The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1732 - 38: The Atmosphere Peaks (Part 2)

Gan Guoyang doesn’t want Kobe to overthink this kind of matter, otherwise once he falls into the trap of techniques, his future achievements could be affected.

Throughout history, whether in sports, arts, or other crafts, even in war commands, an excessive focus on techniques often leads to a loss of balance, neglecting the overall coordination and equilibrium, thus resulting in a loss rather than gain.

Kobe still can’t understand; he sits in his seat, his mind filled with Gan Guoyang’s brilliant offensive techniques, already contemplating how to practice those superior offensive skills.

It can be imagined that in the coming days, Kobe’s dreams will include not only Vanessa but also more basketball techniques.

Of course, Gan Guoyang does not intend to prevent Kobe from thinking or doing as he pleases; the path he chooses to walk, he will eventually walk. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

After leaving Salt Lake City, the next stop for the Trail Blazers is San Francisco Oakland, where they will challenge The Warriors on the road.

Gan Guoyang just played a game scoring 57 points in three quarters, causing a stir in the Oakland media, because every time he returns to San Francisco, Gan Guoyang always delivers an exceptional performance.

As Gan Guoyang’s hometown in America, the enthusiasm of San Francisco fans, combined with hometown affection and the Gan Zu advantage, makes every Oakland battle of Gan Guoyang full of firepower.

At the same time, with Kobe and Sabonis both returning for this match, the pressure on The Warriors is even greater, and a sentiment of defeat has already settled before the battle has begun.

The Warriors’ performance this year is not good; since the distant 1975 championship, The Warriors have never truly stood on the stage of championship contention again.

This place never lacks talent, from Bernard King to Hardaway, Mu Lin, Richmond, and now Joe Smith, Antoine Jamison, Larry Hughes, and others.

The Warriors have consistently had high draft picks over the years, with opportunities to select talented players each time, yet they always fail to integrate these players into a fighting force.

The team owner has always been shortsighted, lacking a long-term team management plan, slipping wherever he can without any real direction.

In 1994, Chris Kohan bought The Warriors from Jim Fitzgerald, and one of the worst owners in NBA history took office.

When Gan Guoyang first entered the League, The Warriors’ owner was Mi Ouli, a fan-style owner at the time — owning no other major industries apart from the team.

With David Stern taking office, he actively introduced big capital; in 1986, Mi Ouli sold The Warriors to Jim Fitzgerald (the former Bucks owner), one fan-style owner after another began to dwindle.

Later, almost all NBA owners became industry giants, rich businessmen, with NBA teams as just a part of their asset allocation, and the monetary game of the NBA grew larger and larger.

Chris Kohan was also a wealthy businessman; he established Sonic Communications cable TV network in 1977, later growing it into one of the largest independent cable networks in All-America.

Besides that, he had numerous other industries, especially emerging technology sectors, holding vast wealth; he bought The Warriors for 130 million US Dollars and renovated the Oakland Arena.

In the 1997-1998 season, The Warriors changed their team logo, adhering to the current NBA trend of cartoony, flashy logos, designing a Flash Man look, using new color schemes and cool floor colors, giving fans a fresh experience and conveying Kohan’s desire to make a mark.

Unfortunately, Kohan had no talent in managing the team, lacking patience, and was clueless in team building, often making short-sighted moves, causing The Warriors to consistently lack stability, slowly declining into a standard bad team.

In terms of lineup, The Warriors aren’t bad; particularly luxurious in terms of talent.

In the interior, they have North Carolina star Antoine Jamison, in the exterior, Van Exel, Glen Rice (acquired in the trade for Spree).

Besides lacking a defensively strong center, The Warriors have good configurations in other positions.

Nevertheless, The Warriors’ season performance remains poor; PJ Carlesimo led the team to a 6-20 record and was fired before Christmas.

The protagonists of the choking incident, one was traded to New York, the other soon ended with a dismissal.

The Warriors, lacking even a stable coach, drifted along; Gary Gene, who replaced PJ Carlesimo, is clearly not an outstanding head coach, merely a transitional figure.

The Warriors’ biggest problem is their defense is too poor; to put it bluntly, they are the worst defensive team in the League.

They concede 103 points on average, the most in the League, with the defensive efficiency ranked lowest, trailing in backcourt rebounding, having the worst rebound rate in the League.

Offense raises the ceiling, defense holds the floor; without defense, The Warriors have their lower limit breached, naturally resulting in poor performance.

Formerly, PJ Carlesimo was not adept at handling player relationships; when Spree strangled his neck, no player came to stop it, a matter that continued to haunt him, leading to a lack of unity within the team, and naturally, a miserable performance.

Tonight facing the Portland Trail Blazers, the only player from The Warriors showing some fighting spirit is Van Exel.

This former Trail Blazers player undoubtedly holds resentment against Portland; during his years there, he couldn’t capture a championship, perfectly avoiding the Gan’s championship-winning years, which is quite remarkable.

In 1997, after conflicts with the team led to a trade away, the Trail Blazers soon delivered a whirlwind 77-win super season in the new season.