The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 81 - 20: Better to Make the First Move

After returning to his room, Gan Guoyang reported the incident to Fitz and Beelman.

Once they were informed, they called the players to a meeting in the room, reminding them that they were not to go out alone the next day and not to accept interviews from reporters without permission.

It was best to stay in the hotel room and not go anywhere, waiting to go directly to the venue to warm up when it was time for the game.

"Duke has some of the most bastardly fans in all of America, and now they’ve already come from North Carolina. Some of them are staying in this hotel. It’s hard to guarantee they won’t do something outrageous just to win a game."

Beelman told the players about some of the Duke fans’ deeds, like wearing rubber masks to imitate the bald head of University of Maryland coach Lefty Driesell; throwing condoms and women’s underwear onto the court when Maryland forward Herman Veal was accused of sexual assault; camping out in tents in front of the pavilion days in advance just to buy up tickets so that fans from other schools couldn’t get any, and more.

If the two reporters who interviewed Stockton and McPhie last night were also Duke students in disguise and it resulted in them drinking something unknown (who knows what was in those cups), it would add another incident to the Duke fans’ list of infamy, affecting tomorrow’s game.

In the entire NCAA, Duke is expected to remain at the top of the "most hated" list for a long time.

Dan Fitz added, "Nasty fans will inevitably match nasty players. Johnny Dawkins, David Henderson, Jay Bilas, Mark Alarie, Dan Migel—they’ve been complained about by more than one school for playing dirty in games."

Hearing Fitz say this, everyone’s expression became more solemn, as they had indeed heard of Duke’s notorious reputation.

North Carolina’s Dean Smith, University of Virginia’s Sampson, had both complained after playing against Duke that Duke was a dirty team.

Their coach, Mike Krzyzewski, was also skilled at putting pressure on referees. Duke, from top to bottom, would stop at nothing to win.

"So what should we do, fight back?" Stockton asked, biting his fingernail.

"No, I’m telling you this so you can be mentally prepared. Whatever happens tomorrow, we need to stay calm. Winning the game is the best response," Beelman explained.

Dan Fitz and the coaching staff told the players to respond with basketball and not be affected by the dirty play of the Duke fans and players on and off the court.

Gan Guoyang didn’t agree, spreading his hands out and saying, "To hell with them, we’ve made it to the Sweet 16. The mission is already accomplished. Even if we go home now, we’re still heroes in Spokane. If that’s the case, why should we put up with their crap on and off the court."

"Since they might act against us, we should take the initiative. Before they make a move, let’s strike first!"

Everyone stared blankly at Gan Guoyang, feeling that he made sense, but such actions did not seem to align with the team’s usual style—they were all outstanding students.

"Don’t worry, just follow my lead, and don’t feel pressured. I’ll get the game into our rhythm. And John, stop pretending, you play dirtier than anyone when you want to."

Upon hearing this, everyone laughed, and Stockton scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed.

Dan Fitz wanted to pull aside Gan Guoyang to explain something, but Beelman signaled with his eyes to wait for the players to leave the room. Then Beelman said to Fitz, "Forget it, Fitz, Ah Gan is right. We’ve come this far, there’s no need to worry about that anymore. Instead of worrying about Duke attacking us, we might as well hit them first."

Fitz looked troubled and said, "It just doesn’t feel right; our style has always been very decent."

"That’s why we’ve never made it to the national competition."

"..."

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

On the afternoon of the 23rd, the first game of the Sweet 16 in the West region began.

Georgetown easily defeated University of Las Vegas at Pauley Pavilion with a 62:48, a 14-point advantage.

Georgetown had restricted their last opponent to 36 points (scoring 37 themselves), taking defense to the extreme and making the game ugly.

After the game, Georgetown’s players, at the request of coach John Sampson, refused all interviews with reporters.

From the beginning to the end of the game, this team, composed almost entirely of Black players, maintained a deadly serious atmosphere.

The whole season, they kept their distance from the media, even despising the reporters. Their defense was both tight and brutal towards opponents, seemingly wanting to shred every offense to keep the ball and the opponents far from their own basket, with an almost maniacal obsessiveness.

In the nation, Georgetown was ranked second in the polls, just behind North Carolina, and was considered a hot favorite to win the championship.

Just yesterday, on the 22nd, North Carolina lost unexpectedly to Indiana University in the East Regional Sweet 16, shutting them out of the Elite Eight.

Thus, Georgetown became the number one seed among the remaining teams; they were just one victory away from Seattle.

As for their next opponent, whether it would be Gonzaga or Duke, Georgetown displayed an indifferent attitude. They didn’t linger at Pauley Pavilion and went straight back to the hotel to rest.

At five-thirty, after dinner, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, dressed in their uniforms, arrived at Pauley Pavilion for warm-ups.

The fans were gradually entering the arena, and it was easy to tell which were neutral fans, which for Duke, and which for Gonzaga.

Those dressed in casual clothes, flamboyantly adorned with scarves and sunglasses, and sporting trendy hairstyles, were definitely local Los Angeles fans.

Those dressed rather plainly, in simple attire, and holding Bulldog cartoon signs were clearly Gonzaga fans who had come from far away. They were few in number, but tightly-knit.

And those uniformly dressed in blue, with their faces painted blue too, already shouting and whooping in the stands, and spinning their shirts like windmills, were unmistakably Duke Blue Devils students.

When Gan Guoyang was warming up with some shooting practice, he took a close look at the Duke fan group and indeed spotted the same couple from the previous day. They weren’t reporters; they were Duke students.

Gan Guoyang put down the basketball, ran over to the sidelines, and shouted to the two, "Hey, you two there! Are you from the Duke Media Group? Wanna come interview me?"

The two who had fled in disarray yesterday, now bolstered by the presence of the fan group, began spitting at Gan Guoyang and making obscene gestures.

Due to Japanese cars invading the American market and causing some auto workers to lose their jobs, a wave of discrimination and exclusion against Asians started in Detroit and other places from 1982.

A Chinese-American named Chen Guoren was beaten to death by two unemployed White men, mistaking him for Japanese, yet they didn’t receive the punishment they deserved.

Racial tensions became sharp, and friendliness towards Asians was on the decline. Duke students were notorious for their sarcasm and high-handedness, and of course, they wouldn’t pass up this opportunity to mock Gan Guoyang.

But Gan Guoyang stood his ground, fearless and articulate, cursing while making sure they understood by adding gestures.

He invented some "Chinglish" trash talk mixed with street slang from San Francisco, leaving those students unsure how to respond.

The staff couldn’t stand it any longer and came over to stop the verbal sparring, urging Gan Guoyang to go back and warm up properly.

A little while later, a large banner suddenly appeared in the stands of Pauley Pavilion, fluttering in the air. It read "Gan’s Restaurant" in big letters.

"Cousin! We’re here to cheer for you!"

Gan Guoyang looked up and saw it was Gan Guohui, Chen Xing, Wu Zhixiong, and a whole bunch of people, including many Beiqiao High School students who had come over.

"Are you here to cheer for me, or are you cheering for the family restaurant?"

"I’m just taking the opportunity to advertise a bit!"

"Hey, see that big blob of blue bird shit over there? Squash them down during the game."

"No problem, we’ve brought people with loud voices today!"

"Duke! Fuck your mother!"

"Hey hey hey, the game hasn’t even started yet; don’t rush to shout."

"It’s okay, I’m just practicing."

[In the 2023 NCAA March Madness, Duke University fans ranked first place in the "Most Annoying Fans" poll, maintaining their lead. Meanwhile, Gonzaga University, with 382 personal fouls, led the pack by a wide margin in terms of team fouls.]

————2023 WNCT Daily News, College Basketball Special Report.