The Golden Age of Basketball

If Ah Gan retires, he will unhesitatingly trade them away to form a team with superstars.

Kobe, Kevin Garnett, are both within Jerry West’s hunting range, because Los Angeles can only accommodate superstars.

Of course, these thoughts Jerry West keeps to himself, he wouldn’t say them out loud. Ah Gan is a troublesome person, if you tell him, he would definitely insist on playing on, messing up your plans.

At 7pm, after the opening ceremony, the game officially began.

Yao Ming and Bynum jumped for the ball at the center circle, and Glory Team started their first attack.

In offense, Rondo faced Derek Fisher. Fisher defended very seriously, but then got surpassed with a pick and roll acceleration.

Rondo broke into the paint, made a change of pace, added a fake pass, threw Aldridge off balance, drove in for a layup, scoring the first points of the game.

"Rajon Rondo! A beautiful fake move for the layup! In this rookie battle, Rondo is the lowest ranked, but he is also the most confident."

In just over a month, Rondo has become very popular in Las Vegas. He is full of confidence on the court, with a strong presence.

Moreover, he dares to stand up for Ah Gan, even going head-to-head with the tall Kaman, which made many fans like him a lot.

This opening basket set the tone for tonight’s game: The Lakers couldn’t defend against Glory’s pick-and-roll offense.

This season, Glory’s pick-and-roll offense is extensive, with many backups from UCLA’s plays, grounded in Yao Ming and Gan Guoyang’s solid screens, giving the small guards plenty of room to play.

Allen Iverson sat courtside with focused attention on the game. This was a requirement from Gan Guoyang, not allowing him to leave early, insisting he watch the game, study, and experience Glory’s tactics.

After watching half a quarter, Iverson thought, isn’t it just pick-and-rolls, Ah Gan comes out to screen, then he breaks or shoots, it seems very simple.

At the start, Glory indeed played very simply, with Gan Guoyang consistently setting screens at the top of the arc, around the 45-degree angle for teammates, rarely rolling down, leaving the paint open for Yao Ming to attack the inside.

Whether Aldridge or Bynum, they are too inexperienced facing a big center like Yao Ming.

Rondo and Yao Ming, focusing on Gan Guoyang, played dynamically, with the two scoring in the first quarter - one with 4 points and 6 assists, and the other with 11 points and 5 rebounds.

The Glory Team leads the Lakers by 27:19, ahead by 8 points. This Lakers lineup indeed has a lot of potential, but they are really too young, a complete young army.

This year, they can afford to tank for another year, hoping to hit the lottery in the 2007 draft, to bag some promising young players.

During the intermission, Iverson’s seat was right behind the bench. Gan Guoyang turned around, waved at Iverson, indicating for him to come over.

If it were anyone else, Iverson wouldn’t bother, but since it was Ah Gan beckoning, of course, he had to comply.

"After the first quarter, did you notice anything?"

"Pick-and-roll, pick-and-roll, pick-and-roll," Iverson admitted truthfully, for that’s what he saw, lots of pick-and-roll plays.

"I don’t want your viewing level to be just on par with the spectators. Take a closer look. See where our problems are, and also, what you can do."

Iverson was a bit disgruntled inside, no one had lectured him like this for a long time, especially not in basketball.

Iverson is truly a genius player. In games, it’s always teammates focusing on him, even opponents focusing on him.

He rarely contemplates what his teammates are thinking, because everyone’s supposed to consider his thoughts.

Back at the stands, Tawanna asked her husband what Ah Gan said.

"A self-righteous teacher," Iverson remained defiant.

However, he worried that Ah Gan might question him again at halftime, so he concentrated on watching the game.

In the second quarter, Glory Team maintained their lead, their offense and defense were both strong, keeping the pressure on the Lakers.

But the point gap stayed around 10 points, which became hard to expand. By the end of the second quarter, the Lakers launched a 7:2 offensive burst, reducing the margin to just 5 points.

After playing basketball for over a decade, Iverson is one of the world’s finest basketball players, with a keen court sense.

He quickly realized that Glory’s offense lacked explosiveness. Some plays were reasonable and looked great, but they missed the final shots, giving the opponent a chance to counterattack.

The Lakers are a very young team, the kind that swings wildly at the master. When they found out that the master wasn’t hitting that hard, they started to fight back.

In particular, Brandon Roy, though a rookie, is a highly mature player. At 22 this year, he’s already highly skilled, averaging 16 points per game, definitely not a defenseless beginner.

Roy spearheaded the Lakers’ comeback at the end of the second quarter, seizing the opportunity when Ah Gan took his break, narrowing the point gap.

When Ah Gan returned to the game, the Lakers had gained momentum. Roy hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the last moment, leading the Lakers to a score of 54:57, only 3 points behind Glory Team, ending the first half.

During halftime in the locker room, Gan Guoyang asked Iverson: "Allen, did you spot the problem?"

"Yes, the team lacks a scoring explosion point, someone who can step up and score when tactics aren’t working. Also, playing too rationally isn’t always good, buddy, basketball needs miracles."

"You got the right half; explosiveness is indeed an issue. In the second half, I’ll show you what it looks like when we have scoring explosiveness."