The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 329 - 65 MVP

Ramsay and Gene Shue almost came to blows, and it certainly wasn’t about the money in the bucket.

The relationship between the two had always been tense, with differing styles and schools of thought, having faced each other in the finals, argued last season, and this season they argued again on the sidelines in Washington.

Ramsay was anxious about the upcoming playoffs, particularly the health of his players, and when he saw Rick Mahorn enter the game with some overly aggressive moves, he believed it was intentional by Gene Shue.

He warned Gene Shue at courtside to have his players tone it down and to play a cleaner game.

Gene Shue was already in a bad mood, with his relationship with Charles Barkley having been strained all season.

This troubled Gene Shue, as he was devoted to nurturing Barkley, who he had worked with pleasantly during his rookie season.

But Barkley was not like Gan Guoyang, who, while having a strong personality, knew how to "manage up". In the star-studded Washington, the hefty player became increasingly unbridled.

There was no veteran on the Bullets team to put Barkley in his place, and the personality differences between Gene Shue and Barkley led to an ever-widening rift.

Before the start of the game, Gene Shue was already contemplating resignation, even though the Bullets were still in the running for the playoffs.

Gene Shue felt increasingly unable to control the team, to connect with the players, and the owner’s trust in him was starting to wane.

This year, the Bullets had brought in Lou Holtz, the former Bulls head coach, as an assistant coach, obviously as a backup plan.

Sniffing danger and constantly clashing with Barkley, Gene Shue was on the verge of losing his temper.

So when he heard Ramsay’s warning, Gene Shue immediately retorted, "Your boy Ah Gan is practically fighting the whole Pistons team, and you’re telling us not to play dirty, what a double standard you have!"

Gene Shue wasn’t wrong; Gan Guoyang did indeed fight the entire Pistons team by himself.

Their argument last year was triggered by Gan Guoyang colliding with Barkley, but that time Barkley didn’t get injured, he just had to defecate.

Ramsay once again defended Gan Guoyang: "My players are never dirty! We don’t resort to any shady tricks; the Pistons got what they deserved."

"Oh really, deserved? You Portland people really think you’re so pure and untainted!"

"Of course, we play clean, legitimate basketball."

"Are you saying we don’t play legitimate basketball? I think you’re the one who’s illegitimate!"

The two started hurling obscenities, both of them short-tempered.

Ramsay had been a soldier in his youth, and Gene Shue grew up in poverty—both had tough characters.

Eventually, they started to come to blows, with Ramsay charging at Gene Shue, ready to tangle.

Fortunately, Adelman had been paying attention to their argument and swiftly intervened, pulling Ramsay back.

Then the referee, realizing something was amiss, blew his whistle frantically, and players from both teams rushed in to pull their respective coaches back.

Gan Guoyang, with his immense strength, picked up Ramsay and carried him back to the bench, the old man’s face red with anger.

After a round of persuasion by Gan Guoyang, who mentioned that the prize money in the bucket was gone, Ramsay got even angrier, as the prize was not his concern.

Walton’s joke was long forgotten; he glared at Gan Guoyang and said, "It’s not about the money, it’s for your health!"

Gan Guoyang responded, "You’d better worry about your own health; I’m afraid you might not withstand the strain and collapse. Take it easy, Jack, relax."

The players gathered around and comforted their coach until Ramsay finally calmed down and dismissed them, saying, "Finish the game, then roll back to the locker room!"

The last dozen seconds of the first half came to an end, and after consulting with the scorer’s table, the head referee ejected both coaches.

So, at the start of the second half, assistant coaches Holtz and Adelman were commanding the game from the sidelines, with the head coaches off resting in the locker rooms.

Without Gene Shue, the Bullets under Holtz’s direction showed some changes, as Holtz was famously good at cajoling stars and enabling them to perform.

In the ABA, he had Dr. J Irving, and in the NBA with the Bulls, he had Michael Jordan, who liked Holtz very much, but the new general manager Krause did not.

Klaus was a new official and wanted to assert his authority, so Lou Holtz became the sacrificial lamb. But capable people never worry about finding work, and he found a job with the Bullets.

Now that Gene Shue was gone, Lou Holtz could set up the offense as he desired. He decided to let Charles Barkley play the way he liked.

He enjoyed playing in the post, liked to hustle in the paint, so let him do just that.

Barkley really flourished, overturning his first-half slump and began to score frequently under the basket in the third quarter.

On the Trail Blazers’ side, their offense inexplicably stalled, with shots from Gan Guoyang, Vandeweghe, and Parkson all missing the mark.

The Bullets launched a counteroffensive and managed to tie the game by mid-third quarter, and Adelman, perhaps stunned, hadn’t called for a time-out.

Finally unable to bear it, Gan Guoyang called a time-out on his own initiative. When he returned to the bench, he criticized Adelman, "Rick, can’t you see something is wrong and call a time-out? You’re the head coach now!"

Adelman scratched his head and said, "Sorry, I’m still not used to my role sorry..."

Although slow to react, Adelman did pinpoint the problem. He immediately asked Gan Guoyang to take on the defense against Barkley.

On the perimeter, he subbed out Jim Paxson for Terry Porter. Sometimes, when the outside shots aren’t falling, a sub can change the luck.

Indeed, after the time-out, Terry Porter and Gan Guoyang executed a pick-and-roll on the perimeter, and Porter decisively hit the shot.

His neat and decisive shot had a stabilizing effect on the team.

Porter’s style was lauded for being clean and simple, with no unnecessary movements.

If it hadn’t been for his early departure from the training camp due to chickenpox, Bob Knight would undoubtedly have hesitated, wondering whether to take Porter with him or not.

On seeing Gan Guoyang coming over to guard him, Barkley pushed him and asked, "Sonny, you’re a center, is it appropriate for you to come guard me like this?"

Gan Guoyang replied, "The coach asked me to, do you think I want to guard you?"

He talked tough, but once Gan Guoyang began guarding Barkley one-on-one, Barkley barely had a chance.

He couldn’t grab an offensive rebound, and his attempts to overpower his way to the basket were futile against Gan Guoyang, forcing Barkley to pass the ball and try for steals.

Barkley’s technical skills had greatly improved since his rookie season. His face-up footwork, turnaround jumpers, and drives to the basket were all excellent.

However, his much-prized rebounding skills hadn’t improved much. His strength and large butt could give him some advantages, but against a rebounding king like Gan Guoyang, he was out of options.

The Washington Bullets wanted to mold him into a super blocker like Wes Unseld, who was skilled in playmaking, defending, and positioning. But Barkley himself wasn’t interested; he didn’t want to play like Unseld.

Jeff-Malone’s shot missed, Gan Guoyang boxed out Barkley to secure the defensive rebound. The Trail Blazers executed a quick break, and Gan Guoyang, with a nimble cut, took Terry Porter’s pass and, on the outskirts of the paint, shook off Bol with a sudden stop and jump shot, scoring two points.

It was a typical Bernard King-style play. Like Terry Porter, Gan Guoyang’s technique was crisp and precise, the result of relentless polishing.

Bol tried to block but was a step too slow. He could only watch as the ball smoothly went through the net. Gan Guoyang had already scored 35 points that night.

Having found his groove, Gan Guoyang continued to score. Unlike the first half, he was now using graceful footwork to toy with Bol.

With clever fakes, quick turns, and elegant hook moves, Gan Guoyang’s footwork and distancing were well-measured. Bol thought he could block the shots, but he was always just a bit short.

After each basket, Gan Guoyang shook his head toward Bol and said, "You need to be faster, just a bit faster."

When Gan Guoyang faked Bol out beyond the three-point line and drove with the ball, as Bol followed trying to block, Gan Guoyang suddenly stopped, turned, and shot. Bol jumped again, but it was another fake!

This time Bol was off the ground and couldn’t keep up. Gan Guoyang stepped inside and gently lofted the ball into the basket with one hand.

Bol was left disoriented; having submitted to physical power in the first half, he was now dizzy from the footwork.

The shot had a considerable impact on Bol. After the loss of possession, he stood still under the basket until Lou Holtz quickly called a time-out and subbed him out.

The entire Memorial Coliseum erupted with joy as the fans cheered for Gan Guoyang’s remarkable performance, and the chants of "MVP" rang through the venue.

It rose wave after wave.