Chapter 2217 - 31: Taking Advantage

Chapter 2217: Chapter 31: Taking Advantage

After Drexler retired, he went back to his alma mater, the University of Houston, as a coach for two years.

Following the glorious 80s, as Drexler, Olajuwon, and other talented players left, Coach Lewis resigned after 1986, and the Jaguars lost their past flair.

They hadn’t made it to the NCAA national tournament for a long time. When Drexler retired after the 1998 season, he received an invitation from the University of Houston to take the coaching job.

However, at the University of Houston, Drexler was more of an idol, a star, rather than a coach. Wherever they went to compete, many fans would seek his autograph, surrounding the arena entrances and exits.

Drexler’s personality wasn’t suited for being a strict or demanding college coach; he was too free-spirited. After coaching for one season, he wanted to resign.

Coaching is a tough job, and Drexler couldn’t stand the rigorous training with the Miami Heat and the long NBA seasons, so he decided to leave the league and find a place to while away time, mistakenly choosing college coaching, which brought even more pressure than playing in the NBA.

Considering the face of the school manager and the students, he reluctantly stuck it out for another season, yet still didn’t make it to the national tournament.

In Drexler’s view, the University of Houston couldn’t recruit talented players in a short time, so he couldn’t lead the team to good results.

He was impressed with Pat Riley’s mindset instilled upon him. In the end, after the second season ended, he hastily concluded his coaching career.

Later, he found a commentary job with Miami and ESPN, where he has worked until now.

Drexler was very surprised that, until today, 2007, Ah Gan was still playing on the court.

Besides admiration, Drexler also felt jealousy; all his life, Drexler had been competing with Ah Gan, but unlike Jordan, he never openly and honestly faced off in a competition, instead resorting to sneaky little tricks behind the scenes.

If he had been seriously plotting schemes, he might have been considered a heroic figure. However, these little tricks were never really meant to harm Ah Gan; they were merely a silent vent of frustration, just to make his own heart feel better.

Therefore, Drexler couldn’t be considered a bad person or a villain; he was just a gifted, proud, yet too laid-back lazy person.

This perfectly aligns with his current persona at ESPN, where he often uses a sharp tongue against Ah Gan and Glory, and he enjoys it thoroughly.

In the first half, Yao Ming exploded with 19 points. Drexler knew that Yao Ming’s shot opportunities would decrease in the second half, yet he still jokingly remarked, "40 points for the whole game."

However, what Drexler did not expect was that after the second half started, Yao Ming continued to maintain his dominance. He didn’t rely on his fadeaway jump shots and hooks but instead forcefully attacked the inside.

Tonight, Yao Ming played very aggressively, venting all the frustration accumulated from not playing regularly in the previous game and the regular season.

The Jazz’s interior defense was thrown into chaos by Yao Ming’s powerful charges, and Yao Ming wasn’t worried about conserving energy since Ah Gan would cover the floor in the fourth quarter. His condition was good tonight, so he kept attacking inside hard.

Oko couldn’t guard Yao Ming one-on-one at all, and without deliberately gaining weight, Yao Ming’s weight had reached a massive 297 pounds.

Gan Guoyang’s requirement for Yao Ming has always been that his weight shouldn’t exceed 300 pounds, 300 pounds being a red line; below 300 pounds, the focus should be on improving overall physical fitness, especially confrontation strength, lower body, and core strength.

In the era of dwindling centers, Yao Ming was already a giant on the inside, and with O’Neal in the Eastern Conference, Glory holding Yao Ming, posed a huge threat to any team.

As for the stamina issue, the rest period during the final stages of the regular season allowed him to store up enough energy.

In the third quarter, Yao Ming scored almost at will from the low post, fully entering his best form. After continuous foul draws and successful free throws, he found his shooting touch, hitting multiple mid-range jumpers from the right baseline.

In that single quarter, Yao Ming shot 5 for 7 and 6 for 6 in free throws, scoring another 16 points.

The Jazz’s defense focused solely on Gan Guoyang, who repeatedly feigned attacks, but passed the opportunities to Yao Ming, only scoring 2 points from 2 attempts.

But Glory widened the gap in just one quarter, bringing their lead back to over 10 points.

This caused the Jazz team to panic. Sloan, despite his rich experience and being the longest-serving coach in the league, faced a Jazz team with insufficient experience and lacking playoff experience.

Facing Glory, who overflowed with playoff experience, far superior to the Jazz in controlling game rhythm and distribution of ball possessions.

The Jazz played aggressively and worked hard, their confrontations much stronger than in the regular season. However, more effort isn’t the key in playoffs; knowing how to exert force is crucial.

During the timeout, Yao Ming, already with 35 points, smiled with confidence. Gan Guoyang asked, "Feeling in great touch, hostess tonight."

"Absolutely, but we have to win the series first."

Gan Guoyang nodded, recalling those distant memories, in another realm, Yao Ming against the Jazz, causing pain to many Chinese fans.

Objectively speaking, Yao Ming’s performance was already impressive; as a Chinese player, averaging 25 points in a series with the team averaging 87 points per game was not easy.

If you demand him to meet the standards of a superstar, requiring higher efficiency, better defense, ability to make key shots, and grab crucial rebounds, it’s clearly unrealistic; Yao Ming wasn’t that strong.

But within Glory, Yao Ming could fully utilize his strengths, not needing to deal with Boozer, as Gan Guoyang had him tightly controlled.