Chapter 6 Explosive Power

Thorton and Gan Guoyang jumped almost simultaneously. Thorton was a strong white interior player, standing six-foot-ten, roughly the same height as Gan Guoyang.

However, Gan Guoyang's legs clearly possessed more explosive power, requiring less preparation time for the jump. He touched the ball first, quickly tapping it directly to John Stockton.

The game officially began, and Thorton landed, preparing to run back for defense.

Then he saw that Gan Guoyang had already accelerated and rushed into the frontcourt, heading straight for the paint.

"Shit..."

Thorton cursed inwardly, immediately lowering his head to sprint and chase after Gan Guoyang.

Yet Stockton's pass had already arrived precisely in the paint. Gan Guoyang caught the ball and leaped instantly, throwing down a two-handed slam dunk right at the rim!

By the time Gan Guoyang descended from the basket, Thorton had just barely arrived, right in time to inbound the ball from the baseline. He was extremely punctual.

Right off the opening tip, a lightning-fast quick-assault caught the Anteaters players completely off guard, costing them two points before they even reacted.

A burst of cheers erupted inside Kennedy Pavilion, and the cheerleaders on the sidelines bounced up and down.

"Very good opening offensive set, catching them by surprise," Fitzgerald said while clapping. He was now serving as the team's assistant coach.

Bellman, however, remarked, "It wasn't a set play; the two of them decided to coordinate that way on their own."

Bellman was quite accomplished in tuning defenses, but regarding offense, he was still learning.

On the offensive end, he granted complete freedom to Gan Guoyang and Stockton, letting them make decisions based on the flow of the game.

Having them memorize over a hundred plays was simply to ensure they could improvise on the court.

Bellman's coaching philosophy might seem somewhat lazy at first glance, but it was his optimal solution.

He had already learned at North Bridge High School that when your team possesses a core player with outstanding ability and high intelligence, you should not shackle him with too many patterns.

From this perspective, Bobby Bellman was a coach who achieved enlightenment very early; he even began learning to use data to guide team tactics.

However, this aspect was still under development, and a mature theory had not yet formed in his mind, let alone been put into practice.

Gonzaga returned to the defensive end. Like most NCAA teams of that era, the Anteaters began running half-court offense against the zone defense.

Even if Bellman's zone defense was not master-class, it could certainly be called elite across the nation.

His mentor was the legendary Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps, renowned nationwide for full-court pressure and half-court trapping defenses.

In 1974, he led his team to snap John Wooden's UCLA 88-game winning streak, relying on high-pressure defense and consecutive scoring runs in the final stretch to achieve a comeback.

He had orchestrated numerous comebacks in the NCAA, earning the title of the comeback king of college basketball.

Bellman inherited his mentor's understanding of defense: high pressure, tight checking, and maintaining the players' high sensitivity to defense through brutal daily training sessions.

If there was any flaw to such a defense, it was that being overly rigid makes it prone to breaking; hence, Digger Phelps's teams often suffered heavy defeats.

If the defense failed to hit its mark, or if the opponents were in good form, the team could easily collapse entirely.

Gan Guoyang, however, remained extremely calm and intelligent on defense. Back during their games at North Bridge High School, Gan Guoyang often ignored Bellman's instructions, making defensive judgments based on his own understanding.

His traits happened to make up for the shortcomings in Bellman's defensive system.

The Anteaters were a formidable team. Through repeated ball rotations, they carved out an opportunity along the baseline.

Guard George Turner shook off Stockton's defense and sank a mid-range jump shot.

When the two teams faced each other last season, the Anteaters routed the Gonzaga Bulldogs 75 to 61 with a 14-point margin of victory.

Gan Guoyang did not actively step out to help on defense; instead, he anchored himself in the paint to guard the basket and secure defensive rebounds.

At the start, the offense and defense of both sides were still in a probing phase.

However, Thorton could barely hold his ground much longer.

On the second offensive possession, Gan Guoyang caught the ball in the post, executed a rapid spin, and sank a jump shot.

Completely different from the sluggish low-post scorers he had encountered previously, Gan Guoyang initiated his back-to-the-basket moves at an astonishing speed.

He almost never paused. The moment he caught the ball, he would launch into action, spinning quickly and releasing a straight-armed shot.

Thorton didn't even have time to jump and raise a hand to contest; the ball was already gone, smoothly netting two points.

Subsequently, the Anteaters missed their shot. When Gan Guoyang ran the fast break, Thorton trailed behind him feeling like a dog.

He could only watch as Gan Guoyang caught a long pass from Stockton and glided through the air for a soaring slam dunk!

He was as elegant as a six-foot-ten Dr. J, effortlessly palming the ball with one hand and tucking it behind his head during the dunk, pushing the atmosphere of Kennedy Pavilion to a small crescendo.

Yet the Anteaters failed to score on their offense once again—they found the Bulldogs' defensive formation extremely solid. The Bulldogs would concede perimeter mid-range jumpers, but attempting to drive into the paint was exceptionally difficult.

They could only resort to mid-range attempts from the top of the key, which missed the mark.

Gan Guoyang firmly secured the defensive rebound and outletted the ball to Stockton.

The pair executed an easy pick-and-roll at the top of the key. Gan Guoyang rolled to the basket, caught a comfortable bounce pass from Stockton, and threw down another one-handed slam dunk in the paint!

Anteaters coach Bill Mulligan called a time-out. He had completely failed to anticipate this version of the Gonzaga Bulldogs, which was entirely different from last year's team.

As the 1980s Pacific Coast Athletic Association Coach of the Year, Mulligan certainly knew that the number 11 on Gonzaga had brought massive changes to the Bulldogs.

It was just that this change seemed a bit too drastic, making them look like a completely different team compared to last year's Gonzaga University.

"You need to step up your defense on number 11, Thorton," Mulligan reminded Thorton, noting how easily Gan Guoyang had been scoring in the opening quarter.

"I know, I know," Thorton said while drinking water, nodding in agreement as he wiped away sweat continuously.

"Are you that hot?" Mulligan asked with concern, looking at Thorton, who was already drenched in sweat shortly after the game had started.

"A little bit."

"But the game just started."

"F***, the game just started?"

During the time-out, Mulligan emphasized transition defense, forbidding any more easy fast breaks.

He also stressed that the offense needed to resolutely attack the interior rather than being "locked out" by Gonzaga's zone defense.

Yet on their very first drive inside after the time-out, the Anteaters' forward and leading scorer Benjamin McDonald was blocked by Gan Guoyang.

Moreover, Gan Guoyang firmly secured the ball and, finding no fast-break opportunity, handed it off to Stockton.

Bellman looked satisfied on the sidelines. After a year of rest and readjustment, Gan Guoyang's defensive dominance remained completely unchanged—precisely what the Gonzaga Bulldogs had lacked the most previously.

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

Under Coach Dron's guidance, Gonzaga's players built up their physical strength through weight training, making their static resistance potentially the best among West Coast Conference teams.

However, the lack of dynamic athleticism made their playing rhythm devoid of explosive power.

Although Gan Guoyang had yellow skin, as a cyborg, his speed and explosiveness were astonishing (as individuals of Asian descent naturally possess greater explosive power than white individuals).

During the retreat back on defense, Thorton felt as though his legs were filled with lead, utterly unable to match Gan Guoyang's foot speed.

Down in the low post, Gan Guoyang caught the ball, executed a swift spin along the baseline, and blew right past Thorton completely.

Easily finishing with a left-handed slam dunk at the rim, Gan Guoyang racked up 10 consecutive points to open the game, 8 of which came via dunks.

Growing taller was certainly beneficial; dunking was far easier than before.

Feeling depressed, Thorton remembered what Gan Guoyang had said to him during the opening jump ball, and his spirits sank even lower.

It turned out the guy hadn't been lying—his ordeal tonight was indeed going to be quite pathetic!

Standing on the sidelines watching his team's poor start, Mulligan felt extremely depressed.

After a few possessions, he understood the Bulldogs' defensive strategy: a solid perimeter zone defense, with that number 11 interior player single-handedly taking care of all rim protection duties.

The other four starters for the Bulldogs simply guarded the perimeter just outside the paint; if they couldn't hold their ground, they would let the opponent through and leave them for their center to handle.

Previously, Gonzaga lacked such an interior presence, causing their defense to be easily punctured.

Sitting on the bench, Tim Ruffin, Gonzaga's starting center from the previous year, possessed nothing close to Gan Guoyang's defensive intimidation.

The Anteaters found themselves trailing the Bulldogs 16 to 2 right at the start. Gan Guoyang single-handedly claimed 12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 assist, leaving the Anteaters with no room to counter.

The referees perhaps couldn't bear to watch any longer, whistling a defensive foul on the Bulldogs and sending the opposing players to the free-throw line to salvage 2 points.

Having secured the lead and a commanding advantage on the floor, the Bulldogs shifted into cruise control.

Gan Guoyang began coordinating more with his teammates, helping them find their offensive rhythm to pile on the points.

Stockton was vastly superior to the guards at North Bridge High School; now a senior, his playmaking abilities and individual skills had fully matured, allowing him to command the half-court offense with ease.

Once they established a lead, Gonzaga maintained solid defense and efficient offense. The Anteaters found the game exceedingly difficult to play, evidently lacking prior preparation for Gan Guoyang's iron defensive wall and having no idea how to respond.

Facing a deficit and unable to breach the paint for tough scores, teams lacking long-range shooting ability in 1983 found themselves in an extremely dire situation.

Fitzgerald grinned from ear to ear on the sidelines. Last year, they had been soundly beaten by the Anteaters, but this year they had turned the tables to thrash them.

Unable to help himself, Fitz shouted loudly toward Mulligan, who was standing on the other side of the court with a deeply furrowed brow: "Think of something, Bill! The fire is burning your pants! Why aren't you calling a timeout? Is this game that fun to watch?"

Bellman pulled Fitz back and said, "Dan, have some class."

"To hell with class... Hey, Bobby, how do you even have the nerve to talk to me about class?"

Ten-plus minutes into the first half, the Bulldogs consistently maintained a double-digit lead.

When an Anteater player drove into the paint and hit a close-range jumper, the score reached 19 to 33, with the Bulldogs leading by 14 points.

Yet Bellman was unsatisfied with that defensive sequence, feeling that the team's defensive urgency was dropping, which would give the Anteaters an opening. Consequently, he called a timeout and criticized the players for their waning defensive focus.

Of course, this was inevitable during a game; no team could maintain absolute focus for the entire duration.

After his lecture, Bellman gently reminded Gan Guoyang: "Gan, you could have gone up to contest and disrupt that shot just now, but you stayed put in the paint. Are you tired?"

Gan Guoyang wiped away his sweat and replied, "That's a strategy, do you understand? I'm the only guardian in the paint, and I won't easily be lured away by jump shots. My priorities are to control my foul count, protect the defensive rebound, and deny them easy baskets. As for those mid-to-close-range shots, let them have them."

Bellman nodded repeatedly, indicating that Gan Guoyang was entirely right and made complete sense.