Bird is after all older now; he dares not joke with his back. A strong drive to the basket for a layup and getting bumped from behind by Ah Gan could end his career then and there.
Settling into positional warfare, Bird wanted to use his highly penetrating passes to help teammates score under the basket; he's now playing entirely in the style of a point forward.
But Gan Guoyang rooted himself under the basket, continually using his long arms to disrupt the Celtics' players' shots and layups.
At the same time, Sabonis lingered near the three-second zone to assist on defense, and the big man's perimeter defensive capabilities were underestimated.
When playing for the Soviet national team, Sabonis often defended from the three-second zone to the three-point line, and his mobility was not bad.
Therefore, it was a nice adjustment for Bobby Beelman to move Gan Guoyang back to the center position and let Sabonis take the power forward spot.
