The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 525 - 28 Big Brother

As February arrived, just as people expected, the Trail Blazers’ performance slipped.

They lost several games they shouldn’t have, such as those against the dismal Clippers and the underdog Kings.

In those losses, the Trail Blazers had a very long rotation, with Jack Ramsey cycling through every player on the bench.

The team’s tactics were somewhat aggressive, with a lot of long-range shooting from the perimeter and shots taken after screens at the arc top.

The transfer of the ball from the strong side to the weak side in the offense became more frequent, while the half-court combinations Ramsey once took pride in became less common.

In the past, Ramsey’s half-court offense emphasized stacking one side and clearing out the other.

For example, a straight line-up at the free-throw line, leaving the area under the basket and the baseline completely empty.

Or another example, the stacked positioning of one side of the court with four players on the strong side and only one on the weak side, was also an extreme way to stretch the opponent’s defense.

This required the players to execute finely coordinated plays, demanding that the big men have very delicate techniques in supporting play, passing, and screening.

Before Gan Guoyang’s arrival, the Trail Blazers’ half-court offense was very sharp, with many beautiful plays, and they had good regular season results.

But such gameplay often didn’t work in the playoffs.

There were many errors in the small plays, and it was even harder to execute completely open plays.

After the introduction of the three-point line, the spacing on the court became much more diverse.

Starting from the 1985 season, Ramsey began to research some new tactical foundations, emphasizing strategies transitioning from lines to planes, from small area coordination to large area transitions.

This season, with the implementation of "two decreases, one increase," these changes became more significant.

The previous strategy of clearing the weak side became less frequent, shifting towards more balanced and comprehensive coverage of the entire court.

Gan Guoyang’s support plays matured, and his ability to transfer the ball on the strong side grew stronger.

Wide lateral passes and large space creation would gradually replace the half-court small plays as the team’s main tactical strategy.

And these, unlike the "two decrease, one increase," required a lot of in-game integration and for the players to develop an understanding with one another.

During such times, it was necessary to sacrifice some less important games for training purposes.

Logically, a team chasing a three-peat needing to train was quite strange.

But the Trail Blazers were indeed special, with many young players on the squad, and even their core players were only in their fourth year, just 24 years old, and still improving their game.

So this remarkable team could be said to be decaying while regenerating at the same time.

As it crumbled slowly, a new team was also being born.

Ramsey did not resort to desperately relying on veterans and conservative tactics to extract energy from the team, even though he was about to retire.

Instead, he acted like a young team’s coach, ensuring a good record while taking into account the development of young players and new tactics.

At the same time, he focused on developing Bobby Beelman, even becoming lazy in the games, letting Beelman direct and deploy tactics.

From the players’ perspective, Ramsey seemed increasingly lethargic, not particularly invested in the record, not demanding too much from the players, and even allowing the assistant coach to overstep his role.

But in reality, Ramsey had his plan – the so-called love of a parent for a child involves thinking far ahead.

Ramsey loved the Portland Trail Blazers and the young players like Gan and others, as much as he loved a child.

Each generation has its responsibilities, and he knew that with his basketball knowledge and experience, he couldn’t achieve a complete transformation.

Like his neighbor Dick Motta who had been dismissed, and Hubie Brown who had become a commentator, the three coaches once acclaimed as the most basketball-savvy in the NBA had come to the phase of passing the baton.

Ramsey had reached his limit by accepting the three-pointer and adapting his play to the league’s direction.

To completely revolutionize his own legacy was something he couldn’t do; no one could.

All he could do was silently pass the torch to the next generation, to Bobby Beelman, and let him build a more dominant basketball empire around Gan Guoyang.

These were things Ramsey had not discussed with anyone, including Beelman and Gan Guoyang.

But the two seemed to guess Dr. Jack’s intentions and carried out Ramsay’s plans to a tee.

Even when they lost some games, Gan Guoyang didn’t complain.

On the contrary, he worked hard to maintain order in the locker room.

Especially protecting young players like Hornacek, Curry, and Anderson, providing support and encouragement when they underperformed and made a lot of mistakes.

Drexler didn’t dare to mess with Gan Guoyang, but he had no problems bullying the rookies.

When Jerome Kossie first joined the team, he silently carried Drexler’s bags for three months.

Until one day, Kossie offered to carry Mychal Thompson’s bag, but Thompson said, "The Trail Blazers don’t have a tradition of rookies carrying bags, I can carry my own."

From the beginning to the end, Drexler never asked Kossie to carry his bags; Kossie had heard from somewhere that rookies should carry bags, so he did it on his own.

Drexler was just playing with him, and Kossie ended up carrying bags for nothing for three months.

Now, Gan Guoyang was the absolute authority in the locker room, and even if there were private disputes, they were not made public. On the surface, the locker room remained harmonious.

Gan Guoyang was not only good to his current teammates but also showed loyalty to his past teammates.

Before the All-Star Game in February, Gan Guoyang received a message from Kossie: Steve Colter had gotten into trouble in Atlanta.

Colter entered the League with Gan Guoyang and Kossie, and for a while lived with Kossie, so they were close.

After Colter was traded to the Utah Jazz, he still kept in touch with Kossie.

While in Salt Lake City, Gan Guoyang had asked Stockton to look after Colter, to keep him away from drugs.

But life is unpredictable, and Colter was soon traded to the Chicago Bulls, and then to the Atlanta Hawks.

Atlanta is one of America’s cities with the highest crime rates and most chaos.

Guns and drugs are rampant here, and it’s easy to purchase contraband.

When Gan Guoyang was around to supervise him, Colter could restrain himself and focus on training and playing basketball.

But after leaving Gan Guoyang’s influence and bouncing between several teams, Colter got lost again in Atlanta.

He got into a conflict with a drug dealer during a drug purchase and ended up being detained, and the dealers demanded a ransom from his family.

Because Colter was an NBA player, and the League was very strict about drug control, especially after the incidents with the Suns, strict orders had been issued.

If news of his drug purchase were to leak, he would certainly face a lifetime ban from the league.

The drug dealers read the newspapers too. They knew Colter’s identity and also knew that he was an easy target.

Therefore, Colter’s family didn’t dare call the police, but they couldn’t gather enough money either; Colter, after all, was a backup player who didn’t earn much, and his expenses were high with little savings.

With no other choice and because Colter had no friends on the Hawks, they contacted Kossie, who in turn reached out to Gan Guoyang to ask for a solution.

Upon hearing the news, Gan Guoyang immediately sent Quentin and the Feng Brothers to Atlanta with enough cash to negotiate with the drug den and the kidnappers.

Over the years, Quentin had dealt with all sorts of people and had accumulated a wealth of experience.

And the cold faces of the Asian Feng Brothers intimidated the drug dealers into respecting their strength.

In the end, Quentin and the Feng Brothers successfully brought Colter back.

They didn’t alert the Hawks or the NBA; they quietly smoothed over the incident.

After Colter was rescued, Gan Guoyang gave him a call.

Once the call connected, Gan Guoyang didn’t say much, but Colter, holding the receiver, started to sob profusely, expressing regret and apologizing to Ah Gan, promising to quit drugs for good.

Gan Guoyang didn’t say much, just told Colter, "Play well. Consider the ransom a loan from me. Pay me back with the money you earn from playing, and remember, there’s interest."

From that day on, Colter completely cut himself off from drugs and played in the league as a backup player until 1995 when he finally retired. Afterwards, he began working in basketball training and opened a camp.

To keep it confidential, only a few people knew about this incident, including Jerome Kossie.

Kossie was already one of Gan Guoyang’s dedicated followers and a bodyguard-in-reserve.

After this incident, his loyalty to Gan Guoyang deepened. When you were in trouble, this older brother was truly there to save you.