The Golden Age of Basketball

()(Originally I wanted to write about the game between the Rockets and the Trail Blazers, and the materials were well prepared, but I thought about it before I started writing, 82 games, four months of the regular season, and this is only one month of writing, as it is The rhythm is too slow. And the Rockets and the Trail Blazers are two young teams that are on the same page. There will definitely be a lot of opportunities to write well in the future, so I will write more about the growth of the protagonist.)

"Beep!" The referee's whistle sounded in the boiling Portland Memorial Stadium. The fans at the scene couldn't remember how many times the referee blew the whistle. The frequent whistles made the players and fans look upset .

"Ralph Sampson's foul! The sixth foul! After Olajuwon, he was sent off for the second time! The Rockets' twin towers were all knocked down! But the Blazers are still eight points behind, Gan is going to the free throw line." In the sports broadcast on the local radio station in Portland, Bill Seanley's calm and thick voice conveyed the situation on the court to every Portland fan.

On December 1984, 12, the Portland Trail Blazers played against the Houston Rockets at home. On this day, Gan Guoyang ushered in the Rockets Twin Towers-Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.

In the fourth quarter of the game, there were still 3 minutes before the end of the game. Gan Guoyang grabbed an offensive rebound from the basket and forced a layup, which caused a foul by Sampson. Sampson was sent off for six fouls.

And Olajuwon had already been fouled by Gan Guoyang in the first minute, and he graduated with a full foul.

Gan Guoyang has never been afraid of the Twin Towers, even facing the most talented Rocket Twin Towers - one of them was the No. 83 pick in 84 and the other was the No. [-] pick in [-].

This pair of double champions combined inside, with amazing height and amazing talent. Before the two were sent off in this game, Sampson scored 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Olajuwon scored 21 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

甘国阳在罚球命中后，已经拿下了23分13个篮板球，但开拓者却依旧以116：122落后火箭6分。

The Rockets immediately called a timeout and were sent off the ball in the two big inside lanes. They must arrange their offensive tactics and success rate to stabilize the team's advantage.

"How is Gan? Do you feel okay?" Ramsey asked Gan Guoyang when the players left the field.

At this time, Gan Guoyang was not only sweating profusely, he looked obviously very tired, because he was shaking with the Rockets' two big insiders throughout the game until he got rid of these two guys.

Olajuwon is Gan Guoyang's old rival. After the ncaa finals, except for the draft, the two have never met again.

When they met again this time, the two got hooked at the beginning of the game, and even got a technical foul for both of them because of their excessive moves.

Compared with Gan Guoyang, Olajuwon has also made great progress. Gan Guoyang can feel that Olajuwon's body is stronger, and his footsteps, shooting skills, and block predictions are all more mature.

Compared with playing in NCAA, he has more opportunities to play singles in the low post and compete one-on-one with Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang felt that once he mastered the rhythm of the turnaround jumper when catching the ball, it would be really difficult to defend, and he also had a good helper-the 7-foot-3 Ralph Sampson.

Although Ralph Sampson is tall, he has a slender body, excellent running and jumping, excellent physical coordination, exquisite skills, and is also good at jump shots.

Sampson of the Trail Blazers-Mitchell Sampson did not suffer from offense when fighting against Ralph, and he could always use technology and experience to beat the time difference.

But when it comes to defense, there is really nothing to do with Ralph Sampson. The height gap is really big, and Gan Guoyang sometimes has to use his energy to help defend.

Dealing with Olajuwon was enough for Gan Guoyang, and he had to deal with Sampson, but with the help and cooperation of his teammates, he still knocked down the two towers alive.

However, the Blazers still seemed passive in the situation, and they were still far behind until the end of the game.

Because the Rockets' performance was more balanced and comprehensive, they blossomed more points. A total of 5 players scored more than 15 points. On the Blazers side, Vandeweghe scored 30 points, Gan Guoyang 23 points, Sampson 21 points, three points. Individuals scored close to 80 points, but the contributions of others were pitiful.

"The Rockets' performance today is obviously more balanced. They can score every point, and every point has a very strong personal ability. This is a team that is not mature but very talented. Except for the Lakers in the entire West, I If you think about it, the talent of the Rockets is the best." Bill Seanley took advantage of the timeout to analyze the overall situation of the game.

The Houston Rockets in the 1985 season were another No. 1976 lineup besides the Los Angeles Lakers. In addition to Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, their point guard John Lucas (the one in the Spurs last year) , was the No. [-] pick in [-].

There is also their small forward Rodney McRae, who was the No. 1983 pick in [-]-the Rockets could have used this pick to select Drexler.

So this is a team full of extremely high talent and at the same time very young. Their flaw is that they are inexperienced and their abilities are not at their peak.

Unfortunately, tonight's Houston Rockets are in a clear-headed period. They didn't make too many mistakes that young teams tend to make. Instead, they brought out their athletic talents.

"The Blazers' offense today is not bad, and the rhythm is also great, but obviously, the Rockets are very adapted to the rhythm of the Blazers, or their rhythm is stronger and faster than the Blazers. The Blazers' fast offense did not wear down the Rockets. Instead, it dragged me down." Bill Seanley's words were full of helplessness.

The Blazers are a team that relies on fast offense and smooth coordination to overwhelm opponents, but the Rockets are a tall, strong, unbeatable giant.

The Rockets have a height advantage in every position. They are not the Spurs, and the Blazers can take them away with a wave of attacks.

The physical oppression of the Rockets made the Blazers players extremely tired. In the fourth quarter, they began to make consecutive mistakes and their shooting percentage dropped, which gradually opened up the score that had been staggered.

Even if Gan Guoyang relied on personal scrambles and singles to disable the Rockets inside, it was too late.

After the timeout ended, the Blazers played offensive **, but the Rockets' outside line could also continue to output, and the time was exhausted bit by bit.

The score was finally fixed at 127:122, and the Blazers lost to the Houston Rockets by 5 points at home.

After the game, Gan Guoyang stood in the middle of the stadium for a long time before recovering. Looking at the spectators gradually dispersed in the stands, he felt an indescribable feeling in his heart.

He was also looking forward to this game before the game. He was looking forward to the fight with Olajuwon and the dialogue with the Rocket Twin Towers.

He committed five fouls on his own, and then fixed the opponent's two insiders, but the result of the final loss made all this meaningless.

"I don't know what's wrong, the last game we were in good shape, in fact, we played very well this game, everyone tried their best, but we still lost, this feeling is very bad , Terrible." In the locker room interview after the game, Gan Guoyang made no secret of his disappointment and sadness.

He didn't feel so sad about losing to the Lakers, because it was indeed a lack of strength; and the Rockets are now ranked fifth in the Western Conference, and their record is not as good as that of the Blazers. What's more, the opponent is still Olajuwon, who tried his best and lost Of course it felt very bad.

This time the media naturally had room to play again. It happened that Gan Guoyang said before the game that "I don't know who the opponent is." Now they lost again.

The "Houston Chronicle" published a report on the same day, describing the grievances and grievances among Gan Guoyang, Olajuwon and Drexler, and then distorted and ridiculed Gan Guoyang's remarks before the game.

This is already the usual measurement used by the media. Gan Guoyang, who is not yet a superstar, can only swallow his anger, and he has no time to take care of those messy things now, because the Blazers are about to start another road trip.

Unlike the last stinky and long road trip to the East, this time it is a four-game guest trip to the West. The schedule is not intensive, but relatively relaxed.

The Blazers will visit Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle and Gan Guoyang's hometown in the United States, San Francisco within a week.

After the loss to the Rockets, the Trail Blazers were relatively calm. After all, winning or losing is a common matter in military affairs. Even the saddest Gan Guoyang recovered quickly and was ready to go to Denver to play against the Nuggets.

After a long talk with Kenny Carr, Gan Guoyang made some changes. He began to become more obedient, began to take into account the thoughts and feelings of every teammate, and began to focus on the team.

In the game against the Spurs, Ramsey was impressed by these changes. He saw Gan Guoyang's efforts to change himself.

But the Blazers won the game against the Spurs, and in the losing game against the Rockets, Gan Guoyang couldn't help yelling at Colter during the game, or fell into a solo fight.

Obviously, Gan Guoyang's "mature" performance is still unstable. Once the team is in crisis, or the state of some players fluctuates, Gan Guoyang will still rush to the heart.

Of course, Gan Guoyang also took the initiative to apologize to Colter after the game, hoping that he would not mind his recklessness.

The relationship between Gan Guoyang and Sampson, which Ramsey is most concerned about, does not seem to have completely improved, but there is no intensification of conflicts, and everything has returned to the way they were when the season just started.

Ramsey also thinks it's fine as it is. It doesn't matter if you don't deal with it off the court, as long as you play well on the court.

In this way, the Trail Blazers, who are still in good condition, embarked on a road trip to the West.

Among the 12 teams in the West, the Trail Blazers have played against 10 opponents, and the only one left is the Golden State Warriors.

In this road trip, the other three teams are also familiar opponents of Gan Guoyang. They have already rushed to the Denver Nuggets, the No. [-] in the West, and the bad teams Seattle Supersonics and Los Angeles Clippers.

The battle with the Nuggets will be the top two battles in the Western Conference, and the Blazers also made sufficient preparations before the game.

In this battle on the plateau, the Blazers successfully suppressed the Nuggets' offense. Gan Guoyang's defensive attack from all sides greatly reduced the shooting rate of the Nuggets' outside gunmen and firmly controlled the backcourt rebounds.

Facing his former owner, Vandeweghe scored 30 points again, including 14 of 12 free throws; Mitchell Sampson scored 28 points on Wayne Cooper's head.

The Blazers broke through the Nuggets' plateau home and regained the No. [-] position in the Western Conference.

But the next two games surprised everyone.

In November after the start of the season, the Trail Blazers played against the Sonics twice, and both retreated unscathed. Facing the Los Angeles Clippers, they also won easily.

In the away game against the Los Angeles Clippers on December 12th, Gan Guoyang once again came to the dilapidated Los Angeles Memorial Stadium, and was beaten to pieces by Bill Walton amidst the cheers of the sparse home fans.

沃顿这场比赛只登场28分中，却13投8中，罚球6罚4中拿下20分，摘下13个篮板球。

Norm Nixon, the Lakers who once won the championship, also led the team with 10 points and 11 assists. The Blazers were beaten 15:0 by their opponents in the second quarter, and the score was pulled away.

The Trail Blazers, who were easy to lose when they fell behind in the first half, even after catching up in the third quarter, were finally overwhelmed by the Clippers, who were in extremely good condition, and lost the game 100:106.

This allowed the Blazers to immediately hand over the No. [-] throne in the Western Conference, which they had just acquired, to the Denver Nuggets.

Gan Guoyang played this game so depressingly that Wharton, an old slicker, made Gan Guoyang fouled twice at the beginning and was replaced, and then molested Gan Guoyang with all kinds of beautiful support passes on the offensive end.

Gan Guoyang played like a sleepwalker, playing without passion, and only scored mediocre data of 10 points and 8 rebounds.

The worse is still to come. Just after the game against the Clippers, the Blazers immediately moved to Seattle and ushered in back-to-back away games on December 12th.

This time Gan Guoyang is going to face another veteran center - Jack Sikma.

In the previous two matches, Sikma suffered from injuries and performed poorly, and was suppressed by the young and powerful Gan Guoyang.

But any NBA star cannot be restricted forever, no matter from a game or a season, sometimes they will be depressed, and more often they will explode.

Gan Guoyang was so lucky that he just caught up with Sikma's old man.

Sikma used a double-twenty performance of 27 points and 22 rebounds to make the Blazers inside dizzy.

The Sonics grabbed 17 more rebounds than the Trail Blazers in the game, and four of them scored 20 points. They sent the Blazers a two-game losing streak at the Seattle Dome at 109:96 without bloodshed.

Gan Guoyang's performance this time was better than the previous one, scoring 18 points and 10 rebounds, but he was completely unable to limit Sikma.

Sikma's nimble and changeable footsteps, agile and fast "Sikma step" and precise jumper made Gan Guoyang helpless.

After the two games, Gan Guoyang suddenly felt that his brain was blown away by these two white center forwards. It was quite easy to deal with them a month ago. Why is it like eating the rejuvenation pill now?

Since Gan Guoyang himself decided to pay more attention to the team and take care of the feelings of his teammates, he rarely forcibly asks for the ball.

If it was him before, if he was beaten several times in a row by his opponent, he would definitely pay back several times in a row, even if he couldn't score, he would have to fight for his breath.

Now facing this situation, Gan Guoyang seems to have hit a cotton wall, unable to use his strength, unable to get angry.

But the NBA schedule did not give him any chance to breathe and adjust. The next stop, Gan Guoyang came to the starting point of the United States, San Francisco.