The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 138 - 38 High Formation

Winning and losing are common affairs in battle, but if you can win, why lose?

Someone has to win in the end, so why can’t it be me?

In this league, some are destined to win, and others to lose, but no one likes to lose.

However, the dense and arduous schedule can make losing a habit, which is very dangerous.

After playing in the opener on the 30th, Gan Guoyang got up early on the 31st and went to the airport with Gan Youwei.

Gan Youwei planned to return to San Francisco with Guohui and the others after watching his son’s home opener.

Gan Guoyang wanted his dad to stay in Portland for a couple of days, to which Gan Youwei said, "What’s the point of staying here if you’re not even in Portland?"

Gan Guoyang couldn’t argue with that, because according to the schedule, they had to play three away games in a row and wouldn’t return to Portland until the 5th of the next month.

They said their farewells and boarded different flights, with Gan Guoyang and his teammates heading to Phoenix to prepare for their third game of the season.

The difficulty of professional matches lies here; to achieve enough games to collect sufficient ticket revenues, the NBA started having more than 80 games per season since the 1960s.

Later it became a fixed number of 82 regular season games for every team, to be played over roughly 170 days, averaging a game every two days.

Due to travel, and home and away games, back-to-back matches, playing three games in four days, or four games in five days are all common scheduling arrangements.

In contrast, in college, the schedule tends to be more relaxed, generally two games a week, because students’ academics must be accommodated.

Sometimes, the schedule might be more intense during small tournaments, but they are short-lived, finishing within two or three days.

And college games are divided into two halves, totaling only 40 minutes, without an offensive time limit, meaning much less physical exertion.

An NBA game lasts 48 minutes, and the 24-second shot clock means players have to run at full strength each game, with physical exertion and wear several times more than in college.

NBA games are also more rough, with more intense physical confrontations, especially Eastern Conference teams, though Gan Guoyang hadn’t yet faced rough treatment in his first two games.

However, as his fame grew after scoring 41 points in three quarters in his second game, causing a sensation among All-America NBA media, such rough treatment was not far off.

Consecutive away games are a tremendous test of a player’s physique and willpower, especially without charter flights and sometimes having to fly red-eye flights if they can’t get tickets.

Back in the 1960s, black players also had to endure the pain of racial segregation; after playing an away game, they would rush to the next destination overnight, with not a single establishment along the way willing to offer them food or accommodation.

Nowadays, things are a lot better, but staying in a hotel on the road can never be as comfortable as being at home, something Gan Guoyang deeply experienced in college.

The plane arrived in Phoenix at noon, with the game scheduled for the next evening. The hotel conditions were worse than in Kansas, with no water available for showers at night.

The weather in Arizona is hotter and much drier than in Portland, making it very uncomfortable not to be able to shower.

Hotels in the 1980s didn’t have fitness equipment; fitness activities had just started, and aerobic exercise programs shown on television were just beginning to become popular.

Lacking a gym and the ability to shower made Gan Guoyang give up the idea of exercising. Instead, he did some stretching and yoga in his room to maintain his flexibility and muscle elasticity.

Gan Guoyang’s flexibility was second to none among basketball players, enabling him to learn techniques more quickly and often perform movements in games that ordinary centers couldn’t do.

This was Beelman’s suggestion. He said Jabbar always practiced yoga; that’s why his skyhook was so unstoppable and flexible, and it helped him stay in good shape throughout the long season. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The next day, during the pregame practice, Jack Ramsay held a meeting to emphasize some key points about playing against the Suns.

After he spoke for a while, Gan Guoyang asked, "Aren’t there any videotapes we can watch? Tapes of the Suns’ games?"

Ramsay shook his head and said, "Sorry, you won’t be provided with video playback equipment on the road. Let’s wait until someone invents something more portable, and I’ll bring it everywhere I go."

Home teams have video rooms where they can watch video footage of their opponents and get to know their tactics, but on away games, you’re considered lucky just to get a court to warm up on.

Even without video, for the game against the Suns, Ramsay emphasized a lot, smeared the tactics board repeatedly, and reminded the players to focus on defense and concentration.

"The only good news is that Walter Davis is out due to injury, but we can’t be careless because of that. It’s been several months now, and I still have a headache from anger," Ramsay stressed at the end of the meeting.

Gan Guoyang was somewhat confused, and he asked Drexler, "Clyde, why did Jack talk so much today? Why does he have a headache from anger?"

Drexler looked at Gan Guoyang as if he’d seen a ghost and said, "Don’t you know that last year we lost to the Suns in the first round of the playoffs?"

Gan Guoyang was shocked, "We made it to the playoffs last year? We’re a playoff team? Then where did our second overall pick come from?"

Drexler was at a loss for words, thinking this kid really doesn’t care about his own team’s past, and said, "Our second-overall pick came from a previous trade. Last season we had the second-best record in the Western Conference! But because of the division rules, we were ranked third, and as a result, we lost to the Suns 2:3 in the first round."

"So that means I joined a team that was second in the Western Conference last year. Doesn’t that mean we can compete for the championship this season?"

Drexler rolled his eyes at Gan Guoyang, thinking this guy’s blind confidence is even stronger than mine.

"Don’t you watch the NBA?"

"Where would I watch it, is there a live broadcast?"

Drexler was left without words, as last year the Trail Blazers didn’t have a single national broadcast.

Gan Guoyang studied and played basketball in Spokane, and he rarely came to Portland, and when he did, he couldn’t afford tickets.

Actually, even Drexler didn’t watch the Trail Blazers play when he was studying and playing basketball in Houston.

At that time, the NBA wasn’t very popular, and television broadcasts were underdeveloped. It was quite common for a player to be drafted by a team and know nothing about the team’s history.

On the evening of November 1st, at the Phoenix Suns’ home, the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, over 14,000 spectators were in attendance, with a high occupancy rate, almost a full house.

Compared to the Kansas people’s indifference to the Kings, Phoenix, just like Portland, loves their city’s team very much.

The Suns have created glory here, making it to the finals, and have maintained their competitiveness in the Western Conference playoffs since the 1970s.

They have made it into the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons and reached the Western Conference Finals last season, losing to the tenacious Lakers and falling just a step short of the finals.

After a wonderful and surprising season last year (they were only ranked sixth in the Western Conference), the Suns maintained their original lineup and drafted Jay Humphries from the University of Colorado during the draft — that’s the same college that gave the Gonzaga Bulldogs their only defeat on the road, with Humphries confusing Stockton during the game.

Gan Guoyang stepped onto the court to check the Suns’ lineup and realized why they could knock out the Trail Blazers — they were indeed very tall.

The center was 7 feet 1 inch Edwards, the second center was 6 feet 9 inches Alvan Adams, power forward was 6 feet 10 inches Larry Nance, small forward was 6 feet 7 inches Alvin Scott, and point guard was 6 feet 4 inches Michael Holton.

With their starting shooting guard Walter Davis absent due to injury, the Suns’ coach fielded a three-tall lineup without a shooting guard.

So no wonder Stu Inman fought so hard to get a center at the draft; he didn’t want any of the talented guards or forwards with potential, including Jordan.

It was because of the painful lesson of losing to the Suns in the first round of the 1984 playoffs, without any height inside, they lost their first home game, with Edwards going 10 for 14 in the paint and doing as he pleased, leaving the Trail Blazers in a passive stance throughout the series, ultimately suffering an upset.

Before the game, Jack Ramsay pulled Gan Guoyang aside and said, "Gan, you scored 41 points beautifully last game, but tonight you’ll have trouble. The Suns are tall, and the away environment is tough, you need to adjust your condition. Offense, defense, rhythm, every game is different, you have to experience it slowly. This is your real chance to grow, not just running around, you understand?"

When Ramsay wasn’t strict, he was quite patient and kind as a coach. Gan Guoyang felt his care, just like Gan Youwei the night before.

He was afraid that facing the Suns’ lineup, it would erode Gan Guoyang’s confidence.

However, Gan Guoyang just smiled and said, "Don’t worry, Dr. Jack, I love playing against tall lineups like this the most; I have confidence."