The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 299 - 39 Teach Me

Yin Man was relieved of his duties at the Trail Blazers at the start of the season, but he didn’t have to worry about finding work, as he had extensive connections in the basketball world.

Aside from being a good friend of Bob Knight, he also had a close personal relationship with Bucks’ coach Don Nelson. The Bucks had already extended an olive branch to him, even before he left the Trail Blazers.

The circumstances surrounding Yin Man’s departure in the summer remained shrouded in mystery, as there had been no signs, and the Trail Blazers’ management provided no explanations, publicly citing personal reasons on Yin Man’s part.

After leaving the Trail Blazers, Yin Man quickly went on to become the Bucks’ personnel manager, a position that coincided with a period of turbulence for the team.

Previously, the team’s owner, Jim Fitzgerald, was preparing to sell the team and then invest the money in the Golden State Warriors, relocating his business focus from Wisconsin to California, much like how Mike Corleone moved his family’s business from New York to Nevada.

Fitzgerald’s reason was not to kill his enemies, but rather for health reasons; the sunshine and warm weather of California were better for his body, as Milwaukee was simply too cold.

Another reason was that Fitzgerald had hoped to establish a sports broadcast network in Wisconsin through the Milwaukee Bucks, similar to what the Portland Trail Blazers did in Oregon, by catching the television broadcast wave.

But he soon found that there were too few cable TV subscribers in the Wisconsin area to build a network, and this investment failure made him resolve to leave.

The team was about to be sold to Herb Kohl, a businessman from Milwaukee, and Lloyd Pettit, the owner of Milwaukee Broadcasting Company, was willing to donate to build a new arena to replace the small and old MECCA Arena.

The change in ownership was bound to bring changes to the management, staff, and roster of the team, as the new owner would certainly have new ideas. At such times, an experienced hand with extensive connections was needed to advise and, if necessary, to be the scapegoat to take the blame.

Yin Man had already taken the blame once at the Trail Blazers, and he seemed to not mind doing it again. As the team’s personnel manager, he quickly immersed himself in the work.

However, the Bucks didn’t have much room for improvement in their lineup; they had achieved 59 wins the previous season, only to be eliminated 0:4 by the 76ers in the semifinals.

The core lineup centered around Moncrief didn’t have much potential to be unearthed. If there was any, it was that there was room for improvement in the frontcourt.

The Bucks had recruited Yin Man not to poach Gan Guoyang, which was not possible. Any star player transfer or trade required the right opportunity, and Yin Man’s role was to help the team seize those opportunities when they arose.

During the December 31 game against the Trail Blazers, Yin Man, returning to Portland, actually provided significant tactical help to Nelson.

Yin Man was not just a team manager; before coming to the Trail Blazers, he had spent many years as a high school and college basketball coach, so he understood tactics.

For the Trail Blazers’ dominant "Triple Towers" strategy that year, Yin Man provided some critical advice on a few details to Don Nelson: Walton’s running speed issue, Mychal Thompson’s inability to maintain efficiency for long periods, and avoiding Ah Gan.

In dealing with Gan Guoyang, the advice Yin Man gave was perhaps the most precise and effective in the entire League: avoidance isn’t shameful, it’s practical.

Nelson trusted his old friend and former Trail Blazers’ manager, and on the 31st, he fully displayed his advanced tactical imagination during the game, using a three-guard lineup against the Triple Towers and utilizing speed and penetration to avoid Gan Guoyang’s mobile defense.

If Dick Motta and Doug Moe were the pioneers of lineup experimentation in the late 1970s, then Don Nelson was the originator.

After losing Jabbar in 1976, Don Nelson became the coach of the Bucks and began proposing the concept of the point forward, breaking the traditional basketball notion that the offensive organization must be executed by small guards.

The main purpose of using the point forward was to unleash the offensive potential of the smaller players, allowing them not to spend a lot of energy on ball-handling and organization, enabling them to attack more freely and become pure scoring guards.

Therefore, the Bucks could deploy the three-guard lineup of Moncrief, Paul Pressey, and Richie Pierce, avoiding the advantage of the Triple Towers and using speed and perimeter shooting to launch ferocious attacks.

After the game, in the Trail Blazers’ locker room, Jack Ramsay expressed great dissatisfaction with the players’ performance, and for the first time this season, he swore at them. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"You guys look like you’re running with lead in your legs on the court. Don’t you know how to run? The lead from the first half must have fogged your brains, right? Where is the defense, where is the energy? The third quarter was played like a piece of shit. Sonny, as the ’King of the Third Quarter,’ what the hell were you doing in the third? What’s your task, to guard the man you should be guarding. It’s good to further extend your defense, but don’t forget you’re a center! When you’re on the outside, you’re a center on the outside. Do you understand?"

Ever since Gan Guoyang arrived at the Trail Blazers, Ramsay had become much calmer, rarely losing his temper even when losing games.

Today, however, he was very dissatisfied with the Trail Blazers’ performance, not only because he held higher expectations for the team, but also because he saw many problems with the Trail Blazers through this game.

The entire League was now watching the Trail Blazers. If the Bucks could use this method to target the Trail Blazers, so could other teams, especially those from the Western Conference, especially the Los Angeles Lakers.

Gan Guoyang didn’t make a sound; he knew Ramsay was right. His performance that night was not good, and the team’s weaknesses had been exploited by the Bucks.

Bill Walton wanted to stand up and say something, but Ramsay stopped him, saying, "But in the end, the responsibility for tonight’s loss lies with me. I was completely outmatched by Nelson in terms of tactical arrangement and player rotation. I am the one to take the blame. Luckily, next month we’re going to Milwaukee, and I hope I can redeem myself by then. I don’t want us to be swept by any team this season, by no one!"

Having said that, Ramsay announced the dismissal, and the Trail Blazers’ 1985 ended not so perfectly.

But imperfection is not necessarily a bad thing. Experiences that seem perfect often hide great risks.

The upsetting reversal by the Bucks made the Trail Blazers’ players more sober. There is no perfect and flawless system in the world; you will always encounter countermeasures and targeting, always have mistakes and failures.

After losing the game and returning home, Gan Guoyang was in a bad mood. He had asked for a copy of the game tape from Little Spoelstra to watch at home.

But Wang Fuxi stopped him, saying he needed to clear his mind and relax, not immerse himself in basketball games constantly, as it would not be good for him.

Gan Guoyang agreed with her, so the two of them drove out to find a private cinema downtown. They bought tickets for the midnight showing of the popular new release from July, "Back to the Future".

This low-budget sci-fi movie had become a dark horse in 1985, raking in 200 million US Dollars at the box office over the summer and making time travel a hot topic in American film and television.

Even by the standards of Gan Guoyang’s future cinematic taste, the movie was still a top-notch work, and he saw many elements later borrowed by other films.

Wang Fuxi asked Ah Gan, "Ah Gan, if you went back to the future and saw me, what would you do?"

Munching on french fries, Gan Guoyang replied, "I’d kill the future me and be with you."

Wang Fuxi was satisfied with Gan Guoyang’s answer and leaned on his shoulder, but then she realized something and asked, "What about the current me?"

Gan Guoyang said, "Just wait, wait till I come back from the future."

"But the timeline would definitely change, right? If the current you is already gone, there naturally would be no past you to kill the future you, and you wouldn’t be able to be with the future me!"

"The universe does indeed have many timelines... If I go back to the future, this world will be back to normal."

"What are you rambling about, a world with you in it is the most normal."

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When the sun rose as usual the next day, 1985 had passed, and 1986 had arrived, with the world showing little change.

At least the NBA world hadn’t changed, with the Eastern Conference still dominated by the Celtics, while the Lakers and the Trail Blazers were contending for supremacy in the Western Conference.

On the morning of January 1st, the entire Trail Blazers team took a flight to Chicago to start their road trip.

Gan Guoyang had been looking forward to playing against Jordan, but unfortunately, Jordan had officially announced that he was out for the season and would miss the remaining regular-season games.

Jordan wasn’t in Chicago; after being ruled out for the season, he had gone back to North Carolina to recuperate and finish up his remaining coursework at school.

Gan Guoyang called Jordan from the hotel. The two hadn’t spoken in a while, and compared to when he was first injured, Jordan seemed even more anxious.

When Jordan first got injured, he was angry, frustrated that he couldn’t play. Only after it was confirmed that he was out for the season did he realize it wasn’t as simple as being unable to play.

Because of his contract with Nike, the injury meant a significant decrease in his commercial value. Many of Nike’s marketing plans couldn’t be realized, and everything might be ruined overnight.

Nike had invested a lot in Jordan, deeply involving themselves in his basketball and personal life, so when Jordan saw the negative consequences of being ruled out, he felt a tinge of fear.

There’s a wholly different feeling between never having climbed to the summit and having fallen from it after reaching the top.

"Honestly, my biggest concern is you, Sonny. You’re running too fast and too far ahead. I’m really afraid I won’t be able to catch up," Jordan confided in Gan Guoyang, not hiding his anxiety.

"Don’t worry, a year goes by quickly. By next year, you’ll be able to compete with me. How does it feel being back in North Carolina? Can you flirt with the college girls again?" Gan Guoyang joked.

"Stop joking, I’ve got a girlfriend now. And I’ll let you in on a secret, I’ve actually started playing some basketball games already. I just can’t stand the days without basketball."

"What? Aren’t you out for the season? How can you still play?"

"Yeah, that’s what the doctor said, but my foot doesn’t hurt anymore. I can run and jump normally; I just can’t start quickly. I’m fine for regular games."

Jordan’s injury wasn’t as severe as Bernard King’s and was relatively mild. The Bulls had ruled Jordan out of the regular season as a precaution. They could afford to wait a year.

This caution was very appropriate. A player’s career is very long, and there was no pressure for the Bulls to perform that year. It was better to let Jordan rest well, and in return, secure a better draft pick, killing two birds with one stone.

"Don’t your manager and owner try to control you?"

"I don’t want them to control me. Isn’t your team different, can’t they control you? By the way, I heard that Stu Inman was squeezed out by you to bring back Bill Walton. Is that right, Sonny?"

Jordan suddenly brought up the matter of Inman’s resignation, it seems the guy had too much free time at Chapel Hill and didn’t miss out on the industry gossip.

Gan Guoyang laughed and said, "What are you talking about, Michael? I don’t have that kind of power."

"We’ll see about that, Sonny. Teach me how, I want to get rid of that guy Klaus too."