The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 233 - 119 Again Want to Revolt

Gan Guoyang talked with Bernard King on the phone for a long time, comforting him that even with a torn ACL, one could still recover fully after surgery.

Bernard King was pessimistic because, looking ahead, no player in NBA history had ever returned to their peak after such an injury.

Players like Billy Cunningham, Doug Collins, and Chris Anderson ended their careers after sustaining such injuries, never returning to the court.

The Knicks’ record this year was not good. Having made it to the playoffs last year and fought the Celtics in the semi-finals, this season they ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic Division.

King had been negotiating a contract renewal with the Knicks. Although they were fairly satisfied with his scoring performances over the past few seasons, they were still pushing for a lower price as usual.

During the summer, the Knicks had threatened Bernard King with the prospect of getting Jim Paxson, but in the end, Paxson stayed with the Trail Blazers.

Bernard King kept upping the bargaining chips with his performances, including the 60 points in the Christmas Day game, but this severe injury ruined everything—all chips were off the table.

Following King’s injury, the Knicks had only one core strategy—to secure Patrick Ewing in the 1985 draft.

Thanks to the injury insurance promoted by Larry Fleisher, King didn’t have to worry about salary and medical expenses for the time being.

He was only 28 years old, not even 30—there should still be many great years left in his basketball career.

Gan Guoyang told Bernard King in the most firm tone that medical technology had advanced a lot compared to the past, and that his knee would definitely heal and he would return to the court.

"Bernard, we haven’t had the chance to compete on the NBA court yet; you wouldn’t want to leave the game with that regret, would you? You’re only 28, and I’m just 18. We could have a great scoring battle on the court."

"Fuck, when did you turn 18? When I met you, you were indeed 18, but now, you’re truly terrifying on the court."

With Gan Guoyang’s encouragement and jokes, Bernard King’s mood improved a lot.

Such is life; as long as there is hope in sight, everything will start to get better.

With reliable insurance, ever-advancing medical technology, and emotional support from good friends, Bernard King gradually regained his confidence and threw himself into the treatment and rehabilitation of his knee.

By March and April, the NCAA national tournament, which attracted even more attention than the NBA, had begun.

The usual topics of conversation among NBA players were no longer women, movies, and entertainment, but discussions about the NCAA and updates on the national tournament.

This year, the national tournament expanded its slots, eliminated the previous wildcard rounds, and increased the number of participating teams to 64.

Gan Guoyang had been following Gonzaga University’s performance since December, initially thinking that without Ah Gan and Stockton, their ranking would plummet.

To his surprise, Bobby Beelman led a group of unheralded players to first place in the WCC league and successfully entered the NCAA national tournament.

This time the WCC league included the University of San Francisco, which had just had its ban lifted, making the league’s overall strength greater than last season; Gonzaga’s rise to the top was no easy feat.

It was evident that Beelman wasn’t just relying on Ah Gan; while Gan Guoyang continued to astound with his NBA performances, Beelman was also showcasing his talent in his coaching role.

Bobby Beelman rarely contacted Gan Guoyang, even absent from the memorial event at Gonzaga that Gan Guoyang and Stockton attended together.

Gan Guoyang was unclear about Beelman’s motives, but seeing his alma mater get into the national tournament again, he knew that Beelman must have put in a lot of effort behind the scenes.

Beelman certainly wanted to prove that even without Ah Gan, he was an excellent coach capable of leading the team to good results.

Of course, without Ah Gan and Stockton, Gonzaga University’s entry into the NCAA national tournament was as far as they could go.

Their first-round opponents were the old rivals Duke University, and the game was even arranged to take place in Houston.

61:52, Gonzaga lost by 9 points to Duke. Coach K had his revenge for last year’s arrow of defeat, and Duke’s students mocked Gonzaga mercilessly.

However, Duke couldn’t gloat for long; they were thwarted by Boston College in the second round and lost by 1 point, eliminated from the tournament to prepare for the next season.

Just a couple of days after Gonzaga was ousted, the Trail Blazers completed a game against the Nuggets, with both sides gunning for 140 points in Denver. Eventually, the Nuggets won 142:144, a narrow 2-point victory in this high-scoring battle.

Gan Guoyang racked up an astonishing 37 points and 23 rebounds, but unlike the time he scored 44 points and 33 boards, he couldn’t single-handedly destroy the Nuggets team.

Though 37 points is a lot, when both teams score more than 140 points, 37 accounts for only about a quarter, and the Trail Blazers still couldn’t prevent the Nuggets from scoring 140.

The game fell into the Nuggets’ chaotic rhythm; Guoyang tried to slow the pace but failed, ending in a shootout in which they couldn’t outgun the opposition.

Having lost this game, the Trail Blazers were still ahead of the Nuggets in the standings, ranked third, their first-round playoff opponent would be determined between the Mavericks and the Jazz.

After returning to Portland following the game, Gan Guoyang received a call from Bobby Beelman, the first time this year that Beelman had taken the initiative to call Guoyang.

The last time was at Christmas.

"Bobby, you call me every time I lose a game? Do you want to hear me cry to you over the phone?"

"Go fuck your shit, you wouldn’t cry if the world ended, you son of a bitch."

"No, if you died, I’d shed a tear for the loss to the English swearing art community."

The two shared the joy of a long-awaited reunion. Although Beelman’s team was eliminated in the first round, he had completed his job excellently this year.

It could be said that his achievement was even more remarkable than last season, because everyone remembered Ah Gan and Stockton for the championship; it was their team.

This year was different; the Gonzaga Bulldogs were Beelman’s team. They relied not on stars but on the collective and excellent defense.

This season, the NCAA introduced a 45-second shot clock to increase the pace and watchability of the game and prevent the recurrence of ugly games with both teams combining for just over 60 points, as happened last season.

Gonzaga achieved the least average points allowed in the WCC League with suffocating defense, securing first place and a spot in the national competition.

"Bobby, when did you become a defensive specialist?"

"I’ve always been a defensive specialist. Didn’t you know that when you played with me in high school?"

"I didn’t know. Anyway, I didn’t really listen to your tactics, and still, I won two championships."

Although Gan Guoyang exaggerated a bit, in crucial games, it was really up to him to decide how to play.

Even with the Trail Blazers, it was often Gan Guoyang who decided on the defense, essentially serving as a co-defensive coach.

"Okay, okay, I know you’re amazing. Coach Ramsey even called me, asking how to use you. I told him to ask you how you would use me."

"Haha, really? So that’s what happened. No wonder Coach Ramsey changed so much; he finally got it."

The two talked on the phone for a long time. Unlike Ramsey, Beelman could discuss basketball tactics with Ah Gan at length.

When asked why the defense had been so strong this year, Beelman chuckled mysteriously on the other end of the call.

He said, "Ah Gan, do you remember, back in ’83, the year the 76ers won the championship, I mentioned a friend to you? The one in finance."

Gan Guoyang thought hard and then said, "Hmm... I remember, you said you had a friend in New York, an economic analyst named Gus."

"Fuck, your memory is really good. I only mentioned him once."

The reason Gan Guoyang remembered was that he had mentioned Gus in a letter to Wang Fuxi (Volume 2, Chapter 5); otherwise, he would have definitely forgotten about someone Beelman only mentioned once.

"Bobby, you’re not getting into some kind of stats analysis, advanced data calculations, and using that to work out your defense strategies, are you?"

"Shit! Ah Gan, you fucking genius, how did you... Shit, I wanted to surprise you with this..."

It was a trend for the future to use advanced data to guide coaching decisions and management personnel choices; how could Gan Guoyang not guess?

And Gus, Beelman’s friend, was a pioneer in analyzing players and tactics using data models, though he was not a professional in basketball but in finance.

But precisely because his professional background was different, he could put aside experience and bias and analyze teams and players objectively based entirely on data.

In a 1982 report, using a proprietary formula, he identified that the Philadelphia 76ers’ weakest point in need of reinforcement was offensive rebounding.

Moses Malone was a king of offensive rebounds, and his subsequent addition to the team led to a substantial transformation, with the Philadelphia 76ers overwhelmingly capturing the championship.

However, NBA teams were completely uninterested in this approach at the time, and the articles published by Gus were more like a personal amusement that caught Beelman’s attention.

At the time, Beelman was racking his brains to design a system for the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Gan Guoyang, and he approached Gus after reading the article, the two hitting it off immediately.

They exchanged many ideas and experiences, and out of interest, Gus also helped Gonzaga with modeling and analysis.

Nevertheless, during that time, Ah Gan’s team’s influence was too great, causing significant disruption no matter how the models were constructed by Gus.

Only this season, when Gonzaga returned to being an ordinary team, did Gus’s modeling and formulas begin to play some role.

Of course, there were still many flaws, and Beelman had to sift through them carefully, unable to trust the data completely.

At least Beelman now had a set of ideas different from the defensive coaches of the time, and his perspective on the game had changed.

"Although this defensive thinking is still weak, I believe it will be another revolution in the history of basketball tactics. It will undoubtedly influence many teams and the development of basketball in the future!"

Beelman shared his visions and ambitions with his proud disciple.

And with a skeptical tone, Gan Guoyang asked, "Bobby, you’re not thinking of defecting again, are you?"