The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 173 15 point

Gan Guoyang likes Los Angeles because it remains warm and humid in winter, unlike the cold and dry north which is uncomfortable.

More importantly, Gan Guoyang always manages to win in Los Angeles. After all, he is the King of California, and his desire to win becomes extremely strong whenever he sets foot on this land.

On the afternoon of the 31st, the entire team checked into the Sheraton Hotel in Inglewood, Los Angeles. In the afternoon, the team had a simple shooting practice, and in the evening, the entire Trail Blazers team had a simple New Year's Eve celebration at the hotel's buffet restaurant.

1984 passed and 1985 came.

1984 was a very important year for Gan Guoyang, for the NBA, and for the basketball world.

Gan Guoyang won the NCAA championship and entered the NBA; the NBA gained what may be the most important rookie class and the most important commissioner in their history.

The basketball world in the United States is beginning to show a new look, with more rules, tactics, and playing styles entering the court, and new dribbling and shooting techniques emerging.

Both Chinese and American societies are making great strides forward, having shaken off the political and economic quagmire of the 70s and radiating the unique brilliance of the 80s.

On the morning of the first day of the new year, Gan Guoyang got up early as usual and went for a morning run on the asphalt road near the hotel to warm up his body and wake it up from sleep.

After running for an hour, Gan Guoyang headed to the Forum Gymnasium. As usual, he used his facial recognition to enter the gymnasium for his morning warm-up training. He could go in the afternoon when the game was at home, but he had to go earlier when the game was away, otherwise the home players would take his time.

I did another hour and a half of shooting and hook shot warm-up exercises, followed by a run in the empty stands of the Memorial Stadium, thinking about tonight's game as I ran.

This has become Gan Guoyang's habit before the game: to hold a mental battle meeting and make tactical and psychological preparations.

The game is like a war; the entire regular season is a long war, and each regular season game is a battle.

Before each match, Gan Guoyang would prepare a basic plan, and then, in conjunction with the arrangements of his coach and teammates, determine how to play the game.

For example, when playing the Rockets on Christmas Day, the Rockets were playing at home with an excellent historical record and high morale. However, the Rockets were eager to win, and Hakeem Olajuwon was impatient. Gan Guoyang naturally focused on psychological warfare, which caused the young twin towers to have a mental breakdown, ultimately leading to a defeat without a fight.

But the situation was completely different when the Trail Blazers played the Rockets in Houston just a week later. The Trail Blazers had just suffered a defeat, the Rockets had reorganized their internal structure, the twin towers had reconciled, their morale was high, and they were determined to take advantage of their home court to avenge their previous defeat.

At this point, if Gan Guoyang tries to use psychological tactics or spout trash talk, it's just self-deception. Sampson and Olajuwon will no longer be affected.

There is only one way to win such a tough battle: a head-on attack. When paths cross, the brave prevail. Lead your team to overcome the tough challenge, and of course, a bit of luck is also needed to win the game.

Gan Guoyang envisioned that the game against the Lakers in the new year would be a fierce battle. It would be the third game between the two teams, a battle for the top two spots in the West, and the Lakers would definitely go all out.

The Trail Blazers haven't been in great form lately. Although players like Valentine have gradually recovered from their injuries, the Blazers' shooting percentage in December dropped by several percentage points compared to November.

Vandeweghe, who was incredibly accurate in November, lost his magic in December. His shooting percentage dropped from a terrifying 58% to 53%, which was still high, but many of those points came from fast breaks.

Jim Paxson has been hampered by an ankle injury, and although he is able to play, his recent training time has been significantly reduced, which is detrimental to a pitcher.

That's how it is for outside shooters; their shooting form can easily fluctuate due to many factors throughout the long season.

He was in great shape at the start of the season, and his shooting touch was perfect after a summer of training. Also, the defensive intensity in the early games was not high, so he was able to shoot some games with an amazing shooting percentage.

As the season progresses, physical exertion gradually increases, and consecutive away games lack training to maintain shooting touch. At the same time, the intensity of the games is increasing, and opponents' targeted defense is becoming stronger, causing the shooting percentage of outside shooters to decline.

Of course, the season is long, and there will be opportunities for adjustments in the middle and later stages. As long as they can regain their best form before the playoffs, excellent shooters can still play a role.

Gan Guoyang has recently felt that his shooting touch has declined because the physical contact in the game is too intense. Against the Rockets, he hardly took any mid-range shots.

The fact that he managed to grab the offensive rebound on the final play and hit the game-winning fadeaway jumper had a lot of luck involved, because he just guessed and luckily it went in.

Therefore, he has been increasing his warm-up time in recent games to try to get his shooting touch to its best, which is very important for the game.

After running around in the corridor for a while, with a lot of random thoughts running through his mind, Gan Guoyang still couldn't come up with a good contingency plan.

The Lakers are different from other teams; they have an absolute advantage in strength and talent, and coupled with their recent excellent form, Pat Riley is not so easily fooled.

"It looks like we still have to go for it and then adapt to the situation during the competition."

Gan Guoyang stopped, slightly out of breath, feeling his body warm up. He prepared to go down and shoot a few more baskets.

Just then, someone called out to him from below, "Sonny! You've been running laps here again, getting some fresh air. You're here really early!"

Gan Guoyang recognized the voice as Magic Johnson's; he had also come to the arena for warm-up training.

He arrived a little late today; I wonder which woman he'd gotten up on again. Two other men were with Johnson: Michael Cooper and Byron Scott. These two were Johnson's closest cronies, sharing the same sleazy ways.

On the court, Cooper's defense could cover for Johnson's mistakes, and on offense, Byron Scott gradually replaced Norm Nixon's position, helping Johnson organize and attack.

Off the court, they often ate together, watched movies, and went out together. In particular, Byron Scott had just squeezed into Johnson's close circle of friends and become one of Magic Johnson's two henchmen.

"Magic, why did you bring two little followers with you today? Do you want to come up and get some fresh air? I'll show you the beautiful scenery of the forum stadium."

"Forget it, this is my home turf. There will be plenty of time for you to enjoy the breeze during the game tonight. I'm afraid you won't be able to keep up."

January and February are typically the months when the Los Angeles Lakers perform well, and one important reason for this is that other teams can no longer keep up with the pace.

At the beginning of the season, when they had plenty of energy, they could keep up with the Lakers. But as the first fatigue period began around Christmas, most teams started to fall behind.

The Lakers don't need to use any specific tactics; often, they can simply outrun their opponents by running on the court. They are just too good at running.

Not only because the players are exceptionally talented, but also because Pat Riley's training is extremely rigorous, high-intensity, and involves a large volume of training, with intense competition comparable to the main game.

If Michael Jordan's game was about playing at a pace one step faster than everyone else, then the Lakers' game was about the entire team playing at a pace one step faster than other teams.

The Trail Blazers are one of the few teams in the league that can keep up with the Lakers. Ramsey's training is just as rigorous and emphasizes speed and physicality.

“It’s really boring to compete against you guys, you just run around aimlessly. You should participate in the men’s 4x100m relay at the Olympics, maybe you could break the world record.” Gan Guoyang shouted at them from the stands.

Magic Johnson frowned and shook his head, saying, "We're not just good at running, Forrest Gump, our shooting will beat you too! We have the best shooter in the league!"

As he spoke, Johnson pointed to Byron Scott, who was warming up with the ball and preparing to shoot. Hearing Johnson's words, Scott picked up the ball, stood beyond the three-point line, and shot. The ball swished through the net.

In a season when three-pointers were not yet popular, Byron Scott was the league's three-point king with a 43% three-point shooting percentage, which was quite high even in the era of three-pointers.

He only takes too few shots per game, less than one per game, only 0.7 shots, but such a shooting percentage is enough to show that he is an excellent shooter.

Gan Guoyang snorted and shouted, "Not a single three-pointer in a game, what kind of shooter is he? I shoot more accurately than him, believe it or not?"

The usually low-key Byron Scott got a little carried away by this and replied, "How about we have a contest? $20, how about it, Forrest Gump!"

Within the Lakers organization, they often play a shooting game for $20 a round, with each player having three chances to see who scores the most points.

The rules are: a three-pointer counts as three points, a shot from outside the bounds counts as four points, and a shot from the stands counts as five points.

Byron Scott is the team's undisputed champion in shooting games, and this $20 was prepared for him, which is why he is so confident.

Gan Guoyang thought to himself, "The bosses are bickering, and you, the underling, are stepping forward to defend them. I think you're just too eager to prove your loyalty."

He walked down from the stands and asked how it was played. Magic Johnson explained the rules to him and added, "When we play this game on our team, the winner is always Scott. Everyone else just throws the ball; he's the one who actually shoots."

Gan Guoyang said, "I'll show you what a real shot is. Give me the ball!"

Gan Guoyang came down from the stands and walked to the second row. Johnson threw a ball to him.

Standing right here in the stands, Gan Guoyang said, "5 points, right? Watch closely."

Gan Guoyang's hands were already very warm after warming up for an hour and a half, and he was in good condition because he had been running the whole time.

He stood in the second row, aimed at the basket, and launched a shot from an extremely long distance.

The ball traced a very high arc, and the three Magicians' heads followed the ball from the stands to the basket, then watched as the ball "swished" into the hoop.

Gan Guoyang said, "Want to play again? I'll get 15 points. How are you going to beat me, Byron?"

I remember it clearly. It was January 1st, 1985, our first regular season game, playing the Trail Blazers at home. That morning, Magic, Cooper, and I went to the forums to warm up, and we ran into Forrest Gump running. We joked around, and then, as you know, Forrest always says things that provoke people. He said we were a sprint relay team, and Magic said we could shoot too, pointing at me. Forrest said, 'What kind of shooter is he? I shoot better than him.'

In a moment of impulsiveness, because I was so confident in my shooting—I felt like I couldn't beat anyone in the entire league except Larry—I stood up and said, "Let's have a contest, like the Lakers' internal bets. Three-pointers count as three points, out-of-bounds as four, and anything in the stands as five." Forrest Gump agreed, came down from the stands, grabbed the ball from the second row, and said, "Five points? Watch this." He tossed it around, and fucking swished it in!

I was stunned. I regretted it a little. Forrest Gump said he could score 15 points and asked me how I planned to win. I was thinking to myself, "I've got $20 ready..." Hahaha, but then I gave up. I didn't shoot. Honestly, I was shocked by him. He was incredibly confident and always delivered on his boasts, which was the scariest thing. Actually, from that moment on, Magic and we all felt that this guy was a more formidable enemy than Larry.

— An excerpt from Byron Scott's interview on a basketball talk show in 2017.

(End of this chapter)