The Golden Age of Basketball

On the first training day after returning to Portland, the Trail Blazers ushered in a bad news. Arvedas Sabonis's knee was swollen. According to the examination, there was fluid in it. For a week, that means Sabonis will miss the entire Western Conference semifinals.

Sabonis had a knee injury before he came to the Trail Blazers. When he came to Portland for trial training in the summer of 1986, the Portland team doctor checked and treated Sabonis for the injury, but after returning to the Soviet Union Well, the medical level of the Soviet basketball league is definitely not as high as that of the United States.

Moreover, Sabonis entered the Soviet national team when he was still growing up. He did high-intensity and large-volume training in the national team and started strength training early. In the early years of the game, Sabonis was also a player who could fly and dunk well, but now his knees no longer allow him to do such actions.

If Sabonis enters the NBA a few years later, he will be completely reduced to the floor. Now his injury is not particularly serious, but he has played the whole season after all, and some minor situations are expected now. among.

Now, the coaching staff of the Trail Blazers will be busy again. The opponents in the Western Conference semifinals have not yet come out. The game between the Seattle Supersonics and the Phoenix Suns is inextricably linked. The two sides have already fought 2:2. Played at the home of the Suns.

The coaching staff of the Trail Blazers is going to make new preparations for Sabonis' absence. No matter whether the opponent is the Sonics or the Suns, without Sabonis, the Trail Blazers' tactics will be different. This is Sabonis' position in the Trail Blazers. Although he The data is mediocre, but the tactical influence is very strong.

When Sabonis was on the court, Gan Guoyang was very comfortable in the high and low positions in the offense. Sabonis' high-post support and low-post internal and external passes were excellent, so the Blazers' offense would be very smooth.

Without Sabonis, when Gan Guoyang was in the low post, he lost a high-post transition point; when Gan Guoyang was in the high post, he lost an attack point in the low post. In the situation of personal forced attack, Gan Guoyang has lost weight this season, so playing him like this will obviously put pressure on him.

Moreover, Buck Williams has also adapted to the role of the sixth man. He has fully demonstrated his versatility in the position of the sixth man. If it is not for the lack of games as the sixth man, Williams is likely to get The title of the best sixth man of the season.

Now if Williams is allowed to return to the starting power forward position, the Blazers' rotation order will be disrupted, and the sixth man position will be served by guard Jim Paxson.

After returning from injury in the second half of the season, Paxson has recovered and has become an important outside shooting point, but he is not the All-Star after all, and his influence on both offense and defense is not as good as Buck Williams. Let him play the sixth man and play with the second team, the Blazers may struggle.

So this also stumped Adelman and the coaching staff. During the training process, Adelman began to try different combinations of starting lineups. After Williams and Gan Guoyang re-paired to start, the two sides still had some differences I got used to it. After all, Williams just transferred this season, and he didn't start many games with Gan Guoyang.

Afterwards, Adelman also selected different forwards from the Blazers' thick forward group to partner with Gan Guoyang, but the effect was mediocre. In the offense and defense, it was obvious that the help to Gan Guoyang was not particularly great. Basically, Gan Guoyang was the only one they could do. People can take care of everything, but their offensive and coping abilities are average.

"Why not let Duckworth try? Maybe he and Gan can cooperate." At this moment, Behrman gave Adelman a suggestion.

Adelman looked at Duckworth who was playing against Gan Guoyang. In fact, Duckworth has made great progress this season. In training, he can feel that he is trying to keep up with Gan Guoyang's rhythm. Gan Guoyang is also very happy to play with Da As a second-round pick, Kvouss will inevitably be evaluated as insufficient offensive talent, suitable for being a meat shield and coolie center; but this season Duckworth has shown his talent on the offensive end. In several games, he came off the bench Duckworth can show his solid offensive skills in the low post, especially the hook learned from Gan Guoyang.

It’s just that the existence of Sabonis overlaps with Gan Guoyang in function, so Duckworth’s playing time is not enough, so the statistics are also mediocre. If he is given enough playing time, his performance will definitely be a qualified starter. center.

"Maybe we can try. After all, Gan is not the same as last season. We can try to slow down the pace of the game, but it depends on whether the opponent is the Supersonics or the Suns." Adelman expressed his opinion. The Sonics are a team with more defensive weight. Of the 13 losses of the Blazers this season, the Sonics gave the Blazers two games, relying on strong defense from the outside. This is how the Bucks restrained the Blazers back then. .

If the Blazers are facing the Supersonics, the effect of using Buck Williams will be better. Williams is more flexible in position, and to a certain extent can act as an outside line to help the backcourt make transitions, and Williams' style of play Fierce, just enough to contain the supersonic strikers who also play fiercely.

But the Suns don't understand. The Suns have always been an offensive team in history. This season, the Suns averaged only second to the Portland Trail Blazers in the league, and they are the league's second strongest offensive team.

In the playoffs, the Blazers can of course choose to fight against the Suns, but this is obviously risky, because the offense will never be as stable as the defense. The offense needs the player's state and feeling. If the tactics are played out, you can't make shots; Relying on tactics and attitude, the execution is in place and the attitude is positive, and then it depends on the opponent's level whether to enter or not.

Therefore, Adelman also cares about it in his heart. If the Supersonics finally enter the semifinals, he will return to the starting lineup at the beginning of the season and fight against the Supersonics; if the Suns enter the semifinals, then try Duckworth and Gan Guoyang. Combination, use defense to kill the sun.

"Duck! (Duck!) Come here, stop, pause, let's reshuffle the lineup, duck you into the starting lineup, replace Buck, so you and Gan are on the court together."

After speaking, Adelman pulled Gan Guoyang aside again, and said to him: "Reduce the tempo, play more positions, and see the effect."

Gan Guoyang nodded after hearing this. He understood what Adelman meant. Since Sabonis was not around, the Blazers' pattern of offense would definitely change, so Adelman wanted the starting lineup to play more offense. to see the effect.

However, after a few rounds, Adelman discovered that when Duckworth was on the court, the fluency of the Blazers' offense obviously dropped a notch. Without Sabonis as a passer, the transfer speed of the ball slowed down and the range It also became smaller, and the substitute players on the opposite side quickly followed Behrman's guidance and began to double-team Gan Guoyang.

After Gan Guoyang tried to reach the high position, the double-team on the opposite side lost its effect. At the same time, Duckworth also began to show his offensive skills, and even replaced Gan Guoyang in the low post.

But Adelman still shook his head on the sidelines, because Gan Guoyang can do what Duckworth can do, and he can do it even better. It doesn't make much sense to let Duckworth go up and score in the low post.

But soon, the meaning of Duckworth emerged, that is, on the defensive end, because he has been Gan Guoyang's substitute, Duckworth can be regarded as the defensive core of the second team. He is 7 feet tall and 260 pounds The weight is more than enough to fill the inside line.

And he has better defensive experience and confrontation ability than Sabonis. When Sabonis was there, Gan Guoyang often had to wipe Sabonis' ass. With Duckworth, Gan Guoyang could be more relaxed on the defensive end.

A day of training passed quickly. For the Blazers, all they had to do was quietly wait for their next opponent.

………………

At the same time, multiple series in the first round also decided the outcome. In the West, the Los Angeles Lakers showed strong energy in the playoffs. They played against the Denver Nuggets in the first round. The role swept by the Lakers is needless to say when it enters the decline period. The whirlwind Purple and Gold Army sent the Nuggets 3:0 to go fishing in the Grand Canyon of Colorado.

The Utah Jazz faced the Houston Rockets, a strong lineup composed of Karl Malone, Stockton, Mark Eaton, and Bailey, crushed Olajuwon 3:1, and Olajuwon fell into deep trouble after being eliminated. In deep confusion and distress, he was called a cancer, and soon, he was going to find spiritual sustenance in religion.

In the East, the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knicks both eliminated their opponents 3-0 early and began to prepare for the semifinals; while the Dark Horse Cavaliers were dragged into a life-and-death battle by the Bulls in the season, the Bucks also dragged the Eagles, who had high ambitions before the start of the season, to fifth field.

Coupled with the duel between the Suns and the Sonics, everything will be settled after one game.