The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 286 - 26 Experience

The Jazz couldn’t make any waves in the second half, although Stockton and Henson, the two white players, played quite well, especially Stockton, who scored 20 points with 8 assists for the game, including 8 free throws, 7 of which he made.

But a 20-point gap proved too difficult to overcome, and Dantley still couldn’t find his offensive rhythm in the second half, becoming thoroughly lost amid the Trail Blazers’ rotating defense of tall forwards.

For the whole game, he made only 5 free throw attempts, even 3 less than Stockton, which delayed Dantley from finding his offensive rhythm.

Not to mention Malone, who was sent sprawling by Gan Guoyang in the first quarter and got blocked by Gan twice in the third quarter, contributing nothing on either defense or offense.

He tried to execute pick and rolls with Stockton, but all of it was seen through and defended by Gan, leading either to turnovers or falls—Malone hit the floor at least five times tonight.

Gan Guoyang scored 46 points for the game, along with 14 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 3 steals, singlehandedly tearing through the Jazz’s defense. On the road, the lopsided 133:108 victory handed the home-playing Jazz a crushing defeat.

After the game, Stockton was in terrible spirits, the idea of proposing was out of the question, and now he didn’t even feel like getting married.

Malone was even more despondent, and after the match, neither left the court, instead staying in the arena to practice their shots—at the other end of the court, Gan Guoyang was doing the same.

Tonight he made 11 out of 12 free throws and shot with an incredibly high accuracy, yet he still insisted on putting in extra practice, unfazed.

Stockton asked, "Sonny, you played like that, and you’re still practicing?"p> Gan Guoyang replied, "What else? There’s not much to do in Salt Lake City at night. Since you’re not proposing, I can’t help you celebrate."

Stockton thought bitterly, as if it wasn’t your fault that the proposal failed!

For Gan Guoyang, training was a part of life, irrelevant of how well he performed that night.

If you perform poorly, can an hour of impromptu shooting turn things around?

Shooting, like boxing or singing, requires constant practice to maintain form.

Of course, it’s inevitable to have an off day, and the next morning the Trail Blazers took a flight out of Salt Lake City heading for Houston.

The final game of a three-game trip, a back-to-back away game facing the Houston Twin Towers.

That night, the Trail Blazers lost the excellent form they had the previous game, fatigued from travelling, and the consecutive away games led to the entire team’s misfiring.

Hakeem Olajuwon, facing Gan Guoyang, seemed injected with chicken blood, furiously driving to the basket and earning 19 free throws, making 16 of them.

With 9 offensive rebounds, Olajuwon amassed 38 points, 20 rebounds, and 3 blocks for the game, leading the Rockets to a 119:122 home victory with a 3-point advantage over the Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers’ four-game winning streak came to an abrupt end. In terms of standings, the two teams are currently second and third in the Western Conference. Guoyang could feel that the new season’s Houston Rockets might be a formidable opponent.

On the flight back to Portland, Gan Guoyang sat next to Ramsay and shared his thoughts, "We might not want to focus all our energy on the Lakers, the Houstonians are just as worthy of caution."

Gan Guoyang was worried that focusing only on the Lakers might end up with the Rockets catching up, the classic scenario of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Ramsay glanced at Gan Guoyang and said, "You got timid after just one loss?"

"I’m not! The team was just too tired tonight, and I missed some critical shots."

"You’re starting to make excuses, who did you learn that from?"

"..."

Gan had nothing to say; the old man had a way of cornering him. Anyway, losing a game was just depressing.

Back in Portland, during practice, Adelman approached Gan Guoyang for a heart-to-heart, "Are you worried about the Houston Rockets? Isn’t there no one who knows how to deal with the Twin Towers better than you?"

Gan thought to himself, What’s going on with you, Adelman? That must be something Dr. Jack taught you, right?

"Yeah, I lost a game, so why don’t you fire me?"

Adelman laughed, thinking Dr. Jack was right; that line really did work on him.

"Jack and I have reviewed the tape. Poor shooting was a key factor; we were indeed too tired. That’s not a big issue, and we also believe you can handle the Twin Towers. But the real problem is the Rockets’ front line, don’t you think?"

Although Gan had suffered at the hands of Olajuwon, it wasn’t a severe beating, and they only lost by three points in the end. The real force that suppressed the Trail Blazers was the Rockets’ front line.

Like the Lakers, the Rockets also had a powerful group of forwards, Robert Reid, McGrady, and Lewis Lloyd, sporting the league’s tallest starting lineup.

After a season of settling in and growing, the Twin Towers became more mature; they no longer took Gan’s trash talk to heart, rarely quarreled in the locker room (occasionally they still would), and whenever they faced the Trail Blazers and Gan, they went all out under Olajuwon’s leadership, playing exciting games.

Gan remarked, "Cheche does struggle a bit in high-intensity games, his scoring is fine, but he’s not contributing enough in other areas."

Adelman nodded, "So what do you think?"

Gan replied, "What do I think? I’m not the coach. Why are you discussing this with me? That’s your job, to figure out how to deploy people and design tactics, I’ll do as told. Unless you want me to suggest trading Cheche? No way, without him, my chances of being the rebounding leader are in jeopardy."

"You might as well trade Clyde, he’s always stealing my rebounds," Gan joked.

Adelman said, "I remember you once said that if a teammate can’t cut it, you’ll step in."

Gan replied, "I did say that. You’re not gonna make me play small forward, are you? That’s not out of the question."

Gan thought to himself, standing 6-foot-10, he could definitely play small forward in the future with no issue.

Adelman said, "No, kiddo, that’d be a waste making you play small forward. Plus, we’d have to rewrite strategies and change our playstyle. Jack is just considering, maybe during certain times of the game you, Walton, and Thompson could play together, so you could possibly use your three-point shooting ability."

"So I’d be a three-point shooting defensive forward? Jack’s idea is pretty advanced."

"No, no, no, not three-point shooting, not three-point shooting! Anyway, we’ll try it during practice. Offensively it shouldn’t be a big deal, Walton can move outside to facilitate, but defense is the key. You can keep up with the opposing small forwards, right?"

Gan made an OK sign with his hand, "Of course, I’m more agile than last year."

In the 80s, strong teams were desperately stacking their frontcourt players, especially those swingmen who could play the 3 or 4 positions.

Coaches realized that in a league where offense and defense transitions were becoming faster, if you didn’t have some versatile players, it was easy to get lost in the speed and strength contests.

Since the 70s, player positions began to blur, and by the late 70s, players like Larry Kenon were becoming more common.

The Spurs, Supersonics, and Bullets, although not very famous, indeed provided plentiful examples for the tactical and personnel changes in the 80s with their confrontations in the late 70s.

Tall players playing the backcourt, tall ball-handlers, multifunctional forwards, and teams full of tall players; these were tactics worked out in competitive matches by these teams.

By 1980, they finally produced Magic Johnson, a marvel of the court and a culmination of unorthodox play styles.

The 1977 Trail Blazers were the last glimmers of traditional positional play, and now even Ramsay was starting to think about more flexible player combinations and utilization.

Otherwise, relying on the past relics and a semi-invalid former MVP, it would probably be very troublesome for the Trail Blazers to defeat those powerful opponents.

-----------------

Returning to their home turf, the Trail Blazers had a sweet schedule for the week, only having to play three games against the Supersonics, Cavaliers, and the Kings Team that moved from Kansas to Sacramento.

All three opponents were not strong; the era of Lenny Wilkens with the Supersonics had ended, as he had become the team’s general manager, handing over the coaching reins to Bernie Bickerstaff.

The 1979 championship had become as distant as something from World War II.

The only symbol and mark, Jack Sikma, wouldn’t be here for much longer either.

The Trail Blazers, using a crushing defensive game at home, beat the Supersonics 100 to 82 and avoided falling into a losing streak.

Two days later, a lackluster Cavaliers team led by George Karl arrived at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

Last season, George Karl and the Cavaliers suffered through a terrible losing streak, with their record at one point being 6 wins and 23 losses.

George Karl, the youngest coach, was almost fired, but the Cavaliers slowly found their rhythm in the second half of the season.

They finished the 1984-1985 season with a record of 36 wins and 46 losses, and George Karl delivered a fairly satisfactory report card.

But the Cavaliers were not a team George Karl could save by himself; the new season started with three straight losses, followed by more losses to the Bullets and Bucks, making it six in a row.

They unexpectedly grabbed a victory against the Los Angeles Lakers in their seventh game on the road, and after the match, George Karl took the team to the hotel bar to celebrate, spending over 500 US dollars.

But he refused to pay the bill and instead sought reimbursement from the general manager. George Karl possessed both nervousness and passion, which allowed him to lead the Cavaliers to a fairly decent season despite the adversity.

However, over time, he began to expose his arrogance, selfishness, and lack of discipline, which was not suitable for a young team with poor fundamentals.

His contract would expire at the end of the year, and the Cavaliers had no plans to renew it, and he had already started to make private contact with other teams; his journey with the Cavaliers was coming to an end.

The Trail Blazers delivered a heavy blow to the Cavaliers at home, winning without any surprise 121 to 100.

Ramsay utilized a lineup featuring Walton, Thompson, and Gan Guoyang all on the court at the same time during the middle of the second quarter and the starting phase of the fourth quarter.

After the game, George Karl complained to Ramsay, "Don’t you think your team is tall enough? We can barely see the basket!"

Ramsay explained, "Ah Gan said his back hurt and he couldn’t sit. He wanted to stand more on the perimeter."

The third opponent, the Kings Team, still didn’t give the Trail Blazers any trouble. The Blazers played normally at home, an A pass, and won.

The entire Trail Blazers team scored, with eight players in double figures, and so far, they’ve been undefeated at home; Portland is a great place.

And the Kings Team, after moving to their fourth home city, no longer had to travel to Nebraska for games every season.

California welcomed its fourth team, and Kansas has completely become the territory of the Ravens.

Phil Johnson’s team renovation was quite successful; the structure of Sonny, Eddie Johnson, and Reggie-Seth was somewhat competitive.

But Phil Johnson distinctly felt during the match against the Trail Blazers, "We seemed like second-generation fighters, while the Portland people had already become third-generation."

Especially when Gan Guoyang hit three three-pointers in the game, leaving Phil Johnson without any solutions, this feeling intensified.

With a start of 8 wins and 1 loss, the entire league was noticing the great state of the Portland people and their unique playing style. Gan Guoyang once again received the Player of the Week award at the start of the season.

Meanwhile, Gan Guoyang saw the latest news of Jordan’s injury next to his own Player of the Week news: due to a scaphoid fracture, he would miss at least six weeks.

The match in late November 1985 against Jordan was definitely out of the question.

Gan Guoyang and Jordan had a phone call, where Jordan was surprisingly optimistic, saying he decided to go back to North Carolina to finish his courses and officially graduate when he was a bit better.

"I don’t want to be always told by you that I’m uneducated."

Gan Guoyang got his degree on time, as he had finished his credits smoothly after sitting out as a redshirt during his freshman year. Hakeem Olajuwon did the same.

Whereas players like Jordan who entered the NBA as juniors theoretically didn’t have a degree, Jordan didn’t want Gan Guoyang to get one over him in this regard.

"We are terrifyingly strong right now, Michael. I really wish you could experience it."

"Fuck off, how come you don’t let me experience the good things? The Bulls wouldn’t be any worse than you guys," Jordan retorted.

"Forget it, next week Patrick is coming to Portland for a game. I’ll let him experience it."