The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 386 - 6 Big Man

Gan Guoyang devoted a lot of energy to public activities, but such days wouldn’t last long.

Right after winning the championship, his fame was at its peak and the public’s interest in him was at its highest.

With a bit of time, everyone’s attention would be drawn away by other things.

For instance, in mid to late July of 1986, Southern California experienced three earthquakes of around magnitude 6, causing quite a stir across America.

Then, a Soviet general, Dmitri Polyakov, was arrested upon retirement and found to be an American spy, being executed two years later.

By August, the fervor for the NBA Finals and the World Cup had faded, while the heat of the US-Soviet Cold War confrontation was on the rise.

The United States Senate officially passed Ronald Reagan’s "Strategic Defense Initiative," also known as the "Star Wars program," which he proposed in 1983, indicating that the confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union had reached a climax.

Gan Guoyang learned of this news from the television and called Trail Blazers’ vice-president and general manager Buckwalter, saying, "You can forget about Sabonis coming anytime soon. Think of a way to ensure Bill recovers well for the playoffs. Me? You needn’t worry about me, I’ll start training soon. Don’t come to me with any pointless activities, I’m not in Portland."

The Trail Blazers picking Sabonis was a good move; Gan Guoyang knew he was a good player, and his arrival could fill the gap left by Walton well.

After the Finals this year, Walton went through another ankle surgery. How many games he could play in the new season and what condition he’d be in were complete unknowns.

The Western Conference Finals and the NBA Finals had proven that when paired with a big man capable of high post play, Gan Guoyang was incredibly effective. Sabonis would be a perfect partner.

However, given the political situation at the time, it was very difficult for Sabonis to come to America to play basketball, as the gulf between the US and the Soviet Union was growing deeper.

Gan Guoyang’s situation was different from Sabonis’. Gan Guoyang’s basketball career started in America, and the relations between America and China were great at the time, making Gan a symbol.

As for future changes in China-America relations, it wasn’t something Gan could control. What he could do now was to keep moving forward until one day, no one could oppose him easily.

Keep moving forward until many people depended on him, until countless interest groups were related to him, until he was deeply ingrained in the basketball culture’s bible, indelible by anyone.

After gradually reducing his social activities, Gan Guoyang maintained his condition with simple training and reached out to Bernard King to learn something new.

"There’s nothing left for me to teach you! Stop coming to fleece me!"

Kings’ initial reaction upon receiving Gan Guoyang’s call was that the guy was looking to take advantage again.

Last summer, he had already passed on all his closely guarded skills to Gan Guoyang; there was genuinely nothing left to teach.

To continue teaching would only mean giving away his own knees.

"How could you think like that, Bernard? I just wanted to check on how your recovery was going, to see if we could play together?"

"I can’t. I have just started practicing with contact drills. My God, a whole season has passed, and the doctor says I need at least another eight months before I can return to the court."

Bernard King’s tone was somewhat defeated; he had missed the entire 1985-1986 season.

However, after the new season started, he still couldn’t play official games, but had to wait until after March 1987.

A year and a half was a tremendous torment for a basketball player, with unimaginable hardships faced during that time.

During their call, King told Gan Guoyang that he truly had nothing left to teach. The tricks of a small forward, Gan had already mastered them fully.

As for more outside skills, Frankly, even Bernard King himself didn’t have them—like three-point shooting, some fading shots from mid-range, and the playmaking skills that Gan Guoyang was most eager to learn—Bernard King wasn’t a good passer or offensive organizer.

Once it was clear that Sabonis would have a hard time joining the team for the new season, it became necessary for Gan Guoyang to refine his own organizational skills.

The Finals had proven that when Walton wasn’t on the court, the team’s frontcourt offense ran into issues with fluidity.

Gan Guoyang, facing multiple defenders, couldn’t just force his way through every time, as it would be detrimental to the team’s overall offense.

In the critical Game 6 of the Finals, Gan Guoyang’s inner universe exploded, and suddenly, as if graced by fortune, he delivered 15 assists in tandem with his teammates all entering peak form.

In previous games, whether during the regular season or playoffs, his assists had rarely exceeded five, usually only two or three per game, typical spontaneous passes.

And assists are just a simple metric that reflects one’s organization and playmaking skills, but many passes beneficial to team offense can’t be measured by assist stats.

For example, a clever and timely pass to the wing player who, after catching the ball, faces the opponent lunging at him to defend, executes a fake to shake off the defender and manages to score with a layup under the basket.

This pass wouldn’t count as an assist for the passer, but had the pass been even a step slower, or not quite on the mark, giving the defense time to adjust, then the offense would have failed.

There are also those passes that can shift the opponent’s defense, especially the first pass in an offensive sequence, which is very important for set plays.

If a player only knows how to make defensive hand-offs, it’s a disaster for set plays because your pass has no offensive threat or mobility. It’s just passing for the sake of passing, unable to create any threat to the defense.

Gan Guoyang, as a scoring finisher, occasionally makes some very beautiful assist passes, but the type of disruptive passing in a set-offense scenario like Walton’s is a weak point for him.

Bernard King offered him advice, "You should attend Pete Newell’s big-man camp. You can learn and supplement your knowledge about the interior play in an all-around way there. Even though you’re already very, very strong, if you want to get stronger, you should go refine your skills there."

Gan Guoyang was aware of Pete Newell, who had been Bob Knight’s top assistant at the Olympic selection training camp.

Latter at the coach’s exchange meeting at UCLA, he was a very prestigious member—of course, he didn’t quite get along with John Wooden.

During the camp, he indeed provided Gan Guoyang with many useful suggestions.

But at that time, the camp was crowded, and since Gan Guoyang was only a sparring partner, not a member of the U.S. Olympic Team, he didn’t get the chance to learn systematically.

Gan Guoyang, considering that his physical fitness would gradually decline in the future, indeed needed to thoroughly review the tactics and skills of the interior game from top to bottom.

Through such a review, he could gain a deeper understanding of the offense on the court, which would be beneficial not only for his command and integration into the offense but also for further strengthening his defensive abilities.

When you’re a master of offense, you often become a master of defense as well— but the reverse is not true.

"So, can I still sign up now? I have Newell’s contact information."

"I’ll contact him for you; I have a spot available. I suggested Ewing go to Newell for some practice a while ago, but the guy refused, insisting on returning to Georgetown for training. What good can come from that?"

Bernard King had suggested Ewing work on his offensive footwork with Newell, but Ewing declined due to regional reasons.

Newell was part of the West Coast basketball circle, with his base in California, while Ewing was from the East Coast basketball circle.

At the time, there was mutual disdain between the East and West Coasts, and they had different training philosophies, so Ewing went back to Georgetown.

Bernard King, who had played for the Warriors, had received training from Newell during the summer and knew that his training greatly improved offensive footwork.

Unfortunately, due to these biases and divisions between the two coasts, Ewing missed a great opportunity to improve himself.

Of course, another part of the reason might be that Ewing did not consider Bernard King to be the team’s leader.

Even though Bernard King is set to return next year, the New York Knicks will be Ewing’s team, not King’s.

Gan Guoyang didn’t have this issue; every summer, he was eager to learn new things to improve himself.

Bernard King’s fundamental shooting technique that he kept under wraps was really powerful, the advantage being that once mastered, the shots are incredibly quick and don’t require much thought.

The downside is that it’s easy for opponents to catch onto the pattern and target it; Guoyang had been targeted by the Houston Twin Towers during the Western Conference finals.

Gan Guoyang needed better tactics and a deeper understanding of basketball.

Through Bernard King, in mid-August, Gan Guoyang went to Pete Newell’s "Big man" camp in Los Angeles.

On the first day of the camp, bright and early, Gan Guoyang saw a familiar face.

"Hey! Hakeem! You’re here too?"

Hakeem Olajuwon was also attending the camp.

And when Olajuwon saw Gan Guoyang, his face showed only one expression: annoyance.