The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 614 - 16 Beyond Ah Gan

The Trail Blazers secured two consecutive wins, but the value of these victories wasn’t high since the opponents were quite weak.

The Kings and Timberwolves couldn’t produce a decent player in the interior; Gan Guoyang didn’t even need to exert himself before his opponents collapsed.

Such games indeed provided enough training time for the Trail Blazers’ newcomers, allowing all 12 players the opportunity to appear on the court in two consecutive matches.

Currently, the only one who hasn’t received any playing time is Anthony Mason, who needs to wait for someone to get injured and be out of the roster to have a chance to play.

However, Mason wasn’t idle; Gan Guoyang took note of his strong physique and had him play the role of a low-post defender in training.

The two spent time every day in the gym working out together; Mason seemed more interested in fitness training than ball skills.

Since middle school, Mason had been very interested in muscles and bones and was keen on bodybuilding sports.

Over four years of college, he gained 40 pounds of muscle and played as a utility man at the not-so-strong Tennessee State University.

He could play any position on the court, including point guard, averaging 28 points per game, attracting the attention of NBA scouts in his junior year—Buckwalter went to see his game in person.

But the Trail Blazers had a strong roster; aside from his strength, Mason’s skills in other areas were far too unrefined.

As a result, he didn’t make it into the team’s roster for the 1988-1989 season and ran off to Turkey to play professional games for a year.

After watching his game footage and stats, Jerry West thought he could let him enter the camp for a tryout, and eventually, he was chosen by Gan Guoyang as the 13th man.

Gan Guoyang appreciated his training attitude and impressive muscles. He was of average height but had a large frame, especially his massive buttocks, comparable to Charles Barkley’s, which Gan Guoyang really liked.

This allowed Mason to withstand Sabonis’s low-post impact slightly in scrimmages.

One must know that Mason was just over two meters tall, the height difference between the two was about 20 centimeters, they weren’t in the same league.

Mason relied entirely on his muscles and solid lower body to stop the attackers, a pure power player.

The League was seeing more and more players like this, mostly to deal with Ah Gan’s style of play.

Therefore, Gan Guoyang needed such a sparring partner, otherwise, those defenders focusing on the lower body were really annoying.

Besides Mason, Gan Guoyang’s other sparring partner was Divac.

Mason was used to train offense, and Divac to practice defense, also helping Divac improve his confrontational ability.

After the game against the Timberwolves, in the next morning’s training, Divac went one-on-one with Gan Guoyang.

He attacked the basket with 10 balls, making only one by a hook shot; because he couldn’t really get in.

Divac was 7-foot-1 with not a lot of muscle mass upon entering the League, but his height and bone structure were there, with a weight of 240 pounds.

And Gan Guoyang’s weight was maintained at 265 pounds, even moving towards 270 pounds with continuous gym support, a superheavyweight power forward and center swingman.

Divac’s only advantage was his height. Although Gan Guoyang was shorter, he didn’t have a disadvantage in arm span, and he dominated in weight and strength, so how do you play against that?

Gan Guoyang’s defensive tricks were also abundant, his hand speed for stripping the ball was getting faster, and Divac had to be careful not to get stripped.

During training, Gan Guoyang continuously reminded Divac of various detailed key points, such as making sure moves had to be fast and succinct, protecting the ball well without dribbling carelessly, not fixing his gaze in one place, and hiding his intentions, among other things.

To Gan Guoyang’s satisfaction, Divac had excellent talent and learned quickly. Remind him of a detail once, and he could remember it fast.

One had to admit that the Balkan Peninsula was a place that produced great talents in sports, be it football or basketball, with talented players generation after generation. If not for the complex ethnic issues and political instability there, their national team would be very strong.

Like Divac, he was a typical basketball genius, 7-foot-1 with mastery in dribbling, passing, and shooting, a highly versatile player.

Furthermore, he had a good nature; among the Eastern European trio, he spoke the least English but was the most talkative, liking to joke with teammates, getting along with everyone.

In comparison, Sabonis was more gentle and calm, heading home to rest after games and training, but he would also interact and joke with his teammates, just not too fond of media interviews, maintaining a distant relationship with the press.

Petrović was even more aloof than Sabonis, having the best relationship with Divac; aside from games and training, he barely had any other activities in his daily life.

Occasionally, Sabonis would go out for a drink with teammates, but Petrović was truly focused on basketball, even more so since the new season started.

He even neglected his girlfriend for this, spending a massive amount of time on training.

On the evening of November 6th, the Trail Blazers team boarded a plane to Texas, beginning their first away trip of the new season.

Due to Mark Bryant being sick with a cold and resting at home, Anthony Mason was lucky to make it onto the big roster and travel with the team for an away game.

Starting from last season, the Trail Blazers no longer had to fly on commercial flights, getting up early to wait for a plane or taking red-eye flights.

The owner, Tang Jianguo, had purchased a large private jet for the team, named "Trail Blazers One," dedicated to serving the Trail Blazers Team.

This red and black Boeing jet was always on standby, ready to fly to any game city in America.

The Trail Blazers had become the second team after the Detroit Pistons to own a private jet, making their journeys to away games much more comfortable.

When boarding the plane, Bobby Beelman noticed that Peterlovic looked dazed, his gaze unfocused, not in the best of spirits.

"Pete! What are you daydreaming about? Did this morning’s training tire you out?"

Peterlovic was taken aback for a moment before realizing his coach was speaking to him.

He shook his head and said, "No... I... I’m just... uh, a bit disappointed in myself."

Peterlovic had managed about 15 minutes of playtime in the first two games.

He scored 7 points in the first game and 4 points in the second, both performances were quite ordinary.

Compared to his dominant days in Spain and Yugoslavia, it was somewhat lacking.

"The season has just begun, you’ll have chances to show what you can do. Plus, you need to rest well, overtraining will only leave you without the right condition and stamina for the games. Skills and fitness won’t improve overnight, you’re an experienced player, I think you understand this," Beelman said, comforting Peterlovic, understanding his high expectations and demands on himself.

But many of his issues were not something that could be resolved in a day or two; they required one to two years of hard training and match experience to yield results.

Peterlovic sighed and asked, "Was Ah Gan like this in his first NBA games?"

Beelman shook his head and replied, "No, Ah Gan started dominating the moment he entered the league, ever since high school. But Ah Gan is Ah Gan, you can’t hold yourself to his standard."

Nevertheless, Peterlovic said, "No, I will hold myself to his standard."

His voice was not loud but very determined.

Both men simultaneously turned their gaze towards Gan Guoyang, who was sitting in a forward position with a seat to himself, his eyes closed and legs crossed in meditation.

"Ah Gan is meditating. Did you know he began practicing visualization in high school? Visualization—that term, he taught it to me. He’s constantly striving to improve himself."

"Visualization training?"

"Yes, improving one’s skills through imagination. Sounds funny, but it really works."

"Have you ever done Dr. Ogilvy’s psychological tests? When you first joined the team?"

"The doctor with the white goatee? Yes, I did, and I scored pretty well... What did Ah Gan score?"

"Ah Gan scored perfect, the only one to do so."

The more Beelman said this, the more intense Peterlovic’s desire to surpass Gan Guoyang became.

His previously dull and scattered eyes suddenly became bright and lively.

Seeing him like this, Beelman said, "If you want to surpass Ah Gan, at the very least you need to reach Hornacek’s level first."

Peterlovic replied, "Ah Gan told me, ’If you want to surpass me, reach Jordan’s level first.’ He said I was a Jordan away from him."

Beelman nearly burst out laughing; his student always spoke his mind without a filter, but on reflection, it kind of made sense.

"Then you should start by studying Jordan properly."

After much thought, Beelman still did not want Peterlovic to follow a catch-and-shoot route without the ball.

The Trail Blazers needed a ball-handler on the perimeter, someone to share the pressure with Ah Gan at the most critical moments.

Perhaps Peterlovic had that potential—who knew? At least his will and desire were strong enough.