The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 165 - 62 Tit for Tat

Like Gan Guoyang, Jordan had long awaited this game, and even much earlier than Gan had imagined.

In 1982, when Michael Jordan was a freshman at the University of North Carolina, he saw a sports newspaper article about Gan Guoyang.

At that time, Guoyang was playing in the CIF Northern Section playoffs, where he displayed overwhelming strength and statistics, rising to prominence virtually overnight.

Jordan took a great interest in him, followed the ensuing CIF California finals, and watched the live broadcast on CBS the night it garnered miraculous ratings—Jordan was one of the witnesses.

Later, in North Carolina training sessions when Coach Smith would say to him, "You must always remember, somewhere in the world, there is someone working as hard as you are, or even harder," Jordan’s mind always wandered to Ah Gan.

He often pondered how much effort a Chinese person had to exert to achieve basketball success in a foreign land, and how great his talent must be.

Soon after Gan Guoyang won the CIF championship, Jordan clinched the national championship for North Carolina with a game-winning shot in the more high-profile NCAA finals.

After the finals, Jordan started paying attention to Gan Guoyang’s college dynamics, wondering whether he would come to North Carolina or UCLA, or to another prestigious university.

Unexpectedly, Gan chose Gonzaga University, an unheard-of name in college basketball at the time, causing a fair stir.

Jordan felt sorry for Gan, thinking that such a center not going to a well-known school but a small one was really squandering his future—proving Jordan’s lack of foresight had started early on.

In 1983, Guoyang lay low and didn’t play any games for a year, and Jordan nearly forgot the name, until in the 1983-1984 season, the name suddenly dominated the vision of basketball fans all across America.

Gonzaga, like a wildfire sparked in the corner of Spokane in the Northwest, spread throughout the country with Gan Guoyang holding the torch, leading his team to victory after victory all the way to the final, where he secured what might be the most thrilling and highest-rated championship in NCAA history with a breathtaking game-winning shot.

That year, Jordan had been looking forward to meeting Ah Gan on the court, but unfortunately, without James Worthy, North Carolina was significantly weakened and got eliminated on their path to advancement.

From that moment on, Jordan felt his path of destiny was overshadowed by Gan Guoyang, and later when joining the Olympic Team, under the coaching of Bob Knight, Gan was the only opponent who exerted immense pressure on him and became the target he had to surpass.

At the draft, Gan topped him again, going to the Trail Blazers, which had a more complete lineup and a better team. In their rookie season, they were already on par with the Los Angeles Lakers.

While the Bulls were like a pile of mud stuck in an abyss, in the more powerful Eastern Conference, above them loomed the Celtics, 76ers, Pistons, Bucks, Bullets...

Jordan was not discouraged, on the contrary, he was filled with determination, like an impoverished entrepreneur starting from scratch. He was ready to work from dawn till dusk, seizing every opportunity for more gain, never wasting a second of his life.

He never complained, and from the moment he stepped into the shabby locker room of the Chicago Stadium, he decided to make it shine, hoping one day to let the light of the championship illuminate it.

This wasn’t a simple dream—everyone dreams of a championship; he was convinced he would put it into action, continuously challenging this goal throughout his limited professional career.

On the court, Jordan launched the first offensive against the Trail Blazers’ inside line.

Parkson, as usual, was bypassed in a step, but at this moment, Parkson’s defensive disadvantage was actually obscured.

Because even if you switch to a stronger defender, when Jordan, with the ball, suddenly accelerates, he is still bypassed in a step.

It’s akin to taking an exam, where on a regular paper the poor students aim for 50 points and the good students aim for 80 points. On a difficult paper, poor students may get 30 points and the good ones 50 points. On a hellish paper, poor students struggle to get 20 points while the good ones might scrape together 25 points...

Jordan was the hellish paper; unless you were an honor student-level defender, the difference between a poor and a good student was negligible.

At that moment, Mychal Thompson rushed to the front, blocking Jordan’s surge to the basket, and the referee called a foul.

Now, Mitchell Thompson had to focus on protecting Gan Guoyang, not letting him get into foul trouble.

Thompson was a former first overall draft pick and a core player of the team, but now he was willing to follow the instructions of Ramsay and happily became Gan’s wingman.

Standing at the free-throw line, Jordan made both shots and shouted at Gan Guoyang, "Don’t you even have the courage to stop me? Who said, ’He doesn’t need a bodyguard.’"

Gan replied, "Try to get in front of me and see, but do you think you can stop me?"

The two attacked each other from the start, full of aggression, both verbally and physically uncompromising.

When Gan Guoyang received the ball in the low post for the fourth time, Jordan’s double-team came up, and Gan Guoyang passed the ball to Parkson on the perimeter.

Parkson caught the ball, faked a move to shake off Jordan who was rushing back, and hit a mid-range jumper.

It was evident that the Trail Blazers’ offense focused heavily on Gan Guoyang’s low post in the early stage of the game tonight.

After more than ten games of adjustments, Ramsay slowly formed a blueprint for a system revolving around Gan Guoyang.

Ramsay had experience building a team around Walton, and of course, he knew Gan Guoyang was different from Walton, with stronger scoring abilities but less capable in terms of playmaking.

In the past interior duo of Walton plus Lucas, Walton played a role with minimal scoring and maximum playmaking, whereas Lucas was the primary scorer and a secondary playmaker.

With Gan Guoyang and Thompson on the inside, Ramsay’s ideal scenario was for Gan Guoyang to take on most of the scoring and some of the playmaking, while Thompson would contribute less to scoring and more to playmaking.

Though the roles of the center and power forward had been switched, the tactical system was not as simple as two players swapping positions. Ramsay required Gan Guoyang to get the ball deeper and also be able to hold the ball at the high post with a mid-to-long-range threat in certain offenses. This way, he opened up the broad wing areas for Drexler, Vandeweghe, and Parkson.

Gan Guoyang agreed with Ramsay’s strategy; he was accustomed to the rough play inside, and the mid-to-long shots from the high post were his secret weapon to occasionally tease his opponents, keeping them guessing.

However, systems aside, they only contribute to perhaps fifty percent, or even less, of a game’s strategy. The rest often depends on the players’ chemistry and on-the-spot performance.

Especially in the increasingly fast-paced and physically intense NBA, running offensive plays as rigidly as colleges and teams did in the 60s and 70s is no longer realistic.

Bulls coach Lou Holtz understood this well. As Jordan’s influence on the game grew, he decisively loosened the reins, unlike Dean Smith, who bound Jordan within a system.

After Parkson’s score, the Bulls quickly inbounded the ball in the backcourt, passing to Jordan who once again accelerated past his defender and broke through the middle towards the basket.

Jordan’s acceleration seemed like a car racing past telephone poles—with the opponents being the poles, and so were his teammates; nine poles on the court, and he was the only one sprinting.

But this time, under the basket, he encountered a super tough pole as Gan Guoyang waited for him in the three-second zone. When both men jumped together, Jordan passed the ball to Ulrich cutting along the baseline.

Ulrich received the ball, drove to the basket, and dunked it with one hand!

Standing 6 feet 9 inches tall, Ulrich was a finishing-style small forward with good height and long arms, which gave him a powerful impact under the basket.

After Jordan arrived in Chicago, the two were nicknamed "Netbusters."

Ulrich, with two successful dunks, was extremely excited. He punched the air forcefully and glared at Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang’s focus had been on Jordan from the start, not defending on the first play to avoid fouling, and then he failed to cover for the second play, leaving Ulrich wide open.

"Don’t worry, Orlando; as soon as I’m free, I’ll take care of you," Gan Guoyang warned Ulrich.

In the offense, Gan Guoyang didn’t go to the low post but to the high post to set a screen for Vandeweghe, letting Vandeweghe attack Ulrich.

Vandeweghe used the screen to break to the left towards the basket, got past Jones, and dunked with his left hand!

Next, Ulrich tried to return the favor and broke past Vandeweghe, but after driving to the basket, Gan Guoyang swatted his shot to the ground.

After grabbing the ball, Gan Guoyang made a long pass to the frontcourt. Vandeweghe received it and passed it to the cutting Parkson.

Parkson went for the layup, but Jordan, like a panther, chased him down and swatted the ball away.