[In the 1984 Sweet Sixteen, Duke's players were like moths to a flame, constantly fouling Gan Guoyang, sending him to the free throw line again and again. Later, Bilas said, "Fouling Gan had become an inertia; we didn't care if it worked or not, we just didn't want to see him score over your head anymore. Scoring from free throws felt less insulting."]
————Excerpt from "Tales from the Duke Blue Devils Locker Room" by Jim Sumner, published in 2005.
How dirty you play is actually a relative concept.
Just like how tall is tall, how heavy is heavy, or how ugly is ugly.
You think the opponent is playing dirty, but if you play dirtier than the opponent, they don't seem that dirty anymore.
The game between Gonzaga and Duke, fueled by Gan Guoyang's passion, quickly heated up.
Both sides abandoned zone defense in favor of man-to-man, using intensity, stamina, and endless entanglement to wear down the opponent.
