The Golden Age of Basketball

() On Friday, Coach Behrman did not let the Vikings train as usual, but gave the players a vacation, saying that they should let everyone relax because of the recent consecutive victories.

This made everyone a little uncomfortable, especially Gan Guoyang, he would feel very uncomfortable if he didn't touch basketball for a day, as if a part was missing from his body.

So after school, he took the basketball out of the school gate by himself, and started his "street basketball practice" again in the gray weather and light rain.

Since the first "street basketball practice" in San Francisco, running around the city with a basketball has become one of Gan Guoyang's most important practice methods on his rest days.

For athletes, the topography of the street is much more complicated than that of a basketball court. There are steps, street lights, fire hydrants, trash cans, and traffic lights.How to dribble all the way to the destination without holding the ball in your hands will be a big challenge.

What's more, the weather is not so good today, if you accidentally drop the ball on the road, it may cause a traffic accident, so this is a dangerous practice mode.

However, this practice method is good for players' sense of the ball, judgment and flexibility.Especially for the feeling of the ball, because the texture of the street surface is different or even uneven, how to control the ball bouncing on this kind of ground will be a test of the hand feeling.

Gan Guoyang didn't know that this kind of exercise would play a big role in his future capture of the terrible Boston Garden Arena.

And now, his destination is Willow-Oak Park in East Palo Alto, where there is a small basketball hoop near East Palo Alto Private High School.

In fact, before playing against East Palo Alto High School, Gan Guoyang often went there to play for the same reason as he played in San Francisco's Union Park, where the field is small and there are few people.

He likes the feeling of practicing alone under the basketball hoop. He has no interest in playing games with people on the street, and he doesn't like playing with his classmates in Palo Alto. Abusing food is really not his love.

And it's been a while since he played against East Pa.One is because there are many games and the training is very hard, and the other is that he is a little worried that if he scored 40 points at the opponent's home court, it will arouse the hatred of the students at the opponent's school. It's not easy to attack and beat yourself up...

After he arrived at Willow-Oak Park sweating while dribbling the ball, he realized that he had also met some students from Dongpa High School along the way, but they didn't know him at all, let alone ran up to beat him. It seems that Gan Guoyang made it up Passionate.

However, it seems that Gan Guoyang is not the only one who came to Liu-Oak Park to play this time, because he has seen a small figure under the basketball hoop shooting, picking up the ball, and shooting again.

"Is there anyone here to play basketball in this weather?" Gan Guoyang thought to himself, he didn't realize that he was one of them, and he came all the way here.

He walked slowly into the court and found that the player should be a little boy. The little boy also spotted him. He stopped and held the ball to look at the tall and tall Gan Guoyang who was walking slowly.

The two were a little stunned after seeing each other. First, Gan Guoyang discovered that the boy was as Chinese as himself. Second, the clothes they wore were exactly the same. They were both cotton bell-bottom sportswear popular in the 80s. Se are all dark green se.

Another thing that surprised Gan Guoyang was that this little boy was really good-looking.Gan Guoyang himself is considered good-looking, a handsome young man.Since coming to the United States, he has given himself a short, crisp hair in accordance with the aesthetics of later generations, which ran counter to the popular afro at the time. Unexpectedly, he became popular in Palo Alto High School as he became famous.

But even though this little boy has an old-fashioned look, he is really good-looking, and his hairstyle is not an obstacle at all.His eyes, nose, and mouth make Gan Guoyang, who is characterized by "uprightness", feel ashamed. This kid will definitely be a shocking handsome guy when he grows up.

"Hello, hello." Gan Guoyang first went over to greet him in Chinese.

"Hello." The little boy also greeted, but his voice seemed to be very cold, and he used English.After speaking, he turned around and continued playing.

"Can I play ball with you?" Gan Guoyang looked at this cool kid and asked carefully.

"Are you a Bulldogs player?" the little boy asked suddenly.

"No, I'm a Vikings player." Gan Guoyang replied.

"Vikings? Palo Alto High School?" The indifference on the little boy's face seemed to fade away, but he quickly said, "The Vikings are enemies too."

"Enemy?" Gan Guoyang felt very strange, why did the Vikings become enemies?

"On Tuesday, Hyde-Rolls-Royce High School will play against you!"

"Tuesday? How do you know?" Gan Guoyang felt even more strange. He only knew that tomorrow Saturday was going to be a game against Tianji High School, so how did this little guy know about the game on Tuesday.

In fact, many upcoming matches have already been scheduled, and many players know who they will be playing next, but Gan Guoyang is too lazy to watch, since the soldiers will cover up the competition anyway.

"Yes, we're going to play against the bulldogs tomorrow, and we'll compete with you on Tuesday." The little boy said as he shot the basket.

"Are you a student of Hyde-Royce High School?" How does Gan Guoyang think this kid is only seven or eight years old. Although Americans go to school early and go to elementary school at the age of five or six, it is impossible for him to be a high school student.

"I am from Hyde-Royce High School Affiliated Elementary School! I will also be from Hyde-Royce High School in the future." The little boy replied vigorously.

It was only then that Gan Guoyang realized that he was a small fan, but he didn't know where this Hyde-Rolls-Royce High School was, and it sounded quite high-end.

"Tomorrow you will play against Skyrim High School, so be careful." The little boy even knew the Vikings' match schedule for tomorrow.

"Do you know Skyrim High School?"

"What I hate the most is Tianji High School. You have to teach them a lesson tomorrow! But that number 20 is really amazing." The little boy seemed to know Tianji High School very well.

"Do you also watch Skyrim High School games?"

"We are in the same district as them, of course we will watch!" The little boy looked up at Gan Guoyang with contempt, and then shot, but his strength was not enough, and the ball face basket didn't even touch it.

"It turns out that Hyde-Rolls-Royce High School is in the Oakland area. Then this little guy is really hardcore, and he even chased him to Palo Alto to watch the game." Gan Guoyang understood at this time, and he is also a Rolls-Royce in Oakland. Adams High School also came to Palo Alto to play the invitational game.And for the convenience of the journey, I plan to finish all the games in Palo Alto within a few days.

"You really have to be careful with that number 20! That guy is annoying." The little boy reminded again.

"You see I'm so tall, do you need to be afraid of him?" Gan Guoyang looked down at the little guy.

"He's a 'king-of-rubbish'!" cried the little boy suddenly.

"King-of-rubbish" means King of Trash Talkers, which indicates that number 20 should be a very good trash talker.

However, for Gan Guoyang, who has been blasted by Behrman for a long time, trash talk is really nothing new.And judging from his previous confrontation with Halleck, this guy is not a good person.

"Trash talker? I'm not afraid of him. You can't play basketball with your mouth."

"He got that name because he was good on the street. He's a point guard!"

Point guard, No. 20, trash talker, Gan Guoyang suddenly thought of someone.

"Could it be him? Such a coincidence..."

"Hey, big man, you taught me how to shoot. It's very difficult for me." Because of his weak strength, the little boy shoots with both hands, and sometimes he can't even reach the basket.

"You are still too young, practice dribbling first." Gan Guoyang looked at the thin child, squatted down and said to him.

"But many of my classmates are able to play games, and they play well. I also want to be a basketball player in the future." Gan Guoyang squatted down and the little boy looked up at Gan Guoyang.

After hearing this, Gan Guoyang remembered that the basketball level of seven or eight-year-old elementary school students in the United States was already very shocking.Some children have no problem playing the whole game. They can make layups, mid-range shots, and three-pointers, and they play well.

"You will grow up slowly in the future, and then you will naturally be able to learn to shoot. But not everyone can become a basketball player. Look, you are so handsome, you can be an actor in the future!" Looking at his handsome face, Gan Guoyang felt that it was a pity that the kid didn't become an actor.

"I don't want to be an actor, I want to play basketball! You teach me how to dribble."

"Okay, come on, let's dribble around the court twice!"

In this way, two people, one big and one small, braved the pattering rain, dribbled and ran in the open space of the park.

While running, Gan Guoyang asked, "Little friend, what's your name?"

The child dribbled the ball seriously, obviously he was not very proficient, and replied: "My name is Daniel."

In this way, Gan Guoyang took Daniel to enjoy the fun of basketball on the park court in the afternoon.

And this Chinese child also has a Chinese name called: Wu Yanzu.

........................

Finally, after a day of rest, the time came to Saturday, December 12th. Palo Alto High School will usher in two important games, one football game and one basketball game. The opponents are both the Oakland Skyline High School Eagles.

Unlike East Palo Alto High School, the Palo Alto Vikings players arrived at the gymnasium early. It was only past one o'clock at this time, and the school audience had not yet entered the stadium.

"Ladies, I had a good day of rest yesterday. Today we are here early to practice our tactical arrangements and exercise your muscles, okay?" Bellman began to direct his "ladies" to the field to perform some exercises. Simple tactical drills to prepare for the afternoon game.

"Dippenbrook, pay attention to your dribbling, you always raise your hand so high, be careful!" Bellman began to criticize Dippenbrook again, his dribbling is indeed relatively high.However, there were no major problems in the previous games, and he is now a stable starting point guard for the Vikings.

The Vikings mainly practiced several commonly used offensive routines, especially the pick-and-roll cooperation between Dippenbrook and the inside.Although Dipenbrock's offensive threat is not great, his tactical interpretation is very strong, and the balls he passes are very threatening.

If Gan Guoyang is the core of the Vikings, then Dipenbrook is a booster.

Slowly, the audience in the stadium began to increase.

In the past, Palo Alto High School's most popular sport was football, and every football game would be packed.In contrast, the attendance rate of basketball games needs to be checked a lot.

But this year is different. The Vikings have won five consecutive victories after returning from the core team. More and more students began to pay attention to the school's basketball games and the team's No. [-] star—Gan Guoyang.

"Good afternoon, Milina! You came to the game!"

"Of course, I pay attention to the school's basketball game forecast every day."

"It's such an honor, it depends on my performance today!"

"Wow, there are so many fucking people today. If I don't win a dozen or twenty points in today's game, I feel ashamed to face the audience."

"I must dunk a basket today..."

"…………"

The game hadn't started yet, and the players of the Vikings looked at so many spectators and received such warm treatment at home for the first time, which made them all excited.Everyone looks eager to try and make a big splash in the game.

Only Gan Guoyang felt a little uneasy, he could feel the feeling of underestimating the enemy spreading in the team, as if the game had already been picked, but in fact, everyone didn't know what kind of team Tianji High School was.

Because in the past few years, the basketball team of Tianji High School did not come to Palo Alto to play the invitational game. The players of the Vikings just know that Tianji High School has won several championships but it is not far away, so they are not worried Today is the first meeting with Tianji High School.

While the Vikings players were giggling and nonchalantly doing their shootarounds, the Skyrim High School players arrived at the gym.

It was like a torrent rushing into the green grassland. The Tianji high school players in blue uniforms lined up neatly and entered the green stadium from the main entrance.

The gymnasium seemed to be quiet for an instant, and the players who were chatting and warming up there also stopped, looking at the blue torrent.

Everyone could feel the oppressive momentum coming from this torrent. They used neat formation, consistent pace and indifferent expressions to disperse the noise and chaos in the gymnasium.

There was an idea in everyone's mind: "This fucking must be a strong team."

"Ladies, what's the matter with you, are you petrified? This is your opponent today, I hope you are ready." Bellman felt the emotional changes of his team members, and he reminded them loudly.However, this kind of scene is what Behrman wants to see. He thinks it's time for the players under him to learn a lesson.

At this time, Gan Guoyang's attention was also attracted by the arrival of Tianji High School, but what attracted him most was the leader of the team, a small black player who didn't look very conspicuous.

He is about 6 feet 2 (1 meters) and looks thinner, but he has a big head and shakes his head when he walks. He feels out of place with the entire team of Skyrim High School players.

Gan Guoyang looked at him, and he also saw Gan Guoyang, glanced at Gan Guoyang with a cynical look, and led the team into the locker room.

"Gan, do you know the guy at the front of the opponent?" Dippenbrook noticed the direction of Gan Guoyang's eyes, and he also knew that the guy Gan Guoyang was looking at should be a point guard, and he was going to face him in this game. bit.

"I... I probably don't know him, but you have to be careful." Gan Guoyang's answer is very strange, what does it mean to not know him.

But he knows who this person is in his heart, because he has already seen that this little point guard is the future NBA "trash talker", a super point guard, glove Gary Payton.