The Golden Age of Basketball

() "John, do you think we should play in these dirty countryside for the rest of our lives?"

"Maybe, I don't know. I doubt whether I will be able to play professional games in the future. Maybe I am more suitable for accounting work. I am already contacting a company."

"No John, trust me, you're going to be a great player, very, very great."

"With your kind words, if a team is willing to take me in, I think I will dedicate 20 years to him...even if it's in Utah."

In the eyes of most Americans, Utah, the gathering place of Mormons, and the western highlands covered with snow in winter, are indeed a ghostly place.

Gan Guoyang, who was sitting next to Stockton, felt a little funny when he heard his words, because he knew that Stockton would probably struggle in Salt Lake City for 20 years in the future.

The premise is that the arrival of Gan Guoyang did not change Stockton's draft trajectory, because his existence has changed Gonzaga University's NCAA history.

Since the Gonzaga University basketball team was established in 1943 to join the West Coast League, it has never entered the ncaa national game.

They also only won the league championship in the 1965-1966 and 1966-1967 seasons, but also failed to enter the NCAA National Championship due to their record and team level.

If there is no Gan Guoyang, they will not be able to achieve zero breakthrough until the 1994-1995 season, enter the top 64 of the NCAA, and then stop in the first round.

The arrival of Gan Guoyang has advanced this time by 11 years, and their goal is not the first round.

But what makes Gan Guoyang and the entire Gonzaga Bulldogs unhappy is that their first and second rounds are played in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Now, on March 3th, Gan Guoyang is sitting on the flight to Salt Lake City with the whole Gonzaga team, thinking about his description of Utah in the news reports of later generations, Gan Guoyang can't help but feel that "sorrow comes from it" Feel.

Spokane itself is located in the most northwestern part of the United States, already in a remote place across the United States, and Utah is a legendary ice and snow plateau. In addition to Omaha, Gan Guoyang and Gonzaga played more than half of the place. In the "big countryside".

In fact, it's not that the NCAA organizing committee is embarrassing Gonzaga. They allocate the game location based on the team's region and record.

If the team can enter the sweet-sixteen (Sweet Sixteen), then they will be able to play in Los Angeles, the largest city in California that Gan Guoyang is familiar with.

Therefore, before going to Salt Lake City, Gan Guoyang and Gonzaga players spontaneously drew a championship roadmap, from Spokane to Salt Lake City to Los Angeles and then to Seattle. This time they "le" (directly through Seattle).

Gan Guoyang was the one who came up with such an uncouth slogan. This guy remembered that there would be a "direct xxx" in every video game in the future, so he took advantage of it.

But before going straight to Seattle, they had to go through two difficulties in the cold Utah Plateau, the first of which was at the famous Princeton University.

The reason why Princeton is known to people is naturally because of their tactical system-Princeton tactics. <A member of the Vine League.But it's not a strong basketball school, and they didn't even have a basketball scholarship in the early days.

Because of this, Princeton University has no way to attract talented high school students, and their basketball team is full of middle-class players.

Therefore, their coach Pete Carell created a set of tactics specially suitable for "mediocre players". Through this set of tactics, the potential of each player can be maximized, and the weak can win the strong with the small.

Relying on this set of tactics, coach Carell led the mediocre talent of Princeton University to win one victory after another.

Although it is difficult for them without talent to make breakthroughs at a higher level and more competitive national competitions, their achievements have surpassed the abilities of each of their players. This is really brought about by basketball tactics and the collective team. miracle.

This tactic was not very famous in the 80s. It was not until Carell entered the NBA as an assistant coach that this magical basketball thinking became well known.

However, as a person in the basketball circle, Bellman has heard about this, and after understanding his content in detail, he believes that this offensive tactical thinking should be very suitable for Gonzaga University.

So he looked for an opportunity to visit Pete Carell to learn this tactical system.

However, the arrival of Gan Guoyang disrupted Behrman's tactical design plan, because it would be a waste to play Princeton with a talented center like Gan Guoyang.

The game in Omaha has also proved that Princeton may not be suitable for Gonzaga or Gan Guoyang.

For such a center forward, he should be allowed to play freely, show all his basic skills and talents, and maximize his ability.

Moreover, Gan Guoyang is not the kind of player who monopolizes the ball and likes to shoot wildly. Whenever he feels average or needs tactics, he can always give enough support to other teammates.

The most important thing is that Bellman's offensive tactics are very general and lacking. He is good at training defense, so he relies heavily on the team's star players when attacking.

Now, Bellman's team will start a "go home or win" life-and-death elimination battle with Princeton University, the ancestor of Princeton tactics. This is the cruelty of March Madness.

However, before the start of the brutal knockout round, Gonzaga University still has one day to relax and prepare, which means that Gan Guoyang has the opportunity to visit the legendary Salt Lake City.

When the plane arrived in Salt Lake City on the 16th, it was completely dark. Gan Guoyang's first feeling when he walked out of the airport was that the city was too fucking dark.

For the big cities in the United States, there is no such thing as a dark night. The colorful lights in the big cities last all night, illuminating the entire night sky.

For many Americans, life begins at nightfall.

However, Salt Lake City, the largest city in Utah with a population of more than 100 million, accounting for half of Utah's total population, is actually dotted with only a few lights at night, like a lighthouse on the coast, guiding people wandering at night to return to Hong Kong for rest .

"My God, is this the United States? There is no nightlife here?" Gan Guoyang said looking at the dark sky. Here he thought of Shanghai in the 80s. When he left China in 1981, the nights in Shanghai were equally dark.

"Salt Lake City is like this, there is no nightlife here, because Mormons don't allow alcohol," Stockton explained.

"I bet John, this city is destined to be with you, and this will be your best place to belong." Gan Guoyang said, and he was ready to make a bet that this history would not be changed by him.

"Come on, I still want to go to the cinema to watch movies at night. I heard that there is only one cinema in Salt Lake City." Stockton said helplessly.

"Okay, let's wait and see."

Sitting on the airport bus, Gan Guoyang and his team came to the hotel designated by the tournament organizing committee to stay. A total of six university teams stayed here, competing for two places to go to Los Angeles.

"Oh my god, Texas El Paso, El Paso, I heard that this place is near Mexico, and they are going to Utah to compete, it's crazy!" Gan Guoyang lay comfortably on the bed in the hotel , looking at the schedule and said.

If they make it through the first round, their second-round opponent is UT El Paso, the southernmost school in the United States.

"Really? But I think the players from Princeton University who came to Utah from New Jersey are worse than the Cowboys in Texas." said Stockton, who was lying on the next bed, and he and Gan Guoyang were together tonight sleep.

Gan Guoyang almost spit out water when he heard that, New Jersey?It is located on the east coast of the United States, the easternmost point!

"Why? How the hell is this partitioned?" Gan Guoyang looked very puzzled.

The NCAA likes to divide the competition into one area after another, just like other sports competitions in the United States. They are divided into four areas, namely the Southeast Area, the West Area, the Central West Area and the East Area.The survivors of each district knockout round will be the final-four lucky ones, who will gather in Seattle.

But the real problem will appear when the teams are assigned to the districts, because the teams entering the NCAA national competition will change every year, and the distribution of universities in the United States is not even, obviously more in the east and less in the west.

In addition, some strong teams are very close to each other, even in the same city, so if they are divided according to the region, it will make the dialogue between the strong and strong be staged prematurely.

Therefore, some eastern teams will be thrown to the far west to play in order to balance the differences between the east and the west.

And for a long time in the future, Princeton University will not only play in Salt Lake City, Utah, but also be sent to Denver, Colorado to endure the plateau environment, or kicked to the grasslands of Texas to smell the manure of cows and horses. It's a bit miserable.

After listening to Stockton's explanation of the reasons, Gan Guoyang felt a little lucky. Perhaps it would be a good choice to be assigned to Utah, which is not too far away.

"By the way, John, we will go to the basketball court in Salt Lake City to watch the Utah Jazz game after training tomorrow. You see, it is written in the newspaper that the Utah Jazz will play the Dallas Mavericks at home tomorrow."

"No problem, but I'm a Sonics fan, and I don't like either team." Stockton is a native of Spokane, and Spokane is fairly close to Seattle.

"Trust me, you're going to like them."

……

On the second day, after adaptive training and pre-match preparations in the morning, Behrman gave the team a vacation in the afternoon and allowed the players to take a stroll in Salt Lake City.

Bellman was not too worried that the players would go out to play, because the entertainment venues in Salt Lake City were really scarce, like in the countryside. The only places for entertainment were movie theaters and basketball halls-there were not even rugby teams or baseball teams.

In March, the weather in the whole of the north has begun to warm up. Players no longer have to wear thick cotton-padded jackets all day long to go to the sports department for training, and then have to take off the jackets one by one, and put them on after training.

But Salt Lake City on the plateau is still very cold, although the latitude here is not higher than Spokane.

Walking in the city, a layer of smog hangs in the air, which is caused by the high-pressure cold air blowing from Alaska stagnating near the Great Salt Lake, making the air circulation not smooth.

Even so, at the right angle and orientation, through those tall buildings, you can still see the tall and white snow-capped mountains in the distance. This is also the symbol of Salt Lake City, Utah. It was printed on the Jazz jersey in 1997 and became an eternal classic.

And now the Jazz's jersey is still the note logo brought from New Orleans in 1979, which is a bit out of tune with the temperament of Salt Lake City.

Walking around the streets and alleys of Salt Lake City, except for the famous Utah Burger, there is really nothing attractive, and basketball players cannot eat burgers.

Therefore, Stockton and Gan Guoyang went straight to the Salt Palace Arena, preparing to watch the nba game in the evening, and it was also a step before the game, because their game would also be held in the Salt Palace Arena.

As the main stadium of the Utah Jazz, the Salt Palace Arena has more than 1 seats. It is not only a basketball venue, but also used to be the main venue of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2, hosting various ice games. .

As soon as he entered the Salt Palace Gymnasium, Gan Guoyang could feel a sense of meaning.

Because the decorations here are all in cool tones, coupled with the cold weather in Utah, it is estimated that every opponent who plays here will complain.

"Hey John, what do you think of this place? Do you think it's very kind?" Gan Guoyang asked Stockton.

"No, no. What's wrong with you, Gan, why do you always ask questions about me and Salt Lake City, making it seem like I'm going to come here to play as soon as I graduate." Stockton replied. The problem felt very strange.

"I don't know, but I always feel... I feel that you are very, very consistent with the temperament here, calm, low-key, and restrained."

"Forget it, the Jazz, it used to be Maravich's team, and it has nothing to do with being calm and low-key. It's just that now they're in this damn place, Salt Lake City, and everything changes."

Because the two came very early, they just chatted one after another. Gan Guoyang always intentionally or unintentionally wanted to link Stockton with the Jazz.

When the number of people on the field gradually increased, the two teams also came out of the player tunnel and began to conduct warm-up training on the field.

At this time, Gan Guoyang saw a familiar tall figure on the field, who seemed to be someone he knew.

"Hey! Eaton!" Gan Guoyang shouted towards the field.

As soon as Gan Guoyang saw the giant height, he remembered that he was an enthusiastic car repairman he met when he went to UCLA. Gan Guoyang still remembered his name, Mark Eaton, because Kareem Abdul-Jabbar mentioned him to Gan Guoyang later. .

Because there were not many people in the auditorium, Gan Guoyang had a loud voice, so Eaton, who was shooting, heard someone calling him.

Gan Guoyang jumped down from where he was sitting and ran to the edge of the field, and Eaton also walked over with the ball.

"Hello Eaton, I didn't expect to see you here." Gan Guoyang said excitedly.

Eaton also remembered Gan Guoyang, the Chinese he met near UCLA, and said, "Oh, it's Gan, hello, I didn't expect you to come here."

"Yes, we'll play here tomorrow, against Princeton."

"You are really amazing Gan. I have heard about you. You actually ran away from UCLA, went to Gonzaga University, and brought Gonzaga to the national competition."

"Hey, but in this way, you and I are not brothers in the same school." Gan Guoyang felt a little embarrassed when he thought that Eaton was also produced by UCLA.

"It doesn't matter, everyone should find a place that suits them. Actually, I don't like UCLA very much. The Farmer coach doesn't appreciate me, but now, I feel very good in Utah, great." Eaton for UCLA His feelings are not deep, because he was purely picked up by UCLA, and he was not valued by the coaches.

He had a bright spot in Utah. As a 26-year-old rookie, he was selected third in the fourth round and 72nd overall.

But after one season as a substitute, he sat firmly at the Jazz's starting center position in the second season, averaging 5 points, 7 rebounds, and an astonishing 4.3 blocks per game.

His game often blocks more shots than points, which is his advantage and his specialty, here he is like a duck to water.

"I also had a great time in Gonzaga, oh yes, my teammates are still here, a great point guard...John!" Gan Guoyang called Stockton over.

"Hi, my name is John Stockton from Spokane. Nice to meet you, Mr. Eaton."

"Oh no, don't be so polite, I'm not a star, I'm just a sideshow. Nice to meet you too."

The two good teammates of the future Jazz met for the first time under the "matchmaking" of Gan Guoyang. This pair of players, one tall and one short, will support Utah, the ice and snow peak, in the future.