The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 138 You'll handle him
On November 13th, the Trail Blazers will host the Dallas Mavericks, and Sam Bowie will face Gan Guoyang on the court again after eight months.

Gan Guoyang's emergence changed Sam Bowie's basketball destiny.

Bowie rose to fame early; by 1979, he was already a star high school player renowned throughout the United States, averaging 28 points and 18 rebounds per game and being named Player of the Year.

This 7-foot-1 giant with limbs resembling a giant spider was on par with Ralph Sampson. They met at the 1979 Capital All-Star Game, which attracted more than 19000 spectators and was known as the "Battle of the Giants".

These two centers, who are like a spectacle, are highly anticipated and are believed to dominate the league's frontcourt for the next 10 years.

After graduating from high school, Bowie was recruited by many schools, and he eventually went to the prestigious basketball school, the University of Kentucky, the home base of the brown-cloaked coach Rupp.

Surprisingly, he stayed at the University of Kentucky for five years due to injury.

In 1981, he suffered a stress fracture of his left tibia, and the repeated surgeries and rehabilitation took him two whole years to recover.

With a special permission from the NCAA, he stayed in Kentucky for an extra year to participate in the 1983-1984 NCAA National Championships, forming the Wildcats' Twin Towers with Melvin Tppin.

Then, in Final Four, the two were single-handedly defeated by Gan Guoyang of the underdog Gonzaga Bulldogs, ending his long and tortuous college basketball career.

This game directly impacted Sam Bowie's draft position in the 1984 NBA draft. The Portland Trail Blazers, who got the second overall pick, removed Bowie from their selection pool and only focused on Hakeem Olajuwon and Gan Guoyang.

Later, after witnessing Gan Guoyang's talent at the Olympic training camp, Stu Inman completely lost interest in Bowie.

However, Bowie's height and past performance still made him very marketable, and the Dallas Mavericks acquired him as a bargain.

In that era, having a tall, talented center was every team's dream; once a team had such a player, its strength would immediately rise to a new level.

In the 1983-1984 season, the Dallas Mavericks reached the Western Conference semifinals of the playoffs, but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 1-4 without any suspense.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar easily scored 21 points in the series with a 62% field goal percentage. The Mavericks' starting center, Pat Cummins, is only 6'9", which is the tallest of the starting five.

Western Conference teams are eager to acquire a tall center who can compete with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. With Hakeem Olajuwon and Gan Guoyang both selected and Patrick Ewing refusing to run for the draft, Sam Bowie is the best option.

After acquiring Bowie, he quickly became the Mavericks' starting center and immediately provided the team with much-needed height in the paint, rim protection, and rebounding.

From this perspective, it might not be a bad choice for Bowie to go to the Mavericks with the 4th pick. He doesn't have to be compared to Olajuwon, Gan Guoyang, or Jordan. He can do what he can at the low-key power forward position with the emerging Dallas Mavericks, and he doesn't have to suffer from the terrible medical treatment in Portland.

He played very well in the previous few games. At 23 years old, he has strong immediate impact, and the Mavericks' offense and defense have both improved to a higher level.

The only thing that bothered him was that, being in the Western Conference, he had to face Gan Guoyang at least five times a year, and the situation would definitely be worse if they met in the playoffs.

The Final Four game haunted Bowie like a nightmare. He and T.P., two tall centers, were completely outmaneuvered by 6-foot-10 Gan Guoyang and were overwhelmed by the first half.

Before the game, while preparing in the away locker room at the Memorial Stadium, Powell tried his best to adjust his mindset and told himself not to be disturbed by Gan Guoyang's verbal attacks.

However, this is probably difficult. His verbal attacks alone are not so bad; what makes them so terrifying is his "always keeping his word" performance on the field.

It's like if someone on the street insults you, saying, "Go eat shit," you might feel a little annoyed or yell back. But if they said it every time and you actually had to eat a pile of shit, that would be really unpleasant.

It is said that Los Angeles Lakers power forward Rambis was mentally disoriented after a game against the Trail Blazers, insisting that he was dead. He was later taken to the hospital for examination, where doctors believed that the elbow strike caused a concussion that left him in poor condition.

But Bowie knew that Gan Guoyang must have cast some kind of "spell" during the game, which, combined with his performance on the court, had caused Rambis to be beaten so badly.

In the NCAA quarterfinals, Gan Guoyang used the same method against Ewing. Ewing said that his lips kept moving, but he couldn't hear what he was saying, as if it were some mysterious incantation from the distant East.

In short, this guy instills fear in many opponents. Many of his methods are either unknown or unused by others, forcing you to be extremely vigilant both technically and mentally.

Sam Bowie didn't even listen to Coach Dick Motta's pre-game instructions. Once he stepped onto the Memorial Arena floor, he finally calmed himself down and was ready to face Forrest Gump again tonight.

But when the game actually started, Powell was surprised to find that Gan Guoyang was not guarding him. Instead of defending him, Gan Guoyang went to guard Mark Aguirre one-on-one.

This relieved half of Bowie's tension; he only needed to face Agan on defense, leaving the offense to Aguirre. The Trail Blazers' chaotic matchups at the start caught the Mavericks off guard, and Gan Guoyang's defensive matchup against Aguirre put unprecedented pressure on the 6-foot-6 strong small forward.

In fact, Aguirre was very relaxed before the game because he knew that the Trail Blazers' small forward was Vandeweghe. In last year's game against the Nuggets, Aguirre scored 39, 31, 25, 28, 26 and 46 points respectively.

They won four out of six games. Neither Vandeweghe nor English could stop Aguirre's accurate shooting, strong physique, and skillful low-post offense.

Despite being only 6 feet 6 inches tall, Aguirre was able to score easily under the basket and even surpassed Isaiah Thomas to become the number one draft pick in 1981, all thanks to his strong and versatile scoring skills.

If someone is taller than him, he's not as fast, so he can use his speed and footwork to attack you. If someone is about the same height, he's not as strong, so he can use his body to hit you. In short, he can outmaneuver anyone he hits.

But when facing Gan Guoyang, Aguirre was a bit dumbfounded. Gan Guoyang was taller and stronger than him, and his speed was just as good. This was the first time Aguirre had faced such a defender.

Gan Guoyang did not rely on his height and wingspan to try to block Aguirre on defense. Instead, he kept his center of gravity low and used his body and strength to push and hold Aguirre, keeping him out of his offensive comfort zone.

Too many tall players have tried to use their height to suppress Aguirre, but it hasn't worked well. In last year's semifinals against the Lakers, when Aguirre switched onto Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he could punish the skyhook with his footwork and mid-range shot.

Gan Guoyang is tall and powerful, but he used this close-marking harassment method to deal with Aguirre. All four of Aguirre's offensive attempts in the first quarter failed, and the Mavericks' offense collapsed.

The Trail Blazers pulled off an astonishing 13-36 run in the first quarter, leading by a whopping 23 points and practically crippling the Mavericks in just one quarter.

Mavericks head coach Dick Motta, known for his fiery temper, angrily took off his suit jacket and threw it on the ground after the first quarter, berating his players for playing utterly awful.

Motta led the Washington Bullets to a championship in 1978, and one of the famous coach's defining characteristics was his tendency to throw things when he got angry.

He threw his jacket at the referee, threw basketballs into the stands, and even took out dollar bills and threw them onto the court to vent his dissatisfaction with the game.

During the break, he especially criticized Aguirre, who was Motta's prized disciple after joining the Mavericks and the team's first number one draft pick. He had always had high expectations for Aguirre.

Motta prefers physically strong players, such as Wes Unseld, the former core player of the Bullets, and then uses strict discipline to build a tough and courageous team.

When Motta arrived at the Mavericks, he hoped that Aguirre would keep his weight between 230 and 250 pounds. However, the carefree Aguirre already weighed 253 pounds when he was a freshman. He liked to eat sweet muffins and earned the nickname "Muffin Man".

He later joined the U.S. Olympic team in 1980. During the tour, he lost 35 pounds and returned to normal weight. At that time, he and Sam Bowie were teammates.

Because of the US boycott of the Olympics, this US national team was unable to go to Moscow to play, and disbanded after playing only a few exhibition matches.

After entering the NBA, Aguirre lost his motivation from the Olympics, and his self-control gradually declined. He gained weight again due to overeating and drinking, and the two often argued about it.

The Mavericks' disastrous first quarter triggered another outburst from Motta, who yelled at Aguirre, "Where did all those 40 pounds you gained go? Why can't you contribute in the game? You can't even hold up a rookie! Do you think he weighs 300 pounds?!"

Aguirre roared, "This guy's a center! A center, you know that?! They used a center to defend me, and you didn't adjust or provide any tactical support at all? And I don't have an extra 40 pounds! 20 at most!"

"You're the number one star, you need to be able to solve this one-on-one! I told you to lose weight but you wouldn't listen, and now you want me to help you? I suggest you immediately remove the fat from your belly to increase your agility and use your footwork to deal with him. Can you do that!"

Aguirre's brow furrowed in anger, a signature expression he usually wore when he scored. He defiantly retorted, "If you look down on me so much, why don't you just trade me!"

Mota snorted and said, "Nobody will want you."

Motta's strictness and Aguirre's laxity were the main contradictions between most old-school coaches and new-school stars in the 80s, and every team had this situation.

Most of these coaches were born in the 20s and experienced World War II, while these new generation of stars are a new generation that grew up during the human rights movement of the 60s and 70s. Their understanding of basketball, and especially of life, is completely different.

Fortunately, the break was short, and the Mavericks' nerve-wracking argument on the bench was forced to end, but their problems remained unresolved.

Dick Motta slammed Aguirre onto the bench, then said to Bowie, who had rested for half the quarter, "Sam, you figure out how to deal with Forrest later."

Sam Bowie: "..."

(End of this chapter)