The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 142 It's up to you now.
On the early morning flight to New Jersey, everyone was catching up on sleep.

This terrible schedule, requiring two long-haul flights in three days.

Fortunately, the week in Portland allowed the players to rest and recuperate; otherwise, it's hard to imagine how they would have managed to endure the next six-game road trip.

Gan Guoyang slept quite well last night. He dozed off for a while on the plane, took off his eye mask, turned on the reading light, and looked at the statistics of the previous game against the Clippers.

This was the Trail Blazers' second loss of the season, and Gan Guoyang was still upset. He didn't expect the team to suddenly lose to the Clippers when they were on a good run.

Last night, the basket at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum seemed to have a lid on it for the Trail Blazers; their shooting percentage was extremely low, and they struggled to get open from the outside.

This led to the Clippers' defense collapsing dramatically, with Gan Guoyang always surrounded by at least three players, sometimes forcing him to break free and go to the perimeter to receive the ball and participate in the offense.

But the further out he gets the ball, the less impact he has on the game. Even though he made a three-pointer last night, which made the Los Angeles fans cheer, it didn't improve the overall situation.

For three-pointers to truly have a significant impact on a game, the entire team needs to take a large number of shots, and there needs to be a complete tactical support for it. In the 1985 NBA, there was no such tactical support.

For Gan Guoyang, maintaining a good long-range shooting touch in the fierce battle inside the paint is not an easy task, and he needs time to develop this weapon.

At least now Ramsey no longer touches Gan Guoyang's bald head when he sees him shoot a three-pointer; instead, he remains very calm and even cheers when the shot goes in.

After staring at the statistics for a while, Gan Guoyang tried to glean some insights from them. Kenny Carr, a veteran player who had just woken up, took off his eye mask and, seeing Gan Guoyang looking at the statistics, laughed and said, "Don't look at it, Gan. Watching it won't help you win the game."

Gan Guoyang said, "We'll face the Clippers again next time, and we'll win then."

Carl said, "Next time is next time. You never know when that will be or what the team's situation will be. The regular season and playoffs are different from the NCAA Tournament. You need to have a different mindset."

Hearing what Karl said, Gan Guoyang put away the statistics sheet, sighed and said, "Maybe you're right, Kenny, but I can't get used to losing."

Karl turned halfway around and said, “It’s not about getting used to losing. No player should get used to losing. It’s about facing it correctly and forgetting what needs to be forgotten. If it’s a terrible blowout or a crucial playoff game, you should remember it for life. But some games, like last night’s, are like an unpleasant experience with a prostitute. The woman is so ugly, but you still can’t resist going for it, and then you regret it and think you shouldn’t have spent the money… No, that’s not right. Leave the money, leave, close the door, forget about it, and there will be another beautiful girl. We won’t shoot that badly every time, but there will definitely be a few times every season.”

Hearing Carl's analogy, Gan Guoyang laughed and said, "I never hire prostitutes."

Carl laughed and said, "Actually, we're all in the service industry, we're the same."

Kenny Carr is one of only two veterans over 30 years old on the team. This is his eighth season in the league. He has been traded twice and played for four teams. He is a seasoned veteran on the court.

He has a good relationship with several young players, including Gan Guoyang and Drexler. He doesn't have the arrogance of a number one draft pick like Mitchell Thompson; he's more down-to-earth, like an older brother guiding you through everything on and off the court.

Gan Guoyang knew that Karl was right. He wasn't the kind of person who liked to deceive himself into thinking, "The team lost, but I didn't lose." Sometimes, you have to learn to be more strategic and treat losing as part of the entire season.

This is a problem that all rookies entering the NBA have to face. The Rockets' winning streak was recently ended, with Hakeem Olajuwon suffering his first loss in his career, followed by a second and a third.

The packed schedule left no time for players to process their losses. Hakeem Olajuwon was so upset by the defeat that he refused to participate in practice the next day. Coach Fitch forced him to watch the video of the losing game on the sidelines.

Jordan lost earlier and more often, and as the season progressed, teams became increasingly adept at defending these super rookies.

In recent games, Gan Guoyang has been double-teamed by two or three players. Some teams have even committed defensive violations in order to double-team Gan Guoyang in advance.

His influence on the game was indeed too strong; he would rather let other Trail Blazers players score than let Gan Guoyang score.

Ramsey did not offer a solution to the double-teaming problem; he simply analyzed the situation for Gan Guoyang after the game and gave some suggestions.

Ultimately, it's up to Gan Guoyang to solve the problems on the field and accumulate his own experience.

Ramsey is using each game as an opportunity to hone Forrest Gump's skills, hoping that this sharp sword will become even sharper.

Having traversed over 4600 kilometers, almost the entire United States, the plane arrived over New York in the afternoon. "Wow, the World Trade Center Twin Towers!" Gan Guoyang exclaimed, looking out the plane window at the World Trade Center on Manhattan Island.

"Don't get excited, Gan. It's just New York. We'll be here at least twice a year from now on. It's no big deal," Kenny Carr said, seeing Gan Guoyang's exaggerated reaction.

"You don't understand Kenny. Every time I see him, it's one less time I'll ever see him again."

The Trail Blazers team landed in New York, but since there were no direct flights to Newark Airport, they had to travel through New York and Jersey before taking a bus to their destination, Brenda Barry Arena in East Rutherford.

Along the way, Gan Guoyang saw the magnificent Brooklyn Bridge, passed through Manhattan, crossed the Hudson River twice, and drove for nearly 3 hours before arriving at the hotel arranged by the team.

It was already dark when they arrived at the hotel. Ramsey told everyone to get some rest and prepare for the game the next night.

That night, Gan Guoyang and Mitchell Thompson shared a room. Before going to sleep, the two talked about recent games, about double-teaming, about interior battles, and the differences between Eastern and Western teams.

Thompson reminded Gan Guoyang: "The East and West have different playing styles. It's much rougher here. The West is relatively relaxed in the regular season. Everyone likes to attack and run. But the East has become more and more brutal in the last two years. They like to play so-called 'hard-hitting basketball' here. You have to be careful."

Gan Guoyang rolled over and said, "How savage? Like Kermit Washington punching Tomjanovich's brains out?"

Thompson chuckled, "It's not that bad. The league won't play like that anymore; that would be too much. The overall style of the league is consistent. After all, there's a lot of player and coach movement, and everyone learns from each other's strengths. The differences might come from audience preferences. West Coast fans like to watch shooting and offense, while East Coast fans like to watch physicality, ball control, and tough defense. Some fans here are really annoying. New Jersey is okay, but you'll see when you go to the Great Lakes region."

While Kenny Carr's advice is helpful off the court, Mitchell Thompson's experience on the court is even more valuable.

Gan Guoyang rolled over again and said, "It's alright, I'll kill them all."

A moment later, Gan Guoyang's snoring could be heard in the room. Thompson shook his head helplessly and turned off the light.

He recalled his terrible experience during his first trip to the Eastern Conference in his rookie season, when he had just entered the league as the number one draft pick and was playing very well.

In his second career game, he scored 37 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and blocked 4 shots, leading his team to victory over the Kansas City Kings and shining at Memorial Arena.

在后面连续的主场比赛中，他接连拿下29分14板8助攻3盖帽，20分22板8助攻3盖帽，18分17个篮板8助攻3盖帽的豪华数据，带领开拓者连战连捷，让波特兰球迷一度忘记了比尔-沃顿受伤报销，要离开波特兰的伤痛。

They have a new super center.

In late November, around the same time as now, they embarked on their Eastern Conference road trip, their first game being against the defending champions, the Washington Bullets.

Facing the inside duo of Unseld and Hayes, Thompson managed to score 11 points and grab 10 rebounds, but his field goal percentage was only 33%.

The Trail Blazers lost by 40 points that game, a terrible and crushing defeat.

He then scored only 2 points in Boston and 6 points in New Jersey.

He started hitting the so-called rookie wall, and his performance fluctuated for a long time before he finally recovered to a good level at the end of the season.

An injury that sidelined him for the rest of his second season ruined everything. He missed a year and returned without the explosiveness and speed he had in college.

He was more experienced and skilled, but also more mediocre. He complained about the Trail Blazers' medical team, but it didn't change anything.

When Gan Guoyang voiced his concerns about the Trail Blazers' medical care and forced the team to make changes, he knew this kid was different.

"Hehe, crush them... It's up to you, Gan."

(End of this chapter)