The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1749 - 44: A Slight Smile

For a 36-year-old veteran like Gan Guoyang, finding some fun in the long regular season is an essential means of maintaining work motivation.

Like Michael Jordan, who likes to create enemies for himself, even if the other party has no malice, Jordan still puts up a target for himself to stay angry.

Gan Guoyang is different from Jordan; he doesn’t like to fight imaginary enemies. If someone comes to challenge him, that’s ideal, but such situations are increasingly rare. Therefore, Gan Guoyang sets small goals for himself to achieve.

For example, previous goals like "not letting the opponent score," or "I’ll score with my left hand tonight," or "I’ll hit 5 three-pointers tonight," etc.

This game against Nowitzki, Gan Guoyang was given a task by Old Nelson, on one hand, to give this German youngster a bit of a shock, but on the other hand, not too harsh, to set an example for Nowitzki and give him a target to chase.

This requires Gan Guoyang to control his intensity, not to create shadows like playing against O’Neal, after all, Old Nelson and Gan Guoyang have a good relationship.

Back during the Olympic Training Camp, Bobby Knight wanted to play tricks, trying to let Old Nelson keep Gan Guoyang out of the game, fearing that the Olympic Team would lose.

Old Nelson refused firmly, insisting on sending Gan Guoyang onto the court and giving him significant playtime. Since then, Gan Guoyang has admired Old Nelson, this very unique coach.

If Nowitzki gets beaten into a shutdown, beaten back to Germany in this battle, it would be too disloyal.

The jump ball started the match, with the incredibly tall Bradley opening the tally, and the Mavericks began their first offensive of the game.

The opening Mavericks’ tactics were orderly, with Strickland controlling the ball and organizing the team’s offense from the outside.

Facing the Trail Blazers’ initially loose defense, Strickland directly broke through the middle, scoring two points with a floater and taking the lead.

Strickland is a very talented player; after entering the League in 1988, he moved between teams but always found work.

Although he hasn’t achieved any great accomplishments because of his lack of discipline off the court—typical of certain African-American players, with drunk driving, brawls, and disturbing public order—but he stays in the League because of his undeniably strong skills.

There are many such African-American players in the League; for them, the NBA is a high-paying job, where they leverage their talent to earn US Dollars and live the extravagant life they dream of.

At his peak, Strickland could achieve an 18-point, 10-assist standard. As a Point Guard, he was effortless on the court, a pure talent monster.

Gan Guoyang has played against Rod Strickland many times and could clearly feel this guy’s strong talent, which is evident from his scoring ability.

As a point guard, when he wants to score and break through defenses, opponents find it hard to stop him; in the Three Second Zone, he’s not even afraid of Gan Guoyang’s rim protection.

Even when facing the Chicago Bulls, Rod Strickland would often boldly and successfully challenge Michael Jordan one-on-one.

He’s a typical talent freak with great ball sense. As a Point Guard, he has excellent shoulder width and a solid upper body. His ability to finish under the basket is quite strong, often using high-difficulty moves to put the ball in the hoop, much better than the defender, Brellock.

But he hasn’t achieved greater success, never making it to the All-Star, because he’s not disciplined enough and not interested in becoming a great player.

For him, the NBA is just a job; performing well in the regular season to earn a high salary is enough. As for the playoffs? The playoffs don’t pay extra, so why bother?

Thus, Strickland’s playoff career only reached the conference finals once, in 1990 with the Spurs, where they were swept 0-4 by the Trail Blazers; at that time, he was just a sophomore rookie.

Later, no matter which team he was on, he could get the team to the playoffs in the regular season, but he’d always go home after the first playoff round, highlighting efficiency, without wasting too much energy.

If only in terms of talent, Strickland is clearly stronger than John Stockton. If he had Stockton’s diligence and discipline, making the All-Star would have been easy.

But that’s just Strickland’s personality; entering the NBA to earn money and live harsher lives would defeat the purpose of entering the NBA, wouldn’t it? The money would be wasted.

The Trail Blazers countered quickly, with Gan Guoyang holding the ball at the high post and delivering a beautiful through pass inside to the cutting Brellock.

Brellock caught the ball, shook off the defense, cut into the basket for a layup, but it was blocked by the helping Bradley—this guy is just too tall.

However, Little O’Neal grabbed the Offensive Rebound, succeeded in a second-chance shot, and scored two points. Both sides scored quickly at the start.

Before the first timeout, both teams played steadily and relaxed, still in warm-up mode, scoring back and forth without intense play yet.

In this back-and-forth running, Nowitzki gradually let go of his nerves. After all, it wasn’t his first time playing against the Trail Blazers or Ah Gan, no need for fear.

So far, Nowitzki has had two touches, choosing to pass rather than attack after probing, since the Mavericks’ offensive focus isn’t on him initially but on Strickland.

In just a few minutes, Strickland went 3 for 4 with 2 assists, invigorating the Mavericks’ offense.