The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 201 Return of the King

Barkley was temporarily substituted due to injury, and Bullets head coach Gene Shum replaced him with backup power forward Rick Mahon.

Coach Gene Schoo is a rather unique figure among NBA coaches. He loses more games than he wins, but he always has a job.

It wasn't because of his powerful connections, but because he often took over disorganized teams and was adept at pulling those teams out of the woods and rebuilding them.

1966年的巴尔的摩子弹（4胜21负），1973年的费城76人（9胜73负），1978年的圣地亚哥快船（27胜55负），吉恩-舒在担任这些球队的教练时都是一片荒芜满目疮痍。

In Baltimore, he successfully led the Bullets to the playoffs, reaching the Finals in 1971, where they lost to Alcindor and Robertson's Bucks.

In Philadelphia, he led the 76ers to the 1977 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Trail Blazers.

In his second year in San Diego, he led the Clippers to a 43-39 record, putting them in contention for a playoff spot.

However, Clippers owner Donald Sterling was a short-sighted and impatient guy, and he quickly fired Gene Shu.

In 1980, Gene Shu returned to the Bullets, who had moved to Washington, and replaced championship-winning coach Dick Motta.

Bullets owner Paulin hopes the team, under the leadership of veteran Gene Shue, can return to its glory days of the 70s.

Gene Shu quickly brought the Bullets back into the playoffs, but lost both times to the Boston Celtics.

Therefore, the Bullets have been frantically stockpiling forwards in hopes of stopping Boston's frontcourt ironclad in the playoffs.

Gene Shue highly values ​​Charles Barkley, considering him a combination of Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, and carefully nurtures him.

Back in 1957, when Gene Shu was still playing for the Fort Wayne Pistons, he put forward the idea that "a team composed of players under 6 feet 5 inches can beat a team composed of players over 6 feet 5 inches."

This viewpoint sparked widespread discussion in the NBA at the time, with many well-known players and coaches participating in the debate.

Players like Dolph Schayes, George Vorgara, and Carl Brown disagreed with Gene Schoo's viewpoint, arguing that height was crucial in basketball at that time.

Only Bob Cousy changed the subject, saying that generally smaller players can't beat bigger players, but there are exceptions. If it's a series, the smaller players probably won't have a chance, but if it's a single-elimination game, the smaller team might win.

Finally, Cousy argued that since it's impossible to determine whether smaller or larger players will win, why not organize a "small vs. big" match every year, promote it through the media, and then establish a fund for the players' retirement?
It's clear that Bob Cousy was racking his brains to address the players' retirement issues, seizing every opportunity to secure benefits and protections for them.

He founded the first players' union in North America in 1954 and served as its first president. When he retired in 1963, John F. Kennedy sent him an email praising his enormous contributions.

Gene Shu brought his unique understanding of basketball to the court. As a player, he was good at pull-up jump shots, which were very advanced shooting techniques in the 50s.

He also invented the 360-degree spin dribble and layup, which was groundbreaking at the time. Even the flamboyant Elgin Baylor was amazed by his quick spin.

As a coach, Gene Shu was adept at using smaller interior players, such as Unseld, Luland, and Dawkins, who were not traditional centers.

When the NBA introduced the three-point line, traditional coaches like Ramsey resisted it. Gene Shu was the first coach in the league to design three-point plays for his team.

Gene Shu also placed great emphasis on one-on-one play. When he coached the Bullets in the 60s, his core tactical idea was to create one-on-one opportunities for his players.

The Bullets players themselves joked, "The reason our defense is so good is because we can get a good rest when we're playing one against four on offense."

This approach was considered heretical at the time, and his tactical manual was called a basketball cult classic, unconventional yet full of inspiring innovations.

Bill Walton was coached by Gene Shue for a period of time during his time with the Clippers (he only played 14 games). Walton described Shue as "positive, optimistic, imaginative and highly creative".

Gene Shu is very good at training those outcasts and lost souls in the league, and he can make the league's neglected players perform to their full potential under his guidance.

Charles Barkley is probably the rookie player that Coach Gene Shu has encountered most in his career that suits his taste. He is a small, big-bottomed center with an optimistic and positive personality, but he comes from a poor background and has a childlike innocence. He has great potential and is more talented than players like Unseld and Dawkins.

So when Gene Schoo saw Barkley being carried off the court injured, he was very worried. He ran over to Barkley to ask what was wrong and found that Barkley looked terrible, probably seriously injured.

Rick Mahorn came on and held his own inside to finish the first quarter, and the score was 30-23, with the Trail Blazers leading the Bullets by 7 points.

Gene Shue has always been outspoken. During the break, when Gan Guoyang was passing by the sidelines, Shue yelled at him, "Do you play this dirty? I heard Charles is your good friend, and this is how you treat him on the court?"

Gan Guoyang said, "I didn't use any force at all. It was normal defense, and the referee didn't call a foul. I never play dirty."

Gene Shu didn't believe it, saying, "I just saw it, Charles looks terrible. If Charles is injured, I'll complain to the league!"

Gan Guoyang admires Gene Shu's integrity, but Gan Guoyang's playing style is indeed not dirty. He always fights openly and honestly, without resorting to dirty tricks that could hurt others. Even if he falls down, his opponent will take protective measures, otherwise Laimbeer would have been ruined long ago.

However, it would be difficult for Gan Guoyang to explain to Gene Shu that Barkley was most likely not injured, but that something else had happened.

At this point, Ramsey came over and yelled at Gene Shu, "Shut up! My players never play dirty. He fell because he's too fat. You should urge your players to lose weight!" Gene Shu and Ramsey have been rivals for many years. Ramsey is a traditional college coach who believes that singles matches are "the most boring game."

The two met in the 1977 NBA Finals, where Gene Shu lost to Ramsey. At that time, Ramsey was hailed as an outcast in the basketball world, while Gene Shu and his 76ers caravan were considered clowns, circuses, and not real basketball.

Many years later, the development of the NBA proved that Gene Schoo was not a clown; he was a pioneering and remarkable coach. Ramsey was not a purely conservative figure either; he also contributed to the development of basketball.

But at this moment, the two sworn enemies were standing in front of the technical table, passionately arguing for their respective disciples. Gan Guoyang had to pull Ramsey away to prevent the old man from rushing up and fighting with Gene-Shu.

Rick Mahon also stepped in to mediate, using his broad frame to stand between the two coaches, and said to Gan Guoyang, "Let's talk things over. Let's not fight. I believe you didn't do it on purpose."

Back when they were on the Olympic team versus the All-Star team, Ma Hong had a verbal sparring match with Gan Guoyang. Now, he has wisely adapted to the times and become a pacifist.

Mahone is clearly not a hothead like Olajuwon. You can tell from his constant attacks on the small backs in the backfield that he is a very shrewd and clear-headed guy.

The referee eventually stopped the conflict between the two coaches. Gan Guoyang pulled Ramsey back to the bench and said, "Coach, don't be so angry. I feel that Charles is not injured. He will be back in a while."

Ramsey asked, "You're not hurt? Didn't you eat dinner?"

"..."

At the start of the second quarter, Gan Guoyang sat on the bench to rest, while the substitutes from both sides played a transitional period on the court.

After a few minutes, the Trail Blazers maintained a lead of more than 5 points, and Ramsey was in no hurry to put Gan Guoyang on the court immediately.

In the second half of the season, as fatigue accumulates, the chances of players getting injured increase.

Ramsey learned from past mistakes and didn't want his disciple to be plagued by injuries again.

Suddenly, cheers erupted from the previously quiet stadium, starting from the players' tunnel and spreading to the other end of the field.

On the huge color display screen hanging above the stadium, Charles Barkley appeared on the sidelines wearing the number 34 jersey.

He is back!

The fans began to stand up and applaud, and Barkley quickly returned to the court, despite everyone thinking he might be injured.

Gene Shu came over to ask about Barkley's condition, and Barkley said he was fine and could go on the court soon.

Just then, the ball went dead on the court, and Gene Schoo patted Barkley on the shoulder, signaling him to come back onto the court.

Back on the court, Barkley was incredibly aggressive, immediately driving to the basket for a layup and drawing a foul from Kenny Carr.

He made the free throw, and then Barkley blocked Cort's shot under the basket, grabbed the ball, and dribbled the entire length of the court for a powerful dunk!

The entire capital city was in an uproar; Barkley had made a triumphant return!
The commentators at the scene shouted, "It's like Willis Reed's return in 1970, he's going to bring victory!"

When Barkley hit another mid-range shot from beyond the arc, scoring 7 consecutive points to tie the game, Ramsey had to call a timeout.

Gan Guoyang took off his sports jacket and said to Ramsey, "I can handle him! That liar..."

After the timeout, the key players from both sides returned to the court. Gan Guoyang walked up to Barkley and asked, "Charles, are you alright? You recovered so quickly?"

Barkley avoided looking at Gan Guoyang and said, "I'm fine. I just bumped my knee and it hurts a little, but it's nothing serious."

"You bumped your knee? Then why are you covering your butt?"

"When did I cover my butt?"

"Fuck, why is the back of your pants dirty? It's yellow."

"You're talking nonsense, I changed my pants..."

Barkley suddenly realized something was wrong; he seemed to have let something slip.

"Charles, you hurt your knee, why are you changing your pants?"

Just then, Gan Guoyang suddenly pushed past Barkley, rushed to the basket to grab the offensive rebound, pushed past Mahone, and slammed the ball down with both hands!
After scoring, Gan Guoyang pointed at Barkley and said, "Charles, I know what happened!"

As Barkley ran up the court, he said, "Sonny, please, just play the game and don't say anything, okay?"

(End of this chapter)