The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 445 - 63 The Trumpeter

Another fantastic showdown between Gan and Jordan, where each game they played resulted in a high-scoring spectacle that left NBA fans exhilarated.

These two individuals, with their incredibly strong wills and intense competitive spirits, always provided a high-level confrontation on the court.

The only downside was that the Trail Blazers were already one of the top teams in the league, while the Bulls were just an average team on the verge of making the playoffs.

If the Bulls didn’t have Jordan, their lineup would be a bottom-feeder, while the Trail Blazers would still be a Western powerhouse without Gan Guoyang.

The huge disparity in team strength made the contests seem less fair, the clash of the titans was slightly lacking.

The defeat in this game aggravated Jordan’s dissatisfaction with the Bulls’ management, leading to an even worse relationship with Jerry Krause.

Jordan complained that Krause always tried to control him and never consulted him on team acquisitions, even showing tendencies to act against him.

Every now and then, Krause would say, "Why can’t Michael be like Ah Gan and listen to the general manager’s opinion, keep in step with management, and move forward together?"

Jordan scorned this kind of talk from Krause, bluntly saying, "Luckily I play under you, if it were Ah Gan, you would have been killed by him already."

Having known each other for so many years, Jordan could easily say "No one understands Ah Gan better than I do"; he knew that Ah Gan was not the kind of man to be easily manipulated by management.

Yet, he couldn’t understand why Gan Guoyang could retain the players he wanted while he could not, attributing this to Krause’s poor judgment and Reinsdorf’s short-sightedness.

Jordan never doubted that maybe his own judgment was flawed—perhaps if Ah Gan were really in the Bulls, Ah Gan might have agreed with many of Krause’s decisions.

When leaving Chicago, Gan Guoyang and Jordan made a promise, "We’ll see each other in the finals."

Although Jordan knew they were unlikely to make it to the finals, just making it to the playoffs would be good enough.

But Jordan forever held the belief, "This season we must win all 82 regular-season games, and then take the championship."

His boldness could be summed up as pursuing the impossible amidst insurmountable odds.

The Trail Blazers’ next stop was Indianapolis, where, over the past few seasons, the Pacers had always been an ATM for the Trail Blazers.

The people of Portland enjoyed the second overall pick courtesy of the Pacers, while the people of Indiana could only watch their team struggle in the mire.

In the 1986 draft, the Pacers, having the fourth pick, selected the forward from Auburn University, Chuck Person, also Charles Barkley’s college teammate.

Pacers fans were unhappy with the team’s selection of such an ordinary-looking forward, wanting an excellent big man or a flashy guard like Jordan, not a forward who liked to shoot.

At the time, big men were still highly sought after in the draft—Gan Guoyang’s type needs no mention; even average star-level big men could quickly boost a team’s capability.

In the NBA courts of the ’80s, there was still a great reliance on tall players; having an excellent big man in the paint could make the game much easier.

Yet, the Pacers insisted on doing things differently, going for the shooting-oriented Person, who, thanks to his outstanding long-range shooting ability, was nicknamed "Long Shooter" in college.

After the draft results were announced, die-hard Pacers fans booed, and to make up for the first-round selection, they chose a 7-foot-2 white center, Gregg Dreiling, in the second round (a typical ’80s NBA fixture, a white big man over 6 feet 11 inches).

But such Pacers appeared to have no competitive power; however, as the new season started, they played well, achieving one victory after another, and by the end of the season, they were surprisingly among the Eastern playoff teams.

Unsatisfied Pacers fans gradually fell silent as Person’s performance was arguably the best among the ’86 rookies, even better than the first pick, Daugherty.

Person averaged nearly two three-point attempts per game in the 1986-87 season, where the three-pointer was becoming more common, and he caught the trend perfectly.

The one to bring the most change to the Pacers was their head coach, Mike Schuler.

To say that the Pacers and Trail Blazers have a deep connection would be an understatement; the second overall pick that the Trail Blazers used to select Gan Guoyang came from the Pacers, and during their worst management phase, the Trail Blazers’ vice president was traded over for a period, only for the team’s performance to not improve, prompting them to seek the Trail Blazers’ help again, inquiring about a suitable coach.

The Pacers’ most desired coach was Ramsay, but the old man would definitely not leave. As a second option, the Pacers hoped Adelman could take up the helm.

The Trail Blazers respected Adelman’s personal wishes, and if he wanted to go, they would let him, but Adelman expressed that he was comfortable in Portland and did not want to go.

The Trail Blazers management reached out to Stu Inman, the personnel director of the Bucks, who mentioned this to Nielsen, and Nielsen recommended his own assistant coach, Mike Schuler.

That’s the way the NBA works: a small circle of referrals. As long as you find a way to mix in and become part of it, you’ll always find a job, and maybe one day you’ll suddenly be propelled into a high-powered position.

While an NBA head coach does not have the absolute authority of a college coach and sometimes has to be the scapegoat, it is still a very respectable job in American society, one of the main characters on the court.

Of course, connections alone are not enough. Those who survive in the NBA have their own special skills and are exceptional in certain ways.

Mike Schuler was a typical head coach personality: a workaholic with a life completely revolved around basketball, always tightly strung and constantly thinking about the team.

He brought good defense, discipline, and a solid system to the Pacers, which was vital for the chronically underperforming team, and the young Pacers rewarded the diligent coach with their performance.

On the night of the game, when the Trail Blazers dragged their increasingly weary bodies into Conseco Fieldhouse, they faced a young, disciplined, highly driven team—their regular season record was even slightly better than the Bulls’.

For such cross-conference road trips, aside from physical fatigue, the bigger challenge for the players is mental lethargy.

Especially when facing a mid-tier team you meet twice a year and are unlikely to encounter in the playoffs, sometimes the coaching staff doesn’t do any pre-game research or preparation.

Even someone as passionate about the game as Gan Guoyang would be clueless about the opponents—players and rookies sitting on the bench—when playing away against teams like the Pacers in his third season.

For the Trail Blazers, it was enough to just play their game regardless of who the opponents were, their characteristics, and tactics.

Of course, it would take another year for the Pacers to become a serious focus for Gan Guoyang.

In this season’s Pacers lineup, the only one Gan Guoyang was somewhat familiar with was Chuck Person.

During the Olympic trials, he and Charles Barkley were both selected to represent Auburn University.

Latter, when Gan Guoyang would wrestle with Barkley in their dorm, Chuck Person would just watch.

Person used to wrestle with Barkley frequently, but after seeing Barkley wrestle with Gan Guoyang, and when Gan offered him to try, he dared not.

Later, Barkley and Gan Guoyang both entered the NBA, and Gan Guoyang became unbeatable across the league. Now, when Person sees Gan Guoyang, he’s like a little brother looking up to his big brother.

Actually, Person was not an easy opponent; he was great at trash talking, enjoyed messing with his opponent’s psyche, leaving them flustered to reap the benefits.

But in tonight’s game, Person adhered to the "Ah Gan rule," not only refraining from trash-talking Gan Guoyang but relentlessly praising him instead.

From the warm-up before the jump ball, Person unleashed a barrage of flattery, incessantly praising Gan Guoyang, talking about how awesome his scoring was, how everyone at the Olympic Trial Camp was fearful of Gan Guoyang, and how his current success was expected by all.

He also lavishly praised Gan Guoyang’s three-point shooting, saying he wanted to learn from Gan’s three-point game, declaring that a center winning a three-point contest was simply the "ninth wonder of the world."

If someone is good at trash-talking, they are often just as good at flattering—if they choose to do so.

Person brought his flattery for Gan Guoyang to the maximum level, even more excessive than Byron Scott and Quentin Stephenson.

The key is, he did not exaggerate; he simply repeated the things Gan had done, and you couldn’t say he was spouting nonsense.

Under Person’s spell, Gan Guoyang performed average tonight, lacking strong motivation to crush the Pacers inside.

The two teams completed an unremarkable encounter, Gan Guoyang scored 27 points with 14 rebounds and 3 blocks, while the rest of his team didn’t play well.

The home team Pacers, on the other hand, were full of fighting spirit, with Chuck Person scoring 22 points, including 2 out of 3 three-pointers, helping the Pacers pull off an upset victory over the Trail Blazers.

After winning the game, Chuck Person didn’t forget to say to Gan Guoyang, "Tonight we were just lucky. If you had been serious and put in a little effort, we would definitely have lost."

Gan Guoyang shook his head and said, "Chuck, you shouldn’t be called ’Long Shooter,’ you should be called ’Long Hooter.’ I’m telling you, this tactic won’t work on me next time. No matter how much you praise me, I’ll still try my best to break through you guys."

Chuck Person didn’t care, as the Trail Blazers’ next trip to Indiana wouldn’t happen until the following season. Managing to send this calamity away tonight was mission accomplished for him.

[Person found a way to handle Ah Gan for a while—there are many in the League who flatter Ah Gan, but Person did it best. I never realized how good he was at flattery back in Auburn University.

He summed up the basic principles to handle Ah Gan: First, do not provoke Ah Gan; second, don’t exaggerate, just praise him for what he’s done; third, let Ah Gan take more shots, it’s the least damaging to our team’s defense. Fourth, pray that the night is not Ah Gan’s.]

———— Excerpt from Charles Barkley’s autobiography "Outrageous!" published in 1992.