The Golden Age of Basketball

The news of Gorbachev's visit to the United States quickly occupied the main pages of major TV, radio, and newspaper media in the United States, and Gorbachev's decision to go to Portland to watch a Trail Blazers game also made the entire The city of Portland is busy.

Although the police and security departments in Portland had been notified and made preparations long before Gorbachev’s arrival, whether Gorbachev came to Portland to watch the game and when he would come was unknown. Not really sure, and no one expected Gorbachev to go to Portland for an NBA game so soon.

However, many commentators also analyzed that the reason why Gorbachev was going to Portland to watch Sabonis's Trail Blazers game so soon also contained deep meaning.

At this time, the Soviet Union was troubled internally and externally. Gorbachev was eager to open up the situation diplomatically. After he came to power, he carried out a "peaceful offensive" in foreign policy, and took the initiative to build good relations with Europe, the United States, and China to alleviate domestic conflicts. pressure.

Therefore, one of the important purposes of Gorbachev's visit to the United States was to ease the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. With the new president of the United States just taking office, Gorbachev's visit to the United States carried more friendly meanings.

Because of this, Sabonis, who was unable to enter the NBA due to the rigid relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, is now able to successfully enter the most important basketball league in the United States. This is undoubtedly an important symbol of the easing of relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, and has strong political significance— —Although the real reason for Sabonis to come to the United States is Gan Guoyang, but no one will pay attention to these details at this time.

The presence of Gorbachev made the whole of Portland feel like an enemy. On the night of December 12, all police leave in the entire Portland city was cancelled, and the security work was carried out quickly and silently.

For the Trail Blazers, there is not much difference. The opponent they will face tomorrow is the Los Angeles Clippers, which is not particularly strong. For Gorbachev watching the scene, the team has also received notice from the league. The pioneer's plan for this is simple-to respond to all changes with the same.

Indeed, as long as the Blazers play well at home with the strength of the Blazers, there is no reason to be afraid of the Clippers. Moreover, Gorbachev's visit does not mean that the Blazers must win. Adelman's requirements for the players It means "playing the game seriously, no different from usual."

The only one with some pressure may be Sabonis, but Sabonis is actually Lithuanian in terms of nationality. At that time, the ethnic conflicts in the Soviet Union became increasingly acute, and the foundation of the national union had been shaken.

As an athlete, Sabonis did not think so much. Now he is also a player of the Soviet Union. He has just won great international honors for the Soviet Union. Now that the top leader of the country is going to watch the game of his team, he must be excited and nervous. of.

Before the game, Adelman still put Sabonis in the starting position. Adelman also withstood the pressure from many parties, including the team manager and owner. They all had some doubts about Sabonis' ability. The surprise has been forgotten by them.

"Come on, Avidas, I bet not only the head of the map is watching you tonight, but the whole Soviet Union, the whole of Europe and even the audience around the world will be watching you, show your strength as the best player in Europe! Yes!" In the player channel in front of the field, Gan Guoyang grabbed Sabonis' head firmly, shaking his head while talking to him.

After finishing speaking, Gan Guoyang punched Sabonis's thick chest hard, and then under his leadership, the Blazers players entered the field.

Compared with the games of all previous nights, there are significantly more police and arena security personnel at the game site tonight, and there are also many FBI agents among the audience to ensure safety. Before the game last night, the entire arena Every corner was scoured by the hounds of the riot police to make sure there were no explosives.

After all, the leaders of the two strongest and largest countries in the world are going to watch the game live. If something goes wrong, it will be really, really big.

Not only Gorbachev and Reagan came to watch the game tonight, but NBA president David Stern also came to the scene. He knew that this was a great opportunity to take the opportunity to promote the NBA. National leaders like this There are not many opportunities for free advertising.

Apart from these, there is not much difference between this game and other games of the Trail Blazers. It is still the same formula and the same taste.

Sabonis started under a lot of pressure, but tonight he was under a lot less pressure on the defensive end because he was facing the Celtics in the past. In the Clippers, he became the starting center, which is enough to show how bad the Clippers' inside line is.

Another Clippers player is an old friend of Sabonis, a power forward who met in the Olympics, and this year's No. [-] pick, Danny Manning.

Manning, who is the number one pick, has performed well since entering the NBA. He has shown outstanding talent in the interior, flexible footwork, and spiritual offensive skills, giving the Clippers hope.

However, Manning tonight was quite miserable. First, Sabonis, as an opponent who defeated him in the Olympics, had a psychological advantage. At that time, the inside line composed of Manning and David Robinson had no Being able to take advantage of it, unexpectedly lost the game.

The second is that the player Manning will face tonight is Gan Guoyang, who has the title of "rookie killer".

In fact, Gan Guoyang himself has not been a rookie for a few years, but he is known in the league for teaching rookies. Every game, once there are rookies in the opponent's lineup, the opponent's coach will remind him not to provoke Gan Guoyang.

But on the playing field, Gan Guoyang is a typical type that if you don’t provoke him, he will provoke you. Reggie Miller is the worst one to be punished by Gan Guoyang, and the same is true of Manning tonight.

I don’t know if the Clippers coach forgot to remind Manning that Manning was the main attacker with the ball at the beginning of the game. After receiving the ball from a high position, he faced Gan Guoyang for the first time. This was the first time Danny Manning met this rookie killer.

"Lizitou, don't be afraid, fire at me." Gan Guoyang said to Manning. He had already begun to nickname Manning. Manning's head was indeed sharper.

Gan Guoyang knew that rookies were not afraid of anything when they first entered the league, and they were the most vulnerable to provocation. He was also furious when he was teased by Larry Bird back then, but now he is very familiar with this trick.

Sure enough, Manning lowered his waist with the ball, and seemed ready to make an attack.

Gan Guoyang's provocation to others is by no means arrogant. In fact, before the game, he will study the opponent's technical characteristics very seriously. For example, he watched the video of Manning's several games and knew that this thin power forward , The breakthrough to the basket is very flexible, but he is better at walking on his right hand. This is a common problem of most rookie players, and his left hand is not skilled.

And his dribbling is relatively high, Gan Guoyang watched his dribbling screen carefully, made statistics on the rhythm, and kept his pace and starting habits in mind-Gan Guoyang, a rookie who has not entered the NBA, will study him in this way.

Manning took a deep breath, then suddenly accelerated his dribble, trying to drive straight to the basket from the middle.

Gan Guoyang didn't block Manning's breakthrough route, nor did he take the ball. Although in Gan Guoyang's view, he had two chances to break Manning's ball, he still put Manning in.

Manning broke through to the basket smoothly, but Sabonis occupied a large position under the basket. At this time, Manning found that he could neither get rid of Gan Guoyang's defense, nor could he rush to the bottom and shoot on Sabonis' head. Hesitation made him fall into the encirclement of the Blazers defense.

Gan Guoyang wrapped Manning like a spider web. Manning stopped the ball, turned around to protect the ball, and wanted to pass the ball, but found it extremely difficult. As a result, he had to turn over forcibly and make a jump shot, but the take-off was not sufficient. What greeted him was Gan Guoyang's big hat.

"Welcome to the NBA, rookie." This is what all NBA veterans say when they teach rookies.

Manning's nightmare didn't end there. In the first half, he took seven shots in total, one of which missed, and the first three shots were all blocked by Gan Guoyang.

It wasn't until after the start of the second half that Gan Guoyang said to Manning, "You can start scoring now," that Manning scored two points with free throws.

On the other hand, the Clippers center Greg Kate really has no offensive ability, which minimizes the pressure on Sabonis on the defensive end, so Sabonis began to show off on the offensive end, not to mention assists, passing, and sorting out the offense. He can also play singles with the ball in the low post. He scored a season-high 18 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and sent 6 assists in the game.

The Blazers fans at the scene also gave Sabonis the greatest support. Every time Sabonis scored a goal, the applause and cheers of the fans were more enthusiastic than Gan Guoyang's goal, which was completely absent before.

Everyone gave Sabonis enough face, and also gave Gorbachev enough face.

Gan Guoyang's scoring enthusiasm has declined compared with the previous week. He did not score 30 points in two consecutive games. He only scored 21 points in this game, but contributed 17 rebounds, 6 blocks and 3 steals. Apparently he's making up for the holes in the team's defense after Williams' absence.

When the game ended and the Blazers beat the Blazers by 115:90, 25 points, Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, who were sitting in the seats of ordinary spectators but were actually full of agents, followed suit. The audience stood up together and applauded the Trail Blazers who had dedicated a wonderful game, while the Clippers players could only serve as a foil.

When Gan Guoyang and his teammates walked back to the locker room, they found that the area around the locker room was already in full swing. Not only were there a large number of secret agents, but also many reporters surrounded the cordon. These reporters were not allowed to bring camera equipment, only paper and pen.

There was one person who was particularly conspicuous, a smiling Chinese reporter wearing glasses. Unlike the others, he was able to stand inside the cordon, which meant he could directly enter the locker room.

This is Wu Zhiwen who has been granted a license. He is one of the few reporters who is allowed to directly enter the Blazers locker room. This is his privilege, which makes other reporters envious.