The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 206 - 94 Doctor G

"Welcome to the 1985 Portland Trail Blazers’ home game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Hello everyone, I’m Bill Schonely. In the last clash between the two teams, our center Ah Gan was ejected for elbowing Moses Malone, resulting in the Trail Blazers losing the game away. Tonight, at the Memorial Coliseum, Ah Gan will continue to match up against Moses. Let’s look forward to the sparks that’ll fly between them."

Fans in the Oregon region tuned in to their radios and local TV sports channels, ready to listen to Bill Schonely bring them the commentary for the Trail Blazers’ game.

Tonight’s game is a headliner, destined to draw a large audience, tuning in from both within and outside the stadium.

Although the Trail Blazers’ management lacks some intuition and firmness in team building, off the court, their operations team may be the best in the entire league.

In the late ’70s and early ’80s, the Trail Blazers were one of the few profitable teams in the league, partly due to their monopoly advantage in Oregon and partly because they had the league’s best-developed radio broadcast network.

They had an excellent broadcasting team, outstanding live coverage, positive community publicity, and a stable system of advertising sponsors.

Although the Trail Blazers only played in Portland, they were backed by the entire state of Oregon, thanks to the solid fan base established by the team traveling across the state during the summer as soon as they were formed.

Because of their solid radio network and profitability, the Trail Blazers’ vice president Spoelstra traded himself in 1983, acquiring guard Don Buse from the Indiana Pacers to replace the injured Valentine.

Spoelstra went to Indiana for two weeks to observe the Pacers’ business state and submitted a 100-page report on suggestions for team management.

The suggestions included renting a movie theatre for fans to watch game highlights for free and rewarding fans when the home team scored over 100 points; marketing strategies that would later be widely adopted by professional sports teams.

In two weeks, Spoelstra’s work significantly improved the Pacers’ near-bankrupt finances, preserving their franchise rights. Spoelstra then returned to the Trail Blazers, while Don Buse, covering for Valentine in the second half of the season, excellently completed his duties as backup point guard.

This miraculous trade reflected the chaos and lack of professionalism in the NBA’s trade rules and market operations back then, as well as the Trail Blazers’ strong marketing ability and management’s cunning.

At 7 PM, the game between the two teams started on time.

The Trail Blazers’ starting lineup was complete, while the 76ers started with Moses Malone, Irving, Andrew Toney, Morris Cheeks, and Sam Perkins.

After the tip-off, the 76ers were the first to gain possession.

Malone was very aggressive tonight, going for a strong low-block attack on Gan Guoyang right from the start.

"76ers get the ball, Malone takes it in the low post, and he’s got a deep position, turnaround for the layup! There’s the referee’s whistle, and unfortunately, Gan has committed a foul."

Right from the start, Gan Guoyang committed a defensive foul, his defensive actions were not major—he simply stood upright.

But Moses Malone deliberately leaned into him, and Gan Guoyang’s arm made contact with Malone’s shooting arm.

Malone began the game full of aggression, apparently holding a grudge and looking to settle the score for the elbow incident in the previous game.

With their key center committing a foul early on, the Trail Blazers found themselves in an unfavorable situation.

For the rest of the first quarter’s defense, Gan Guoyang would definitely be more cautious.

Moses Malone stood at the free-throw line, making one of two shots, and Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound, passing the ball to Valentine.

The Trail Blazers’ opening offense was efficient, Vandeweghe moving from the wing to the top of the arc, using Gan Guoyang’s screen to find space for a long shot, taking Valentine’s pass and hitting the target.

A long two-pointer, Vandeweghe’s shooting touch was good at the start, and Gan Guoyang’s screen was solid, creating a good shooting space.

The 76ers, exploiting the fact that Gan Guoyang had already committed a foul, continued to feed the ball to Moses Malone for a power move in the low post.

Valentine decisively came over to double-team, Malone passed the ball back to Cheeks, who took a step in and nailed the stop-and-pop jumper. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

The Trail Blazers counterattacked quickly, with Parkson using the screen to receive the ball and also sinking a stop-and-pop two-pointer.

The 76ers wanted to keep pressuring Gan Guoyang using Malone as bait, but this time when Malone made a cut and received the ball for a layup, Gan Guoyang blocked it from behind.

A clean block, Malone looked somewhat helpless as the Trail Blazers initiated a fast break, with Parkson and Vandeweghe working the wings, passing to a streaking Gan Guoyang down the middle.

Gan Guoyang caught the ball and slammed it in with two hands!

"Rip City! Ah Gan’s fast-break dunk looks like the early foul hasn’t affected his offense or defense, a beautiful block followed by a smooth transition—76ers didn’t take advantage."

Despite the initial foul, Gan Guoyang dealt with Moses Malone’s aggressive play calmly and even signaled for Valentine to come over for the double-team.

When Malone once again received the ball in the low post, Valentine came to double again, forcing Malone to pass, and surprisingly, Vandeweghe rotated to help out on Cheeks.

Cheeks passed the ball to Irving in the middle, and Irving took advantage of the gap to drive towards the basket, but his layup attempt was blocked by Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang never leaped high to block as if he was playing volleyball—as that’s easily tricked, and even if you block the ball, the possession might still remain with the opponent, making it a pointless effort.