The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 78 - 17 1984_2

Beelman chose a foggy morning to start the day’s training but was still unable to evade the keen noses of the reporters, who infiltrated like paparazzi.

Although they caught a reporter, Beelman had no authority to confiscate his camera. Other than cursing him out and driving him away, there was nothing else he could do.

The coaching staff strove to provide the Gonzaga Bulldogs with a stable and peaceful environment to prepare for the full onslaught of the national games.

As the No. 2 seed in the west, they could be eliminated in the first match, and it had nothing to do with ability because the cruelty of the single-elimination NCAA national games meant anything could happen.

The clamor of public opinion amplifies everything, victory, defeat, happiness, loss, joy, pain. Emotions that originally belonged only to you and your teammates would bloat like a tumor under the influence of the outside world, staying in your body forever, tormenting you until you die.

Having experienced all this, Beelman was sensitive to the swarms of reporters, like wild dogs and vultures, and would drive them away as soon as they were spotted to prevent them from coming close and harming his precious players.

However, during today’s training break, Dan FitzGerald found Beelman and discussed with him the preparation for a media day the day after tomorrow, letting reporters come to the school for a focused interview to understand the Bulldogs’ preparation.

Beelman was surprised, "Dan, we agreed to protect our players before the national games."

Fitz replied, "Of course, we are to protect the players, but isolation isn’t necessarily protection. We’re not a concentration camp, why not let the reporters in to understand the situation so that they can truly stop harassing us?"

"But I’ve experienced that kind of gossip and noisy media environment, it can make one’s mentality unbalanced."

"I know, Bobby, but you also have to believe our players are different, aren’t they? We’re not like many other teams. Our team’s base academic performance is second in the nation, only behind Stanford University. Not one of us has tattoos, drinks excessively, uses banned substances, or even receives warnings due to grades. They excel both academically and athletically, compete hard on court, obey the law off court, they’re all top-notch good kids. Shouldn’t we showcase this to the country? Aren’t we proud of them?"

After pondering for two minutes, Beelman nodded in agreement with Fitz’s opinion. Although he hadn’t completely stopped drinking after coming to Spokane—he occasionally went to Stockton’s father’s bar for a drink—he had quit his excessive drinking habit.

Fitz patted Beelman on the back, "We’re not Georgetown, nor are you John Thompson. We have our own culture and values, and believing in them is the key to getting us where we are today."

Beelman rolled his eyes, "The key to where we are today is Gan."

"Gan is part of the faith too! He’s Gonzaga’s basketball Jesus."

As Dan FitzGerald wished, before the Gonzaga Bulldogs departed from Spokane, they conducted a media open training session and opened it up to all media for interviews.

That afternoon, the Kennedy Sports Center was packed, with attendees not only reporters but also many students, school leaders, and local celebrities.

After the training and interviews concluded, the school hosted a simple departure ceremony for the team, where Gonzaga students each threw a victory-symbolizing gold-orange rose onto the field, expressing their blessings for the Bulldogs’ first journey to the national competition.

That day, rose sales in Spokane were sold out, with even red and white roses being dyed gold.

The fully prepared Bulldogs Team then departed from Spokane International Airport to their competition location: Salt Lake City.

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"What kind of place is this, why is there nowhere to eat at night? I’m so hungry I could collapse."

"I thought Spokane was the most desolate and quietest city at night. Fuck, that’s because I haven’t been to Salt Lake City!"

"Steve, how much longer do we have to walk? My throat is parched, and I’m starving."

On the evening of March 15, 1984, due to a flight delay, the Bulldogs Team didn’t arrive in Salt Lake City until 8:30 PM, an hour and a half later than scheduled.

It was already past nine in the evening when they checked into the hotel, and the Salt Palace Hotel’s buffet had nothing left to eat.

Hungry, the group had to wander around downtown Salt Lake City, looking for a restaurant to have a warm meal.

At that time, most restaurants in Salt Lake City had closed for the night. If it weren’t for the fact that the Bulldog’s players and coaches were white people and wearing sports clothes, passing police officers might have taken them to the station for a thorough interrogation.

With guidance from two kind police officers, the Bulldogs Team found a cinema with food service. Each person bought a movie ticket and in the pitch-dark theater, they ate hamburgers, fries, and drank soda while watching a film.

They chose the movie "Once Upon a Time in America," which had just been released that year. After an hour and a half, everyone was confused, not knowing what it was about.

Gan Guoyang, munching on a hamburger, said, "It must be because they cut too much out, especially the protagonist’s memories. Whoever dominates the past can dominate the future."

"I don’t need you to dominate the past, I need you to dominate the paint, Gan," Beelman reminded Gan Guoyang.

Having eaten their fill and returned to the hotel, Stockton and Gan Guoyang said that Salt Lake City was a terrible place, and starting the national competition here was just bad luck.

Gan Guoyang thought to himself that you’re going to have a lot of bad luck in the future. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

On March 17th, the NCAA tournament moved into the second round.

The day the Bulldog team arrived in Salt Lake City, Dayton University defeated Louisiana State University, earning the chance to challenge the number two seed in the West, the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Louisiana University had stayed in Salt Lake City for only two days before going home, ending their season efforts.

The Salt Palace Arena, which was normally home to the Utah Jazz Team, was vacated for the college teams to use for their games.

The Jazz’s game attendance was consistently below fifty percent, and the owner was considering moving the Jazz to Las Vegas rather than staying in this ghostly place, a gathering place for Mormons, where you couldn’t even find a place to eat at night.

But tonight, the ten-thousand-plus seats in the Salt Palace were filled to capacity. The game hadn’t started yet, and the noise was already enough to make one want to cover their ears.

In the pre-game preparations, the Bulldog players appeared a bit nervous; they looked serious and tense, even Stockton’s lips had gone slightly white.

Only Gan Guoyang was at ease, feeling that the venue was just too noisy, requiring them to shout to communicate with each other.

However, when the game started, he felt that the noise around his ears had lessened considerably. It wasn’t that the sound had decreased, but rather his focus had intensified, no longer paying attention to things outside the court.

The two teams had never faced each other before, which is what makes the NCAA tournament so thrilling; when two unfamiliar teams meet, anything can happen.

Even with rivals, due to the fast turnover of student players and the large changes in lineup, the content of the game is difficult to predict.

Dayton University was an offensive-driven team with strong perimeter firepower. Their leading scorer, Roosevelt-Chapman, was a powerful shooting guard.

In the first round against Louisiana State, he scored 30 points.

At the start of this game, Chapman unleashed a furious assault on the Bulldog’s perimeter.

His skilled dribbling, powerful penetrations, and precise pull-up jumpers plunged the Bulldog’s backcourt—accustomed to zone defenses and not having encountered such a strong black shooting guard during the regular season—into chaos.

In the first half, Chapman scored 19 points in 20 minutes, unstoppable in the Salt Palace Arena.

However, looking at the score, Dayton University was still down by 4 points with a score of 44:48 against the Bulldogs.

Because Gan Guoyang had scored 23 points in the first half, four more points than Chapman.

During the halftime break, Gan Guoyang said to Stockton, "John, in the second half, you take care of Chapman in defense. If you can’t handle him, I’ll take care of him first, and then I’ll deal with you."

Stockton had only scored 2 points in the first half, with 3 assists and 2 turnovers, completely outperformed by Chapman.

After hearing Gan Guoyang’s words, Stockton’s formerly pale lips now had color, and his eyes became as aged and steadfast as rock.