The Golden Age of Basketball

() Trail Blazers road to Detroit can be described as full of thorns.

After the game in Cleveland, heavy snow began to fall across the Great Lakes region of the United States, and the regional flight from Cleveland to Detroit was also forced to cancel.

Since Cleveland is not far from Detroit, the entire Blazers took a bus around Lake Erie to the Motor City in the northwest.

Leaving the warm and comfortable hotel, driving on the road in a car in the snow is not as romantic as imagined.

The cold weather and icy roads forced the driver to slow down, otherwise the entire team of Trail Blazers would be destroyed in the event of a car accident.

"I think we should take a plane and wait for the blizzard to pass, instead of taking a car on this damn road. If we accidentally flip over, oh my god, then we will be in the headlines tomorrow." Sitting in the seat Colt looked at the vast snow outside the window and complained.

"Shut your mouth, you'd better think about how to deal with Thomas at night, you were beaten badly by Davis yesterday." Gan Guoyang, who was sitting next to Colter, didn't want to hear those unlucky words.

Since the game against Detroit is back-to-back, according to the weather forecast, the heavy snow will not stop for a while, so the Blazers will choose to take a car, and the game will be held tonight.

The bumps along the way, when the Blazers arrived in downtown Detroit, it was already afternoon, and the heavy snow still hadn't stopped.

After arriving in the urban area, the roads in the whole city were congested due to snowfall, and the Trail Blazers bus was left halfway and could not move.

Worse was yet to come when the car, which had been on the road for more than three hours, broke down two kilometers from the hotel, its engine appearing to have been damaged by the cold weather.

So the Blazers players had to get out of the car and walk to the hotel, which might have been faster.

"Fortunately, we only come to the Great Lakes region once a year, otherwise we will definitely go crazy. But I wonder if we can pick a better time to come next year, not on this damn snowy day." Vandeweghe carried the snowflakes on his shoulders luggage at the front of the line.

"Fortunately, we are not football players, but basketball players." Drexler, who walked with Vandeweghe, joked.

"I want to be a table tennis player more, so I should be able to win a world championship." Gan Guoyang's joke is colder than the weather here.

Soon, the group finally arrived at the hotel where they were staying. Everyone hurried to the room to settle themselves, and then took a comfortable hot bath.

By the time everything was arranged properly, night had already fallen on this city of cars. The Blazers had no time to concentrate on training and had to go to the Allen County War Memorial Gymnasium to prepare for the evening game. "<" is a common arena name. For example, the home arena where the Trail Blazers is located is called the Memorial Stadium.

Because commercialization was not yet prevalent in the NBA at that time, many sports centers were public utilities, and their names were commemorative, most of which were war memorials or veteran memorials.

And starting from the 1984-85 season, the naming rights of many arenas will be sold to commercial companies.

As soon as he entered the venue of the Allen County War Memorial Gymnasium, Gan Guoyang felt that the atmosphere here was obviously different from that in Cleveland.

The same huge stands, Cleveland is empty, but Detroit is full of seats. It is still early before the start of the game, but the audience has already sat down early.

Gan Guoyang often sees this kind of situation in Portland. He didn't expect that the enthusiasm of the audience in Detroit is not worse than that in Portland.

Gan Guoyang's deepest impression on the Detroit Pistons is naturally the most scoring battle in history. One of the protagonists of that battle is already Gan Guoyang's teammate at this time.

The Pistons were full of firepower that year. They averaged 117 points per game in the season, ranking third in the league, second only to the Denver Nuggets. It was these two teams that could play 186:184 games.

But their defense can be described as a mess. In the regular season, they can rely on offense to make up for their defensive deficiencies and enter the playoffs as the fourth in the Eastern Conference.

But in the fiercely confrontational and more targeted playoffs, they were eliminated by the Knicks in the first round. In the series, they were averaged 42 points per game by Bernard King, and they were sieved by King alone.

This season, their style has not changed, and they are still running on the road of indiscriminate bombing, which also makes their state very unstable, with great fluctuations in winning and losing.

It's just that before facing the Portland Trail Blazers in this game, the entire Pistons had rested for 4 days, but the Blazers were busy all the way, rushing to their destination and starting the game immediately.

Gan Guoyang was doing warm-up exercises on the court, and even he, who was always energetic, felt a little tired. The continuous away games and travel fatigue made him feel that his competitive state was not particularly good.

The number of fans in the memorial arena is increasing, and the sound is getting louder and louder. Before the official start of the game, Gan Guoyang can hardly hear the sound of the ball hitting the basket.

It's a great feeling at home, but it's not a good feeling when you're away, thinking that so many people are against you.

Soon, after the opening ceremony, the starting players of both sides stood on the court, and the Blazers' second consecutive back-to-back games were about to begin.

"Hi, Gan." Before Gan Guoyang stood on the middle circle, he heard someone greet him.

Gan Guoyang saw that it turned out to be the opponent's point guard, Isiah Thomas who wore the same number as Gan Guoyang.

For Thomas, Gan Guoyang has been famous for a long time. When he watched NBA games before, he felt that this small point guard was one of the few guys who played more like a player in the 21st century.

The dribbling posture of the defenders at that time looked like an old nainai with his buttocks bent over and a basket in his hand, and most of them dribbled with one hand, and they rarely changed hands and directions.

Thomas is one of the few defenders who is extremely proficient in dribbling, with extremely smooth crotch, direction change, and body turning. He perfectly combined actual combat and performance, giving the NBA audience at that time great visual enjoyment.

Later, newly promoted guards like Jordan began to have such dribbling skills, which also represented the innovative trend of nba's perimeter technology.

In the game against the Nuggets, Thomas scored 47 points, the team's highest score, and Gan Guoyang was also impressed by him.

"Hello." Gan Guoyang replied politely, and smiled at Thomas.

And Thomas also responded to Gan Guoyang with a standard smile, his smile was as sweet as a baby, and it often made people think that this guy must be a friendly person.

It was the first time for Gan Guoyang to compete against Thomas, so he naturally didn't know the great danger hidden behind this smile.

"Don't laugh, kid, you won't be able to laugh later." Another voice came from Gan Guoyang's ear.

Gan Guoyang turned his head and found that the center of the Detroit Pistons was standing in the middle circle and looking at him coldly. He was a tall and handsome blond white man.

In the nba, there are stars everywhere, but handsome guys are hard to find, because the appearance of black people is really different from the mainstream aesthetics.

Vandeweghe can be called a handsome guy in the Trail Blazers. Although Drexler is black, he has more white features.

Gan Guoyang's resolute and upright face has greatly changed many Americans' impressions of Chinese people.

But none of them are as handsome as this white man No. 40. He is a standard handsome blond man with a high nose bridge, deep eyes, and razor-sharp lips.

It's just that what he said didn't match his appearance, just like a quiet and sweet girl shouting "**".

Gan Guoyang was still blinded by the center forward's appearance, and was in a state of confusion. If someone else talked to him like this, he would have already greeted him with trash talk.

The referee threw the ball into the air, and Gan Guoyang still had the upper hand in the scrimmage. He easily overwhelmed the No. 40 white center and won the offensive right for the Blazers.

At the Blazers' short preparation meeting before the game, Ramsey's request was "everything is in accordance with the routine and let go of the game."

This requirement basically means that there is no requirement, because the time is too short, and there is no time to do pre-match analysis and preparation.

So after the opening, the entire Blazers' offense seemed a bit messy and slow, and the players stood on the court and didn't know how to run.

Ramsey no longer stood on the sidelines and yelled as usual, and this old man in his 60s was also a little depressed by the bumpy road for several hours.

This game is estimated to be a matter of watching the sky, and the fight is the accumulation of the players' usual training.

Seeing that there is no good way to attack, Vandeweghe naturally has to stand up. As the number one player of the Blazers, he has the responsibility to be the first assaulter.

The Pistons' defense is also really bad. At the small forward position, it is their No. 7 Kelly Tripka who is facing Vandeweghe.

Kelly Tripka is very similar to Vandeweghe in style, both are white hand-shaped forwards. In the first two seasons, Tripka has been the Pistons' leading scorer.

However, Vandeweghe is one size bigger than Tripka in terms of size. Vandeweghe has a stronger body and more comprehensive offensive methods, especially his ability in the low post, which is better than Tripka.

When Vandeweghe faced Tripka, he hit a two-pointer with a back turn and a jumper to open the scoring for the Blazers.

"You better fucking stay away from me." Just when Vandeweghe scored a goal, Gan Guoyang at the basket finally couldn't bear it and started swearing.

After the jump ball was over, the opposite player No. 40 kept sticking to Gan Guoyang, making physical contact while chattering dirty words.

Gan Guoyang's initial liking for this guy has long since dissipated. He didn't expect him to be such an annoying guy.

Gan Guoyang has a violent temper on the court. If his opponent provokes him, he will immediately fight back. No matter his mouth or his playing, he rarely gives his opponent a chance to be presumptuous.

So when player No. 40 sneaked his elbow into Gan Guoyang's ribs when Vandeweghe took a shot, Gan Guoyang finally started spitting at the guy.

And No. 40 didn't care about Gan Guoyang's saliva, and ran to the frontcourt with a confused face, which made Gan Guoyang even more angry.

On the defensive end, Gan Guoyang ran to the basket to guard his three-second zone.

But No. 40 did not enter the three-second zone at all, but stood outside the three-point line to support.

Gan Guoyang thought that I was waiting for you to come in in the three-second zone, but he didn't expect that the No. 40 center, who was holding the ball outside the three-point line, hesitated on the outside and shot directly!

The 84-85 season was the fifth season in which the three-point line was introduced into the league. More often than not, the three-pointer was regarded as a last resort or a secret weapon.

Like ordinary guards and forwards, they rarely shoot outside the three-point line. A shooting expert like Vandeweghe averages less than one three-pointer per game.

And a center pulls out to shoot a three-pointer, it's like a sow climbing a tree.

For Gan Guoyang from the 21st century, it is not uncommon for a center to shoot a three-pointer, but he has long been accustomed to the basketball environment in the 80s, and he did not expect his opponent to make such a move.

"Shua!" The ball actually went in!

Gan Guoyang looked incredible, and took the ball to the bottom line to serve.

Also because of insufficient preparation before the game, Gan Guoyang did not expect the opponent's center to shoot a three-pointer.

The audience at the scene cheered. At that time, an NBA player scored a three-pointer, which was more precious than a dunk.

Gan Guoyang noticed that many audience members held up big signs saying "e-on-imbeer!"

"Lambir? This guy's name is Ranbir." Gan Guoyang noticed the name printed on the back of No. 40 at this time, and found that his name was Ranbir.

"The girls just went outside to shoot. I'll show you what a center forward is." Gan Guoyang continued to spit at Lambiel. Once Gan Guoyang started, he couldn't stop.

"Don't fucking tease me, yellow pig." Lambiel also began to shoot back.

Now Gan Guoyang was furious. He hated others talking about his skin color, let alone insulting him.

"You fucking wait to turn into a pile of bird shit!" Gan Guoyang pushed Lambir hard after speaking, ready to get stuck in the basket.

"Beep beep!" However, the referee's whistle sounded.

Gan Guoyang watched the referee pointing at himself, saying that he had fouled, and he suddenly felt baffled.

Only then did he realize that Ranbir, who had been pushed by him just now, had fallen to the ground, as if Gan Guoyang's push just now had a huge force.

"I just pushed him lightly! Isn't this a normal action?" Gan Guoyang argued to the referee.

The referee ignored him, but picked up the ball to the Pistons players and asked them to throw the ball to the sideline.

"Go back to defend Gan! Don't argue with the referee!" Ramsey reminded on the sidelines.

Back on the defensive end, Gan Guoyang did not continue to stand in the three-second zone, but followed Lambiel, and he decided not to let him shoot three-pointers.

Lambiel didn't shoot another three-pointer, but the Blazers were empty inside because of this. Thomas made a breakthrough with a change of direction and added a small throw, adding two more points for the Pistons.

Gan Guoyang held the ball on the baseline, looked at this handsome Lambiel, and suddenly felt a huge crisis.

〖