was wrong, shouldn’t have gone overboard at the start; he wanted too much to show off.
Behind the Trail Blazers’ bench, Larry Bird looks at Kobe’s demeanor. He understands Kobe’s mentality, yet feels anxious because he knows that this mindset cannot defeat Ah Gan and Jordan.
One must be extremely calm, even cold, relentlessly and ruthlessly executing the correct tactics and strategy, with the determination to go down with them, fight until the very last moment, only then is there a possibility of defeating them.
It’s only a possibility, mixed with luck, because they are the strongest in history.
Of course Bird had talked to Kobe before the game, and Kobe believed he had this resolution and mentality.
But judging from the start of the first quarter, Kobe might have overestimated himself.
When the timeout ends and the game resumes, Kobe returns to normal, and the Trail Blazers play more as a team.
The ball is first given to Little O’Neal in the low post. Facing Ah Gan’s top-notch defense, Little O’Neal isn’t intimidated, executing a standard smooth baseline fadeaway jump shot, scoring two points!
"Nice shot, Jermaine!" Gan Guoyang doesn’t forget to praise Little O’Neal.
For this Trail Blazers team, they face the same dilemma as Beelman: how to overcome the psychological barrier against Ah Gan.
Though they don’t necessarily perform poorly, the mindset from below can’t be broken.
And the only one who has broken through this mentality, Kobe, is not stable, too self-centered.
This is a bigger headache for Carl than tactics, the players’ mindset surely has subtle impacts on the game.
Yet there’s no solution. This Trail Blazers team was groomed single-handedly by Ah Gan, and even Carl was taught step by step by Ah Gan. How do you remove these imprints? There’s no way to erase them.
Actually, the best way is to accept it. I accept these, and I will also defeat you.
The apprentice eventually surpassing the master, this has been happening throughout history.
Gan Guoyang gets the ball in the low post, with his back facing Big Ben, this once-undrafted player was brought into the Trail Blazers by Gan Guoyang, now one of the best interior defenders in the league and also one of the strongest in upper body strength.
But Gan Guoyang pushes against Big Ben inwards, all the way until near the Three Second Zone, a sharp inside spin, across Big Ben, one-arm slams down successfully!
Gan Guoyang once shattered a hoop, Big Ben’s low-post defense techniques are mostly taught by Gan Guoyang, but facing Ah Gan, he has no answer.
The disparity in strength, the understanding of techniques, and the psychological suppress.
"Little Ben, your moves are a bit slow, don’t expect to intercept in the air." Gan Guoyang doesn’t forget to give some advice.
Everyone calls Ben Wallace "Big Ben," but to Gan Guoyang, he’ll always be "Little Ben," Tiny-Ben.