The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 158 - 56: It’s Your Turn Now

On the early flight to New Jersey, everyone was closing their eyes, catching up on sleep.

This terrible schedule had them on two long flights in three days.

Thankfully, a week of rest in Portland had allowed the players some recovery; otherwise, they wouldn’t have known how to endure the upcoming six-game away streak.

Gan Guoyang had a decent night’s sleep; he dozed off for a bit on the plane, then took off his eye mask and switched on the reading light to look over the technical statistics of the last game against the Clippers.

It was the Trail Blazers’ second loss of the season, and Guoyang still harbored hard feelings about it; he hadn’t expected the team to suddenly lose to the Clippers when they had good momentum.

Last night at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, the basketball hoop seemed to have a lid on it for the Trail Blazers—their shooting percentage was quite low, and they couldn’t get their perimeter game going.

This caused the Clippers’ defense to aggressively collapse inward; around Guoyang there were always at least three men, forcing him sometimes to disengage and move outside to receive the ball and participate in the offense.

But the further out he got the ball, the less impact he had on the game, even though last night he made a three-pointer that got the Los Angeles fans cheering, it didn’t improve the bigger picture.

To truly impact a game with three-pointers, the entire team needed to shoot them in large volumes, supported by a complete tactical system, and the NBA in 1985 didn’t have such technical-tactical support.

For Guoyang, maintaining a good long-range shooting touch amidst the intense inside battles wasn’t easy; developing this weapon would take time.

At least now Ramsay wouldn’t rub his bald head anymore when he saw Guoyang taking a three-point shot; instead, he was very calm, even likely to praise a good shot if it went in.

Looking at the technical statistics for quite some time, trying to draw some conclusions, Gan Guoyang turned when Kenny-Carl, the veteran of the team, woke up beside him, removed his eye mask, saw Gan studying the stats, and chuckled, "Stop looking, Gan; reviewing the game won’t bring back a win."

Gan Guoyang said, "We’ll encounter the Clippers again, and next time we’ll win."

Carl said, "Next time is next time; who knows when that will be, what condition the team will be in. The regular season and the playoffs are different from the NCAA tournament; you have to have a different mindset."

Hearing Carl’s words, Gan Guoyang put away the stats sheet and sighed, "Maybe you’re right, Kenny, but I just can’t get used to losing."

Carl half-turned, "It’s not about getting used to losing; no player should get used to losing. It’s about facing it correctly. You must forget certain things. If it’s a terrible rout or a key playoff game that you lose, you should remember it for a lifetime. But some games, like last night’s, it’s just like an unsatisfactory call girl experience—she’s too ugly, but you still couldn’t help but go for it, then regret it and feel like you shouldn’t have spent that money... No, that’s not right. You leave the money, walk out, close the door, and forget about it. There will be other beautiful girls. We won’t always shoot so poorly, but it’s bound to happen a few times each season."

At Carl’s analogy, Gan Guoyang laughed and said, "I never go for call girls."

Carl laughed as well and said, "Actually, we’re all in the service industry; it’s the same."

Kenny-Carl was one of the two veterans over 30 on the team, in his eighth season in the league, having been traded twice and played for four teams, a true old gun of the courts.

He had good relationships with the younger players like Guoyang and Drexler and didn’t have the arrogant air of a first overall pick, like Mychal Thompson. He was more down-to-earth, like an older brother offering guidance on everything in life, both on and off the court.

Gan Guoyang knew Carl was right. He wasn’t the type to deceive himself with "the team lost but I didn’t." Sometimes, one must aspire to a broader perspective, seeing a loss as a part of an entire season.

This was an issue all NBA rookies faced. The Rockets had seen their winning streak ended recently, Olajuwon experiencing the first defeat of his career, followed closely by the second and third losses.

The dense schedule allowed no time to digest a loss. Despondent over defeat, Olajuwon initially refused to attend practice the next day, until Coach Fitch forced him to watch the game’s recording from the sidelines.

Jordan lost earlier and more frequently, and as the season progressed, the targeted defense by teams against these superstar rookies was only getting stronger.

Recently, Gan Guoyang started facing double and triple-teams; some teams even preferred a defensive foul over letting him get the ball early.

His impact on the game was indeed too strong; the opponents would rather let other Trail Blazers players score than allow Guoyang to put up points.

And Ramsay offered no solution to the problem of double-teams, merely analyzing the post-game and offering some advice to Guoyang.

In the end, it was up to Guoyang himself to solve these problems on the court and accumulate his own experience.

Ramsay was using game after game to sharpen Ah Gan, hoping that this sharp sword would become even sharper.

After crossing over 4,600 kilometers, nearly the entire United States, the plane arrived in the skies of New York in the afternoon.

"Wow, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center." Gan Guoyang peered out of the airplane window to see the World Trade Center on Manhattan Island.

"Don’t get too excited, Gan. It’s just New York. After all, we’ll come here at least twice every year, it’s no big deal," Kenny-Carl said to Gan Guoyang, who was making a fuss.

"You don’t understand, Kenny. One less look with every glance."

The Trail Blazers’ entire team disembarked in New York. Since there were no direct flights to Newark Airport, they had to take a detour to New York and Jersey and transfer to a coach bus to their destination, the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford.

Along the way, Gan Guoyang witnessed the majestic Brooklyn Bridge, passed through Manhattan, crossed the Hudson River twice, and after nearly three hours on the bus, they finally reached the hotel arranged by the team.

By the time they arrived at the hotel, the sky had already grown dark, and Ramsay encouraged everyone to rest well and prepare for the game the following night.

That evening, Gan Guoyang and Mychal Thompson shared a room and discussed the recent games before sleep, talking about double-teaming, the battle in the paint, and the differences between Eastern and Western Conference teams.

Thompson reminded Gan Guoyang, "There’s some difference in the playing style between the East and the West; it’s a lot rougher here. The West is relatively relaxed during the regular season, everyone likes offense and running the court. But the East has gotten more and more wild over the last couple of years. They like so-called ’hard-nosed basketball.’ You have to be careful."

Gan Guoyang turned over and said, "How rough? As rough as Kermit Washington’s punch that splattered Tomjanovich’s blood?".

Thompson laughed and said, "It’s not to that extent. The league games will never be like that again; that was too much. The style of the entire league is unified overall. After all, there’s frequent movement of players and coaches, and everyone will learn from each other’s best. Differences may come from the fans’ preferences. West Coast fans like to watch shooting, offensive play, while Eastern fans like to see hard-fought battles, ball control, and tough defense. Some fans here are annoying. New Jersey is okay, but wait till you go to the Great Lakes Region."

Off the court, Kenny-Carl’s words, and on the court, Mychal Thompson’s experience proved even more valuable.

Gan Guoyang turned over again and said, "No problem, I’ll slaughter them all."

Before long, Gan Guoyang’s snoring filled the room, and Thompson, shaking his head helplessly, turned off the light.

He recalled his own rough experiences during his rookie season’s first trip to the Eastern Conference. As the first overall pick just entering the league, he played brilliantly just the same.

In his second game of his career, he scored 37 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and blocked 4 shots, leading his team to defeat the Kansas Kings and shine at the Memorial Coliseum.

In subsequent home games, he recorded luxury stats of 29 points, 14 boards, 8 assists, 3 blocks followed by 20 points, 22 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 blocks, and another 18 points, 17 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 blocks, leading the Trail Blazers to consecutive victories and making Portland fans temporarily forget the pain of Bill Walton’s injury and departure.

They had a new superstar big man.

At the end of November, the same time as now, they embarked on their Eastern Conference trip, facing the defending champions, the Washington Bullets, in their first game.

Facing the Bullets’ twin towers of Unseld and Hayes, Thompson scored only 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds with a mere 33% shooting rate.

The Trail Blazers lost by 40 points that game, a terrible defeat.

Then in Boston he managed only 2 points, and in New Jersey just 6 points.

He began to hit what’s called the rookie wall, and for a long time after that, his form was erratic, only recovering towards the end of the season.

The second season’s injuries ruined everything. He missed a whole year, and when he came back, he’d lost the explosiveness and speed from his college days.

He had more experience and skill, but he also seemed more ordinary. He complained about the Trail Blazers’ medical staff but couldn’t change anything.

Yet when Gan Guoyang voiced his opinions about the Trail Blazers’ medical treatment and forced the team to make changes, he knew this kid was different.

"Heh, slaughter them... It’s up to you now, Gan."