The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 356 - 91 The Protagonist
After the Trail Blazers entered the 1986 Finals, Kossie, as a sophomore rookie, had many emotions—it was the first time in his career.
"In 1986, we entered the Finals. It was only my second year in Portland, and the fans’ enthusiasm was astonishing. On the night we won the Western Conference championship, we celebrated and partied with the fans at the Memorial Coliseum—an unforgettable scene.
When I got home, I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. I kept flipping through TV channels, looking for sports news, watching reports about the Trail Blazers making it to the Finals. At first, I was thrilled, but my joy didn’t last long. I realized that many sports talk shows were saying, ’Portland can’t beat Boston; the championship will belong to the Celtics.’
I was furious and wished I could argue with these commentators. We weren’t afraid of the Celtics at all. The only home game the Celtics lost during the regular season was to us, and we were confident.
On the 31st, we flew to Boston, with thousands of fans seeing us off. We almost missed our plane due to the crowd, and we knew we had to bring back a win to Portland. On the plane, Jack Ramsey reminded us that the regular season is the regular season, the playoffs are the playoffs, and the Finals are the Finals—all previous records and experiences should be forgotten.
Then, lacking in match experience, I didn’t pay much attention to Jack’s words, which later proved to be true. The Finals Celtics were a completely different team from the regular season.
But so were we."
———— Excerpt from "Jerome Kersey—Overcoming The Odds" written by Kerry Eggers and published in 2021.
The first game between the Trail Blazers and the Celtics was set for June 1st, and the entire Trail Blazers team arrived in Boston on May 31st.
They did not arrive early to acclimate because past experiences told them that the earlier they came, the greater the chances of being disturbed.
"I think we should have arrived in Boston on the afternoon of June 1st, played the game right after arriving, when we would be in the best condition,"
Jack Ramsey complained to the general manager Buckwalter on the plane, everyone knew just how awful the away conditions were in Boston, not to mention during the Finals.
"Welcome to the civilized world, Western pioneers," read a sign by the road as the Trail Blazers’ bus arrived in downtown Boston.
That was the most civilized message; others were more blunt, "Kill the Trail Blazers", "Get off Eastern land", "Cover your asses", and so on.
"I hate it here. Just seeing all this green reminds me of slime in the sewers, and it makes me sick to my stomach."
Vandeweghe disliked playing in Boston; every visit meant he could score a few points, but would inevitably be tormented by Larry Bird.
The players’ hotel was still the Hyatt Regency Cambridge, not only old but also far from the Boston Garden. Driving there required crossing the Charles River.
There are many nice hotels on the South Bank, but the Celtics liked to accommodate the visiting teams in the North Bank hotels to disrupt their peace with the traffic congestion on Longfellow Bridge.
The rooms were still small. The Trail Blazers arranged for Gan Guoyang to have a single room for the best rest, and Ramsey cunningly swapped his room with Guoyang’s in case anyone disturbed Guoyang in the middle of the night.
In Boston, you have to be this cautious. Ramsey instructed the players not to eat just anything, especially from unknown sources, and to dine only in designated places.
At night, Gan Guoyang lay in his switched room, turned on the TV, and on this day a major event kicked off—the 1986 Mexico World Cup.
Color television broadcasting was widely used for this world competition, allowing fans around the world, including those in China where TVs were not yet common, to enjoy this largest sporting event via their small screens.
Tonight’s opening match featured Italy versus Bulgaria. Gan turned the TV volume up high and then fell asleep without realizing it.
The next day, he saw in the newspaper that Italy and Bulgaria tied 1:1. He felt relieved he hadn’t watched the game to the end—it would have been so dull to see a draw.
After lunch, the team took a bus to a college for warm-up exercises and pre-game preparation. Since the last time Gan shattered the backboard, the driver dared not take detours, and the Celtics didn’t dare to break into the stadium early to disrupt the Trail Blazers’ practice.
However, now it was the Finals, the Celtics had the right to warm up in the Boston Garden, so the Trail Blazers had the court to themselves in the afternoon.
After training, the team went back to the hotel to rest, and then gathered in the lobby at 5:30 pm, waiting for the bus to take them to the Boston Garden to begin their journey in the Finals.
Honestly, everyone was a bit nervous; only Ramsey, Bill Walton, and Caldwell Jones had Finals experience. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Once on the bus, the Trail Blazers encountered Boston’s evening rush hour. The cars heading home from work and those going to the Boston Garden jammed the Longfellow Bridge.
The Trail Blazers’ bus was squeezed among many private vehicles on the narrow road, with cars occasionally stopping, rolling down windows, and flipping the bird at the Trail Blazers’ bus.
There was a car filled with several Celtics fans on their way to the Boston Garden to watch the game, holding a sign that said, "Fxxk you all, Blazers!"
Gan Guoyang watched all this calmly and said, "Bostonians are as passionate and hospitable as ever. Tonight we have to offer them a fabulous game, can’t let their ticket money go to waste."
Everyone in the car laughed, as Gan Guoyang always had this optimistic ability to influence and motivate everyone.
What was supposed to be a 20-minute drive turned into nearly 40 minutes on the road due to the traffic jam, and they didn’t arrive at the Boston Garden until after six o’clock.
This was Gan Guoyang’s third time competing at the Garden, and the feeling was indeed different from the finals and the two previous regular-season games.
Most people hated the Garden Arena; it was run-down and extremely unfriendly to away team players, with a locker room as dreadful as a cell.
The floor was filthy, there were no lockers just hangers, the pipes were exposed, giving the impression that some lethal gas could spew out at any moment.
Coming here in December or January for a game was bearable, but in June the weather turned hot, and the lack of air conditioning in the locker room was torture, especially when players came back drenched in sweat at halftime, it felt like entering a sauna.
Last year the Lakers brought a portable cooling unit to the locker room, which, after being turned on, caused half of the Garden Arena to lose power due to its high voltage. Therefore, this year the Boston Garden used the excuse of outdated wiring to ban the Trail Blazers from bringing portable cooling devices.
Besides the stifling heat of the locker room during the finals, the Garden Arena was on full alert, with hostility palpable from the moment the players stepped in, non-stop from start to finish.
The slogans on the court, the shouts of the fans, the indifference of the security personnel, and the perpetual air of disdain worn by the Celtics players made every opponent uncomfortable.
Even the trash can at the locker room door seemed to look down on you, gaping open with a stench wafting out.
However, Gan Guoyang actually quite liked it here; first of all, he wasn’t afraid of any hostility. In his view, a cat arching its back and bristling its fur was not because it was strong, but because it was scared.
In this regard, his thoughts were aligned with Jerry West; they both believed that the Celtics had a certain kind of weakness that was hard for others to notice—mainly after Russell retired.
Second, he thought the Boston Garden was very pure, with no rock music, no pop music playing, no cheerleaders, no mascots, and no halftime magic shows.
Here, there was only basketball, pure basketball performance, with the Boston Celtics as the protagonists and the visiting away teams as the supporting cast on the sacred parquet floor that Bostonians believed in.
Gan Guoyang enjoyed this feeling, enjoyed the pure basketball performance, he just didn’t like playing the supporting role, he wanted to be the main character tonight.
After changing into their uniforms, the players went out to warm up. They warmed up for only 15 minutes then went back to the locker room for the final pre-game rally.
Jack Ramsay didn’t speak; he gave the opportunity to Gan Guoyang, "You’ve always wanted to be a coach, I’ll give this chance to you."
The locker room erupted in laughter, as Gan Guoyang often took liberties with tactical decisions and would dispute with Ramsay on stage, claiming to be the "defensive coach" and occasionally demanding a raise from the boss.
Clearing his throat, Gan Guoyang didn’t want to offer motivational clichés or pep talks, as it was only the first game, and the atmosphere hadn’t reached that point.
He mentioned more substantive things, "We need to pay attention to Kevin McHale on the inside. I don’t want him scoring easily under the hoop and then strutting back with his chest puffed up and head high. Mitchell, he’s your junior, I’ll leave him to you, teach him a lesson. I’ll help you out when I can."
Gan Guoyang mentioned Kevin McHale first, not Bird. He had a feeling that how to contain Kevin would be the key to victory in the finals.
"Dennis Johnson’s defense is aggressive, Clyde, don’t get into too many contests with him. He’s strong, don’t get tangled up with him. I’ll come out and screen for you, you need to cut down on turnovers, that’s your big problem."
"Danny Ainge, if he likes to take shots, let him shoot. The more he shoots, the fewer chances Bird gets. The real trouble with this guy is his cutting. Porter, keep an eye on him. Of course, sometimes you can let him in. I’ll take care of him."
"Cheche, you need to score more, keep your accuracy. Don’t let Larry distract you. When defending, you’ll need to be more confrontational. If necessary, foul hard. Drive him towards my side. I’ll back you up."
Gan Guoyang advised each starter, offering his help in every position whether on offense or defense. When he finished speaking, everyone felt very reassured.
That’s what a true core player does. He’s everywhere, providing support to each teammate instead of draining them to bolster his own stats and performance.
Ramsay asked, "What about Parrish? Do you need help with him?"
Gan Guoyang joked, "Come on, Jack, I’m the MVP."
