Yao Ming tapped the ball, Glory began their first offensive play of the match.
After Porter took over the team, Glory’s offensive system didn’t change much compared to the past.
However, Princeton was used less and less by Glory because this strategy demands high offensive intelligence from the players.
After veterans like Jordan and Ewing retired, Glory’s overall offensive intelligence declined significantly; relying on a high point like Ah Gan alone wasn’t enough.
Besides, Porter isn’t exactly a tactical mastermind, so Glory started building strong defenses and playing passively.
They used UCLA’s starting strategy more, establishing the central corridor of Ah Gan and Yao Ming, with two 45-degree angles for Miller and Wallace to play strong post-up moves, and Bell roamed as the shooter, occasionally delivering cold weapon three-pointers.
This system is simple and practical, and once the basics are solid, there’s quite a bit of variation, though not much.
When the situation calls for it, toss it to Ah Gan in the low position to handle it, and the offense follows this logic.
Gan Guoyang receives the ball at the top of the arc, Yao Ming cuts inside to the basket wanting the ball behind his body, classic high-low coordination.
Gan Guoyang delivers the ball very smoothly, Yao Ming receives it, turns, with a slight fadeaway, scores two points!
Scoring Glory’s first point of the season.
The crowd cheered, and the big screen played electronic fireworks.
TV cameras showed Patrick Ewing sitting by the court.
After retiring, Ewing took a small share in Glory and became an assistant coach.
His main job is to mentor Yao Ming, so Yao Ming increasingly resembles Ewing in technical characteristics.
His fadeaway jumper after receiving the ball is very precise, a significant scoring weapon for Glory during regular time.
Compared to his 2003 rookie season, Yao Ming has matured a lot.
However, his weight hasn’t increased much, basically maintaining the state of his second year as a rookie.
Gan Guoyang demanded Yao Ming strictly control his weight to maintain a balance between strength and agility.
Since the 2004-2005 season, Yao Ming averaged 20 points per game and consistently maintained a 20+8 state in regular and playoff games.
His physical condition is excellent, four consecutive seasons of full attendance without injury, playing every playoff game, making steady contributions in most games.
Due to Yao Ming’s stability and his strong lower body, American fans gave him the fitting nickname: "Foundation."
It can be said, Yao Ming took on many scoring responsibilities originally meant for the perimeter players.
But as an inside player, receiving the ball during crucial moments is difficult, forcing Gan Guoyang to take on most of the ball-handling duties.
Moreover, both inside players need to score, creating imbalanced allocation of resources and ball distribution between inside and outside, making Glory easy to restrict in high-level games.
The Clippers’ ball distribution is very balanced, with good ball-handling and offensive capabilities at each point.
But balance often means lacking focus, so the Clippers decided to focus their opening strategy on their team leader and captain, Brand.
Elton Brand, seasoned by years of experience, is already an excellent power forward in the league, although due to height reasons, there’s always a noticeable gap compared to players like Duncan, Nowitzki, and Garnett, and it’s hard to bridge.
However, his extraordinary wingspan and excellent skills allow him to claim a place in the league and become an All-Star.
Last season, Brand shone brightly, averaging 25 points, which, as a power forward in today’s environment, is not easy.
Brand naturally wants to further advance this season, assigned to open the game’s offense against Ah Gan, though uncertain in his heart, he must go ahead courageously.
Ah Gan isn’t easy to deal with; as the saying goes, old and undying means cunning, this guy’s defense has actually grown stronger over the past two years, especially in one-on-one defense.
Clippers coach Deng Liwei also wants Brand to build confidence by successfully attacking Ah Gan, laying a good foundation for this game.
Furthermore, Deng Liwei is eager to see if Ah Gan still has fuel in the tank, whether he’s declined drastically.
An aging player’s most noticeable characteristic is declining defense, with reduced speed, power, slower reactions, easily becoming a liability on defense.
Cassell passes the ball to Brandon, who faces off against Ah Gan in the low right post; the powerful pressure makes Brandon abandon his plan to strong post-up.
He uses the Hickma Step to pivot and face the basket, attempting to use speed to break through Ah Gan and attack the basket.
"Has Deng Liwei gone mad? Having you play against me right at the start?" Of course, Gan Guoyang wouldn’t abandon his psychological maneuvers.
Brandon breaks through, spins, tries to push open, a small left-handed hook shot off the board, but it’s blocked and slapped away by Gan Guoyang.
Gerald Wallace comes over to grab the ball, and the Clippers’ first offensive play doesn’t score.
Andre Miller holds the ball for a fast break, coordinating with Gan Guoyang and Yao Ming in a double screen play at the top of the arc, killing straight to the basket and scoring with a floater!
4:0, Glory made a strong start, while the Clippers seem a bit overconfident; last season’s success left the players lacking a fighting spirit.
Facing the old powerhouse, they actually grew complacent, which is really not appropriate.
In the next two offensive plays, Brandon’s low-post turnaround straight-arm jump shot and Cassell’s mid-range shot both missed.
In contrast, the Glory team played very smoothly on offense, Yao Ming was double-teamed in the low post, then directly passed inside, and Gerald Wallace received the ball and scored with a layup.
Gan Guoyang received the ball at the top of the arc and forcefully made a mid-range shot, scoring, Glory made an 8:0 run and forced the Clippers to take a timeout.
Clearly, Glory is indeed in good form, while the Clippers require a timeout to regain composure.
Last season’s "brilliance" is over; the new season requires a wake-up call.
Besides, their so-called brilliance in Ah Gan’s career records is utterly a failure.
If they can’t even advance to the conference finals, what else is it if not a failure?
After the timeout, the Clippers still couldn’t find a good offensive rhythm.
Glory adopted a compact defense strategy, leaving an open corner spot for Mobley to shoot.
Mobley’s three-point attempt misses, Gan Guoyang grabs another defensive rebound—within just a few minutes, Gan Guoyang had already snagged 4 defensive rebounds.
These past few seasons, Gan Guoyang simplified his techniques while also simplifying his workload.
Any work that can be "outsourced" is given to teammates, assigned to the tactical system.
Keeping only the work he can do best, like securing defensive rebounds, which he’s very reliable at.
Glory didn’t rush the fast break; Miller passes the ball to Gan Guoyang for UCLA’s high-post playmaking.
Yao Ming posts up on the wing asking for the ball, passes to Yao Ming, who receives it, turns, fadeaway jump shot, scores again!
When he has good stamina, Yao Ming’s fadeaway jump shot is incredibly precise.
This guy is so tall and still fades away, scoring really depends entirely on his touch and stamina.
When starting with good stamina, Glory has Yao Ming play more; when his stamina wanes later, the efficiency drops if you let him swing.
Cassell finally makes a three-pointer from the top of the arc, helping the Clippers break the deadlock.
But immediately, Gerald Wallace posts up against Maggette at a 45-degree angle.
The collision of muscles, Wallace uses footwork to cut to the basket, bank shot, scores two points.
If we talk about muscle aesthetics, Maggette is truly top-tier in the league.
However, Gan Guoyang now surpasses even Maggette in terms of muscle perfection.
Glory continued playing more openly in the first quarter; once they established an advantage, their offense flowed smoothly.
While the Clippers completely lacked offensive rhythm, Brandon was blocked by Gan Guoyang.
During the timeout, he told Deng Liwei, "Ah Gan hasn’t declined at all! Damn it, I think his defense has gotten even better."
"Better? How can he grow younger?" Deng Liwei sighed, feeling indignant.
This Ah Gan, after so many years, is still causing havoc in the league; when will it end?
Mobley scores on a mid-range shot, but Raja Bell receives a pass from Gan Guoyang and makes a three-pointer in return.
Within five minutes, Glory went on an 18:6 run against the Clippers, instantly locking the score difference at 12 points.
The fans erupted with joy, it looks like Ah Gan and Glory will be in great form this season.
However, head coach Porter didn’t relax his furrowed brows; he knows, early leads don’t count, only sustained strength matters.
Glory’s most fatal issue in recent seasons is lacking endurance; once stamina drops, both offense and defense suffer greatly.
Therefore, we need to keep watching, to see how young players like Ariza and Rondo perform to make a difference.