Chapter 2242 - 46: Can’t Play Basketball

Chapter 2242: Chapter 46: Can’t Play Basketball

James clearly did not want his contributions to be limited to one or two assists.

He could accept playing a supporting role at certain stages of the game, but an entire series?

Neither personal desire nor commercial pressure would allow him to accept it.

Of course, in the pre-game interviews, he unsurprisingly made a very official promise to the reporters: "I am willing to sacrifice everything for the championship and victory, including my stats. I would rather not score if that could win us the game."

Many superstars would say such things; some are sincere, while others just say it for show.

The NBA is definitely not purely about sports competition. Especially by 2007, its influence had spread globally, with astonishing commercial value. Superstar contracts might easily reach hundreds of millions, involving billions in commercial interests, advertising effects, brand reputation, etc.

LeBron James represents not only himself but also an entire team, as well as the sports commercial capital invested in him.

This is a scenario that Gan Guoyang, Jordan, and others never faced, although it was a situation they both helped create, elevating basketball players and the NBA to a sacred level.

Before the finals began, James’s agent Ross told him that in this series, if they won, he must secure the FMVP. If Arenas took it, his commercial value and legendary status would greatly diminish.

"Gan Guoyang and Michael never let the FMVP slip away."

If they lost, he should aim to become a lone warrior like Allen Iverson in 2001.

Even in loss, there could be some angle for publicity, carrying the team single-handedly, bravely fighting against Iverson, Gan, Yao, etc., and achieving some glory in defeat.

From the Eastern Conference Finals experience, James performed very well.

Whether it was beating the Pistons in the semifinals or eliminating the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals, James outperformed Arenas.

Because both the Pistons and Bulls had defensive characteristics of being agile and mobile, making them very adept at defending shooting-type guards like Arenas.

However, they were noticeably lacking in size and strength inside, unable to stop James’s tank-like assaults.

Once James’s inside breakthroughs became unstoppable, and his offensive confidence was established, he dared to shoot from the outside, making his offense smoother and smoother.

Coupled with the fact that the overall strength of the Pistons and Bulls was not as strong as the Cavaliers, naturally, they made it through the rounds and into the finals, and James was on the verge of being crowned.

But against Glory, not even the first quarter was over before James felt heavy resistance.

Glory’s inside, with Gan Guoyang, Yao Ming, and Mutombo, no matter which one was stationed in the three-second zone, made James uncomfortable.

One was tall, one was sturdy, and one was like a tree stump, making the basket impregnable.

Especially Gan Guoyang, if it were only Yao Ming or only Mutombo, James might still have some gains with the help of defensive threes.

But with Gan Guoyang there, forming a dual defense with Yao Ming and Mutombo, James, whose experience, skills, and strength had not yet peaked, could not find a way to respond.

In fact, Carlisle already gave James the best method of coping, which was to hide.

To assist, to defend, to grab rebounds, to organize, maximize the team’s effectiveness, and strive for victory.

But this path, James could not take.

The first quarter ended with Glory leading the Cavaliers by five points.

The score difference wasn’t large, but on the court, Glory firmly suppressed the Cavaliers.

In Gan Guoyang’s career history, this Glory team was certainly not the strongest, but definitely not weak.

As seen from their performance in the Western Conference playoffs, they lost only one game in three series! Such dominance is among the best in NBA history.

Of course, luck was a factor. In 2007, the overall strength of NBA teams was lacking, the Mavericks got upset by an eight-seed, and the supposedly dormant regular season Glory was fully healthy, coupled with Gan Guoyang’s push for a quick resolution, they swept through effortlessly.

By the finals, the Cavaliers’ seemingly decent lineup seemed lackluster against Glory.

In the first quarter, James scored only 3 points, with 2 rebounds and 4 assists.

Arenas scored 14 points, crucial for keeping the Cavaliers close in scoring.

As the first quarter was coming to an end, James held the ball, preparing for the final attack, aiming to score and close the gap.

But in the middle lane breakthrough, Iverson drew an offensive foul on him, wasting the opportunity to narrow the score gap for the team.

Back on the bench, Arenas expressed his dissatisfaction with James.

"You should have passed to me on that play, I could have shot."

"Iverson was guarding me, I should take it."

"But you didn’t score and committed a foul."

"But it was my matchup, I should have played it."

Their argument remained restrained, concentrated only on this play, not extending to other issues.

Their relationship was always in a subtle state.

In the 2002-2003 season, Arenas, traded to the Cavaliers, delivered an All-Star-level performance.

His presence stole the precedence from James.

The Cavaliers’ management had considered trading Arenas to fully support James’s rise.

Trading Arenas for a mid-career star to support James.

But Parkson trusted Ah Gan’s vision and believed that Arenas complemented James in terms of playing style.

As Arenas kept improving, his battle for dominance with James continues to this day.

It even became at some level the primary content of the Cavaliers’ internal life in the locker room.

Everyone got used to it.

Their argument wouldn’t lead to any result.

They didn’t let their emotions expand and re-invested themselves into the game.

After the second quarter began, Gan Guoyang took a rest.

He wiped his sweat, weighing the Cavaliers’ strength in his mind.

They definitely have strength, and the combination of James + Arenas is strong enough.

But Rick Carlisle hasn’t grasped the essence of this combination.

Although the strategy of James supporting + Arenas attacking is theoretically the optimal solution.

However, starting from reality, it is likely the worst path.

Having navigated the League for over 20 years, Gan Guoyang could assess the nature, level, and depth of a team after just a few rounds on the court.

Li Wei knew Rick Carlisle well, a standard tactical genius but deficient in social dealings and locker room control.

As the team’s coach, he has always tried to find a balance between Arenas and James rather than fully supporting one, which is a very risky decision.

NBA is not NCAA; a team won’t have two leading players or a coach-centric route, and Carlisle is not that kind of person.

Carlisle wanted James to assist while Arenas outputs, great in Live games, fantastic in simulations, but in actual operations, issues will surely arise.

Because the human heart is the hardest to predict.

At this time, the state of play hasn’t changed much.

Glory still firmly suppresses the Cavaliers.

Varejao seized an offensive rebound under the basket, drawing a foul from Robert Horry and making both free throws.

Robert Horry promptly responded with a three-pointer from the arc top.

Mike Finley drove into the basket, attempted a floater but was interrupted by Mutombo.

Glory counterattacked, but Bell’s mid-range shot also missed.

Then Varejao tried the same trick under the basket but was slammed down by a big block from Mutombo.

James didn’t rest long on the bench; he returned to the court early.

It’s the finals; both teams have short rotations.

Glory has already compressed the rotation to eight players.

Mutombo, Horry, and Rondo, while others are generally out of consideration.

The Cavaliers are similar, as it is the last few games of the season; when else to exhaust their players?

"Sonny, you need to get on the court," Porter reminded Gan Guoyang.

With James on, Gan Guoyang also needed to be there, to always have a barrier inside.

James saw the 42-year-old Gan Guoyang entering the game, muttering a swear.

Because he knew, once Gan Guoyang was on the court, breaking through for points under the basket became extremely difficult.

He could only find ways for fast breaks, but tonight’s game tempo made fast breaks nearly impossible.

James attempted another forceful attack through the middle, but he couldn’t gather speed.

Glory allowed him two to three steps, providing him the chance to shoot.

James, having poor hands, didn’t dare to shoot from afar; he could only choose to awkwardly press inside while dribbling then rely on post moves.

However, his post skills were not up to par; his main purpose in post play was ball protection and occasionally passing the ball outside the three-point line.

Aside from that, he didn’t pose much of an offensive threat, his turnaround was not smooth, nor could he back down for fadeaway shots, continuous steps into the basket, still couldn’t manage.

After tossing around for a while with the ball, he eventually passed out, Finley received it for a three-point attempt, but the rhythm was poor and the opportunity not existent, naturally it didn’t go in.

Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound, no fast break, stabilized the rhythm, slowed down, honing the positional play.

This was Glory’s preferred game atmosphere, Gan Guoyang held the ball low, the Cavaliers quickly doubled up.

Gan Guoyang made a behind-the-head pass to a cutting Rondo in the paint, Rondo went up for a layup and took a massive block from James!

The atmosphere in the Gund Arena finally ignited, but soon after, Gan Guoyang captured the ball, squeezed under the basket and successfully made a tip-in.

As they retreated in defense, Gan Guoyang patted Rondo’s head, saying, "Good pass, buddy, it could be up there on the top five plays of the night."

Rondo sighed and replied, "Next time I need to fake it!"

"Doesn’t matter, buddy, I’m here," he said.

Gan Guoyang was still serving his role as Sea-Calming Needle.

By halftime, he efficiently scored 12 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, made 3 blocks, 1 steal, plus 4 assists.

Helping Glory to a 55:47 lead, ahead of the Cavaliers by 8 points.

The gap widened bit by bit, in a slow-paced, low-speed game, an 8-point lead was considerable.

James only scored 5 points by halftime, hitting 2 of 8 shots, and 1 of 2 free throws.

Faced with Glory’s highly targeted defense, he seemed like a child who couldn’t play.

On his way out of the stadium heading back to the locker room at halftime, Carlisle continuously spoke to James.

Presumably instructing him on how to adjust and how to perform better.

But James walked quickly, head down, seemingly not listening to a word.