The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 93 - 31 Going The Distance

Stockton’s unexpected exit was a huge loss for the Bulldogs.

The guard who replaced Stockton was Mark Matthews, who was far less talented than Stockton.

Gan Guoyang told Matthews, "Mark, I’ll handle the ball later, your job is to focus on defense, don’t worry about anything else, got it?"

Matthews looked at Coach Belman, who nodded and said, "Listen to Ah Gan, let him take over ball-handling."

Stockton said, "Mark, you have to hold on, I’ll be back soon."

Matthews nodded vigorously, knowing the great responsibility he bore as this kind of game was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.

Even a slight mistake could cause the team to lose the efforts of an entire season.

The game continued, and although Matthews was overall less skilled than Stockton, he was a 6-foot-4 guard with plenty of stamina.

After he got on the court, his mind was on one thing only: to defend desperately, closely guarding either Franklin or Michael Young, nothing else.

When a player can concentrate on doing just one thing on the court, he usually won’t perform too poorly.

Many less skilled players simultaneously try to attack and defend, leading to mistakes and disrupting their gameplay, resulting in a terrible performance.

Matthews didn’t think of anything else; his eyes were only on the Cougars’ perimeter players, with Ah Gan inside he didn’t need to worry.

He tried hard to block Michael Young’s shot; his taller stature actually disturbed Young.

Young’s touch started to cool down in the second half. Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound, dribbling past the halfway line himself.

Ever since Gan Guoyang started playing basketball in San Francisco, he practiced ball-handling daily on the complex streets to hone his ball sense, which he had diligently maintained over the years without fail.

In this era, positions of players were clearly defined; it was rare for centers to dribble past the halfway line to initiate offense, let alone leave the paint to set up the offense.

Yet, Guoyang wasn’t bound by these conventions; although his dribbling wasn’t top-notch, it wasn’t easy for the Cougars’ perimeter players to steal the ball from him.

He stuck out his butt to protect the ball and pushed up to the frontcourt, passing the ball to McPhie and setting a screen for him.

Then he rolled down to the paint; with a crisp pass from McPhie, Guoyang caught the ball and dunked it with one hand!

The Bulldogs overtook the score!

With seven minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs took the lead!

The Cougars clearly did not expect the Bulldogs’ center to handle the ball past the halfway line to start an offense, and their defense was caught off-guard.

Stockton excitedly stood up from the bench, waving his towel.

In a bar far away in San Francisco, Nate-Sermonde jumped up excitedly, cheering with his family and friends.

Cheers erupted from Chinatown in an instant; even the brothels had closed early tonight to refrain from doing business.

In the distant Hawaii, Wilt Chamberlain almost threw the two busty beauties in his arms out.

Hakeem Olajuwon’s normally calm facade began to show ripples, a fierce light flashed in his eyes, and he grabbed the ball, forcefully slamming it on the floor, clearly very dissatisfied with the recent defense.

Both sides entered the most grueling tug-of-war.

Without Stockton, the Bulldog’s offense was inevitably hampered, but it was already impressive that Guoyang could dribble past half court.

However, their full-court press defense began to take effect, repeatedly disrupting the Cougars’ offenses.

Under the relentless hammering, the Cougars’ initially excellent shooting touch from the perimeter had vanished.

But Olajuwon was like a frenzied beast; he managed to score twice in the paint, once pushing past Guoyang for a layup and once scoring a dunk after securing an offensive rebound.

And Guoyang retaliated with a hook shot and a turnaround jumper, as the competition between them reached a fever pitch.

The temperature in the Kingdome arena had risen a bit due to the heat emitted by the players’ movements; both the players and the audience were sweating profusely, with mist steaming up the entire court.

But no one would leave their seat, and those who needed to use the restroom were trying their best to hold it in. There was less than 1 minute left in the game, and the score was tied at 66:66.

The scoring of the two teams was interlocked and alternately rising; it was clear the battle would last until the final moment.

It was the Cougars’ ball, and Coach Lewis called a timeout to set up a crucial play.

"Guys, even if it kills you, keep up with the opponent’s pace! Hold the inside, don’t rush out lightly. Watch out for the defensive rebound, don’t give the other side a second chance! We need to tighten our defense, tighten it! We absolutely can’t let them break through to the basket! Don’t foul easily, guard your men!"

Beelman was shouting from the bench, his voice hoarse, his eyes red. Ever since the team entered the national tournament, he hadn’t slept well any night, staying up all night long.

He knew in his heart, this might be his only chance at the NCAA Championship.

A player like Gan would never come around again.

"Buzz~" The buzzer sounded, signaling the arrival of the ultimate showdown.

Houston had no timeouts left, Gonzaga had one final timeout.

Stockton, after treatment, replaced Mark Matthews. Matthews had completed his task perfectly, almost collapsing as he sat on the bench.

He couldn’t help but admire Stockton and Guoyang; their stamina was simply not human.

Houston played the ball inbounds, but Gonzaga’s defense was exceptionally tight; they could hardly get their pass off.

Olajuwon came out to receive the ball, and leaping Olajuwon caught it, tightly protecting the basketball, not letting Gonzaga’s players take it away.

Michael Young came over, took the ball from Olajuwon’s hands after repeated dribbling and screening, and broke through from the right 45-degree angle.

Guoyang was waiting for him in the paint.

The two jumped almost at the same moment; Guoyang dared not push down; he couldn’t risk a foul.

He stretched his arms to the fullest extent to disrupt Young’s offensive line of sight, and Young could only use a high toss to avoid Guoyang’s block.

"Thwack!" The ball struck the rim, but didn’t go in!

But Olajuwon, who came up to follow, leaped high and grabbed the offensive rebound, then rose again, ready to dunk.

Anderson immediately made a vicious swipe, batting the ball away.

The referee blew his whistle, calling a foul on Anderson, and Olajuwon had to step up to the free-throw line.

Guoyang looked up at the timer, with only 2.8 seconds left until the end of the game.

Anderson had just lost a key rebound, but Guoyang still patted him, consoling him, "You did your best, good foul."

Better Anderson’s foul sending Olajuwon to the line than a direct dunk.

Olajuwon, under immense pressure, made the first shot.

"Olajuwon hits a crucial basket, now they’re leading 67:66 by one point, the chance of victory is in their hands."

The entire crowd held their breath; if Olajuwon made this second shot as well, in a game without the three-point shot, they would be in an unbeatable position.

And for the Bulldogs to score in the last 2.8 seconds would be as difficult as reaching the sky.

Olajuwon took a deep breath; he’d never been so nervous in his life.

Tonight, his performance was nothing short of perfect, and although his stats were not as good as Guoyang’s, he played his role to the fullest, giving the Cougars the upper hand.

The referee handed him the ball, which felt particularly heavy.

Just then, Guoyang’s voice unexpectedly rang in his ears.

Gan Guoyang had been saying something to Olajuwon all night, but Olajuwon suppressed himself and became a rock, not hearing a single word.

But he heard this one, loud and clear.

"Hakeem, if you miss this shot, I will deliver the final blow."

The voice was as cold and sharp as a sword, piercing Olajuwon’s heart.

A second later, Olajuwon’s free throw was on its way, and the moment he released it, he knew it was short.

Olajuwon tried to rush in for the rebound, but Gan Guoyang beat him to it, snagging the defensive rebound and immediately calling for a time-out.

With 2 seconds left on the clock, the Bulldogs had one last chance.

Olajuwon walked off the court with a restless heart, also glancing up at the scoreboard and timer.

Inside, a tinge of fear surfaced. Would they be taken down by a last-second shot?

The solid rock, after all, had developed a crack.

However, the greater chance of victory was still firmly in the Cougars’ grasp; game-winning shots weren’t that easy to come by.

The entire stadium was filled with tension at its peak, and according to CBS’s post-game statistics, a record-breaking 40 million people across America tuned in at that moment.

Coach Belman scraped together a final-play tactic from the playbook, one they had practiced many times but never used in a real game, leaving everything in the hands of the players.

"This is it, the last shot of our season," he said.

After laying out the tactic, Coach Belman’s voice quivered; he felt like he was about to faint but was holding on strong.

The referee blew the whistle, and both teams returned to the court, the Bulldogs players forming an unusual line at the free-throw line, a deceptive positioning.

The paint was empty, indicating they had a chance for a cut to the basket to score.

Olajuwon kept a close eye on the paint and Gan Guoyang, positioned in the middle.

With 2 seconds left, they were likely to use a lob tactic to the basket and let Gan Guoyang finish.

The coach had said they had to prevent the ball from being lobbed in; Olajuwon bent his legs, ready to sprint towards the basket.

The referee didn’t stall and passed the ball to Stockton to make the inbound play.

Franklin frantically disturbed Stockton, who had only 5 seconds to decide.

He knew the opportunity to pass would be fleeting, almost leaving no room for thought or hesitation.

The referee blew the whistle, and everyone started moving.

Anderson and McPhie walked down to the basket, drawing the Houston defense.

Ah Gan!

Ah Gan was at the top of the arc, wide open!

Stockton immediately executed a direct pass, flying over the fingertips of Franklin and Michael Young.

The ball flew smoothly to Gan Guoyang’s hands, who was a step outside the arc and shot immediately!

Olajuwon never expected Gan Guoyang to run to the top of the arc for a long-range shot.

Time seemed to freeze, yet it passed quickly, and the ball sped towards the hoop.

As if destiny ruled it belonged there, the ball flew unimpeded directly through the net.

At this moment, Gan Guoyang felt the world fall into silence.

As if standing on a tranquil, pure-white highland.

He only heard the swish of the ball through the net and his own heartbeat.

Did the ball go in? Did we win?

He heard his own rapid breathing, saw his teammates, and saw fans rush toward him like mad.

A sea of people.

Olajuwon was covering his face, crying.

Coach Belman seemed to have fainted.

Stockton was also crying.

Gan Guohui’s flag waved, and there was his father, smiling joyfully.

Surrounded by so many people squeezing him, their mouths wide open asking questions.

But Gan Guoyang didn’t know what they were saying; what were they saying, really?

Until he heard someone calling out to him:

"Ah Gan! Ah Gan! Ah Gan!"

He could hear the voice; it felt like his eardrums would burst.

Endless questions from reporters buzzed in his ears.

"Gan, was that last shot a tactic set up by the coach?"

"Will you enter the NBA, or will you stay another year in the NCAA to go for back-to-back championships?"

"Gonzaga went undefeated in this NCAA tournament, creating a legend. What about you..."

"I don’t know...I know nothing..."

"Ah Gan!"

A girl made her way through the crowd to Gan Guoyang’s side—it was Wang Fuxi.

Gan Guoyang saw her, stretched out his hand, and pulled her in with all his might, the two clinging tightly to each other.

Gan Guoyang looked at Wang Fuxi, her dark, dense hair a tousled mess.

"Where’s your hat? Where did your hat go?"

"I...I don’t know, I think I lost it again..."

"What? What did you say?"

"I said...I said I love you!"

"Louder, I can’t hear you!"

"I said, I, Love, You!!"

Gan Guoyang was stunned.

Then the two embraced tightly in the sea of people.

(End of Volume Two "off the wall".)