Chapter 2215 - 30: The Optimal Choice

Chapter 2215: Chapter 30: The Optimal Choice

Halftime ends, and Glory leads Jazz by 10 points.

During the halftime break in the locker room, the Glory players are complaining about the Jazz team’s aggressive actions, the noisy venue, and Jerry Sloan’s incessant chatter, squawking like a crow.

Once Salt Lake City’s Triangle Center enters playoff mode, it’s indeed like hell for the visiting teams, noisy and deafening. These crazy Mormons won’t lower their voices for a second.

Yao Ming drinks water; his performance in the first half was average. Having rested for over a month from regular season, he’s totally out of game shape.

Plus, being on the road, whether mismatched against Boozer or confronting Oko, Yao Ming feels a sense of powerlessness.

His arm bears several scratches, left from confrontations inside the paint, and in the first half, he took a big block from Kirilenko.

With Boozer’s poor defense, Jazz’s inside help defense primarily depends on Kirilenko, a Russian forward who emerged during the Sydney Olympics and has notable talent in blocking shots.

In his best season, he averaged 3.3 blocks per game, surpassing many centers.

In response to everyone’s complaints, Porter could have made some lineup adjustments or tactical deployments to counter Jazz’s tough retaliation.

But Porter didn’t do that; he yelled at everyone, and the locker room became silent.

"This is the first round; even though we trail the Jazz in record, our goal is the championship. Do we still need to adjust, complain, and lament in the first game of the first round when we’re leading by 10 points?"

"I won’t make any adjustments; our 10-point lead shows that our strategy is fine. If your performance on the court is poor, find reasons within yourself. Matchup is everything; take care of your matchup and leverage your strengths. I don’t want to hear any complaints anymore. If you don’t want to go back to Salt Lake City, end the series early and beat them."

Porter’s coaching style is indeed like this: simple, rough, bold, without much creativity, and not deeply understanding tactics.

In 04, 05, and 06, Glory struggled in the playoffs, partly due to Porter’s average coaching level. At that time, many experts suggested replacing Porter with a coach skilled in strategy.

But Gan Guoyang still kept Porter; many said Ah Gan retaining Porter was not to win the championship but just to enjoy the late career seasons comfortably.

During the latter part of this Glory season, with Yao Ming’s injury, Porter further reduced Ah Gan and Mutombo’s playing time, causing Glory to fall to the lower bracket, losing home-court advantage, which irked some commentators and fans.

With a fifth-place finish, aiming for the championship, especially when facing Dallas Mavericks possibly in the semifinals, is extremely difficult.

Hence, Porter was frequently criticized, receiving much anger, enduring a lot; his temper became exceptionally irritable, unable to tolerate any complaints.

Indeed, this was only the first game of the first round’s halftime, not even close; Porter had experienced more tough battles than the remaining members combined excluding Ah Gan.

As the second half of the game starts, Jazz launches a fierce counterattack; Glory doesn’t adjust, but Jazz will.

Jerry Sloan knows Boozer can’t break through Ah Gan’s single defense, but the so-so Yao Ming is that breaking point.

Therefore, in the third quarter, Jazz frequently utilizes Oko to maneuver Yao Ming, attacking from outside the three-point line, forcing Yao Ming away from the basket.

Then Harping, Kirilenko, Brule, and other forward and guard players, like a ferocious wolf pack, charge at the basket, attempting to damage Ah Gan.

They exhaust Gan Guoyang’s stamina, crash the offensive boards, and use second-chance opportunities to compensate for the efficiency drop due to the primary offensive threats being contained.

However, Gan Guoyang, having rested plenty in the regular season, is full of energy for the playoffs’ first game. Harping rushing the paint is almost suicidal.

Gan Guoyang played the full 12 minutes of the third quarter, contributing 3 blocks and grabbing 8 defensive rebounds, stabilizing Glory’s defense.

Though occasionally scored on by Jazz players, Gan Guoyang’s excellent defensive performance minimized the points conceded.

In the 06-07 NBA, playoff scores were low, the pace slow, the output of core players’ isolation plays greatly influenced the game’s outcome.

With scores around 80 or 90, if Boozer steadily contributes 20+, once the shooting percentage falters, points drop six or seven, and others must find a way to make up for it. If not, prepare to lose.

Basketball games are like this; defenses are targeted. The targeted side must find alternatives. If the core is contained, role players must explode, or if role players are suppressed, core players must carry the offense.

In ’97, Jazz relied on Stockton’s scoring outburst to fill this gap, plus a bit of luck, fought to the death, taking down peak Ah Gan.

Jerry Sloan understands; Glory is determined to use Ah Gan to control Boozer, Terry Porter doesn’t have ingenious ideas, just fighting fiercely. But the issue is, Ah Gan is truly robust, even at 42, still so tough.

Throughout the third quarter, the point difference remained unchanged; Glory couldn’t further expand their advantage on offense.

Yao Ming didn’t play well, and Jazz did a good job defensively on Glory’s perimeter. Both teams were fighting desperately, causing shooting percentages to plummet.

However, Glory’s defensive pressure kept Jazz from catching up to this 10-point gap.