The Golden Age of Basketball

The Trail Blazers' big victory in Los Angeles brought their winning streak to 8 games. Only the Detroit Pistons in the league, like the Trail Blazers, were undefeated in the first eight games.

Of course, soon, only the Trail Blazers were left undefeated since the start of the league. The Pistons lost to the Houston Rockets in the next game, ending their eight-game winning streak.

This also made the Blazers a target of public criticism in the league. Whenever a team encounters the Blazers, they are thinking about defeating the Blazers with all their strength and breaking the Blazers' undefeated golden stature.

After the eight-game winning streak, the Blazers left Los Angeles and returned to Portland. The New Jersey Nets challenged the Blazers away on November 11. This was the only game on the 20th.

The only thing to watch in this game is that Buck Williams faced his former owner for the first time in the new season. Sabonis, who performed well in the last game, did not get too many performance opportunities because Williams broke out against the Nets With great energy, he scored 16 points and 16 rebounds in double 15 plus data, monopolizing rebounds with Gan Guoyang.

Jerome Cosey also broke out in this game. He and Drexler formed a fast-break duo, and the two scored 50 points together. Therefore, Gan Guoyang ended up leisurely in this game. He made a few piecemeal shots and won Scored 15 points and 14 rebounds, and ended the fourth quarter early to rest.

With nine consecutive victories, the Blazers' momentum at the start of the season has reached a small peak.

However, Gan Guoyang and his teammates know that for a team, as the winning streak continues to increase, the psychological pressure will also increase.

On the 22nd, the Blazers flew to Seattle to challenge the Supersonics. The Supersonics lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals in 987 and failed to hit the finals. They sent Tom Chambers away during the offseason and completely entered the rebuilding period.

But the Sonics, which entered the rebuilding period, selected a potential rookie with the fifth pick in the 1987 draft, Scottie Pippen, but they sent him to the Chicago Bulls.

In 1988, they only got a No. 16 pick, and won a mediocre player like Gray Grant, who didn't even have a chance to sit on the bench after the start of the new season.

But it was just such a supersonic speed that made the Blazers suffer at home. Cauchy, who had been in a hurry in the last game, was blocked by "x-man" McDaniel in this game, and the whole game did not perform well.

The shooting touch of outside players is even more messy. After all, they have played steadily for 9 games, and it is normal to have a fluctuation.

This is a pain for Gan Guoyang, Adelman still wants to ensure the team's winning streak, and Gan Guoyang doesn't want the winning streak to end at 9 games, so Gan Guoyang, who had rested for more than ten minutes in each game before, took a total rest in this game He played 2 minutes and played 46 minutes. He made 31 of 17 shots and 12 of 8 free throws. He scored 42 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in the Sonics without Jack Sikma.

Throughout the game, the Blazers had 20 more rebounds than the Sonics, but after the game, the Blazers only won by five points against the Sonics. The two sides fought until the last minute of the game. Points and key backcourt rebounds sealed the victory.

After the game, the focus of the interview was on Gan Guoyang again. Sabonis, who received media attention in the game, performed mediocre in this game, because the team's offensive feeling was not good, and Sabonis' passing and support could not change the outside line. In the middle of the situation, only superstars stand up to solve the battle at this time.

In terms of his attitude towards the media, Gan Guoyang has not changed much from the past, and generally still maintains his distaste for the media. Sometimes he likes to moles reporters from time to time, and sometimes he speaks very seriously. Anyway, he just doesn’t let those who hold pens People have traces to follow.

At the reception, Gan Guoyang "seriously" believed that the Supersonics would be the Blazers' strongest competitor in the Western Conference this season, because after ten games, the difference between the Blazers and the Supersonics was the smallest.

After finishing the game with the "Most Competitor in the Western Conference", the Blazers quickly returned to Portland, and the Houston Rockets will be their next opponent.

………………

Since Seattle is not far from Portland, the Trail Blazers returned to Portland the night after the game against the Sonics.

Because the game against the Rockets will be played in two days, Adelman gave the whole team a vacation, and the players took a good rest. Winning ten consecutive games is not a small burden, and everyone should relax .

On the day of the 25th game, the Houston Rockets flew from Salt Lake City to Portland with a loss. Olajuwon scored 31 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocks in that game, but still failed to bring the Rockets a victory.

Before the start of the game, Gan Guoyang called the hotel where the Rockets were staying and invited Olajuwon, Thorpe, and Drexler to the hotel for lunch.

This is the first time Gan Guoyang met Olajuwon in the new season. During the offseason, the two were still honing their skills at the University of Houston. Gan Guoyang felt that the aura on Olajuwon was gradually being honed into hostility .

This amazingly talented and fiery inside talent, after experiencing the unhappiness with Ralph Sampson and the team's decline due to drug prohibition, his temper became more and more bad. His basketball technical requirements have reached a harsh point.

Gan Guoyang still remembers that in the summer, he often finely polished his footsteps under the basket alone in the training hall, like a paranoid craftsman repeatedly sharpening the sword in his hand.

Gan Guoyang thinks that he has already achieved a great deal in technology, and gradually reached the peak in the use of offensive and defensive skills and control of the game. However, purely in terms of the delicate level of inside skills, Gan Guoyang thinks that he cannot reach the level of Olajuwon.

However, Gan Guoyang felt that Olajuwon was on a wrong path. He did not behave like a leader, but like a reckless child king.

It's just that he also knows that Olajuwon will have his own brilliance in the future and will walk on his own path of maturity. As his opponent, he doesn't need to correct him at will.

Thorpe, on the other hand, became Olajuwon's good partner after being traded to the Rockets, and grew up with Olajuwon. Unfortunately, he can't fill Sampson's vacancy.

Gan Guoyang once suggested that the management should best recruit Thorpe to the team to partner with him, but after the Blazers tried to ask the price, the Sacramento people were not interested in the Blazers’ bargaining chips. Now the Blazers have Buck Williams, Gan Guoyang and Thorpe probably missed out on becoming teammates.

The four of them just sat in the restaurant and slowly enjoyed the delicious food in Portland. Three rookies in 84 and two students from the University of Houston recalled some interesting past events, but kept silent about the future. Never thought of playing together, Gan Guoyang will always be Olajuwon's number one target, and Gan Guoyang also regards Olajuwon as the strongest competitor at the center position.

It’s just that in comparison, Gan Guoyang and Drexler are full of vigor, while Olajuwon has such a gloomy face, the four of them chatted and chatted unconsciously about Colter, Gan Guoyang suddenly remembered I was caught by accident for dissuading Colter from buying drugs.

As soon as drugs were mentioned, Olajuwon suddenly became a little excited, put the tableware on the table and said: "At that time, many people in the league were taking drugs, and the source of all drug taking incidents was in Bias, but in the end it was us. The Rockets lost the most! If it weren't for this, Sampson wouldn't be injured so badly, and we wouldn't have played so badly in 88!"

In 1986, Bias, who was ranked second in the list, was sent to the hospital because of drug abuse, and was finally rescued. He was also suspended by the league and triggered a major league-wide investigation on drugs.

As a result, in the 1987-1988 season, the two generals of the Houston Rockets, Lloyd and Mitchell Wiggins, were severely punished for the entire season. Increased and frequent injuries, and finally the Twin Towers Rockets that eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers in 1986 disintegrated.

Whenever this matter is mentioned, Olajuwon is out of breath. He always believes that the league is targeting the Rockets and wants the Lakers to dominate the West.

"Don't be like this, Akeem, even if they do this, the Lakers will never want to dominate the West again, their rule is over." Gan Guoyang said.

"Yes, you beat the Lakers, but don't forget, you haven't beaten the Lakers in the playoffs, but we have done it. Just like in the East, if you don't beat the Celtics, you can't enter the finals. The Pistons did it."

Olajuwon's words also stimulated Gan Guoyang. Indeed, the Blazers died at the hands of the Lakers in the two playoffs. It is the biggest opponent of the Blazers, because there is really no threat from other teams in the West.

After lunch, the four of them went back to the training hall for training, preparing for tonight's game.

In the past, the game between the Blazers and the Rockets and Gan Guoyang's fight against the Twin Towers have always been the biggest gimmicks. Now, with Sampson injured and leaving, the theme of the game has become "34vs11".

It's a pity that tonight's game disappointed all the audience who were eagerly looking forward to Gan Guoyang and Olajuwon's collision with Mars.

In this field, the Blazers implemented the tactics of harassment and double-teaming in advance by the fake zone defense from the beginning, which completely disrupted Olajuwon's offensive rhythm, and he couldn't even catch the ball.

What the Rockets used to be proud of is not only the twin towers, but also the tall and strong outside players, who can provide powerful help to the inside at any time. Now, except for McGregor, everyone else is walking, declining, and never returning. Peak condition.

In the one-on-one dialogue between Gan Guoyang and Olajuwon on the offensive end, he kept silent at first, and then completely let go after Sabonis came up, using Sabonis as a cover, and hit four consecutive mid-range shots at the top of the arc. , He also hit seven mid-range jumpers for the first time in the whole game, and he killed Olajuwon alive.

94:122, the Blazers beat the Rockets at home. Olajuwon only scored 10 points and 4 rebounds. Compared with Gan Guoyang's 20 points and 13 rebounds, the gap was obvious.

After the game, Olajuwon left the field early, leaving only a lonely back to the audience, while on the other side, Gan Guoyang greeted the cheers of the audience with open arms.

The era of big dreams is far from coming.