The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 136 - 36章 The dunk

Wilkens had his glory days with the Supersonics, but by the fifth season of the ’80s, the residual confidence had almost entirely dissipated.

The team’s veterans, the meritorious players, had retired or left, and in 1983, the team changed owners, a sign that often heralds widespread changes within an organization.

Last season, the Supersonics barely made it into the playoffs and were defeated by the Dallas Mavericks in a five-game series.

This year, they won their opening game against the Jazz, but were then trounced by the Phoenix Suns in the second game.

Such a devastating defeat was definitely not a good sign, indicating issues with both the team’s strength and morale.

The roster secret that Wilkens once prided himself on was height; he had created a tall frontcourt, using forwards like John Johnson as organizers to establish an intense defensive realm on the court and stifle any opponent.

But, starting with Magic Johnson joining the Lakers in 1980, speed broke through height.

Besides, the current Supersonics team lacked height too; aside from Sikma, the frontcourt player Chambers and several guards were of average build, leading the team toward mediocrity in terms of roster, tactics, and talent.

After the timeout, Wilkens simply reminded the players to concentrate, slow down the pace of the game, and not to follow the Blazers’ fast-break style.

He wanted Sikma to try scoring one-on-one in the paint against Gan Guoyang and boost the team’s points.

After the timeout, Sikma received the ball in the post position, created some distance to attempt a shot, but Gan Guoyang fiercely closed in on him.

Gan Guoyang’s close defense was aggressive; he lowered his center of gravity and used his chest to press against his opponent, keeping his focus without infringing on the opponent’s space and reducing the opponent’s room to maneuver as much as possible.

Such a defensive posture was rare in the NBA at the time; one-on-one defense by a center often resembled a chivalrous duel, with everyone behaving in a civilized manner, unlike Gan’s ferocity.

Sikma, holding the ball, tried several fakes but couldn’t find an angle to shoot and had to pass the ball to Chambers.

Chambers attempted a forceful play against Thompson but missed, and Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound, triggering a fast break for the Blazers.

Running, running, and more running; that was the Blazers under Ramsay’s coaching.

Without having found the best system for the young players, it was always right to keep them running, giving them free rein to showcase their offensive talents.

Valentine dribbled and passed to Gan Guoyang who cut through the middle, evaded the defender with one dribble, and scored with a deft left-handed layup.

"Look at how swiftly that big man runs; he really isn’t like the usual centers," Schonely remarked, watching Gan Guoyang score on the counterattack, feeling exceptionally pleased. A big man who runs fast always possesses a certain crude beauty.

31:24, the Blazers had secured a 7-point lead by the end of the first quarter; the Supersonics couldn’t resist the Blazers’ onslaught.

Gan Guoyang sat on the sidelines, and he could see his father, Gan Youwei, and his younger brother, Gan Guohui, waving at him.

Knowing that today was Gan Guoyang’s home debut, his family had all come to watch, so his teammates, wanting to make a good impression, passed him the ball during fast breaks.

In the first quarter, Gan Guoyang "ate the cake" for 11 points, making 5 out of 6 field goals and 1 out of 1 free throw.

Even Vandeweghe, who typically took the ball and attacked and averaged only one or two assists per game for the season, passed to Gan Guoyang, allowing him to hook the ball in during the counterattack.

Gan Guoyang gradually realized why they say professional basketball in the NBA is half game, half show.

College games would never have such a situation; to put it bluntly, in most cases, college basketball teams don’t allow players to think for themselves, as players are extensions of their coach’s philosophy on the court, the practitioners of the coach’s basketball philosophy.

Someone once asked who was the best at defending Michael Jordan in 1983, and the answer was North Carolina coach Dean Smith; his tactical system kept Jordan’s scoring average at 20 points per game.

Although Gan Guoyang could "do as he pleased" at Gonzaga, most of his high scoring was to utilize the ball possessions, and it was never a case where teammates didn’t take the chance to score themselves but rather chose to pad Ah Gan’s stats.

The NBA was different, where the audience came for the game and for the show: thrilling fast breaks, beautiful dunks, and their favorite players performing well were all things that fans wanted to see.

For Vandeweghe’s debut with a new team, everyone helped him to find his shooting touch.

For this game, with Gan Guoyang making his appearance in Portland and family visiting, everyone gave Gan Guoyang opportunities as well.

This performative aspect will only become more pronounced in the future because David Stern has become the League commissioner.

After the second quarter started, Drexler came off the bench, intercepted the ball on defense, and pushed forward with a fast break.

Once Drexler began his fast break, every fan in the arena stood up.

He charged forward with the ball and upon reaching the paint, he took off from one foot.

Gliding gracefully in the air, he performed a single-handed dunk!

Cheers erupted throughout Memorial Coliseum, and Gan Guoyang stood up to wave a towel for Drexler.

His dunk was truly beautiful; no wonder he was nicknamed Glider—as if he needed only a light leap to give the feeling of flying.

"The Glider’s dunk! Everyone who got tickets to Memorial Coliseum tonight is lucky; we are witnessing the rise of a New Trail Blazer!"

Schonely witnessed the ups and downs of the Trail Blazers; they needed to rise again to live up to the Portland people’s passion.

Yet, with such a beautiful dunk by Glider, Schonely didn’t say "Rip City." Listeners accustomed to his catchphrase began to wonder if Schonely had forgotten it or if tonight’s Play by Play at courtside was done by someone else.

The Supersonics performed even worse in the second quarter than the first; although they couldn’t defend well in the first, their offense had at least some form.

Tom Chambers and Al Wood scored by leveraging their individual abilities to maintain the score.

But in the second quarter, their bench lineup couldn’t even get the offense to work; they played without strategy, clanking shot after shot.

By the time Gan Guoyang was ready to get back into the game, the score had already turned to 45:31, with the Trail Blazers leading by 14 points.

Gan Guoyang stood on the sidelines with Vandeweghe, waiting for a dead ball to get back into the game, thinking to himself, "Are we Trail Blazers really this strong?"

Last season, we were still contending for the top draft pick, and this season we’ve started by trouncing two teams in the first half; doesn’t this make it seem like I, the second overall pick, am just reaping the benefits of my teammates’ success?

Gan Guoyang might have forgotten that the Trail Blazers’ second draft pick was traded from another team, and actually, their record last season was second in the Western Conference.

"Jack, can you let me play a little longer? I’m so young; I need to get some practice," Gan Guoyang chatted with Ramsay standing by his side, not wanting to sit on the bench for too long.

During his time at Gonzaga, Gan Guoyang was on the floor almost every minute; the Bulldogs couldn’t do without his defense, and he never felt tired.

On the contrary, the longer he ran on the court, the more excited he became, feeling exhilarated by sweating profusely during games.

The closer he got to his physical limits, the more he could sense the meaning of sports, his focus intensifying; he liked that feeling.

Now, with reasonable rotations and support from teammates, scoring easy points from fast-break dunks felt great too, but it also felt as if something was missing.

Ramsay glanced at him and said, "You still want to play until you’re fifty, don’t you? I have to save you for future use."

Gan Guoyang thought to himself, this old man sure holds a grudge! I made a joke with you last time, and now you’re using it to block me.

At that moment, the ball went out of bounds on the court, it was a dead ball, and Gan Guoyang and Vandeweghe entered the game, replacing Thompson and Kenny-Carl.

Two of the Trail Blazers’ best perimeter shooters and interior defenders entered the game.

However, there didn’t seem to be much synergy between Gan Guoyang and Vandeweghe.

Vandeweghe was a pure scorer without much else to offer in other aspects of the game.

Gan Guoyang was a versatile center, but his coordinating and passing were just decent, not his strong suit.

At least the 20-year-old Gan Guoyang was far from a maestro in organizing plays; both at Gonzaga and Shui Zhong Team, he wasn’t required to pass the ball too much.

Therefore, on offense, the two didn’t create much spark, and on defense, Vandeweghe was more of a liability.

At this moment, Drexler was on the court, a guard who wasn’t great at shooting but unexpectedly had a knack for beautiful passing; perhaps he was the bridge linking Gan Guoyang-Thompson-Vandeweghe.

During Drexler’s rookie season, he averaged only 1.7 assists per game, as Ramsay used him purely as an attacking guard whose main job was to penetrate for points.

Due to contract issues with Jim Paxson over the summer, he did not attend the preseason training camp, allowing Drexler to start in a few preseason games.

In the first three preseason games, Drexler demonstrated his organizational talent, averaging 8 assists and 7 rebounds per game, a significant improvement from his rookie season.

It was then that Vandeweghe went to Ramsay and said that the future of the Trail Blazers would definitely lie in the hands of Gan and Drexler.

Ramsay was somewhat incredulous, thinking Vandeweghe was being too modest. Having just been traded over for a big deal, he was already saying that he would, at most, be the third key player on the team, with the franchise-led by two rookies.

However, as the training camp progressed and the season deepened, Ramsay began to agree with Vandeweghe’s assessment.

Drexler had very flexible and strong fingers; with the ball in his hands, apart from shooting, he could perform finger-rolls, single-handed direct passes, and one-handed layups very well.

Once he came off the bench, the ball would be passed to him to orchestrate the offense; his broad vision and accurate direct passes could easily tear apart the Supersonics’ defense.

Both Vandeweghe and Gan Guoyang scored off Drexler’s passes.

The difference in points steadily increased, and it was clear that this was going to be another big win for the Trail Blazers.

In the tenth minute of the second quarter, Gan Guoyang suddenly made a defensive strike, teaming up with Drexler to corner Al Wood.

Gan Guoyang’s double-team was fierce—in college, he rarely went on the offensive defensively, sticking to the three-second zone; the NBA offered more defensive possibilities.

After a successful steal by the duo, Gan Guoyang picked up the ball and threw it to Drexler, who once again charged down the court with the ball.

Gan Guoyang followed closely behind; Supersonics’ Chambers and Henderson ran back on defense, while Drexler penetrated through the side without looking up, but he had already noticed Gan Guoyang’s follow-up.

A discreet bounce pass to Gan Guoyang cutting through the middle lane left Chambers attempting to turn and defend, seemingly too late.

It looked like Gan Guoyang was about to finish the attack with another power dunk, and the fans at the venue stood up again.

Gan Guoyang caught the ball, crouched, and leaped off his feet, then the fans in the arena witnessed Gan Guoyang perform a 360-degree spin in mid-air.

Like a ballet dancer, he twirled in the air, fending off the blocking Chambers, and slammed the ball into the basket with both hands.

The audience at Memorial Coliseum emitted what might have been the most explosive cheer of the night; many fans who were there claimed that their hearing suffered some damage that night, with this basket bearing the main responsibility.

Bill Schonely shouted into the microphone: "Sunny Gan’s airborne 360-degree dunk over Tom Chambers! Woah! What a play! Rip City! Alright!"

Having held back all game, Schonely finally managed to exclaim "Rip City" smoothly, to his own delight, as well as that of the radio listeners and the live audience.

However, Gan Guoyang remained calm after the dunk, high-fiving Drexler, who was just as serene; both were the type to run on as usual after a dunk.

Tom Chambers stood under the basket, stunned for about a second or two, before picking up the ball to resume play, while the cheering of the fans did not stop.

"[At that time, my brain sort of crashed; I ran to the baseline to inbound the ball, and the venue was in an uproar. All I could think was: how did that guy do it, a center performing a 360-degree dunk, nearly flying over my head. I really wanted to say, can you perform it again for me, I didn’t see it clearly. Years later, when I completed that dunk myself, all I could think was, I’ve done it too, just like Ah Gan.]"

————Excerpt from an interview in which Tom Chambers talked about his own "The Dunk".