The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 439 - 57 Maturity

The All-Star Weekend provided most players with an opportunity for adjustment and rest.

Gan Guoyang played in Seattle for two days; his body didn’t get any rest, but his spirit was greatly relaxed.

By the time he rejoined the team, he had already secured the honors of being the League’s three-point king as well as the dunk champion.

In the words of The Oregonian, in just three seasons, Ah Gan had claimed all the individual honors a player could win, and even those he wasn’t expected to.

Rookie of the Year, regular season MVP, Finals MVP, All-Star Game MVP, Best Defensive Player, All-NBA Team, All-Defensive First Team, Player of the Week, Player of the Month, Dunk Champion, Three-Point Champion.

The only two awards Guoyang hadn’t won were Sixth Man of the Year and Most Improved Player, but those awards were never really in his lane.

Sixth Man of the Year might be within reach as he aged and followed in the footsteps of Bill Walton to a secondary role.

As for Most Improved Player, forget about it. How much more could the guy improve? Any more and he’d be leading the Trail Blazers to the moon.

Reactions to Guoyang’s performance at the All-Star Game were diverse.

Hornacek and Dell Curry got even more diligent with their three-point practice. If the big man could win the three-point contest, what excuse did they have not to train hard?

Drexler and Jerome Kossie were sour, saying things like, "Ah Gan, you even have to win the dunk contest? You really don’t leave any room for others."

Vandeweghe admired Guoyang’s mental toughness. Back in the gym, he might score 20 points from five spots, but he just couldn’t maintain that mental state in games.

Bill Walton became a devoted and unswerving fanboy of Guoyang’s. From that moment on for many years, as a broadcaster and commentator, he was a staunch advocate for Gan, recounting to anyone how remarkable the player was.

Adelman was more concerned about Guoyang’s health. With the season winding down, they couldn’t afford any injuries.

At the first team practice after the All-Star Game, Bobby Beelman discussed with Guoyang the plan to reduce his playing time.

"We should cut your minutes per game down to around 37. It’s time for you to adjust and get ready for the playoffs."

However, Guoyang disagreed with the idea of reducing his minutes—he knew this suggestion came from Ramsay.

Gan Guoyang said, "Give me 40 minutes per game and I can maintain my form better. I don’t need much rest, let Bill rest more instead. We are going to need him a lot in the playoffs."

The entire Trail Blazers team received news that the Detroit Pistons had acquired James Donaldson through a trade, boosting their frontcourt strength even further.

For the Trail Blazers, it was a relief that Donaldson hadn’t gone to the Lakers. Otherwise, facing them in the playoffs would have greatly pressured Guoyang.

And with the Pistons in the Eastern, the two teams would need to make it to the Finals to meet each other.

While it was still uncertain if the Pistons could get past the Celtics, with the addition of Donaldson, the power balance in the Eastern Conference was changing.

If the Trail Blazers aimed for the Finals, they had to be prepared for the possibility of the Detroit Pistons making it as well.

After some discussion, the coaching staff finally decided to control Guoyang’s playing time at 39 minutes, mainly giving him more rest in the first half.

The coaching staff also paid close attention to Bill Walton’s health, gradually increasing his playing time from 12 minutes per game, aiming to reach 15 minutes, and ultimately keeping it under 20 minutes.

Other Trail Blazers veterans had varying degrees of injuries. Mychal Thompson, Vandeweghe, Jim Paxson, and others had their minutes re-planned by the coaching staff to avoid a repeat of Kenny-Carl’s situation.

Of course, while it was said to be the coaching staff’s planning, in reality, it was Bobby Beelman orchestrating these things.

Back when he was coaching at Gonzaga without Gan Guoyang and Stockton, Beelman led the team to victories through his precise planning skills.

He used various data calculations to plan the players’ minutes and rotation, ensuring they maintained good form throughout the season.

This approach was still a novelty in the NBA at that time, as most coaches preferred spontaneity in their rotations, improvising based on the flow of the game.

Beelman’s method of strategic rotation planning, right down to the minute and second, was widely used in college leagues and some lower-tier competitions, but the conservative NBA coaching community needed time to adapt.

Contrary to what many people think, most would assume that the NBA, as the highest-level league globally, should have the most advanced concepts, the most avant-garde tactics, and the most cutting-edge management methods.

In fact, from the 60s to the 80s, the NBA coaching circle has always been the most conservative and feudal corner within North American sports, as Walton’s good friend, sports activist Scott, said, professional sports is the remnant of militarism in a free society, especially so in the NBA.

Such a conservative circle has always refused change, new things, and loved to indulge in the glory of old days, constantly emphasizing "team, discipline, order, dedication, sacrifice," but ignoring the personal development of players, the innovation of tactics and techniques, and the decisive role of individual talent.

By the mid-to-late 80s, this stubbornly conservative circle was under constant assault and showed signs of cracking and rebuilding, with more and more new-wave coaches like Beelman emerging.

Ramsay was once a member of the conservatives, but today he has broken free and is no longer the Dr. Jack who chanted "run, run, run" every day.

In fact, he wasn’t that receptive to new things, it’s just that he had an epiphany, loved to delegate authority, and handed many of the leading decisions over to Adelman and Beelman.

His role changed to training execution, on-the-spot commanding, and making the final decisions, which made him more relaxed than in the past, and his state improved from the beginning of the season to now.

The "Four-Watch-One" strategy, which was not highly regarded at the start of the season, became more and more proficient by the end of the season, with everyone having a clear understanding of their responsibilities within the team, and the tempo of the games was very well controlled.

After Beelman developed a new rotation schedule, the distribution of playing time among the players became more even.

Jerome Kossie’s role was further expanded, and he became an even more important sixth man in the frontcourt than Bewerton.

After some planning, the Trail Blazers set sail in February, advancing towards the playoffs in good form.

They first went to Dallas, facing off against the Mavericks on the road in an extremely intense game, with both sides fighting hard until the final stage of the fourth quarter.

The Mavericks, who had been battling the Trail Blazers for the whole game, suddenly had a breakdown at the last moment, and the Trail Blazers locked in the victory with a 7:0 run, taking the win.

Then, returning to their home court, the Trail Blazers faced off against the strong Boston Celtics, in another evenly-matched battle.

Kevin McHale was unstoppable, scoring 35 points on unstoppable plays under the basket; he shot 17 out of 19, an incredibly high shooting percentage.

However, in the final stages of the game, the Trail Blazers took the lead again with a 7:2 offensive wave and won 119:124 at home.

You could say that the Celtics played to their utmost, but they still couldn’t overcome the final burst from the Trail Blazers, who focused their energy and swept them away.

After the loss, Bird said at the press conference, "The Portland Trail Blazers are the strongest team in the league this year, the strongest."

As one who experienced it on the court, Bird could feel the strength of the Trail Blazers; they stayed with you the whole time, letting you play freely without a big score gap and it was always close.

Then, in the last moments of the fourth quarter, the core lineup powered through, leading you in one wave, simple and effortless. The games were exciting, yet it also allowed the opponent to lose with dignity, a multitude of gains in one fell swoop.

Gan Guoyang’s unstoppable single-plays played a crucial role, standing out to score a low-post play whenever they needed points, easy and effortless. With such a steady pressure relief valve, the Trail Blazers could remain so composed.

Of course, this couldn’t have been achieved without the Trail Blazers’ increasingly tough defense; they suddenly intensified their defense in the last stages, and the Celtics couldn’t handle it.

Thanks to the revamped rotation and the rest that came with playing "Four-Watch-One," the players were in great physical condition, so when the opponents started to pant in the final moments of the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers could still intensify their efforts.

Defeating the Celtics twice, the Trail Blazers’ championship momentum grew stronger as they matured.

Afterwards, the Trail Blazers began a long stretch of away games.

Every season, in the second half, Gan Guoyang would visit his good friend Charles Barkley in Washington.

Barkley, as usual, drove to the airport to pick up Gan Guoyang; this time, he didn’t bring his white Porsche 911, but switched to a giant Dodge Ram, suited to his size.

Gan Guoyang patted the car and said, "You’ve finally found a model that suits you, you’ve matured, Charles."

Barkley replied, "I like this car, so I bought three of them! Exactly the same! I rotate driving them."