The Golden Age of Basketball

() In 1980, when Akeem Olajuwon took a plane for the first time in his life and came to Houston in the Texas grasslands of the United States, he did not seem to enter the United States like other Africans who had never been to the United States. the future world.

On the contrary, at the age of 17, he has already traveled all over Nigeria, his home country, and his rich experience makes him always calm and calm in the face of new things.

Therefore, even though the University of Houston, which summoned him from Africa, did not send anyone to pick him up, he still found a public phone at the huge and unfamiliar airport, calmly dialed the number of the introducer, and was told "Yourself Take a taxi."

This was one of the countless times in his life that he was underestimated. He was ridiculed because he was too tall. I think it would be great if this big man who used to play football can learn to dunk.

But Olajuwon knocked down the guy who laughed at him with one fist, and he also used dunk after dunk to prove that he didn't need a bench at all.

This time, after arriving at UH alone in a taxi, he was determined not to let anyone take him lightly again.

In 1980-1981, he was unable to participate in the official NCAA competition because he was a temporary transfer student. Therefore, in a year, he used sweaty training to transform himself from a basketball starter who could only dunk into a basketball player. A powerful center with comprehensive skills and omnipotence.

In the 1981-1982 season, his Houston Cougars entered the final-four, but unfortunately lost to the later champion North Carolina in the semifinals.

In the 1982-1983 season, they went one step further and reached the NCAA Finals, but lost to the North Carolina State Wolfpack, a team from North Carolina.

By 1983-1984, his most capable assistant and best friend on the team had graduated and entered the nba, while he continued to fight alone for that championship.

Finally, they reached the NCAA finals again and entered the final-four for three consecutive years. For him, as long as he wins this game, he will complete a triple jump and complete the ultimate goal of college basketball. He can go to a higher level league without regret, and prove to those who underestimate him on a broader stage.

Now, standing in front of him and the cougar is a bulldog from the Northwest Territories, and the Chinese center standing opposite him and competing for the ball with him——Sunny Gump.

For him, all these must be crushed!

Gan Guoyang looked at Olajuwon's focused and cold expression, and the pressure in his heart suddenly rose.

Among the 90s superstars Gan Guoyang came into contact with, Olajuwon is definitely one of the most shining ones; coupled with his identity in the Rockets and his extremely beautiful playing style, he is welcomed and admired even More than a basketball god.

Gan Guoyang was once also impressed by Olajuwon's dreamlike performance, but now, he has become Olajuwon's peers and wants to survive in the ncaa game.

Long before the start of the national competition, Gan Guoyang had already imagined the scene of confrontation with Olajuwon in his mind, but when he was actually standing face to face with him in the center of the venue where everyone was looking forward to, this feeling was still a bit strange.

In terms of height, Olajuwon is obviously similar to Gan Guoyang, only about 6 feet 10, although he shows 7 feet in the registration.

Gan Guoyang, who played against Ewing, can tell at a glance that Olajuwon is shorter than Ewing.

In terms of appearance, the video Gan Guoyang's later generations watched was Olajuwon in his 30s, who appeared gentle and domineering, while at this time the young Olajuwon, who was about the same age as Gan Guoyang, appeared more aggressive, with a square face like The totem of witchcraft on the Nigerian grasslands terrifies those who see him.

"The centers of both sides are in position in the middle circle, this will be their first duel!" Blackburn's voice was transmitted to thousands of households along the radio waves, and the game was about to start.

While Gan Guoyang was still adjusting his mentality, the referee had thrown the ball into the air.

Gan Guoyang has always fought for every ball in the opening jump ball in the past. He also relied on his extremely fast reaction speed and super long wingspan to gain the upper hand in the competition with centers of various heights.

But this time his reaction was slow, or Olajuwon's reaction was too fast. Gan Guoyang had just taken off, and Olajuwon had already jumped to the highest point and turned the ball in the direction of his teammates.

The Houston Cougars get the right to attack, and the 1984 ncaa finals officially begin!

"Left to the left! Matthews to the left! Look at the position on the left, and Anderson shrinks back!" Gan Guoyang began to command his teammates loudly from the first defense after he came to the three-second zone.

The team's weak side is handed over to Matthews and Anderson. If they expand too wide, they will be easily broken by their opponents.

"I don't think you still have the energy to care about others." Olajuwon in front of Gan Guoyang said suddenly.

"No, I have it." Gan Guoyang responded, but his tone was full of provocation.

Olajuwon didn't speak, his reaction was to suddenly move laterally from the right side to the center, trying to quickly get in front of the basket and occupy the most favorable attacking position.

But the reason why Gan Guoyang went to command his teammates was actually to hope that they could lock the opponent's breakthrough line, so that he would not have to make up the defense and could concentrate on dealing with Olajuwon.

So how could he let Olajuwon seize a favorable position? Gan Guoyang didn't simply push Olajuwon from behind, but used a sideways and half-circle front to block Olajuwon on the one hand and interfere with Olajuwon with his right hand on the other. Zhu Wang's catch.

Cougar point guard Franklin tried to push the ball in from the outside, but found that the passing lane was blocked so badly that he had to give up.

Seeing that he couldn't catch the ball, Olajuwon stayed inside for three seconds, so he had to give up his position and moved to the left side of the basket.

In the first confrontation between the two, Olajuwon did not take advantage of it, and Gan Guoyang also slowly discarded the reverence for Olajuwon brought by the memory of later generations, and treated him as an enemy on the field.

"The first confrontation between the two centers, Olajuwon's position is quite beautiful, but Gan's defense around the front is also very tight, the Cougars can't hit the ball in, but they still have Michael Young, Michael Yang... oh! He got slapped by Gan and flew out! But, Olajuwon picked up the rebound and made a shot." Blackburn was still sitting play-by-play in his booming voice.

Although Olajuwon is the core player of the Cougars, he is not the team's scoring leader. The Cougars' highest scoring player is their small forward Michael Young.

Olajuwon had no chance inside, and the Cougar handed the ball to Michael Young, hoping to rely on his breakthrough to open the situation.

As a result, he was pressed down by Gan Guoyang after he broke through to the inside.

After the ball hit the floor, Olajuwon got the ball in the chaos, but instead of forcing a layup or dunk, he easily scored two points with a turnaround jumper. 2:0.

"Why don't you dunk? Are you afraid of my block?" Gan Guoyang said after Olajuwon made the shot.

Gan Guoyang is not so much provoking Olajuwon as he is provoking himself. He wants to use trash talk to completely erase his admiration for Olajuwon.

"I can beat you just by shooting." Olajuwon's expression remained calm, but there was already anger in his eyes.

When it came to the offense, the Gonzaga Bulldogs did not start with Gan Guoyang first, but let Gan Guoyang go to the high position to cover for Stockton.

Not only Gan Guoyang, but Anderson also came out to cover for Stockton. With a double screen, Stockton circled directly from the top of the arc to a position 45 degrees to the right near the three-second zone.

On the other hand, Gan Guoyang and Anderson walked in from the front, and the other followed Stockton, and it seemed that they would continue to cooperate with Stockton.

The defensive attention of the entire Puma was drawn to the three-second zone. No one noticed that before Stockton moved, Matthews on the right slipped from the baseline all the way to the left corner.

Stockton had already seen Matthews ambushing on the left side, an overhead cross pass, and Matthews received the ball comfortably on the left side.

Jump and shoot!The goal was scored, 2:2.

"Gonzaga No. 17 Matthews' shot, very, very beautiful cooperation, the whole puma was stunned by the bulldog's screen and running position, so Matthews had a good shot opportunity, and he caught Living."

On the defensive end, the University of Houston is very similar to Gonzaga, that is, it relies heavily on the super center inside, and the back line lacks outside defensive ability.

This makes their defense tend to shrink more, so that the weaker defenders can get the support of the center, and the defender can also properly protect his center.

Bellman is very familiar with this defensive mode, so he asked the players to open up space and run more at the beginning of the game, using mid-range jumpers to end the offense.

And how to prevent opponents from using the same tricks against themselves?The best way that Bellman has and only is the trump card in his hand, Gan Guoyang.

As if returning to the days when he played in Palo Alto, Gan Guoyang once again moved quickly around the perimeter like a big spider, delaying every pass and transfer of the Cougar.

And the task of defending Olajuwon is temporarily handed over to Anderson, who will surround Olajuwon to prevent him from receiving the ball, and other players are always ready to double-team.

This kind of defense made the Puma's offense stagnate instantly. If there were 24 seconds in the game at that time, they would have already overtimed the offense.

But the cougar still found a gap. The strong and flexible Olajuwon was like a real cougar, and he couldn't stop him at all.

After trying to get rid of it a few times, Olajuwon suddenly ran back, and Anderson was unexpected, and the Cougar player passed a beautiful lob to the inside, and Olajuwon received the ball without defense. Score a hard dunk! 4:2.

However, Gonzaga immediately retaliated, and before the sound of Olajuwon's dunk was heard in the arena, the Bulldogs launched a fast attack, and Claremont received a pass from Stockton during the fast advance , made a mid-range shot from the right corner to tie the score.

In the opening game, the two sides started a battle of wits and courage, but judging from the scene, it was the Cougar who was at a disadvantage, relying on Olajuwon's personal ability to score two goals.

In the previous game, Gonzaga, who gave people the impression that "without No. 11, they are not as good as shit", really relied on tactics and shooting to score 4 points, while Gan Guoyang was unknown on the offensive end.

But the situation on the court changed quickly, and the bulldogs began to quickly move closer to the pumas.

"The situation on the court, let me see, both sides are in a dogfight. Since the Bulldogs made two mid-range shots in the opening game, their outside shots have been tightly blocked by the Cougars, and their personal abilities seem to be Not very strong either. Their No. 12 Stockton, his passing is still outstanding, but his teammates always have no way to convert opportunities into points... Another missed mid-range shot, and the third one... Oh God Hey! No. 11 Gan, suddenly appeared, suddenly appeared! A beautiful dunk! Sudden dunk! He looks like corn popping out of a green vegetable field! And caused a foul by Olajuwon! Extra penalty!"

Blackburn's roar caused all the fans who stood in front of the radio to support Gonzaga University to cheer.

After scoring two goals in the opening game, the Cougars strengthened their defense on the outside, and Stockton suddenly burst inside. Because of the presence of Olajuwon, Stockton had two blocks in a row. Fortunately, Anderson showed bravery. Grabbed an offensive rebound for the first time.

But Gonzaga's outside touch suddenly disappeared, and there was no way to throw the basketball into the basket.

But Gan Guoyang stabilized the situation for Gonzaga with a hook after an offensive rebound and a dunk.

This supplementary dunk also caused a foul by Olajuwon, which requires an additional penalty.

"It would be great if Clyde was here. He should be watching me in front of the TV now." Seeing Gan Guoyang walk to the free throw line and score the ball, Olajuwon thought of his teammates who have graduated. Now, rebounds will not be lost so badly.

It was too late to miss the old man, and Olajuwon was about to throw himself into the intense game. The Chinese No. 11 made him feel great pressure.

It was the first time that Olajuwon met a player who was equal in strength to him in a college game, and he even felt that this guy was stronger than himself, although he looked thinner than himself.

Olajuwon hadn't even crossed the half, but Stockton stole the ball from Franklin and launched a counterattack.

Olajuwon immediately returned to the three-second zone. Seeing this, Stockton knew that the fast break should be impossible, and he didn't want to be capped again.

Gonzaga gave up the fast break and turned to the position, but their tactics at this time have changed. Gan Guoyang began to play in the low post, which is Gonzaga's safest scoring tactic.

But this time Gan Guoyang is going to face Olajuwon.

Gan Guoyang's card position is still domineering, and Olajuwon's top man is also extremely fierce, but Gan Guoyang is still firmly stuck in the position.

This kind of strength and skill, which Olajuwon has never encountered in college games, reminds him of Moses Malone, who came to the University of Houston to train with him during the offseason. He was extremely impressed.

Now Gan Guoyang actually has the shadow of Moses Malone indistinctly.

Gan Guoyang received the ball smoothly, dribbled the ball with his left hand and turned to the right. Olajuwon spread his arms and pressed his whole body forward, blocking the route from the right to the baseline.

But this was just a fake move by Gan Guoyang. He only turned to the right. After grasping Olajuwon's defense with his back, he left and turned to the left to attack the front of the basket.

Hook!

Olajuwon was about to move laterally and continue to block Gan Guoyang, but he didn't expect Gan Guoyang to make a hook. He seemed to see the sky hook.

"Shua!" The goal was scored, and Gonzaga added another 2 points.

This is the first direct dialogue between Gan Guoyang and Olajuwon. Gan Guoyang took the lead with his excellent positioning technique and skilled hook.

Gan Guoyang looked at Olajuwon, shook his head slightly, turned and left.

Olajuwon still looked calm, but when he returned to the offensive end, he was in the same position and asked for the ball from his teammates.

"Oh, let's see, Olajuwon, obviously Gan's goal has stimulated him, he is in the same position, a beautiful card position, and after receiving the ball, he turns back and makes a jumper! Beautiful! The ball Go in! Although his shooting posture is a bit strange, the ball still entered the basket steadily!"

"This is destined to be a game that will not disappoint!"