The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 82 - 21 So Dirty

At seven o’clock in the evening, Pauley Pavilion was packed, as the second game of the Western Conference Sweet Sixteen was about to begin.

When Gan Guoyang and his teammates officially entered the court through the player tunnel, the stadium erupted in noise.

In Los Angeles, Gan Guoyang had already become an undeniable basketball celebrity, having thoroughly conquered the local fans with his play.

Throughout the venue, except for the Duke Blue Devils’ section booing him, everyone else was cheering for him and the Bulldogs.

The banner of "Gan’s Restaurant" fluttered high in the air, pushing the atmosphere of the stadium to a climax.

"Playing in Los Angeles feels damn good," Guoyang thought to himself.

The bigger the stage, the more excited Guoyang became, feeling neither nervousness nor timidity.

He was born for basketball’s big moments.

Beelman emphasized tonight’s tactical strategy over and over before the game began; he had already discussed these points countless times before, and the players’ ears were calloused from hearing them.

The other four starters were now just watching Guoyang, waiting to see how their leader would deal with Duke, ready to move at the right opportunity.

McPhie, Stockton, Van Nort, and Blair Anderson all clenched their fists, tense, looking like they were about to enter a brawl.

They were typically students of good character and academics, and apart from Stockton, who liked to be tricky, the others rarely played dirty, overall embodying a sense of fairness and integrity.

But this time, they were determined to strike first.

Standing on the court, players from both teams bumped fists and shook hands as a sign of respect; Guoyang stood at the center circle for the jump ball.

Duke’s starting center was Jay Bilas, a 6-foot-8 white center who was on the shorter side.

Originally a power forward, Duke didn’t have a better big man, so Bilas was forced to play the center position.

To compete against taller opponents, Bilas had spent the entire summer in the school’s gym, adding 25 pounds of muscle to enhance his ability to contest underneath the basket.

In the jump ball, Bilas chose to concede; he didn’t jump, trying to steal the Bulldogs’ ball to launch a fast break.

But Stockton’s hands were quick, he controlled the ball and dodged Johnny Dawkins’ attempt at a steal, initiating the first assault for the Bulldogs.

Guoyang headed straight for the basket, and Stockton’s first pass was a high lob to the paint; Guoyang leapt up to catch the ball, turned and cut underneath, pushed past Labis, and scored with a right-handed slam dunk!

"Damn..."

Labis tried to use his body to block Guoyang under the basket, denying him an easy turn and approach to the hoop.

However, his body, despite the added 25 pounds of muscle, utterly failed to withstand Guoyang’s dribbling and pushing; he stepped back and then watched helplessly as Guoyang easily dunked the ball.

"What’s the deal, Jay, do you need help?" his teammate Mark Alarie asked.

Duke differed from other college teams in that they strictly adhered to man-to-man defense, resolutely avoiding zone defense.

Coach K had implemented this defensive strategy from the moment he joined Duke, aiming to enhance defensive intensity and the players’ defensive focus.

Because of this, Duke’s players were more combative, as man-to-man defense required defenders to be more competitive.

"I don’t need it; you stay out of this!" Labis shouted back at Alarie as he inbounded the ball.

Crossing the half court, Guoyang told Labis, "Why reject a teammate’s goodwill? You need his help; you’ll hurt his feelings that way."

Labis glared at Guoyang, remembering Coach K’s repeated cautions to take this number 11 Chinese player seriously, as he was a big trouble.

Coach K had asked Labis if he could handle him one-on-one.

Labis had pounded his chest and said no problem, claiming he could even handle Ewing.

But after the first confrontation under the basket, Labis felt somewhat unsettled.

Dawkins hit a mid-range jumper, and it was the Bulldogs’ turn.

As Duke was playing man-to-man, Guoyang started to post up, calling for the ball.

Stockton’s pass was smooth, and Guoyang firmly pinned Labis down on the low block.

Guoyang’s post-up technique was top-notch, his footwork excellent; after all, he was schooled by Sermonde.

Labis tried to push Guoyang out but couldn’t move him an inch, as he was completely immovable.

Guoyang caught the ball, bumped once with the dribble, swiftly turned around, and released a high-arching jumper that went in.

"What’d I tell you, have your teammates help you out a bit."

"Fuck you, I’ll take care of you myself," Labis swore furiously.

Gan Guoyang’s face darkened as he said, "I was kindly reminding you, and you curse at me. You people from Duke really have no manners."

Dawkins’ long-range shot missed, and he complained to the referee about Stockton’s sneaky defense tactics.

The referee ignored him, and Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound. Labis tried to steal the ball, but Gan Guoyang twirled it around his head, taunting him.

Then he dribbled the ball quickly past half court, suddenly accelerated at the top of the arc, and slammed a one-handed dunk! 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The Duke players were totally caught off guard by Gan Guoyang’s sudden attack.

Alari tried to block Gan Guoyang but was sent flying out of bounds.

Dawkins attempted to break through with speed on the counterattack, only to be sent flying by Gan Guoyang, who came over to defend.

The referee called a foul on Gan Guoyang, and Coach K was frantic, claiming it was a flagrant foul, deserving of a technical.

But since the game had just started, the referee didn’t want to give a technical to Gonzaga’s star player so quickly.

He went over to remind Gan Guoyang to be a bit more mindful of his defensive moves.

Gan Guoyang nodded his acknowledgment, and then Dawkins made both free throws, keeping Duke close in the score.

Duke’s defense was getting more physical, with Labis constantly shoving Gan Guoyang off the ball.

But Gan Guoyang ignored these little tricks; he was very focused during the game, no matter how much you pulled, dragged, or pushed, his mind stayed on the ball.

Anderson took a mid-range shot from outside, it missed, and Gan Guoyang squeezed past two Duke players to grab the offensive rebound, then drew a foul from Labis on his layup.

In just a few minutes, Gan Guoyang took the game into a fiery, confrontational pace and atmosphere.

Coach K paced along the sidelines, feeling as if he had been hit in a vital spot.

According to his plan, as the game went on, and the "intensity" of man-to-man defense increased, it should be Duke who would disturb the opponent’s mental state and emotions.

That way, the game would slowly enter Duke’s rhythm.

Even Dean Smith’s North Carolina sometimes couldn’t withstand Duke’s "noise" and would complain to the referees after the game.

This was Coach K’s strategy; lacking in talent and height, they had to use emotions to affect the game.

It was like slowly heating a furnace until it became a blazing fire, in which talent would melt away with sweat and hard work.

But Gan Guoyang was like a bucket of molten steel, poured right over it.

Making both free throws, Bulldogs 8:4 kept the lead, the first 8 points all came from Gan Guoyang.

Bulldogs suddenly switched to man-to-man defense too and applied full-court pressure to Duke.

Dawkins broke through and passed the ball inside, Labis attempted a layup but was blocked by Gan Guoyang from behind!

Alari grabbed the offensive rebound to try for the putback, but was knocked to the ground by an onrushing Van Nort from the side.

Duke players immediately surrounded them, and Gan Guoyang stepped in front of Van Nort, blocking away all the hands that the Duke players stretched out.

The players started a shouting match right on the court; naturally, it was mostly Gan Guoyang cursing at Duke, and chaos ensued.

The referee called a technical foul on Van Nort and warned the Bulldogs’ players to mind their hand movements.

There was a timeout, and Beelman asked Van Nort why he committed the foul.

"I... I just wanted to foul him. I was just doing what Gan was doing."

"But Duke didn’t do anything; they’ve been playing clean."

"Who cares, I just wanted to hit him. Plus, I couldn’t let Gan get another foul."

That reason was still very important. If Gan Guoyang got two fouls early on, it would be difficult for the Bulldogs to play.

"Well done, Nort. But you also have to pay attention to your own foul control. I can’t do without you under the basket either," Beelman said.

Gan Guoyang patted Van Nort on the shoulder, this 6-foot-9 power forward with an impressive wingspan, number 33, was a good partner for Gan Guoyang under the basket, doing a lot of the dirty and tiring work, sharing the defensive and rebounding pressure with Gan Guoyang.

The game continued, and the emotions of both sides had flared up.

Coach K sat on the bench, unable to help complaining to the school’s athletic director, "How can Gonzaga University play so dirty?"