The Golden Age of Basketball

On January 1986, 1, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA's space shuttle "Challenger" exploded in the air and fell into the sea 28 seconds after liftoff.

On the same night, at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Stadium in Phoenix, before the NBA regular season game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Suns, players from both sides observed a moment of silence for the martyred astronauts of the Challenger in the opening ceremony.

In this game, Gan Guoyang and Vandeweghe scored 75 points together, more than half of the team's total points, and helped the Blazers beat the Suns 133:126.

The Trail Blazers' record has added another win to 39 wins and 9 losses. After defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in early January, the Blazers only lost one away game to the Bucks. In the subsequent games, plus In the game against the Suns, they achieved an impressive 8-game winning streak.

Although the strength of the opponents is not strong, they are all Cavaliers, Kings, Pacers and the like, but for a strong team in the nba, how to stably kill a weak team is also a learning.

The Blazers' method is very simple, which is to use strong firepower to kill the opponent. Just like in this game against the Suns, Gan Guoyang and Vandeweghe's internal and external offensive combination, coupled with Drexler, Sampson, Paxson, etc. Group grabbing masters, their attack power is too strong.

And the only game they lost in January was facing the old nemesis Milwaukee Bucks. The Blazers' offense was greatly curbed, and they only scored 89 points in the game, far below the season average.

But in any case, the continuous victories made the whole team happy. In the locker room after the game, Gan Guoyang kept making fun of Drexler, because Drexler had a "triple double" in this game , 14 points and 10 assists, plus 10 turnovers.

"Interview with our triple-double little prince. May I ask how you got the triple-double for the 25th time in your career today. How do you feel? I hope you can share with us..."

"Damn, Gan, put your mineral water bottle away, don't use it as a microphone, and when did I get 25 triple-doubles?"

"If you count your playing time, I believe you should have more than 25 triple-doubles, hahaha!"

"…………"

Victory is so sweet, any mean jokes will look cute at this time, but for any player, the sweetest victory is always in the next game.

"Okay, pack up the boys and get ready to fly to Indiana." Ramsey reminded the players.

The game between the Trail Blazers and the Indiana Pacers was originally supposed to be played on January [-], but due to a fire in the arena in Indianapolis that day, the game between the Trail Blazers and the Pacers was canceled and postponed to the end of January conduct.

"I really don't understand how the league arranges games. Why didn't they arrange make-up games until the end of the season? Now they want us to play back-to-back away games! How many fucking games have we played? This is simply abuse, abuse! "

An hour later, the Trail Blazers were already on the plane to Indiana. Gan Guoyang, who was sitting in the front row, complained a few words. They had just finished the game and they were going to take the evening flight to Indiana immediately. There will be a game in the evening, and after the game, I have to go back to Portland immediately and take a rest to prepare to play the Lakers. The schedule is really very tight.

And the Blazers have played 48 games so far, and after playing tomorrow's game, it will be 49 games. It is the team that played the most games in the league at the same time. The Celtics only played 41 games in the same period, and the Lakers only played 43 games. , No wonder Gan Guoyang complained.

"Maybe they think we have won too many games and they want to cool us down!" said Jim Paxson, who was sitting next to Gan Guoyang.

"You don't have to go to Indiana to cool down. It's better to go back to Portland and take a cold shower. I really need to relax. Of course, I mean mentally. This kind of schedule is really unbearable." The thought of playing the Lakers again the day after tomorrow , Gan Guoyang had a headache.

"Maybe we can really relax~ You know, the ncaa game is in full swing. When we get to Indiana, we can go and watch the games of those little boys." Paxson suggested.

The vast majority of nba players have graduated from college. For them, going to college games during the season is a good way to relax. They can also observe those rising stars who are well-known in the United States-they may become strong players in the nba in the future You can also recall your college years.

"If I can, I'd rather go back to Portland, go back to Gonzaga to watch the game, and meet Chris by the way."

"Gonzaga besides you and Stockton, I really don't know who else can watch the game? They are destined not to enter the national competition this year. Indiana's game is different. There will be a superstar coming to the game the day after tomorrow. Right here at Notre Dame, my brother gave me tickets," Jim Paxson said.

Jim Paxson's older brother also plays in the NBA. He is now the Bulls' shooting guard John Paxson, an important helper for Jordan in the future. John Paxson graduated from the University of Notre Dame. Getting a few game tickets couldn't be easier .

"Rising stars? I don't care about these guys now... Also, when did we get along so well, Jim? Go to college basketball games together?" Gan Guoyang suddenly asked Jim Paxson. The relationship between the two had been normal in the past, because Dre Kesler relationship.

Especially in the Western Conference semifinals last season, Gan Guoyang wanted to beat this guy several times.

After the new season, Paxson seemed to accept his position as a substitute, and he seemed to feel guilty about Ramsey. No matter how panicked the team was at the beginning of the season, Paxson maintained his own stability.

After Ramsey regained his role, Paxson became a reliable and stable scoring point on the bench, and when Drexler was unable to start, he could always top the Blazers' starting shooting guard position.

"Uh... I think we should have a better relationship, shouldn't we, Gan?" Paxson said after listening to Gan Guoyang's words, after a pause.

"Well, yes, I am happy to maintain a good relationship with everyone." Gan Guoyang nodded.

In his rookie season, Gan Guoyang wanted to be the boss, but even if he defeated Sampson in a one-on-one duel, he couldn't do it, because he was not qualified.

As Gan Guoyang has made a name for himself in the league with his performance, especially this season's MVP-level performance, the players in the team will automatically move closer to him.

This world is like this, when you have enough abilities, you will have enough relationships, your own level is a strong bond to maintain relationships, and trying to strengthen yourself with the help of relationships is often a castle in the air, this is even more naked in the Vanity Fair of the nba Some.

"Which two teams are playing? I haven't heard of any famous new stars recently." Gan Guoyang said this because he is "ignorant". Every year, a bunch of super new stars emerge in the American basketball world.

But Gan Guoyang also has his reasons for saying this, because from his later experience, since Patrick Ewing's draft in 1985, until the 90s, the University of Maryland in China, to the away game to the University of Notre Dame, the inter-regional challenge . "

………………

On Jan. 1, at the Indiana Town Square Arena, the Trail Blazers and Pacers played the game that was postponed due to a small fire, and the venue quickly returned to normal within two days.

The Pacers' record this season is still terrible. In the draft, they got the second pick after the New York Knicks, but they also missed Ewing because of this.

But there were many other high-quality rookies in the 85th draft, such as Mullin, Malone, Oakley, Joe Dumars, but the Pacers "smartly" avoided these players and chose Tisdale-a A forward whose musical accomplishments outshone his basketball accomplishments.

Tisdale's strength is actually not bad, but as an insider, his biggest problem is "under-size". He signed up for 6 feet 9, but in fact he is only about 6 and 7. The height of a small forward beats Power Forward.

You know, not every Humpty Dumpty can be Charles Barkley.

The biggest problem with the under-size inside is that the defensive end has no way to provide more energy, and it is more likely to become the biggest loophole in the inside defense.

The Blazers seized this loophole and stormed the power forward point.

Trail Blazers veteran Mitchell Sampson's statistics have declined severely this season, and his scoring average has dropped below 15 points per game. In addition to Gan Guoyang's increased strength to occupy more shooting space, his own decline in strength is also the main factor.

But in this game, Mitchell Sampson played Tisdale with no temper on the offensive end. As long as Tisdale defended alone, Sampson hit one shot and scored in the fourth quarter. Hit the key ball at the critical moment.

Originally, the Blazers lacked physical strength and traveled long distances in away games, so the game was very anxious.

It was relying on Sampson's goal at the critical moment, and the Blazers gritted their teeth and defended the last minute, that they kept the four-point advantage, defeated the Pacers 1:105, and changed the record to 101 wins and 40 losses. Maintaining the No. 9 position in the Western Conference is only slightly worse than the Celtics in the entire league.

Since the game was held in the afternoon, Gan Guoyang immediately ran to Notre Dame with Paxson and Colter after the game, and went to the University of Notre Dame to wait for the game between the University of Maryland and the University of Notre Dame.

"Hey Paxson, you still haven't told me, who the hell is this guy who deserves us to run all the way to watch these kids play?"

"Horse! (horse!)" Paxson said.

"Horse?" Gan Guoyang asked strangely.

"I know, horse, Len Bias." Colter, who was traveling with him, interjected.