The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 121 Rip City
When Gan Guoyang drove his gold Porsche to the team's warm-up training session on the morning of the 30th, everyone was astonished and asked when he bought the car and how much it cost.

Gan Guoyang casually replied, "It was a gift."

It was only when Kexi mentioned it that everyone realized that this guy actually had a car given to him by a dealer.

It would be a lie to say I'm not envious, but that's how it is on the basketball court. If you have the skill and fame, all sorts of good things will come rushing towards you.

Because people's fame can be monetized, and they can achieve greater profits.

Giving you a car means losing tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan, but giving Gan Guoyang a car means he can make back tens or hundreds of times that amount later.

Everyone understands this business principle. Although Gan Guoyang's stats in the first game weren't as explosive as Vandeweghe's, everyone who has played against Gan Guoyang knows that he just wasn't putting up his full potential.

Against a team like the Kings, whose interior players are undersized and whose defense is practically nonexistent, if Gan Guoyang grabs the ball and throws it around, scoring 30 or 40 points shouldn't be a problem.

But he didn't do that. Instead, he focused on being a center and doing his job as a team member, while also scoring a respectable number of points with impressive skills.

Veterans like Sampson and Vandeweghe hold Gan Guoyang in high esteem, recognizing him as someone who truly plays for victory and for the team.

His defense is especially reliable, and he is indispensable in tough battles.

On the night of the 30th, the Trail Blazers faced an old rival, the Seattle SuperSonics.

Seattle and Portland are very close to each other, and the two cities have always been rivals.

Overall, Seattle has a longer history, a more developed economy, and a more outstanding culture and sports industry than Portland.

Seattle is an international metropolis, while Portland was just an ordinary metropolis in the 70s and 80s, and could not compare with Seattle in any way.

You can see this from the professional league teams: all four major leagues have teams in Seattle: the SuperSonics, the NFL's Seahawks, the MLB's Mariners, and the NHL's Sea Monsters.

Only major cities in the United States, such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago, have the economic scale and market population to support four professional football teams.

Portland, a rising star, has been trying to escape Seattle's shadow and learn from Los Angeles, but ultimately its attempt has backfired...

As the opening game of the new season, and with the opponent being the SuperSonics again, the Memorial Arena was as packed as ever, with all 12666 seats sold out long ago.

Of course, even if it's not the opening game and the opponent isn't the SuperSonics, the Trail Blazers' tickets will still sell out. They have sold out all their home games for seven consecutive seasons since 1977, and this record continues.

The small size of Memorial Arena helped the Trail Blazers achieve this record; with just over 12,000 seats, it is one of the smallest arenas in the entire league.

Among the 12666 fans tonight, there were many spectators who surprised Gan Guoyang:

The Trail Blazers actually brought his father, Gan Youwei, from San Francisco to watch the game from the front row.

Gan Guohui and his girlfriend also came to witness Gan Guoyang's home debut.

Also present were Gonzaga University's athletic director, Fitz, head coach Delon, and members of the coaching staff, all of whom attended Gan Guoyang's home opening match.

Gan Guoyang was very moved, but he was puzzled that Coach Berman had not come to the scene.

Fitz told him, "Bellman is scouting new players all over the place, he's too busy. I was supposed to do this job, but he's taken it on himself, he wants to find the next Gan. But I told you Gan, I'm afraid he might never find another you. Also, Bobby misses you."

Gan Guoyang sighed inwardly. Since he graduated from college and joined the NBA, although Bellman would occasionally call, the two had never met again.

Bellman keeps saying he's very busy, but I don't know what he's busy with. Is he really trying to find himself again?
Honestly, you're not young anymore, why do you still like to daydream?

Although it was the opening game of the new season, the stadium opening ceremony in 1984 was relatively simple.

There was no dazzling light show, and the live performances consisted mainly of cheerleaders lifting their thighs and having someone sing the national anthem.

When the home team players took the field, Michael Jackson's "Beat It" was played to enhance the atmosphere of the home game.

Gan Guoyang was the last to appear, wearing a simple and stylish red, white, and black number 11 jersey for the Trail Blazers.

Because of his aesthetic preferences, Gan Guoyang didn't want to wear clothes that were too tight, especially those athletic shorts he was wearing at the time, which made him feel like a pervert.

Therefore, when Gan Guoyang was customizing his jersey, he specifically requested that it be made one size larger so that it would be more comfortable to wear and he would look better in the mirror.

The league has requirements for the length of shorts, and they cannot be altered arbitrarily. Therefore, Gan Guoyang added a pair of white elastic shorts underneath, and black ones if he was wearing an away jersey.

This way, he won't have to worry about his balls and baton accidentally showing during intense play, which would be embarrassing. Gan Guoyang's more elaborate yet comfortable jersey style, coupled with his red and black Skyscraper sneakers, will soon create a new trend in jerseys and shoes among young players.

Seattle center Jack Hickma muttered after seeing Gan Guoyang's outfit, "Special style. What's he wearing under his shorts? Padded pants? It's a bit cold."

Hickma was a mild-mannered but tough inside player, the final piece of the puzzle for the 1979 Seattle championship team, a guy with a ridiculous Dutch mushroom haircut in his rookie season.

However, there are not many people left on that championship team now. Dennis Johnson, Gus Williams, John Johnson and others have either left, been traded or retired.

This blond giant stands in Seattle like a champion's relic. He is the youngest and an excellent center. He is popular in Seattle, but he is not the kind of big man who can carry a team.

His unique, simple back-to-the-basket turn was named the Hickma step, and it is now a basic step that all big men must learn.

His catapult-like behind-the-head shot, combined with his height and long arms, makes him extremely difficult to block.

In the first few rounds of the match, he scored two goals in front of Gan Guoyang, which frustrated Gan Guoyang, who had not yet figured out the trick to defending against Hikma.

At this point, Mitchell Thompson told Gan Guoyang, "Just stick close to him, stick close quickly, don't let him create distance."

Thompson is very experienced in one-on-one defense, and Gan Guoyang listened to his advice. After that, Hickma did not score any more points throughout the game: his first 4 points were all he had tonight.

The two teams started the first quarter very quickly, with Gan Guoyang running around the court with the backcourt and forwards, showing no signs of fatigue.

For many college big men newly joining the NBA, keeping up with the NBA's fast pace is their biggest challenge.

The NBA is not only fast-paced, but also has longer game times and a more intensive schedule, so players have a very short career span, mostly only two or three years, and four or five years is considered good.

Gan Guoyang was able to keep up with the game throughout and perform his defensive and offensive duties well. After the first game, his coordination with the backcourt became even better.

Three minutes into the first quarter, Gan Guoyang grabbed a defensive rebound, and the Trail Blazers launched a fast break. Gan Guoyang made a fierce fast break and received a pass from Valentine.

Tom Chambers reached out to steal the ball, but Gan Guoyang reacted quickly, dodging behind his back with a behind-the-back dribble, and then easily scored with a layup after catching the ball with one hand!

This behind-the-back dribble move was a stunning display of skill, eliciting the loudest cheers from the Memorial Stadium since the start of the game.

At this moment, Shawnley, the Trail Blazers' Play-by-Play commentator broadcasting the game live to the Oregon region, cheered for Gan Guoyang's brilliant goal:
"Sonny Gan! His basket, that imaginative behind-the-back dribble, wow! It's unbelievable that this is an inside player, a 6-foot-10 center!"

As a renowned voice of the Trail Blazers, Shawnley is known for his passionate commentary and the cry of "Rip City".

This classic line originated from the Trail Blazers' first season, a game against the Lakers in 1971. The home team was trailing by a large margin in the first half and felt that victory was hopeless.

In the second half, the Trail Blazers launched a counterattack, narrowing the gap to just 2 points at one point.

Defender Jim Barnett made a poor shot selection near midcourt, but the ball went in and tied the game.

At that moment, Seanley, who was doing the radio commentary, shouted "Rip City! Alright!" The entire Memorial Stadium erupted in cheers.

Afterwards, Shawnley didn't know why he shouted that or what it meant, but it became the Trail Blazers' classic slogan, repeatedly rang out during exciting moments.

After Gan Guoyang's beautiful layup, the audience in the Oregon area didn't hear Rip City, and many people wondered if the play wasn't exciting enough.

Gan Guoyang couldn't hear the comments. He didn't dwell on his goal and quickly retreated to defend after landing.

Compared to the NCAA's zone defense and slow pace, this fast-paced game highlights Gan Guoyang's offensive imagination and talent even more.

But he never forgot his primary responsibility of defense. He directed his teammates to move around reasonably, pursuing defensive resilience rather than intensity—the two lousy guys on the perimeter did become stronger.

Gan Guoyang also played a crucial role in protecting the defensive rebounds, allowing Vandeweghe, Paxson, and Drexler to participate in fast breaks with peace of mind.

Teams with strong fast breaks tend to have some issues with defensive rebounding, allowing opponents to grab more offensive rebounds. This is because forwards and guards need to participate in fast breaks and cannot all be involved in defensive rebounding.

Gan Guoyang's consistent rebounding provided the Trail Blazers with offensive firepower, and they launched a series of fast breaks in the first quarter, quickly going on an 11-4 run to take a 17-8 lead, forcing Lenny Wilkens to call a timeout.

[In the Trail Blazers' home opener of the new season on October 30, 1984, Gan executed a beautiful behind-the-back layup. I was very excited in the commentary booth, but I didn't shout "Rip City" as I usually do. If it were anyone else making that layup, I would definitely yell it, but with Gan, I felt he had even more amazing plays to come, and that's when I should use "Rip City." As it turned out, I was right.]

—Excerpt from Kerry Eggers’ biography of Bill Seanley, published in 1999.

(End of this chapter)