The Golden Age of Basketball

At this time, Gan Guoyang and the players of the Portland Trail Blazers have not realized the danger is coming. Perhaps only Gan Guoyang smells a little bit of danger.

After arriving in Indiana, the Trail Blazers suffered their first injury of the season. Buck Williams suffered a calf strain during pre-match training after the battle with his former team. The diagnosis was not confirmed until after arriving in Portland.

For an under-size inside player who has been in the NBA for many years, it is normal for the Blazers to be covered in injuries, and the intensity of the Blazers' team training is also very high. Driven by Gan Guoyang, the inside training The intensity may even exceed the regular game.

It's normal for Williams to be troubled by injuries. The Blazers' front line can be described as overcrowded. When a buck falls, there are still people behind.

Then, watching the news at the end of practice, everyone noticed Reggie Miller's proclamation, threatening to end the Blazers' winning streak in this game, and the Pacers have only won two games so far. .

At this time, Reggie Miller is just a second-year shooting guard. He can only be said to be well-known in the league. Because of his three-pointers, he is not yet in touch with stars, but he is only considered a potential rookie.

One of the Pacers' truly capable players is their outside star, "Rifleman" Chuck Payson, who is also an excellent marksman. He entered the league only a year earlier than Miller, but he is already a member of the Pacers number one star.

However, Miller was able to get the team's first three-pointer by his side, which is enough to show the level of Miller's shooting.

There is also their inside line, Huber Williams, a 6-foot-10 center, has been with the Pacers since entering the league, working hard, from a center who averaged 11 plus 7 per game, gradually improved to average 19 plus 9 per game, It can be said to be one step at a time, but this season, his state has begun to decline. With the Pacers' poor record, he has also begun to be involved in trade messages.

For these two people, Gan Guoyang is not too worried. On the contrary, for Reggie Miller, who is currently an unknown guy, Gan Guoyang knows that he has amazing explosive power.

"You seem a little worried, Gan." Before the start of the game, when the team came to the stadium for training, assistant coach Behrman noticed that when Gan Guoyang practiced three-pointers, he missed five shots in a row, and the rhythm of his shots became more and more serious. The more chaotic, this is a manifestation of Gan Guoyang's concern.

"Yes, I am indeed a little worried. In fact, everyone is worried, worried, when will we lose the first game, this day will always come, but everyone is staring at us, waiting It is really tiring to look forward to that day, and we are trying our best to avoid it." Gan Guoyang put away the ball and said to Behrman.

Judging from the last game, the Blazers players are still in a very good state. Most of their victories are relatively easy, and there are very few games that fight to the last moment. However, everyone's pressure is increasing.

When Buck Williams was injured, Jerome Cosey even said to Williams: "I really envy you, you are injured at this time."

"Are you worried about Reggie? I remember when you were in the high school finals, you were also worried. What are you afraid of him?" Behrman recalled the finals eight years ago. "I'm not afraid, I'm just... I just feel different from others. Reggie is indeed special, but he doesn't make me afraid. In fact, I am more worried about the state of the entire team, Buck's injury The impact on us may be greater than we imagined. I worry whether Avidas will be able to take on the heavy responsibility of starting, he looks a little too nervous."

For the current Gan Guoyang, although Reggie Miller's future fame will make him a little worried, but as a mature NBA player, he is no longer that high school student. He knows that it is not Reggie who can stop the Blazers -Miller, but the Blazers themselves.

After Buck Williams was injured, Adelman discussed with the coaching staff and decided to push Sabonis to the starting position. This is the ideal starting lineup that Adelman has always envisioned, and it is also the request made by Gan Guoyang.

Originally Adelman was still hesitating how to get Buck Williams, who played very well, back to the bench, but now, Williams' injury gave Sabonis a chance.

Moreover, according to the current news in the press, Gorbachev's visit to the United States is imminent, and the Trail Blazers will soon have a game that will be selected as an observation match for the top leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union. Paying more attention, Adelman just took this opportunity to let Sabonis adapt to the starting position.

As the core player of the team, Gan Guoyang himself recommended Sabonis to start. However, Gan Guoyang’s original idea was to let Sabonis start and play more than 20 minutes per game. Let Williams be the sixth man. The time will be longer.

Because Gan Guoyang believes that the defensive pressure is low at the beginning of the game, and Sabonis' support and passing will be able to be used to enhance the current Blazers' relatively weak offensive position and enrich the team's tactical level.

And when the game is going to be tough, Williams, as a strong defensive and experienced veteran, is on the court with Gan Guoyang, so he can better control the situation. Williams is obviously more reliable than Sabonis at critical moments.

This kind of rotation strategy is also approved by Adelman. Sabonis's introduction of the starting lineup can make the Blazers' bench deeper and the personnel rotation more diverse. It not only gives Sabonis the opportunity to exercise, but also allows Williams to reposition himself. , to find a more suitable position for him.

This idea fell through with Williams' injury, and now Sabonis must be kicked out of the ducks and directly put on the starting position.

Before the game, Gan Guoyang also had a conversation with Sabonis. The two talked about their views on the team's tactics. Sabonis seemed to be a little confused about how he could play a better role in the starting position. The requirements are still very different from the substitute players.

The most important thing for a starting player to play is "stability". When both sides are on the same starting line, whoever makes a mistake first will often be beaten. How to compete and control the rhythm of the field requires rich experience or talent.

When a substitute player enters the court, the situation on the field is often already open, either deadlocked, leading by a large score, or falling behind all the way, so the most important thing for a substitute to enter the court is to "change", to have the ability to change the current situation on the court, Therefore, excellent substitute players are either energetic young players who are good at stirring up the situation to bring about variables; or they are experienced veterans who know how to read the situation on the court to understand the coach's intentions and bring about the changes they deserve.

As a rookie in the NBA, Sabonis is characterized by change. Every time he plays, he can always bring changes to the Blazers' offense, especially with the attribute of liberating Gan Guoyang, so that Gan Guoyang can let go of his hands and firepower, and every time he will let the opponent caught off guard.

However, now he is going to be the starter and lacks pre-match transition training, which really makes him a little uncomfortable.

Adelman originally considered letting Duckworth start, but Duckworth overlaps with Gan Guoyang in terms of functions, and it is impossible to let Gan Guoyang sit on the bench. Anyway, he will train Sabonis in the future. gave him this opportunity.

………………

Before the start of the game, Gan Guoyang tried to say hello to Miller. As a result, this guy had a good relationship with Gan Guoyang on weekdays. When he came to the field, he began to ignore Gan Guoyang. Gan Guoyang also understood Miller's feelings. After Le snatched a championship from Gan Guoyang, Gan Guoyang didn't make Miller feel good.

Thinking of Miller who was able to give Gan Guoyang a fatal blow in the high school field back then, it seems that the gap between him and Gan Guoyang is getting wider and wider. Not to mention entering the NBA three years late, the two are now in the league. Don't.

Gan Guoyang is a hot superstar, and Miller is just a potential new star in people's eyes. It is a question of how many years he can stay in the NBA.

The trend after the start of the game was just as people expected. The Blazers had the advantage from the very beginning. Gan Guoyang was merciless in the inside offense. However, Sabonis did not play his due characteristics. Duan always made fouls. Only 5 minutes into the first quarter, Sabonis fouled twice and was replaced.

The performance of Sabonis disrupted the pace of the Blazers, but the Blazers still relied on their strong strength to maintain a large lead. Drexler had the upper hand in the matchup with Miller, and the thin Miller was no match for the strong, fast Drexler.

However, when the two sides entered the substitute rotation, the situation on the court changed. It was not Reggie Miller that Gan Guoyang expected to change the situation on the court tonight, but the sixth man of the Pacers, Wayman Disdale. .

As the No. 1985 pick in [-], Wiman Disdale, who was selected after Ewing, did not become the Pacers' natural choice in Indiana. His greatest achievement in the future was not basketball, but music.

But tonight, Diesdale, a 6-foot-9 power forward, played his value. As a substitute sixth man, he overwhelmed the Blazers inside, constantly causing fouls and free throws inside the Blazers.

Without Buck Williams, Kenny Johnson, who replaced him, could not restrain Disdell at all. Gan Guoyang shouldered even heavier responsibilities, and it was impossible for the opponent to rely on him to block every firepower point that appeared.

The Pacers slowly reversed the unfavorable situation with Disdale's display of power, and "Rifleman" Payson's big-mouthed trash talk also began to play a role. His babble of trash talk in defense finally angered Drexler. In an attack, he elbowed Person, and then he was called a flagrant foul and was ejected by the referee.

The morale of the Trail Blazers, who lost their generals in a row, was severely hit. They could only rely on Gan Guoyang, who scored 41 points and 11 rebounds in the game, to support him.

In the fourth quarter, after the Pacers overtook the score by four points, Gan Guoyang chased the score to only one point with a difficult three-pointer from the outside. This was the only three-pointer he made in the game , is also his 41st point.

But then, Reggie Miller immediately fought back, and he also hit a three-pointer. This was also the only three-pointer Miller made in the game. This was only the 11th goal Miller got point.

There was a huge gap between 41 points and 11 points, but Miller used an "answer-ball" to extinguish the flames of the Blazers' counterattack and gave the Blazers their first defeat of the season.