The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1809 - 64: Staying in Portland

The sky in Boston is clear, and so is the sky in Portland.

According to the weather forecast, both cities should have clear skies throughout the championship series.

However, the players in Portland always take the weather forecast with a grain of skepticism.

When rain is predicted, it often does not come down, and when clear skies are announced, a sudden rainstorm sometimes rolls in with a single cloud.

Gan Guoyang always remembers the 1993 championship, the season of the four-peat, when it constantly rained in Portland.

But recently, Oregon TV started rerunning the Trail Blazers' past championship memories, and when it got to the sad 1993 chapter, the footage showed clear skies over Portland.

"Holy crap, could my memory be wrong? How do I remember that year as constantly raining, downpours that lasted ages?"

At home, Gan Guoyang watched TV while eating a large bowl of fruit and vegetable salad to replenish vitamins and dietary fiber.

This might be the most relaxing championship series of Gan Guoyang's career, not because the opponent is weak or he is strong, but because after announcing his retirement before the first game, he has truly laid down all burdens.

All those heavy, joyful memories of the past, he was able to let go, focusing solely on the game, treating it as an ordinary series.

The Trail Blazers' magical and tragic 1993 championship journey was naturally made into a documentary for people to remember. As a central figure of the event, Gan Guoyang had always been afraid to watch it.

Other championship years, such as 1986, 1988, 1992, and the 77-win 1998 season, official and unofficial, Gan Guoyang had watched many times, but he dared not touch 1993.

This time, however, when the TV station broadcast related programs, replaying various footage of the time, Gan Guoyang did not shut himself off from watching or listening but quietly followed the program to reminisce with a calm mind.

In the future, people will surely re-shoot documentaries of the Trail Blazers' championship years. These participants will return to the camera, to the places where they once fought, to retell stories of victory, championships, friendship, teamwork, and fate.

The one in 2000 must have a special significance. In theory, this will be the last dance for Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers, and regardless of win or lose, everything will soon be concluded.

The program played scenes of Reggie Lewis collapsing unexpectedly on the court and Petrović's death in a car accident the next day, making Gan Guoyang feel very uncomfortable. He almost wanted to turn off the TV with the remote.

He closed his eyes and lifted his head to calm down for a moment. Once he was more composed, he took a bite of the salad and was able to continue watching, telling himself inside that Reggie and Pete were living an ideal life in another space-time.

After finishing the documentary, Gan Guoyang also finished the large bowl of fruit and vegetable salad, and then he began training.

The training involved watching game footage repeatedly from the previous two games and other games of the Celtics and Trail Blazers this season.

Starting from the past two seasons, Gan Guoyang had been reducing high-intensity physical training, using low to medium-intensity training to maintain his physical condition.

In the middle of this season, Gan Guoyang resumed a period of high-intensity training to adjust his condition. By the time the playoffs arrived, he had said goodbye to high-intensity physical training.

In contrast, the intensity of his mental training increased, and besides visualization exercises, watching footage, analyzing data, and reading reports became Gan Guoyang's essential tasks.

At his age and technical level, investing a lot of time and energy in physical and technical aspects has a low return and hardly any room for significant improvement.

Low to medium-intensity practice to maintain condition is sufficient. High-intensity practice that harms the body would be even more counterproductive.

But in awareness, tactics, and basketball IQ, Gan Guoyang believes he still has potential to tap, especially as physical abilities decline, learning to play more with his brain and rationing his energy becomes an important and meaningful task.

After the second game, Gan Guoyang boasted to Berman, claiming the series would not return to Boston.

Since he had bragged, he had to strive to achieve it. If the series went back to Portland for the third game and lost, it would surely return to Boston.

That would provide Bobby with trash talk material, making the situation unpleasant.

If they lost three consecutive home games and handed the championship to the Celtics at 1-4, the series indeed wouldn't return to Boston.

Such a joke, Bobby Berman could keep telling until he dies, and even when he is old and lying on his deathbed, forgetting family, friends, daughters, and grandkids, he'd remember Ah Gan's words: "Ah Gan said the series wouldn't return to Boston. Haha, it didn't. We won the championship 4-1 in Portland."

This scenario is something Gan Guoyang cannot accept, so he must fully realize the boast he's made.

Of course, Gan Guoyang doesn't make reckless boasts and won't claim the Trail Blazers will lift the trophy in Portland without any confidence.

After playing the first two games, coupled with their regular-season encounters, and statements from Celtics players and coaches in post-game press conferences, he has roughly gauged the Celtics' foundation.

They are very talented and run a disciplined team, with a harmonious roster and outstanding tactical literacy. Their three leading stars will be future franchise stars, true superstars.