The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1845 - 75: Ah Gan’s Vow (2)

But precisely because of this, it fueled some unhealthy tendencies within the team, causing a lack of unity and focus on training and matches, leading to a significant decline in fighting strength.

This time, Jiang Xingquan made a comeback and reinstated his strict leadership tactics, resulting in Gong Xiaobin becoming the scapegoat for reestablishing the discipline within the national team.

However, after arriving in Eugene for training, Jiang Xingquan became much more relaxed, his typically stern expression softened, and he occasionally showed a sense of humor during training sessions.

The key reason is that, ever since Gan Guoyang joined the national team lineup, Jiang Xingquan no longer needed to constantly emphasize discipline and management, as the players showed immense self-discipline.

They woke up early for breakfast, ran drills, and were fully engaged in morning training. In the afternoon, they practiced strength and conditioning without anyone complaining. Even during the challenging and tough tactical study at night, they persevered.

No one dared to complain, form cliques, or say "I want to go out for a walk."

Because Gan Guoyang was there, and he trained with everyone with total dedication, better than anyone else. His role model and authority led to a highly united team.

The youngest in the team, Yao Ming, felt this most deeply. Back when training at Karon Lake, although everyone was serious, their true selves would somewhat be revealed after training.

Occasionally, they would have a drink, go for a stroll for fun, feign illness, or slack off a bit. Such things would always happen.

No matter how strict the management was, there would always be loopholes. And with an overly rigorous approach comes diminishing returns, so Jiang Xingquan would sometimes turn a blind eye and not be overly rigid.

This was a minor "societal shock" for the freshly 20-year-old, inexperienced Yao Ming, as he realized that even his big brothers had a human side, which he learned from through observation. This is what inheritance meant.

However, in America, at the American Basketball Academy, Yao Ming saw in Gan Guoyang what it meant to be the greatest in basketball history, a living legend, a powerful example.

From start to finish, Gan Guoyang didn’t impose any rules on anyone. He only said at the opening, "I hope that whatever I accomplish, you all can achieve. I will always be watching you, always."

This single sentence held immense intimidation throughout the entire month.

But later Yao Ming realized the true intimidation lay not in the words but in Ah Gan’s exemplary actions.

By the time the training camp concluded in August, the players felt as if they had been reborn and could see the light of day again.

On the last day’s match, Gan Guoyang led the national team’s starting lineup: Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, Hu Weidong, Li Xiaoyong, to defeat the Trail Blazers’ retired veterans team consisting of Barkley and Sabonis.

One must know, at the start of the training camp, even with Gan Guoyang present, the national team still lost a 20-minute match.

A month passed, and Gan Guoyang seamlessly integrated into this young and promising team, in the match they initially lost but eventually won, making a successful comeback.

Especially when they delivered a 14-0 offensive attack in the end, which exhausted the physically struggling Trail Blazers veterans, bringing the training camp to a successful close.

As the match ended, Barkley, panting heavily while supporting his knees, said, "If Team USA doesn’t prepare well, they’re in for a big loss this time, definitely."

Barkley, despite appearing rough and foolish, was in fact meticulous and very intelligent.

He had participated in the Olympics twice, in 1992 and 1996, thus having a very intuitive understanding of the development of Olympic competitions.

In 1992, the US Dream Team was truly invincible, taking the championship without suspense.

During the matches, Barkley clearly felt that players from other countries were not on the same level, many not even up to NCAA standards.

Even in the final against China, Ah Gan tried hard to turn the tide, challenging the Dream Team alone, but in the end, he couldn’t succeed.

Moreover, it was one of those situations where even if you played again, or in a series, victory wouldn’t be possible.

The scene was very magnificent, the score got close at times, but the gap between others and the NBA was too large.

By 1996, with the Dream Team playing at home and Barkley participating again, it was another championship, with easy victories in every match.

Yet, in just four years, Barkley noticed significant progress in basketball worldwide beyond America.

More and more international players were joining the NBA, and other countries’ leagues were aligning more with the NBA.

As a result, matches became more intense and suspenseful, with many victories by a large margin but the strong Dream Team felt resistance.

It wasn’t like in 1992 when they sliced through opponents like a hot knife through butter, winning by 50 points with ease; in 1996, the games were serious, with wins by 30 or 40 points, a very different field experience.

That year, after winning the gold medal, Barkley said, "I can clearly feel that other countries are catching up, our only real advantage now is depth; in personal skill and tactics, we no longer have an overwhelming advantage."

Barkley’s ability to express this view speaks volumes about his understanding of basketball development, and his exceptional court perception.

This is also why when Gan Guoyang arranged a long-term contract for Barkley with Turner Television, the station accepted Barkley.

Of course, another reason was that Gan Guoyang agreed to appear as a guest on Turner Television in the future, which made Barkley’s contract more significant.