The Golden Age of Basketball

For Reggie Miller, it is already a miracle that he can enter the NBA.

Reggie Miller, who was born in a family of athletes, has a great sister - Sheryl Miller, a basketball superwoman who once scored 105 points in the game, and a player who was selected for the national team at the age of 16 Teenage prodigy.

But Reggie Miller is a skinny kid with congenital hip disease. He even needed a brace to help him walk when he was a child. I'll die.

Finally one day, as a boy, he was able to beat his sister on the court in his backyard. He also had a higher goal of his own. In California, which is full of talents, he wanted to stand out and become the best one.

Of course, people who met Reggie Miller for the first time did not believe that this skinny and stick-like kid could become a great player. After entering high school, Miller's original idea was to follow his brother. , engaged in baseball, but his too thin frame prevented him from throwing fast enough pitches, and eventually the baseball team's coach rejected him.

Therefore, Reggie Miller chose basketball as his most important sport. The dream he pursued all his life will be pinned on this small ball.

His first high school honors came quickly, leading his team all the way to the finals in the famous Cal Smash Bros., representing Southern California and qualifying for the championship game in Los Angeles.

Until after entering the NBA, that high school final was one of the best memories of Miller's basketball career, perhaps second only to being selected by the Indiana Pacers in the 1987 draft -- oh, no, after being selected by the Indiana Pacers. The moment the Pacers drafted him, the question on Miller's mind was, "Where the hell am I going?"

In that final, Miller hit a deadly mid-distance quasi-lore. In the end, with this goal, his team killed the rival Palo Alto Vikings' championship dream, and also killed Gan Guoyang's dream. The first championship dream.

Miller didn't realize the seriousness of the problem at the time, he was just immersed in great joy, and he hoped that in the days to come, he could relive this joy again and again, which is what all basketball lovers long for of.

Therefore, he didn't notice the Chinese player who received a lot of attention before the game, the No. 11, he is indeed very talented, the Vikings completely developed tactics around him, and his maturity on both ends of the offense and defense surpassed that of a high school student The level it should be, not to mention that he is still yellow-skinned.

But his teammates are really too average. In the overall competition, Miller's team had the upper hand, but the tenacious No. 11 still dragged the game into the final moment. The long shot he practiced finally played a role. He ran out of the corner, caught the ball at a distance of 18 feet and made a jump shot.

After the game, through the post-match report, Miller found out that the number 11’s name is “sunny-gump” and his Chinese name is “guo-yang, gan” and he is not an idiot with “gump” printed on the back of his clothes the meaning of.

Of course he is not an idiot, and then Gan Guoyang was admitted to UCLA, which Miller dreamed of, and became the successor of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wharton. This made Miller mad with jealousy. After he learned the news, he practiced crazily in the arena Long shot, he wants to allow himself to join UCLA.

In fact, at that time, Miller still had some small longings in the interior, looking forward to cooperating with this outstanding interior player in UCLA, competing with him in the NCAA arena, and recreating the glory of UCLA.

However, soon, Gan Guoyang fell out with UCLA, filed an application for withdrawal, and finally joined Gonzaga University. The news shocked Miller again. Like many people in the college basketball circle, he couldn't believe his eyes and ears. , There is actually a center who gave up going to UCLA.

The illusion of Miller and Gan Guoyang's cooperation in the NCAA was also shattered. This shattering seems to be a portrayal of his entire basketball career.

However, as a fighter, Miller still insisted on his dream. He once again joined UCLA without being seen, where he finally understood why Gan Guoyang couldn't stay, because the incompetent and stubborn Larry - Coach Farmer.

During Miller's freshman year, his talent was underappreciated. Finally, when Gonzaga University visited, he got the space to play and proved that he can be the core of this team.

But that game belonged to Gan Guoyang, Gan Guoyang's revenge, and Gan Guoyang's anger. He destroyed UCLA in the most familiar way for UCLA people, and then walked away, leaving only scars and regrets for the past. Does not belong to him.

Since then, Miller has gradually become the backbone here. This thin guard who has never been favored by others, uses his persistence and toughness to carry UCLA forward.

Of course, for UCLA, the blow came quickly. In the 1984 NCAA competition, Gan Guoyang led the Gonzaga Bulldogs all the way through and won the NCAA championship trophy with a brilliant record of victory in the season. In the history of NCAA Leave a strong stroke.

And UCLA, where Miller is located, did not even qualify for the national competition in the next three years, let alone win the championship.

Finally, in the last year of Miller University, that is, in 1987, the senior Reggie Miller burst out his greatest energy in the university, leading UCLA to the national competition and passing the first round.

In that season, Miller averaged 22 points per game and was UCLA's scoring leader. His assistant was just a player who averaged 10 points per game. This is such a team. He also led them to beat Central Michigan University in the second round Lost to the University of Wyoming.

This kind of result is already the best result of UCLA, which has been in a trough in recent years, but UCLA people are not satisfied, not only because of their glorious history in the past, but also because of the guy who came and left, bringing great benefits to the remote, uninhabited After an NCAA championship, the Gonzaga, who has no background, has already begun to pursue another championship for the Oregonians in the NBA.

And for them, the second round was already the greatest consolation, which may also be the greatest irony.

In any case, Miller has tried his best. It is not easy for a shooting guard who has been criticized for only catching and jumping for four years to come to this point at UCLA. Perhaps it is this tenacity and tenacity that moved him Hoosier, the home of the corn, selected the skinny linebacker from California, and neither side knew what a long and great partnership it would be.

At least in 1987, the two sides were unexpected. In that year, Miller was just a backup guard who averaged 10 points per game. His shooting posture was very strange, he liked to run endlessly on the field, and his shooting was also very accurate. In his rookie season, he unexpectedly made the most three-pointers on the team, 61, more than the team's leading scorer Chuck Payson.

In that year, Gan Guoyang, who had just returned from injury, became the most powerful center in the NBA, destroying the inside of every team. Compared with him, Miller was nothing to mention.

In the two games against the Pacers, the vengeful Gan Guoyang still didn't seem to have forgotten Miller. He transferred his "hatred" towards Miller to the Pacers. Land and Pacers coach George Irving said, "Put that No. 31 on! Put him on...I want to talk to him!"

Every time Gan Guoyang makes a goal, he has to chat with George Irving on the sidelines. After that, Irving finally replaced Miller on the court. As a result, Gan Guoyang got two caps and was locked up by Drexler. , The audience scored no points.

Like Gan Guoyang, Miller is also a vengeful person. He has never forgotten Gan Guoyang's humiliation to him on the court, which made him train hard during the offseason.

But off the court, the relationship between Miller and Gan Guoyang is not so bad. In the summer, Gan Guoyang even invited Miller to train together. The two sparred each other in the gym while shooting three-pointers. Miller's three-pointers are naturally skilled. One-up, but Gan Guoyang's three-pointer was not far behind.

And with the help or stimulation of Gan Guoyang, Miller's skills have also grown rapidly. After the start of the new season, Miller has grown into the No. 40.00 scorer in the Pacers team, and his three-point shooting rate has reached an astonishing [-]%, becoming a typical representative of the long range of shooting guards in the new era.

However, the record of the Pacers did not improve. After the start of the new season, they suffered an embarrassing nine-game losing streak. The team also chose to change coaches. They won the first place in the season against the Bucks on November 11. win.

Before sitting at home and waiting for the Trail Blazers to attack, they only won two games in total. No one was optimistic that they could stop the Portland Trail Blazers rolling over, not to mention the Trail Blazers and Gan Guoyang. Let him be tortured, to vent the hatred in his heart eight years ago.

"What do you think of the next game, Reggie, the Trail Blazers are about to attack, so far no one can stop them, can the Pacers?" Miller was asked by reporters when he was interviewed by reporters at the end of pre-game training.

"Oh, the game hasn't started yet, so our score is zero to zero. It's too early to say anything, but I still have to say something. We can definitely end the Blazers' winning streak at home, I swear, must."