The Golden Age of Basketball

With the ringing of the New Year's Day bell, the 1985 calendar finally turned the last page, and came to 1986.

History always has amazing coincidences and similarities. On January 1985, 1, a full year ago, the Portland Trail Blazers played against the Philadelphia 1ers at home. That game became a turning point in their season. The young team, which was still a little chaotic, has transformed into a strong team with rigorous tactics and vitality in the league.

In that game, Gan Guoyang faced Moses Malone and Charles Barkley for the first time, and there was a fierce collision with them-of course, Barkley was slightly miserable by Gan Guoyang.

A year later, on New Year's Day in 1986, the Blazers once again played against the Philadelphia 76ers at home. This was the first time the two teams met this season.

As time goes by, young players continue to grow and mature, and the strength of young teams is increasing day by day. The Trail Blazers are a typical example. Although the team has experienced chaos at the beginning of the season, the key players in the team and the future of the head coach will stay. It is also obscure, but at least so far, this pioneer team has shown strong combat effectiveness.

Their offense is the best in the league under the leadership of Ramsey, and their defense has begun to show great potential under the training of Bellman. They have begun to have their own superstars, and their bench has enough depth and energy.

No wonder many media are asserting that this season is likely to usher in a new "Blazers mania".

Of course, this team also has fatal flaws. Last year, on December 1985, 12, the Blazers ushered in the last opponent of the year, the San Antonio Spurs at home. They easily defeated the disintegration with 30:125. The Spurs.

But during the game, the commentary of CBS TV pointed out more than once, "If Alvin Robertson can come to the Trail Blazers, I bet this Trail Blazers will win at least two championships in the next five years."

Alvin Robertson, and Gan Guoyang’s 1984 golden generation, this season is the year when the golden generation of young people broke out in an all-round way, except that Jordan missed most of the games due to injuries (but he will burst out in the playoffs like a century) God's glory), other high-ranking rookies quickly became the mainstay of the team.

In November, Gan Guoyang dominated the NBA. In December, the title of Player of the Month belonged to the Spurs' No. 11 (this number has not yet become the Spurs' monument), the No. 12 pick Robertson, and the best thief.

Looking at his statistics for this season, the steals column, starting from the first game, are: 6 times, 7 times, 4 times, 2 times, 5 times, 3 times... Amazing stealing ability, as of So far, his average steals per game has reached a staggering 3.8 times, a notch ahead of everyone else.

In the game against the Trail Blazers, Robertson contributed 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and extremely comprehensive data, showing the potential of a great perimeter defender. More points, 23 points, but his rebounds are 2, steals and assists, all 0...

However, it is almost impossible for the Blazers to get Alvin Robertson. The Spurs will not be stupid enough to send away such a new star. Even if they want to send him away, they will throw him to the East instead of staying in the West trouble yourself.

There are young teams that grow and thrive, and there are old overlords that decline day by day. The Lakers and Celtics, the two Tyrannosaurus rex, seem to survive for a long time. The prehistoric monster of the Philadelphia 76ers is already crumbling. .

Charles Barkley's strength has become stronger again. At this time, Fatty Bark's habit of eating sweets and McDonald's Big Macs has not yet reached the point of insanity. In the summer, he can practice crazily at his alma mater, Auburn University, just as he brought Like practicing bouncing on a spiked wall, this guy with a naturally fat physique is shaping himself into an air tank.

In the second season, he also ushered in an explosion. He became the team's top rebounder, surpassing Moses Malone, and shared the pressure of Irving's aging in scoring. He averaged 20 points per game and was the second scorer. hand.

Although Barkley didn't want to admit it, in his heart, Gan Guoyang had always been his number one opponent. This slightly arrogant, but surprisingly strong yellow-skinned man, Barkley had a strong desire to kick him hard. butt.

But Barkley's growth can't make up for the overall decline of Irving, Cheeks, Bobby Jones-the entire 76ers' outside status, and their 83-year champion Andrew Tony. He has been reimbursed for the season due to injury. For the 76ers, it can be said to be worse.

Needless to say, I know that this 76ers has no way to dominate the Eastern Conference. The glory of 4 finals can no longer be reproduced. It is only a matter of time before the team falls apart.

However, this game is still exciting. As a revolutionary saying says, all "reactionaries" will not be willing to withdraw from the stage of history, and the 76ers will never give up the dignity of the former overlord easily. They still played 19 wins this season An excellent record of 10 losses and a 7-game winning streak before this game.

Well, the Blazers also won 7 consecutive victories, so after this game, there must be one team whose winning streak will stay at 7, and the other will continue.

Due to Andrew Tony's reimbursement, the 76ers' former chief substitute, Bobby Jones, became the team's starter.

Gan Guoyang didn't have a deep impression of this thin white player before. In the game a year ago, the No. 24 Jones did not have any outstanding performance. The 76ers also lost the game. Gan Guoyang just thought that this guy was very ghostly on the court. , can always appear in the right place.

But after the game, Gan Guoyang just felt that the most suitable place for this guy was the 76ers' bench, and he didn't like to see him standing on the court.

At the beginning of the game, everything was going in a direction that was beneficial to the Blazers. Gan Guoyang misplaced Charles Barkley in the first quarter and fouled him twice. Barkley complained to the referee while listening to Gan Guoyang Calling him "Little Fatty" in his ear, he almost got into a fight with Gan Guoyang because of his bad temper.

Without the assistance of Barkley, Moses Malone, the pressure on his shoulders increased sharply. Sampson and Gan Guoyang took turns to attack the inside. The Blazers made twice as many free throws as the 76ers in the first and second quarters. They also scored 62: 51 lead ended the first half.

In the second half, Barkley and Moses Malone, who returned to the court, joined forces and began to rush for offensive rebounds without interruption. Now it was the Blazers' turn to increase the pressure inside.

The pressure on the inside line is high, and the outside line must come to help. This gave the 76ers an outside opportunity to practice hitting mid-range jumpers, and the score is constantly approaching.

Among them, Bobby Jones made three of three shots. His shot selection is very cautious, and his pass is quite cunning. The defender dare not pounce easily. He doesn't know what kind of passing space is behind him.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Barkley grabbed the backcourt rebounds and made a fast break. After a successful dunk and a foul by Gan Guoyang, the 76ers tied the score and made an additional penalty. The 76ers took the lead.

The momentum was completely reversed, and the 76ers expanded their score advantage little by little. They used a 15:5 shock wave to stop the Blazers. The point difference was still 11 points, but the lead was replaced by the 76ers.

Of course, the Blazers at home will not give up. Gan Guoyang, who has been scolding Barkley from the first quarter to the fourth quarter, finally shut his mouth and started to grab points with all his strength.

This season, he has been able to use his own strength to eat Moses hard. When he rolled Moses from outside the three-second zone to the basket, and turned around and dunked the basket with both hands. When the basket was crumbling, the cheers of the Memorial Stadium reached its peak .

The combination of Kurt-Drexler-Cauci's outside black lightning set off a wave of Blazers' counterattack, and the 11-point difference was wiped out in 3 minutes. At this time, there was less than 1 minute left before the end of the game.

In a crucial attack, Ramsey still sent Vandeweghe. He had contributed 30 points, 3 rebounds, and a rare 4 steals. Of course, he still had no assists. Obviously, he is a reliable scoring machine. .

Sure enough, Vandeweghe made a feint with the ball and broke into the basket, and hit a small throw with his right hand from a distance of 8 feet. The Blazers overtook the 110ers 108:76, with only 35 seconds left in the game.

It's the 76ers' turn to attack. Julius Erving is 36 years old this year. His performance in this game is very average. He made 16 of 6 shots and a low shooting percentage. He can still dunk, but he can no longer fly.

Cunningham still chose Dr. J as the candidate for the key attack. He received the ball in the middle of the three-point line, and directly entered from the top of the arc with the cover of Moses Malone, but he really couldn't fly. The pointed basket was slapped by Gan Guoyang, and Gan Guoyang firmly controlled the ball, his fourth block of the game.

Everyone thought it was over, and the 76ers had to resort to foul tactics. Gan Guoyang went to the free throw line, and his free throw percentage was as high as 81%. As long as he made one of two free throws, the 76ers were basically finished. At that time, three points The ball hits an appallingly low percentage.

Just when Gan Guoyang was thinking about the 8-game winning streak, the ball in his hand suddenly disappeared.

A moment of slack will result in a fatal mistake. Gan Guoyang slackened. The only second he slacked off in the game, the ball in his hand was taken away by Bobby Jones.

After taking the ball, Jones quickly turned around and came to the basket to face the basket. Gan Guoyang reacted equally quickly. When he made a mistake, he immediately jumped up and blocked the shot, trying to make up for his mistake.

But Jones has rich experience. He used his left hand to make a reverse basket. No matter how long Gan Guoyang's arm was, he couldn't cover him. The ball scored, 110:110, a tie.

Bobby Jones made the fourth shot. He made four of four shots, every shot was so cautious, and every goal was so deadly.

Of course, the game is not over yet. The Blazers still have 6.9 seconds to make the final attack. If they fail to score, there will be overtime.

Unfortunately, Drexler missed the final layup, and Gan Guoyang didn't make a tip-up. In overtime, Moses Malone showed his power again. He kept making fouls at the basket, which eventually led to Gan Guoyang's sixth foul——Gan Guoyang before leaving the field Barkley also committed six offenses.

The 76ers also took advantage of 121:120, 1 point, and on January 1986, 1, one year later, they avenged the Blazers.

It's just that this game failed to change the trend of the two teams. The rise and fall of honor and disgrace cannot be determined in one game.