The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 130 Desire
The Lakers' 1985 season didn't start well. After a painful Finals defeat in 1984, they aimed for a strong start, but Riley's experimentation with the starting lineup led to a poor record. Before their November 4th game against the Trail Blazers, they had a 2-3 record. Against the Blazers, Forrest Gump opened the game with a terrifying fast-break dunk that nearly knocked three Lakers players flying...

—Excerpt from Jeff Pearlman's 2013 book, *Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s*.

Standing on the sidelines, Riley saw Gan Guoyang's goal, subconsciously touched his forehead, tidied his slicked-back hair, and then crossed his arms to continue watching the game.

He dressed himself up like a Hollywood star watching the game from the sidelines, but his inner self was not as composed and elegant as he appeared.

At the start of the season, he made adjustments to the starting lineup, using Wilkes and Worthy as a small forward duo in hopes of further strengthening the team's offense.

Worthy will play power forward on defense, and second-year rookie Byron Scott has been moved up to starting shooting guard, with Riley believing he has a better shooting ability than Cooper.

This is Riley's fourth season in charge of the Lakers, and his third full season. Originally considered a transitional figure, he seized the opportunity to reach the Finals for three consecutive years and win a championship, thus securing his position as head coach.

This coach, who was originally just an assistant to Magic Johnson, is now evolving into a commanding coach who is good at brainwashing players, thanks to the accumulation of time and prestige.

Before the season started, he trained intensely in Palm Springs, invited the entire team's families to dinner and gave a speech, telling the women that "men are only responsible for basketball." He was desperately trying to boost the team's morale and morale, hoping to get revenge this year.

But professional leagues are extremely brutal; they are almost entirely independent of your personal will, and it's a dog-eat-dog world between teams.

Riley's idea was good, but the 2-3 record proved that it might not be a good choice, and the immense pressure made him desperately want a victory.

Gan Guoyang's opening dunk was like a gong being slammed in Riley's ear, who was suffering from a heart condition. Riley recalled his experience with the Olympic team, where he had already witnessed the Chinese man's extraordinary energy on the All-Star team.

Riley believes that only Magic Johnson can match Forrest Gump in this aspect; they almost never get tired.

Tirednessing opponents has always been a key to the Lakers' success, and noisy inside players like Gan Guoyang and Moses have always been a headache for opponents.

Gan Guoyang made the free throw, and the Lakers' half-court offense was looking for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but Gan Guoyang began to front Abdul-Jabbar, and the two fought in the paint.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had a body like an ancient tree, while Gan Guoyang had the strength of Lu Zhishen. If it weren't for the foul, Gan Guoyang would have really wanted to pull Abdul-Jabbar out of the ground.

Johnson observed the situation and instead of lobbing the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he passed it to Worthy in the low post on the right. Worthy received the ball, turned around, and took a close-range jump shot—but it missed; the shot was too short.

The problem with fronting the ball is that you might lose the defensive rebound. Sure enough, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar turned to grab the offensive rebound, but fortunately, Thompson controlled the ball.

In the Trail Blazers' half-court offense, Gan Guoyang backed down Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the same position.

"Forrest, challenging Kareem in the low post! This kid is really arrogant, he probably doesn't know that Kareem is the player with the most blocks in history... Oh, a spin layup, and it's in! Wow, Forrest's spin layup, dodging Kareem's block, beautiful."

Zeke Hearn got slapped twice in the opening game, so he might need to reassess Gan Guoyang.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was surprised by Gan Guoyang's power in the low post, but he was even more surprised by Gan Guoyang's turning technique.

His right foot wrapped around Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's leg like a vine, landing deep enough that when he turned, he was almost immediately under the basket.

Then, Gan Guoyang used his strong core strength to dodge Jabbar's block and put the ball into the basket from the other side.

Isn't this Moses' low-post offensive technique? The old tree with its roots was a nightmare for the Lakers' interior defense in '83.

Every time he uses that scissor kick to turn and enter the paint, he not only scores, but often also draws a foul from you.

As he thought about it, Jabbar tried to quickly get into position, receive the ball in the low post, and score.

Little did anyone know that Gan Guoyang started harassing Jabbar as soon as he crossed the halfway line, and the two had physical contact.

After two or three rounds of this back and forth, Jabbar still couldn't get the ball. He finally couldn't help but gently push Gan Guoyang and said, "Don't push yourself so hard, kid. The game is still long."

“No, the match is short and will be over soon,” Gan Guoyang said, then pressed on again.

However, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a very experienced superstar, and simply entangled him will not be able to prevent him from receiving the ball.

By utilizing his positioning and tactical coordination with his teammates, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar managed to secure a favorable position in the low post.

He received the pass, turned around easily, and scored two points with a hook shot.

Gan Guoyang tried to block the shot, but found it was basically futile without his teammates' assistance.

"I told you, the competition is still long, don't be so short-sighted, kid."

After scoring, Jabeur, somewhat angry, reprimanded Gan Guoyang.

He had seen too many of these defense-minded idiots who thought they could take him down with physical contact and entanglement.

But the game is long, 48 minutes long, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will seize any opportunity to assassinate you with his masterful hook shot.

Many defenders who are full of confidence before a game will eventually have their defenses breached and be unable to defend anymore.

However, that's not what Gan Guoyang was thinking.

In the first three minutes, the game was somewhat chaotic. Thompson's mid-range shot was blocked by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Johnson's direct pass after grabbing the rebound was intercepted by Valentine.

Vandeweghe's mid-range shot from the right corner missed.

Byron Scott's long-range shot on the fast break also missed.

After going around in circles, the Trail Blazers' offensive burden still falls to Gan Guoyang.

Still in the low post, Valentine passed the ball to Gan Guoyang, who then observed his teammates.

Paxson cut to the baseline but had no chance; Vandeweghe on the wing was too far away; Thompson at the high post had a bad opportunity.

It was still a one-on-one game, but this time Gan Guoyang's shot after dribbling and turning was blocked by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar!

A height of 2.18 meters and an exceptionally long wingspan are not easily overcome; Gan Guoyang, at 6 feet 10 inches, has never encountered such a high wall.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's block secured possession of the ball, Magic Johnson got the ball, and the engine started, launching a fast break!
Byron Scott and Worthy made a fast break, and when Magic Johnson turned to look at Worthy, he passed the ball to Scott on the left.

Scott received the ball and made a fast break layup!
“Show time!” Hearn shouted.

The Lakers' signature fast break comes very quickly.

But the Trail Blazers didn't stop, and Gan Guoyang wasn't discouraged by being blocked.

He immediately went down to the baseline and served quickly, saying to Valentine, "I'm going to charge in."

Valentine understood immediately, and Gan Guoyang began to accelerate his attack on the basket after crossing half-court.

Valentine and he accelerated in unison, and taking advantage of the Lakers' defensive lapse in concentration, Valentine made a through pass to the inside.

Gan Guoyang received the ball, blew past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in one step, and slammed the ball home with a one-handed dunk!

Jack Ramsey applauded Gan Guoyang's successful counterattack from the sidelines, shouting, "Well done! Well done!"

Many players become sullen when they encounter setbacks in their attack, but Gan Guoyang does not. He knows that the best way to deal with setbacks is to immediately fight back.

At the same time, Ramsey also understood why Riley's starting lineup had repeatedly failed. Without a qualified blue-collar power forward, once the opponent got going, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was at a loss.

If Rambis had been on the court just now, he would never have allowed Gan Guoyang to drive into the paint and dunk like that.

From this round onwards, the pace of the game suddenly accelerated.

Magic Johnson dribbled the ball sideways, his backside sticking out, all the way across half-court.

Just past half-court, he suddenly raised his hand and made a through pass. Worthy received the ball with his back to the basket at about 8 feet, turned around and made a jump shot.

From passing to receiving to turning and shooting, Johnson-Worthy's connection was incredibly fast, so fast that by the time Gan Guoyang stepped into the three-second zone, Worthy had already scored.

Gan Guoyang came back to serve.

Gan Guoyang served quickly to Valentine, giving him another meaningful look.

Then Gan Guoyang went to the basket, on the right low post, and Valentine passed the ball to Paxson.

Paxson decisively passed the ball to Gan Guoyang, who was determined to keep Jabbar under pressure this time.

The battle between the two under the basket reached its peak, but Gan Guoyang held on, receiving the ball, turning around, and pinning Jabbar down.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shifted his weight and tried to block the shot, but Gan Guoyang faked it out, dribbled into the paint, and scored with a left-handed layup over Worthy's help defense.

Worthy already had one foul on his record and dared not commit another, so he could only let Gan Guoyang score.

9-6, Gan Guoyang scored all of the Trail Blazers' points at the start of the game.

In fact, Ramsey did not say in the pre-match arrangements that Gan Guoyang would play at the start.

But Gan Guoyang's opening dunk stunned everyone, including his teammates.

They knew that Gan Guoyang was definitely going to beat them up tonight; his desires were impossible to conceal.

Valentine could sense that if he didn't pass the ball to Gan Guoyang, Gan might kill him.

(End of this chapter)