The Golden Age of Basketball

() (Looks like it's about to be sealed, please save it.)

The NBA regular season of the 1984-1985 season will start in October, and in mid-October, the NBA's preseason will officially begin. At that time, each player will be given sufficient time to adapt to the venue and the confrontation in the game.

Gan Guoyang has undergone two weeks of high-intensity training at the Jewish Community Center Training Hall in Portland.

In these two weeks, he and the Blazers team started joint training, including tactical training, half-court offensive and defensive confrontation, fast attack and defense drills, full-court five-on-five confrontation and many other items.

Although the training time is not long, due to the good foundation laid by the uninterrupted training in the previous two months, Gan Guoyang's overall condition is quite good.

It’s just that Gan Guoyang doesn’t seem to have learned anything new in the past two weeks, because Ramsey has been practicing some of the most basic skills and tactics; main content.

Sometimes Gan Guoyang also wondered, is the training content of the Blazers just like this?

The only thing that made Gan Guoyang feel a little rewarded was the team's confrontation match. Mitchell Sampson, the No. 1978 pick of the Blazers in [-], gave Gan Guoyang a taste of what an NBA-style offense and defense is.

Of course, this is not a big deal for Gan Guoyang, who has been ravaged by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Therefore, during the two weeks of training, what Gan Guoyang cared most about was the shooting competition with player No. 55 after the training.

Unfortunately, from the first day of the camp to two days before the start of the preseason, Gan Guoyang had already invited the opponent to eat lunch for 14 consecutive days.

"Kiki! Let's start. I think I am in great shape tonight and I will definitely beat you." After a day of training, Gan Guoyang said to No. 55, Kiki Vandeweghe.

Gan Guoyang didn't know at the beginning that the No. 55 was the protagonist in the big deal this summer, Kiki Vandeweghe, the small forward who was traded from the Nuggets to the Trail Blazers.

In fact, Gan Guoyang should know this player, because when he returned to UCLA and started his first official NCAA game, Gan Guoyang saw in the hotel the game that set an NBA scoring record, the game between the Nuggets and the Pistons, Vandeweghe Is one of the main characters.

Vandeweghe scored a game-high 51 points in that game, but the Nuggets lost to the Pistons in the end.

At that time, Gan Guoyang's thoughts were all on the game against UCLA, so he naturally didn't notice the brightest star in the audience.

In the last season, that is, the 1983-1984 season, Vandeweghe's shooting percentage for the Nuggets was 56%. Such a hit rate is very scary.

If Gan Guoyang knew this, he probably wouldn't easily agree to Vandeweghe's bet. Although the meal money for two weeks is not a large amount, it is not a glorious thing to keep losing like this.

But Gan Guoyang also benefited a lot from it, from 15 of 7 shots at the beginning, slowly to 8, 9, 10, and the best one can reach 15 of 13 shots.

It's just that Vandeweghe has kept around 14 shots, and he always pulls the shooting point farther and farther, even 2 steps outside the three-point line. If he doesn't make it himself, Gan Guoyang can't make it.

"Okay, Gan, the preseason game is about to start the day after tomorrow. You'd better find a good restaurant in Phoenix to treat me to dinner." Vandeweghe was still full of confidence, and the day after tomorrow the Blazers will go to Arizona for the preseason game.

"Then let's start." Gan Guoyang was equally confident.

Vandeweghe took the ball and took the lead in taking a step inside the three-point line from the bottom corner. The first ball was hit steadily, as easy as a layup.

And Gan Guoyang also hit a ball from the same position. His shooting posture was a bit strange, it felt like he was pushing it out with his right hand.

However, the rotation of the ball in the air is very strong. Because Gan Guoyang has big hands, he exerts force purely with his fingertips, so the ball spins very fast.

After that, Vandeweghe began to pick shots from farther and trickier angles, such as negative angles, such as two steps outside the three-point line.

Tonight, Vandeweghe's touch is as good as ever, but Gan Guoyang is not at a disadvantage, and Vandeweghe can score one if he scores one.

In this way, the two shot 14 balls each, and none of them missed.

"Okay, the last one, if we tie, then you will win." Vandeweghe felt Gan Guoyang's progress, and said that as long as there is a tie, Gan Guoyang will win.

"No, I still count as a loser in a tie, and I win only if I make more money than you." Gan Guoyang didn't "appreciate".

"Okay, then you are ready to invite dinner tomorrow." Vandeweghe shook his head.

In fact, at this time, Vandeweghe just needs to run around the three-second zone and make a random shot, then he will be invincible, but this kind of game is meaningless.

One of the important reasons why Vandeweghe asked Gan Guoyang to trouble him on the first day of training and proposed to compete with him in shooting was that Vandeweghe was a UCLA graduate. For Gan Guoyang, a UCLA "traitor", he naturally wanted to teach him a lesson .

But during the two weeks of contact, Vandeweghe found that Gan Guoyang is a very easy to get along with, a very good team player, and he was very happy to play with him.

Moreover, the relationship between Vandeweghe and Drexler is very good, and Drexler and Gan Guoyang are close buddies. Gan Guoyang always brings Drexler with him when he invites Vandeweghe to dinner, so Vandeweghe will naturally lose his affection for Gan Guoyang prejudice.

What's more, it was Larry Brown who coached Vandeweghe at the time, and he had no feelings for Larry Farmer and Vandeweghe.

So, Vandeweghe took the ball and ran near the middle circle, and he wanted to make a half-court shot!

"Boom!" It's a pity that the ball thrown by Vandeweghe in the middle circle hit the neck of the basket, after all, the distance was too far.

"Okay, look at me." Gan Guoyang took the ball to the same position and took a deep breath.

In the middle circle, Gan Guoyang took off with the ball and shot it in a normal shooting posture!

Generally speaking, because the distance is too far, all kinds of ultra-long-distance shots use the "chest push" method to throw the basketball to the basket. It is not so much a shot as a throw.

But Gan Guoyang stood on the center line as if standing on the free throw line, and directly threw the ball in a normal posture.

"My God, how strong is this guy's arm?" Vandeweghe exclaimed from the side. He didn't think Gan Guoyang's arm was particularly thick.

In the past, Gan Guoyang lost his stable shooting due to the sudden increase in strength. Now he can finally send and receive freely. Shooting in the middle circle just happens to give full play to his strength.

The ball draws a high arc, and it can be seen that the ball is still spinning very hard in the air.

After Gan Guoyang took the shot, he watched the ball fly to the basket, getting closer and closer...

"Shua!" The ball went in!

"Yeah~" Gan Guoyang jumped up all of a sudden, hugged Vandeweghe beside him excitedly, and picked him up.

"Okay, okay Gan, take care of my mood, I am the loser." Vandeweghe said helplessly after being hugged.

Gan Guoyang put Vandeweghe down, looked around, and found that there were only the two of them on the court.

Others have either left to go home or continue to exercise in the gym and swimming pool inside.

"I'm here to thank you in advance for tomorrow's lunch, dear Kiki!" Gan Guoyang said proudly, two weeks of hard work were not in vain, he felt good tonight and was lucky, and finally won once, which is considered elated.

"I guess you're working out every day?" Vandeweghe asked.

"This is my secret." Gan Guoyang said while putting the ball back on the basket.

Gan Guoyang did have extra practice, and it was not ordinary extra practice, but crazy shooting practice.

After the first day of training, Gan Guoyang installed a basket rack in his backyard, and then picked up a pickaxe by himself, and together with Gan Youwei, he built a basketball court in the backyard.

Except for the basket, this basketball court has no three-point line, no three-second zone, and no free throw line. There are only dots scattered on the court, and these dots mark the distance from the basket.

Gan Guoyang spent half the night to complete the project, and then he came back every night to start 500 shooting training under the dim light.

In many cases, those shots were purely blind, because the lights were too dim, and Gan Guoyang only got a small light on purpose.

Fortunately, the surrounding residents live relatively sparsely, otherwise Gan Guoyang would definitely be reported as a nuisance, because he often practiced late at night, and 500 times would not satisfy him.

"Okay, I think I should report the good news to Captain Jack." Gan Guoyang said and walked to the locker room.

"Captain Jack" is Gan Guoyang's nickname for Jack Ramsey. Of course, everyone doesn't quite understand what it means, after all, there was no "Pirates of the Caribbean" at that time.

But Gan Guoyang did not meet Ramsey in the locker room, but met another "acquaintance", Rick Adelman.

Adelman, like Drexler, came to the Trail Blazers last year, and he served as Ramsey's assistant.

Adelman also played in the Trail Blazers in the past, but his career is really not worth mentioning. He was a pure role player. At that time, the most noticeable thing about him was that he imitated Elvis Presley's hairstyle.

Now, in 1984, he's an assistant coach for the Blazers with the most modest haircut and mustache.

"Hi Head of State, I have some good news for you." Gan Guoyang, who couldn't find Ramsey, saw Adelman and said to him with his right hand.

Gan Guoyang has only been in the team for half a month, and he has already given everyone in the team a nickname, among which the most vivid and most recognized is Adelman's "the fuehrer".

Because Adelman with a mustache is really very, very similar to the Nazi leader Hitler in World War II.

"Sorry Marshal, I just have bad news to convey to you." Adelman also called Gan Guoyang Marshal.

Gan Guoyang thought Adelman was joking, so he told Adelman about his victory over Vandeweghe in the shooting contest, but Gan Guoyang was stunned by Adelman's next words.

"The results of the physical examination in the morning have come out. The team doctor said that you have some problems with your lumbar spine, which is not a big problem, but... I think you need to rest for a while."

Gan Guoyang just remembered that because the preseason game was about to start, the whole team had a physical examination. Gan Guoyang didn't expect that there would be a problem with his lumbar spine.

"Gan? Don't worry, the team doctor said, you should only miss a few preseason games, and you will definitely be able to catch up with the regular season." Adelman comforted Gan Guoyang.

"I understand...but..."

........................

"Your lumbar spine is slightly protruded. There are protrusions on this side and the right side. If it continues to deform, it will compress the nerves, causing pain and inconvenience... Have you ever done physical labor? As a new athlete, long The stooping force of time does that, and you're that tall."

At this time, Gan Guoyang was lying on the hospital bed, just like he was lying on the hospital bed in Santa Barbara Hospital with a back injury.

And the doctor holding the X-ray film and diagnosis report is the doctor who once helped him heal his back injury, his cousin's friend, "Old Cat" Shui Miao.

"Old cat, when can I play?" Gan Guoyang said weakly on the bed.

The nba preseason officially started today. The Blazers went to Phoenix, Arizona to start the first leg of the season, but Gan Guoyang had to stay in Portland.

Although it was only a small problem, the Blazers and Gan Guoyang did not dare to be careless at all, especially Gan Guoyang, who was stunned when they heard Adelman's words, thinking that the Blazers' curse came too fast.

Afterwards, at the strong request of Gan Guoyang, the team finally contacted Shui Miao, a kinesiology physician at Santa Barbara Hospital, and asked her to treat Gan Guoyang in person.

Shui Miao received Qian Hui's invitation very early, hoping that he would go to work in Portland.

But she never wanted to leave the warm California and go to Portland in the north, and finally the salary offered by the Blazers and Qian Hui's persuasion moved her.

In addition, this time I was going to be Gan Guoyang's personal doctor, which seemed to attract her inexplicably. Recalling the time in the hospital, this interesting big boy left a deep impression on her.

Now Gan Guoyang has become a well-known No. [-] pick in the NBA in the United States, but he still has to obediently lie on the bed and listen to Shui Miao's instructions.

"Don't call me an old cat! In fact, it's okay for you to play now, but there may be sequelae. For athletes, the waist is very important." Shui Miao said seriously.

"For any man, the waist is very important." Gan Guoyang remembered a sentence that Behrman once said to him.

After hearing this, Shui Miao blushed, but fortunately, Gan Guoyang, who was lying on his stomach, didn't see it.

"Slight lumbar herniation mainly depends on recuperation and conditioning, and remember, you can no longer participate in physical labor in the future, because you are too tall." Shui Miao reminded.

Gan Guoyang knew that apart from his training, the main reason for his behavior was that he kept bending over the basketball court that night and worked for a long time. At that time, he felt that his waist was very important.

"It seems that the anti-injury talent in the talent value can't be applied to other places except basketball." Gan Guoyang thought to himself, he has to be careful in everything he does in the future.

"Old cat, give me a massage!" Gan Guoyang said suddenly.

"Don't call me an old cat! Lie down and relax. I will give you a massage treatment every day in the future, and you should be able to compete in strength soon. But you must understand that it is easy to destroy and difficult to recover, and you must be careful with your body. cherish."

"I understand." Gan Guoyang nodded.

Feeling the warmth and softness of the old cat's palm on his waist, Gan Guoyang suddenly thought of Wang Fuxi who was still studying in Spokane, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.