The Golden Age of Basketball

At the end of the third quarter, the Blazers used a younger and more oppressive lineup, and finally played a wave of scoring spurts.

With the Bullets missing the last attack after the timeout, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Blazers were only 87 points behind the Bullets 91:4.

"Gan, you take a break after the game, Sampson comes on, the four-point gap is likely to be suddenly widened, so you must be steady at the beginning of the fourth quarter! Kiki, you also play, you must be steady in scoring, and you must be steady on the offensive end. Put pressure on the opponent, pay attention to the success rate of the offense, don't rush to counterattack, avoid mistakes, we must maintain the momentum, maintain it. Well, get ready to play the fourth quarter, and then we will take away a victory." Ramsey Adjustments are made again between the third and fourth quarters.

The experienced Ramsey knows that the rest between quarters obviously gave the Bullets a chance to breathe a sigh of relief. If they continue to play fast and contraction in the fourth quarter, it is likely that the gain will outweigh the gain. The possibility of the team re-expanding the score.

Ramsey, who commanded cautiously, decided to replace Vandeweghe and Sampson, two veterans, to stabilize the situation at the beginning of the fourth quarter, maintain the point difference, and then fight the bullets in the middle of the fourth quarter.

Gan Guoyang finally got a little more rest time. So far in this game, he only rested for 2 minutes, and he played all the third quarters.

This time Gan Guoyang didn't ask to stay on the court any more. He saw the change in Ramsey, so he obediently sat back on the bench and had a good rest to prepare for the final decisive battle.

After the start of the fourth quarter, as expected by Ramsey, Jeff Malone made a mid-range shot as soon as the main players returned, turning the point difference back to 6 points and stabilizing the situation on the bullet field.

The appearance of Vandeweghe and Sampson gave the Blazers two powerful offensive points in the offensive position, so after Jeff Malone made a shot, Vandeweghe quickly relied on Sampson's cover and made a 21-footer at the top of the arc. He hit a jumper from a distance and returned one to his opponent.

As a result, the two sides began to see-saw again. The Bullets' own offense has been opened up in this field, and the starting players have all shot. It is unrealistic to completely limit the Bullets' scoring at this time. What the Blazers are doing is tight. Tightly bite the score.

When the game progressed to the 6th minute of the fourth quarter, the Blazers were still 95:99 behind the Bullets by four points, exactly the same as at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

With Gus Williams missing a layup and Kenny Carr rebounding from the backcourt, the Blazers attacked and the Blazers had a chance to shrink the score further.

"Beep!" The referee blew his whistle, and Ramsey called a timeout. In his opinion, this attack will be a good opportunity. He will arrange a tactic to try to score a goal to narrow the difference between the two sides to two points. will become different.

"We play a double screen tactic on the outside, Gan you get ready to play, and Sampson do a double screen for Valentine on the right side, remember, the quality of the screen must be high! Vandeweghe and Paxson spread out on the left side The space attracts the attention of the defense. You two are ready to catch the ball at any time at 45 degrees and the baseline. Valentine, you have to make good judgment and choose to lay up or pass. Gan and Sampson should pay attention to the changes after the screen , Grab the offensive rebound."

After making the arrangement, Ramsey replaced Gan Guoyang on the field again.

"Gan, you'd better go out later, to the top of the arc, and I can try to pass the ball to you, at least to divert the defense." After the timeout, Valentine walked up to Gan Guoyang and said.

This tactic should be said to be very simple, but it is a test of the point guard's tactical choice, because once the cover is completed, he will have several options, and he needs to make the most accurate choice in a split second.

"Beep!" The referee whistled, and the Blazers served from the sideline.

Valentine served from the outside and gave the ball to Gan Guoyang, and Gan Guoyang handed the ball to Valentine. After receiving the ball and dribbling, Valentine suddenly turned around, relying on the cover of Gan Guoyang and Sampson, from 45 Angled into the inside line.

Sam Bowie, who was defending Gan Guoyang, switched defenses and turned to the inside to stare at Valentine, but Gan Guoyang did not follow up and moved laterally to the top of the arc.

Valentine noticed Gan Guoyang's movement, and it was Gus Williams who was defending Gan Guoyang, and the height gap between Gan Guoyang and Gan Guoyang was too big.

Valentine flicked the ball decisively and passed the ball to Gan Guoyang. The player on the weak side of the bullet immediately came to defend him. position jump shot.

"Shua!" The ball went into the net hollow!Two points, 97:99, the Blazers narrowed the point difference to 2 points!

A skilful, subtle fit!

The players on the Trail Blazers field high-fived each other. This ball greatly improved their morale. The score was already within reach, and the team had to cooperate and show momentum.

With this momentum, the Blazers successfully contained the attack of the bullets in defense, Gan Guoyang steadily controlled the rebounds in the backcourt, the Blazers continued to attack, and they had a chance to tie the score!

"Let's score a goal!" Valentine slowly dribbled the ball across the half court and began to order the Blazers' offense in an orderly manner.

At this time, Gan Guoyang ran to the right side and drove away Sam Bowie, and began to open his hands for the ball, and Gan Guoyang wanted to play singles.

The right side was cleared, Valentine lobbed the ball to Gan Guoyang, and Gan Guoyang faced Sam Bowie in a key single. In this game, Gan Guoyang's shooting percentage against Sam Bowie was not high, but he Also got 20 points.

Sam Bowie became more and more confident facing Gan Guoyang. He was very focused and tried his best to interfere with every movement of Gan Guoyang.

But this time, Gan Guoyang hit two points with a simple big hook after receiving the ball!tie!

"Huh~ beautiful hook." Gan Guoyang also breathed a sigh of relief after scoring the goal, and said to himself.

At the critical moment, Gan Guoyang still trusted his big hook shot the most, and this shot was very sudden. Sam Bowie failed to respond in time, allowing Gan Guoyang to make this key goal.

The Trail Blazers, who fell behind for a whole game, finally wiped out the disadvantage a little bit and tied the score 5 minutes before the end.

The two sides have returned to the same starting line, but the momentum and state of the two teams are completely different.

The Blazers took advantage of the bullets with a big lead, and their momentum and status were also drained a little bit; on the contrary, the Blazers had a backbone when the head coach Ramsey suddenly returned to normal. With tactical cooperation, the state is getting better and better. After the score is tied, it is a good situation to enter the unity of the will.

Although the Bullets then called a timeout to make adjustments, they were not as strong as the Trail Blazers and they could no longer play the previous game. The Blazers scored consecutively and the Bullets missed consecutively. turned his head.

Finally, the Trail Blazers successfully reversed the game with 115:106 in the away game, defeated the Washington Bullets and achieved four consecutive victories.

After the game, the Blazers rushed to Atlanta non-stop, ready to play against the Hawks.

In the simple group training before the game, Gan Guoyang found an opportunity to have a private conversation with Ramsey when everyone went out to eat at noon.

"Mr. Ramsay, I hope my reckless behavior didn't hurt you, I just... I just hope you can cheer up, although my approach may be too naive." Gan Guoyang knew that his punch was really heavy , Thinking about it afterwards, he really regretted and feared beating a respected old man like this.

"Haha, it's okay, this is the punch I deserved. You know, I was sitting in the locker room thinking, should I coach well, or find a reason to retire after losing. But your fist hit Come on, I can feel your anger, and your effort, in those four games, you gave it your all. And I was thinking about letting the team lose, and then I can resign. Feel ashamed. Thank you Gan, I think I will stand on the last post and make my last contribution to the Blazers." Ramsey said, he did not blame Gan Guoyang for his disrespect.

"Mrs. Ramsay's illness...I think she will get better." Gan Guoyang thought of Mrs. Ramsay's illness again, and he knew that this was the most important reason for defeating Ramsay.

"It's okay, I don't think she would like to see me like this. In fact, she asked me when the team kept losing, why I always lose, and what's wrong with me... Did you say that? Wrong, how can I give her the courage to beat cancer if I'm depressed myself?" Ramsay said with a smile.

"Thank you, Mr Ramsay, it is very kind of you to be back."

..............................

On December 12th, the Trail Blazers challenged the Atlanta Hawks in an away game. The Hawks continued to build a team around Dominique Wilkins this season, playing fast and attacking.

In the draft, the Eagles first took the 7-foot white center Jon Concak with the fifth pick in the first round, and then took the "Little Potato" Spati Weber with the 17th pick in the fourth round. This small player with a height of only 170 has amazing jumping ability.

These two players with very different draft positions were both famous in the NBA in the end, but one was because of the famous super bad long-term contract, and the other was because of the legendary story of a small man defeating a giant on the basketball court.

In addition, the Eagles did not make any big moves, so they are still not as good as the Blazers in terms of overall strength, and the Blazers' core guard Drexler is also back.

Ramsey's revival also boosted the morale of the Blazers players. Coupled with the team's continuous victories, the Blazers seemed to have gotten out of the quagmire and got back on track.

However, facing the Eagles who are not as strong as themselves in this scene, the Blazers unexpectedly fell into a hard fight.