The Golden Age of Basketball

Sutton and Gan Guoyang jumped almost simultaneously. Sutton, a strong white interior player at 6 feet 10, was about the same height as Gan Guoyang.

However, Gan Guoyang's legs clearly had more explosive power and he took off with shorter preparation time, touching the ball first and deftly directing it to John Stockton.

The game officially began, and Sutton landed, ready to move back to play defense.

Then he saw Gan Guoyang, who had already accelerated towards the frontcourt, rushing toward the three-second zone.

"Shit..."

Sutton cursed under his breath and immediately bowed his head to sprint after Gan Guoyang.

However, Stockton's pass had already accurately reached the three-second zone; Guoyang caught the ball and took off for a violent two-handed dunk!

By the time Guoyang came down from the basket, Sutton had barely caught up, arriving just in time to take the baseline out-of-bounds throw.

The game started with a lightning-fast offensive, catching the Anteaters' players off guard and costing them two points.

Cheers erupted in the Kennedy Gymnasium, and the cheerleaders on the sidelines began to jump around.

"That's a great way to start our offense, catch them by surprise," Fitzgerald said clapping his hands, now serving as the team's assistant coach.

But Beelman said, "It wasn't planned; they decided to cooperate like that on their own."

Beelman had a keen grasp of defense but was still learning about offense.

He gave full authority to Guoyang and Stockton to act according to the game situation on offense.

They had hundreds of tactics to memorize, allowing them to adapt on the fly during the game.

Beelman's coaching philosophy might seem a bit lazy, but it was his best solution.

At North Bridge High School, he had learned that when your team has a core player who is both talented and smart, it's better not to bind him with too many set plays.

In this respect, Bobby Beelman was an early adopter among coaches, even beginning to study the use of data to guide team tactics.

However, this area was still in development, and he hadn't formed any mature theories in his mind, let alone put them into practice.

Gonzaga fell back to defense. Like most NCAA teams at the time when faced with a zone defense, the Anteaters began working their positional offense.

Beelman's zone defense may not have been master-class, but it was considered excellent across the All-America.

His mentor was the famous coach Tighe Phelps from the University of Notre Dame, known nationwide for his full-court presses and half-court suffocating defense.

In 1974, he led his team to end John Wooden's UCLA's 88-game winning streak with a high-pressure defense and a successful scoring rally in the final stages.

He led many comebacks in the NCAA, earning the title of the king of comeback in college basketball.

Beelman inherited his teacher's understanding of defense: high pressure and intense, conditioning his players with rigorous daily training to maintain a high sensitivity to defense.

If there was a downside to such defense, it was that being too rigid could lead to collapse; thus, Tighe Phelps' teams often suffered heavy defeats.

If the defense was off or the opponents were in good form, a collapse could easily ensue.

Yet, Gan Guoyang was calm and intelligent on defense. While playing for North Bridge High School, he often disregarded Beelman's commands, making defensive decisions based on his own understanding.

His attributes perfectly compensated for the shortcomings in Beelman's defensive system.

The Anteaters were a strong team, and by repeatedly moving the ball, they opened up opportunities on the baseline.

Guard George Turner shook off Stockton's defense and scored with a mid-range jumper.

Last season, the Anteaters had defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs with a 75:61, a solid 14-point advantage.

During defense, Guoyang didn't actively move out to help but instead crouched near the basket to guard it and secure backcourt rebounds.

Both teams were still testing each other in the opening stages of offense and defense.

But Sutton soon began to feel overwhelmed.

In the second offensive drive, Guoyang received the ball in the low post, turned quickly, and scored with a jump shot.

Unlike the slow post-up players he'd encountered before, Guoyang had an incredibly fast back-to-the-basket playing speed.

He hardly paused at all; the moment he received the ball he would start moving, quickly turning around and then shooting with an extended arm.

Sutton didn't even have time to jump up and reach out to disturb the shot before the ball was already on its way, scoring a steady two points.

Then, the Anteaters missed their shot, and Guoyang led a fast break, with Sutton trailing behind feeling like a dog.

He just watched Guoyang receive Stockton's long pass and slam a gliding dunk in mid-air!

He was as graceful as the 6-foot-10 Dr. J, easily catching the ball with one hand and, when dunking, putting the ball behind his head, sending the atmosphere in the Kennedy Gymnasium to a new peak.

The Anteaters missed another offensive attempt—they found the Bulldogs' defense to be extremely tight. The Bulldogs would grant opportunities for mid-range shots from the outside, but breaking through the defense was difficult.

The only attempts they could take were mid-range shots from the top of the key, but they did not hit.

Gan Guoyang firmly controlled the backboard rebounds, passing the ball to Stockton.

The two executed a simple pick-and-roll at the top of the key. Guoyang rolled down, received a perfect bounce pass from Stockton, and scored another one-handed slam!

Anteaters' coach Bill Mulligan called a timeout. He had not expected this year's Gonzaga Bulldogs to be transformed like this, fundamentally different from last year.

As the 1982 Pacific Division's Best Coach, Mulligan clearly understood that number 11 from Gonzaga brought a massive change to the Bulldogs.

But this change seemed a bit too drastic, as if last year's Gonzaga University had become two different teams.

"You need to tighten up the defense on number 11, Stockton," Mulligan reminded Stockton, as Gan Guoyang scored too easily in the first quarter.

"I know, I know," Stockton said, drinking water and nodding in agreement before continuing to wipe off his sweat.

"Are you feeling hot?" Mulligan asked Stockton, who was drenched in sweat from the start of the game, expressing his concern.

"A little."

"But the game has just begun."

"Fuck, the game has just begun?"

During the timeout, Mulligan emphasized transition defense, not wanting to be beaten easily on the fast break again.

They also had to focus on driving the ball inside offensively and not be kept out by Gonzaga's zone defense.

However, the Anteaters' first attempt to drive inside after the timeout was met by Gan Guoyang blocking their leading scorer, Benjamin MacDonald.

And Gan firmly controlled the ball, handing it off to Stockton after realizing there was no chance for a fast break.

Beelman was very satisfied on the sidelines. After a year of reshaping, Gan Guoyang's defensive control had not changed at all, which was previously Gonzaga Bulldogs' greatest deficiency.

In the past, the Gonzaga Bulldogs were a team made up entirely of white players, and their lack of athletic ability was a significant shortcoming.

(In 1985, Stockton had graduated, and they welcomed their first black player.)

Under Coach Delong's leadership, the Gonzaga players became more robust through strength training, and their static confrontation ability might be the best among the teams in the West Coast League.

However, their lack of dynamic athletic ability meant their game lacked explosiveness.

Even though Gan was of yellow skin, as a Bionic Man, his speed and explosiveness were astonishing (East Asians naturally have stronger explosiveness than white people).

While backpedaling, Stockton felt as if his legs were filled with lead, unable to keep up with Gan's pace.

In the low post, after receiving the ball, Gan made a quick turn and went baseline, completely leaving Stockton in the dust.

An easy left-handed dunk under the basket, Gan scored a quick 10 points at the start, with 8 of them coming from dunks.

Having grown taller was an advantage, making dunks easier than before.

Stockton was dejected, his spirits sinking even lower when he remembered what Gan had said to him at the start of the game.

Apparently, he wasn't lying; his own fate tonight was indeed pitiable!

Mulligan stood on the sidelines, feeling very frustrated as he watched his team start poorly.

After a few rounds, he understood the defensive strategy of the Gonzaga Bulldogs: a stable perimeter zone defense, with number 11 taking care of all the inside defense by himself.

The other four starters focused on securing the perimeter around the three-second area, letting people in if they couldn't hold the line and handing them off to their center.

Gonzaga previously lacked such an inside presence, which made their defense easily penetrable.

Sitting on the bench, Gonzaga's starting center from last year, Tim Ruff, didn't have the same defensive deterrent power as Gan.

The Anteaters found themselves trailing 16:2 at the start of the game, with Gan single-handedly amassing 12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 assist, leaving the Anteaters powerless to respond.

The referee, perhaps unable to watch anymore, called a defensive foul on the Bulldogs, sending their players to the free-throw line for 2 points.

After securing the lead and the advantage on the court, the Bulldogs slowed down the pace.

Gan started to cooperate more with his teammates, allowing them to find their offensive rhythm and score quickly.

Stockton was much stronger than the guards from North Bridge High School, and in his senior year, his organizational ability and personal skills had matured, seamlessly directing the set plays.

Once they had the lead, Gonzaga maintained a solid defense and efficient offense, causing the Anteaters great difficulty. They obviously hadn't prepared for Gan's ironclad defense and didn't know how to cope.

For a team with poor long-range shooting ability in 1983, not being able to penetrate the three-second area created an extremely challenging situation.

Fitzgerald couldn't stop grinning on the sidelines; last year, they were outplayed by the Anteaters, but now they were turning the tables and dominating the game.

Fitz couldn't help but shout across the court to Mulligan, who was frowning intensely, "Come on, think of something, Bill! The fire's burning up to your ass! Aren't you going to call a timeout? Is the game that interesting to watch?"

Beelman pulled on Fitz, saying, "Dan, have some decency."

"Fuck decency... Hey, Bobby, how dare you talk to me about decency?"

More than 10 minutes into the first half, the Bulldogs consistently maintained a lead of over 10 points.

When an Anteaters player broke into the paint, hitting a close-range jump shot, the scoreline came to 19:33, with the Bulldogs leading by 14 points.

But Beelman was not satisfied with this defense; he thought the team's sense of defensive urgency was dropping, which could give the Anteaters a chance, so he called a timeout to criticize the players for their slipping defensive focus.

Of course, it's inevitable in a game that no team can maintain focused attention all the time.

After talking, Beelman gently reminded Gan, "Gan, you could have gone up to block and disrupt that shot, but you didn't move at the basket. Are you tired?"

Gan wiped his sweat and said, "Don't you understand strategy? I'm the only one guarding the basket; I won't be lured away by a shot easily. Controlling my foul count and securing the defensive rebounds are my top priorities. Denying them easy balls is what I aim for. As for those mid-close range shots, let them take them if they want."

Beelman nodded repeatedly, agreeing that what Gan said made sense and was very reasonable.