The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 188 - 81 Prey

Because they wanted the fans, players, and their families to spend Christmas together in the evening, the Christmas Day games were mostly scheduled for the afternoon.

Gan Guoyang had been in America for many years, but he still couldn’t get used to American food; to him, some of the dishes in American restaurants were barely suitable for humans, while even pigs back home got to eat better.

In San Francisco, he had gotten used to the dishes prepared by Gan Youwei. In Spokane, Stockton’s mother was also a good cook. In Portland, Guoyang chose to cook for himself.

He would provide a list of groceries for the housekeeper to shop for at Portland’s best supermarket twice a week. Guoyang had everything calculated—the variety and quantity of ingredients—and instructed her to wash, prepare, and organize everything neatly in the refrigerator.

Guoyang specially purchased an extra-large refrigerator, the kind big enough to fit a person, which he stuffed with various food materials.

He also brought enough cooking condiments from Gan’s Restaurant in San Francisco, ensuring that whenever they had a home game, he would definitely cook himself a proper meal at noon.

When on the road, he would try to find reputable local Chinese restaurants, and if he couldn’t find one, settling for McDonald’s or Kentucky Fried Chicken would do.

Basketball players expend a tremendous amount of energy, with massive training, high-intensity matches, and frequent long-distance travel all devouring the players’ health.

Those who have persevered on the professional court for more than five years all have top-tier physical conditions, and to maintain good form, good food and sleep are essential.

Back then, the NBA did not emphasize healthy scientific diets, and players mostly ate whatever they liked just to get full, like Barkley eating burgers and Mark Aguirre eating pancakes.

Some had bad habits, such as Drexler, who, due to his love for sleeping in, never had breakfast over the years and would just eat a banana and drink some orange juice to get by.

Some players neglected to eat properly and even resorted to using banned substances and getting drunk, turning every night into their wedding night, only to still last over a decade in the league and become all-stars—truly beastly in terms of physicality.

Gan Guoyang’s body was beastly among beasts, but he cherished himself, eating rather healthily. Although Chinese cuisine tends to be oily, it’s low in sugar and calories, and with a bit of care during cooking, it’s not an issue.

After the morning’s training and preparation, Guoyang would head home at noon to cook and eat. After resting briefly, he would drive to the Memorial Coliseum to prepare for the game early.

Guoyang thought to himself, thankfully Hugh had gone back to Los Angeles for the holiday. Otherwise, if he couldn’t resist the urge to take a nap together at noon, it would be bad for his game condition in the afternoon.

At one o’clock, Guoyang arrived at the Memorial Coliseum, where the stadium staff, familiar with him, had the basketball hoops ready for him to warm up before the game.

He practiced shooting alone on the court of the Memorial Coliseum, starting from under the basket and gradually moving outward, up to the three-point line, shooting non-stop for 20-minute sessions.

After two rounds, he started practicing hook shots with his left and right hands, just like his shooting—beginning from under the basket, alternating from side to side, extending to about 20 feet out.

Sometimes he found it fun to hook from the three-point line, but he rarely did so to avoid giving Coach Ramsey a heart attack.

After an hour and a half of getting his touch warmed up, teammates began to arrive at the Coliseum, and Guoyang put the ball away to run laps in the spectator aisles.

He liked running laps there because it allowed him to think deeply about how to play the day’s game and envision all the possible scenarios that might arise.

Before the game, he had boasted about making Sampson taste defeat, and it wasn’t just an idle claim—he intended to make it a reality.

Clearly, Sampson wasn’t an opponent that could be beaten just like that; he was a superstar center who had won nearly every college basketball accolade before Guoyang.

A single lie often requires a thousand others to cover it up, and a single boast requires much sweat and wisdom to fulfill.

Before the game, Guoyang repeatedly watched the Rockets’ match footage, observing the playing style of Sampson and Olajuwon and the tactical style of the Rockets.

Though Sampson was taller, he often played power forward when the Twin Towers were on the court together, giving the Rockets a significant height advantage in that position.

According to Guoyang’s observations from the footage, Sampson’s shot was steadier than Olajuwon’s, and once he found his shooting touch, his mid-range jumpers were deadly.

The glaring weakness was his physicality—he was a bit too thin, which meant that while he could dominate in college, he lacked that dominance in the NBA with its stronger physical play, and sometimes the opponents’ rough inside game could trouble him.

This was apparent from his free-throws; averaging five per game, with a little over 60% success rate, lacked lethality.

In contrast, Olajuwon averaged 6.7 free-throws in his first season, and he made three fewer shots than Sampson.

"The overall style is a tall inside player with skill on the perimeter, quick feet, speed, good touch but lacking in physical confrontation... Looks like the old way is still good—start with physical play. But it’s not good to rely solely on physicality; you have to read the referee’s mood and think of other tactics as well," Guoyang reflected as he ran.

Restraining star players is always a systematic project, with Jabbar being the most monumental project of all.

Dealing with one Sampson was manageable, but there was also Olajuwon to consider. Although the strategy against the Twin Towers was to guard one and let the other go.

The problem was, if he let Olajuwon go, Olajuwon wouldn’t let him go—a sure Rockets strategy was to have Olajuwon defend him.

Both offensive and defensive pressure had to be shouldered, a massive challenge for any player.

Thinking of this, Gan Guoyang’s pace quickened instead of slowing, and he began to run faster and faster until he nearly bumped into fans making their way into the stadium, causing him to hurriedly stop in his tracks.

The Portland fans were thrilled to see Gan Guoyang, crowding around him asking for autographs, which Gan Guoyang gladly provided.

Back then, there wasn’t such a great distance between players and fans, and stars traveled without security personnel.

Although they flew first class, they still sat with regular passengers.

In everyday life, the Trail Blazers’ players could often be seen in malls, restaurants, barber shops, and other places common people frequented.

Their only differences were living in nicer houses, driving more luxurious cars, and being taller.

However, Michael Jackson had already been showing people what life could be like when a star reached national idol status. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

At half-past two, the Houston Rockets’ players also arrived at the venue to warm up. Gan Guoyang saw Olajuwon and Sampson, these two guys were simply too conspicuous.

Sampson, standing at 7 feet 4 inches, was not only tall, but also proportionate, agile, and capable of dribbling and fast-breaking like a guard. He was the most promising genius center of the 80s—but he had stayed in college a bit too long. To benefit the school’s track record and financial interests, he had participated in too many low-quality college games. By the time he entered the league, he was already 23.

Olajuwon, Gan Guoyang’s former rival, was listed at 7 feet but was actually around 6 feet 11 inches, approximately 2 meters 10 centimeters, nearly the same height as Gan Guoyang. Standing on the court, the difference wasn’t too noticeable.

Sports Illustrated, while taking promotional photos of them, used towering skyscrapers as a background, not realizing Gan Guoyang would later bring out "skyscraper" model sneakers, almost as though it was a premonition.

At three o’clock, the already packed Memorial Coliseum brimmed with anticipation for the Christmas showdown between the giants.

After the particularly grand opening ceremony concluded tonight, the starting players from both sides gradually entered the court, with Gan Guoyang, chewing gum, being the last to step onto the floor under everyone’s watchful eyes.

He took off his white sports jacket and his red and black sneakers looked incredibly cool; a white armband was looped around his arm—making his arm look even more robust and powerful.

All this not only deepened the fans’ impression of him but also intensified his opponents’ resentment. From the warm-up onwards, Olajuwon’s gaze clung to Gan Guoyang like a wolf eyeing its prey.

He had waited too long for this day. The loss of the NCAA championship game in April was still painfully fresh for him, grinding his teeth in frustration, only to be struck by a fatal blow at the end, defeated by a last-second shot.

In the crowd that night, as brilliant as Gan Guoyang shone, Olajuwon felt equally desolate; as deafening as the cheers were, his heart was utterly silent.

Even many years later, that game remained lodged in Olajuwon’s throat, difficult to let go.

Not to mention it had only been a little over half a year. Now, once again facing each other on a different court, how could Olajuwon not dream of revenge?

To win tonight’s game, Olajuwon refused even to take Drexler’s calls, to avoid any distractions against the Trail Blazers.

As the players took to the court, the referee made the final adjustments before the game. Olajuwon took the initiative to greet Gan Guoyang.

He extended his hand and said, "Long time no see, Ah Gan."

To his surprise, Gan Guoyang completely ignored him, walking right past without even a glance.

This left Olajuwon feeling embarrassed. He withdrew his hand, anger building inside him.

Gan Guoyang, bypassing Olajuwon, approached Ralph Sampson and said, "Hello, Ralph, I’ve heard much about you, Good game."

Seeing Gan Guoyang’s friendly approach, Sampson replied politely, "The same to you, I’ve heard much about you, Good game."

Then Gan Guoyang added, "By the way, Ralph, it’s Christmas now; how are you feeling today?"

Sampson, unsure of Gan Guoyang’s intentions, just said, "Feeling? Not bad, we will win this game."

Gan Guoyang laughed heartily, "Is that so? Well, best of luck to you."

As he turned away, the smile on Gan Guoyang’s face vanished immediately; he headed to center court.

Olajuwon stood there fuming at Gan Guoyang, feeling the contempt from him.

The lead referee for the night, Mike Mathis, spoke to Gan Guoyang and Olajuwon before the tip-off, "Play well today, keep it civil, everyone should have a good Christmas."

Neither Olajuwon nor Gan Guoyang paid him any attention, both focusing intently on the ball in the referee’s hands. Clearly, someone wouldn’t be enjoying their Christmas tonight.