The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 141 - 41: Touchstone

The fourth quarter didn’t turn into garbage time, as the home team, in order to do right by their fans, often rallied in the final period.

Coach McLeod was quite flexible with his strategy adjustments. Knowing they couldn’t compete in the paint and were too sluggish for confrontation in the first three quarters, he relied heavily on Maxi and Humphries in the fourth.

True enough, the Suns spurred a comeback, closing the gap once again, reducing the difference to just 4 points at one stage, prompting Coach Jack Ramsey to call a timeout and harshly criticize the team’s perimeter defense as a pile of shit.

Actually, if it weren’t for Gan Guoyang, Ramsay wouldn’t have thought so poorly of the perimeter defense; it was Guoyang’s presence that highlighted its shortcomings.

The imbalance in defensive performance put considerable pressure on Guoyang inside, but fortunately, he was used to it from his high school days, and didn’t feel his teammates were too weak.

He had led teams that were even weaker.

What he wanted was the final victory in the game.

At the crucial moment, Vandeweghe proved that while his defense might be poor, his offense was reliable.

After the timeout, he took the ball on the perimeter, executed a sleek "KiKi step", and scored with a pull-up mid-range jumper.

Offense can sometimes be mystical; a wave of scoring can be followed by a string of misses.

This relates to the players’ stamina and changes in shooting touch. The Suns, having fallen behind too much earlier, were feeling the aftereffects of being suppressed from the start as the fourth quarter unveiled.

Fighting hard to mount a comeback only to become exhausted and lose their touch meant that despite their efforts, they were still behind. After the timeout, the opposing team scored, and they could no longer make their shots.

If they had the height inside, fighting for a couple of offensive rebounds could have been a game-changer or could have turned the tide, but Guoyang’s presence foiled any attempts to grab offensive rebounds.

Securing defensive rebounds consecutively, Guoyang, in an offensive role, facilitated an assist for Parkson’s layup, followed by another score from Vandeweghe’s left-handed layup.

With a solid lead established beforehand, the players were much more relaxed in crunch time, facing far less psychological pressure on offense.

As time gradually passed, the Suns, lacking Walter Davis, missed out on scoring firepower, and failing to score in the final stretch, they finally gave up the game down by 12 points with 2 minutes to go.

The fans at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum started to leave their seats, and the teams slowly played out the remaining time, with Guoyang being subbed out for Scheffler.

He finished the game with 33 points, 22 rebounds, and 8 blocks. In just his first three rookie season games, he tallied 93 points, surpassing the likes of Jabbar, Skywalker Thompson, Hayes, and other rookie legends.

The only one higher than Guoyang was Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 120 points in his first three rookie games, marking the beginning of his career as a scoring demon.

Post-game in the Trail Blazers’ locker room, a heavily sweating Guoyang took off his shirt and sat down for an interview with reporters.

Although he performed exceptionally well tonight, even to the point of shocking Phoenix, there was only one reporter and a photographer present—any more and they might as well have included a chicken leg.

The reporter from The Arizona Republic asked Guoyang what he thought about achieving such stats and the victory in this game.

Looking up at the bleak lights on the ceiling, Guoyang said, "Nothing much, the sun will rise as usual tomorrow."

"You’ve played three games in the NBA, how does it feel?"

"Feel? It feels a bit lonely."

"You haven’t made any friends? Is your professional life too boring?"

"No, I just haven’t found a rival yet."

The reporter furiously scribbled in his notebook—all material.

After the interview and a shower, the players boarded the team bus and returned to the hotel to sleep immediately.

Because according to league travel policies, a team must catch the first flight out in the morning following an away game to head to their next destination.

Why? Guoyang didn’t know—perhaps the capitalists just liked exploiting the workers like this, which often resulted in a lack of sleep for the players.

Having played nearly 40 minutes tonight and expended a lot of energy, Guoyang would return to sleep for just four to five hours before waking up early to catch the plane, hoping to catch up on sleep at the next destination.

If they encountered back-to-back away games—a brutal schedule—one sleep is all they’d get before warming up for the game that evening without any time for adjustment.

Therefore, it’s nearly impossible to be fully spirited and perform excellently in every game throughout the season.

Insufficient sleep can easily lead to bad mood and world-weariness.

Boarding the plane in a daze the morning of the 2nd, Guoyang found himself oddly nostalgic for his college basketball days.

Back then, the schedule wasn’t so hectic, and most of the time was spent on campus with close-knit relationships.

The atmosphere inside the Trail Blazers was also good, and while there was some overt and covert jostling, it had nothing to do with Guoyang.

But after all, colleagues are just colleagues; everyone is playing together for work, for contracts.

Today, everyone might be teammates fighting side by side; tomorrow, they could be traded and forced to become adversaries.

Like Morris Lucas, once a championship hero for the Trail Blazers, who after the game embraced Coach Ramsey and shook hands with Guoyang, patting Guoyang’s shoulder so vigorously it still hurt.

But last season, he turned against his former team, breaching the Trail Blazers’ defense, leading to their elimination from the Western Conference in the first round.

Guoyang’s current teammates could turn into rivals in an instant; no one knows what the future holds.

When the plane landed in Los Angeles, Guoyang couldn’t recall how many times he’d been to the City of Angels.

All lacking the interest to enjoy the California scenery, the team headed back to the hotel where everyone closed their door to catch up on sleep.

Gan Guoyang slept soundly, not waking up until dinner time in the evening, and was completely re-energized.

He didn’t feel any soreness in his body, and after a good sweat and a shower, he felt extremely comfortable.

Gan Guoyang, known as the Bionic Man, had physical endurance and health that far exceeded that of the average person. However, if he had a shortcoming, it was that he ate and slept a lot.

After all, he still had to abide by the laws of physics; his energy and recovery didn’t come from thin air but from his eating and sleeping habits.

Especially sleep, a complete, high-quality sleep could quickly rejuvenate him from fatigue.

But if he didn’t sleep well, his performance could easily be affected.

He got up and went to dinner with Kossie, just in time to run into Coach Ramsey and Rick Adelman.

Ramsay said he wanted to treat Gan Guoyang to a nice dinner, so they went to a renowned French restaurant in Inglewood.

The feisty, stubborn, old coach was surprisingly trendy with his clothes, and who knows how many outfits he packed in his suitcase for the road trip.

Tonight, he was wearing a navy-blue suit with a blue and pink open-collar shirt, a pair of khaki checkered trousers and brown pointed-toe leather shoes, a full-on 1970s vibe.

Rick Adelman’s attire, on the other hand, was very ’80s, sporting a blue and white tracksuit and a pair of sneakers, which Ramsey chided him for his lack of sophistication.

At the dinner table they didn’t talk much about basketball, Ramsey and Adelman were mostly discussing accommodations, food, dry cleaning of jerseys, and expenses reimbursement.

Back then the teams had fewer staff, and the coaches had to manage a lot of tasks, practically acting as half a team manager; they were responsible for managing the players’ basic needs and expenses during trips.

Ramsay joked, "I only feel like a coach during training camps and playoffs. During the regular season, I’m more of a team manager and nanny, responsible for feeding and caring for you guys while also squeezing in a game or two."

Gan Guoyang bit into a steak and said, "That’s about right, you barely gave any directions in yesterday’s game."

"I prepared thoroughly before the game,"

"I didn’t listen,"

Gan Guoyang truly hadn’t paid much attention; he had his own approach to the game.

For him, the coach’s directions were more of a reference; sometimes he felt that some of Ramsey’s ideas were outdated.

Drexler and Vandeweghe also shared this sentiment, as they were all key figures on the team.

No one would openly oppose Ramsay; after all, the coach was highly respected and indeed had a knack for training.

During the actual games, however, everyone had the freedom to play as they saw fit, adjusting to the situation on the court, the so-called autonomy of a general in the field.

Last season, Drexler was the only one who would improvise frequently during games, which irked Ramsey and often landed him on the bench.

Now, talented players like Gan Guoyang and Vandeweghe were showing similar inclinations, and Ramsay was quite helpless. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Kossie silently ate his meal, too intimidated to utter a word extra.

Ramsey did not contradict Gan Guoyang, and in fact, he hadn’t done much coaching during the past three games.

He was observing more and had become more patient than in the ’83 and ’84 seasons.

Ramsay took a sip of red wine and asked, "Gan, if I build a system around you, do you have the confidence to take on that responsibility?"

Gan Guoyang furrowed his brows and said, "Jack, haven’t you thought about building a system around me before? You should see Dr. Ogilvy."

"I’ve already seen him."

"..."

"What I mean is, I acknowledge your talent, but being the core requires more than just skill; you also need to dominate the others. You have to be the true leader, and you’re only 20."

Ramsay was right; in the NBA, talent was one aspect, but so was experience.

Many teams, in order to develop new stars, would trade away their former core players.

It’s like a pride of lions where a new Lion King emerges by overthrowing the old one.

However, as the Western Conference’s second-placed team lucky enough to have garnered a top draft pick, the Trail Blazers wouldn’t be rebuilding — Gan Guoyang was more like a strong reinforcement.

But as they continued to incorporate him, Ramsay realized that this addition was so significant, it would be a waste not to use him as the cornerstone of the team.

After some thought, Gan Guoyang said, "Performance in games will prove who the real leader is. Let’s talk about this topic again after we play against the Lakers."

Ramsey nodded in agreement with Gan Guoyang’s viewpoint; he didn’t want to disrupt the Trail Blazers’ good team spirit over a struggle for the leadership role.

For matters on the basketball court, they should be settled with basketball. If Gan Guoyang truly had the ability to overshadow everyone’s performance, the team would support him.

Gan Guoyang’s prestige within the Trail Blazers was already quite high, with veterans like Vandeweghe and Thompson showing him great respect.

But when it came to on-court stats, Vandeweghe’s performances were not inferior to Gan Guoyang’s, with explosive scores of 47, 22, and 24 points.

In crucial moments, Vandeweghe’s one-on-one plays were the Trail Blazers’ most reliable scoring option.

After all, scoring was still the most important stat on the basketball court.

Therefore, the upcoming game against the Lakers would be the best test to determine who would be the new king of Portland.