The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 240 Cured

The Trail Blazers treated Walton very well back then. In order to welcome this college basketball superstar, in addition to building a high-standard wooden house for him to live in and equipping him with a Land Cruiser for his travel convenience, the Trail Blazers tried their best to meet all of Walton's reasonable and unreasonable requests.

Activities like hiking, cycling, and attending a Thanksgiving concert are child's play; going to marches, rallies, and doing political propaganda are just drop in the ocean.

Because the Oregon region is mountainous and has many old-growth forests, the logging industry is well-developed. One day, Walton suddenly became very interested in logging and wanted to go to the mountains to work as a logger.

Lumberjacking is arguably one of the most dangerous professions in the world, with a very high accidental death rate.

You're a basketball player, and instead of focusing on playing basketball, you can go hiking or cycling, but you actually want to cut down a big tree?

As a result, the Trail Blazers owner spoiled Walton and helped him find a logging job in the eastern mountains of Eugene in the summer, and even assigned someone to accompany and protect him.

Wharton went to the mountains for a while but couldn't take it anymore. It was too tough and dangerous, not at all the romantic idea of ​​living in the mountains and forests that he had imagined.

I can't keep doing this, so I'm going home.

He lost interest in logging, but his curiosity about forests and mountains remained. So he packed his bag and ventured into the forests of central Oregon to explore, where he was nearly sucked dry by mosquitoes.

Even while recovering from injury during the offseason, he didn't stop. He went to the Egyptian desert with the band Grateful to the Death to see the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid, climbed a 50-meter-high tree in the jungle of the Philippines to observe the giant Philippine eagle, filmed a documentary for ABC called "American Athlete," and won an Emmy Award in the process.

His personal life is really rich. In theory, the team shouldn't care what the players do off the field, but these high-risk activities have obviously affected Walton's already fragile body.

Now that Walton has returned to Portland, it's time for him to settle down. Looking back on those times, Walton knows that the Trail Blazers were indeed very tolerant and caring towards him in his early years, but things just took a wrong turn.

The first training session took place in the spacious and familiar Portland Community College gymnasium, where many facilities had been updated. The Trail Blazers funded the renovation of the locker room and added two large stainless steel ice water tanks.

After training, players can soak their legs in flowing ice water to improve blood circulation and allow muscles and ligaments to recover better, preventing bruising.

The lights above the court have become brighter and more comfortable, allowing players to focus on training and playing with their eyes in a comfortable state.

Training officially began at 10:00 AM. Jack Ramsey developed a detailed training plan for the team, covering everything from physical conditioning and tactical coordination to contact drills.

The intensity was as high as ever. At first, everyone was able to communicate and joke around on the field, but soon everyone was speechless.

One whistle after another blew, accompanied by Ramsey's loud roar, the creaking and scraping of the floor was incessant, and the thuds of the ball hitting the floor and the whooshing sound of it cutting through the air rose and fell.

Running, running continuously, with almost no chance to catch their breath or rest. Ramsey treated all players equally, whether they were new or old, and everyone had to be involved in high-intensity training.

However, the training session did not last long. When Ramsey sensed that everyone's physical strength was about to reach its limit, he stopped the training and announced the end of the morning session.

Gan Guoyang was really into his training when he didn't expect the morning session to end so soon.

He hurriedly asked Ramsey, "Dr. Jack, why are you slacking off? It's not lunchtime yet."

Ramsey said, "If you want to train, then train by yourself. This way, the others can rest."

"We weren't finished at this time last season; we would have practiced for at least another half hour."

"Last season was last season, but this season I'm 60 years old, I'm getting old and need to rest."

After finishing his remarks, Ramsey summarized today's training content, told everyone that they would practice defense tomorrow, and then dismissed the team.

"Jack, you don't really intend to coach until you're 80, do you? You're only 60, and you're already starting to coach for health reasons? Have you been kneeling on the sidelines too much and your knees can't take it anymore? I told you to get some knee braces, but you wouldn't listen..."

Gan Guoyang complained to Ramsey, but Ramsey ignored him and went back to his office to watch the video.

Walton, watching in disbelief, asked Adelman, "Sonny and Jack, has this always been how they talk?"

Adelman shook his head and said, "Of course not. I still remember the first training camp last year, the two of them were practically determined to either leave or be eliminated. In just one year, they've found a way to get along."

Walton asked curiously, "What method?"

Adelman sighed and didn't say anything, thinking to himself, "This method is fucking my own!"

Although the team training session had ended, few players left.

After dinner, everyone did extra practice according to their own needs.

Drexler practiced shooting with Vandeweghe.

Clyde's shooting form is becoming more and more like Vandeweghe's, with a slight kicking motion in his leg and a hang time in the air when he releases the ball.

His arm is positioned to the right of his head, but Van der Wechs looks much smoother overall, while Drexler appears much stiffer.

Mitchell Thompson, Kenny Carr, and others are doing strength training in the gym, and more and more players in the league are doing strength training.

Terry Porter sat quietly on the sidelines, studying the playbook. As a point guard, he needed to familiarize himself with the team's tactics as quickly as possible. Although the frontcourt was paramount in Ramsey's system, while the backcourt's responsibilities were somewhat lighter, the pressure on point guards on the court was never insignificant.

After trading away Valentine, the Trail Blazers only have two rookie point guards, Porter and Cortés, and Porter must take on the responsibility as soon as possible.

More than two weeks ago, during the rookie training camp, Porter trained hard, studied the playbook, and watched videos, hoping to get a suitable position on this new team.

The good news is that he and Gan Guoyang are friends. When he was selected for the Olympic team, he had chickenpox and Gan Guoyang took care of him. He will never forget that selection experience.

He never expected to become teammates with Gan Guoyang. Playing with Gan during the Olympic selection process was the best experience, as Gan always led unassuming players to victory.

At that moment, Gan Guoyang was training not far away: a long rubber rope was fastened around his waist and back, and Jerome Kosh and Ken Johnson were holding the two ends of the rubber rope, trying to pull Gan Guoyang back.

But Gan Guoyang was like a tractor, dragging Kexi and Johnson from one end of the court to the other, then resting for a while before continuing, going back and forth from one end to the other, as if he were plowing the field.

This was to train Gan Guoyang's ability to charge forward, and incidentally let the two young men, Ke Xi and Johnson, practice their lower body strength and endurance.

After several rounds, both Kexi and Johnson's hands were numb, but Gan Guoyang said he could practice a little longer.

Kossie said, "Sonny, why don't you just find a parachute or a tire to carry on your back for training? I can't pull you anymore. Didn't you lose weight? Why is it still so hard to pull you?"

Gan Guoyang thought to himself that Ke Xi had really come up with a good idea.

"I lost fat, and my muscles became stronger."

Kossi trained hard during the summer, intending to go to the training camp to broaden everyone's horizons.

Little did he know that compared to Gan Guoyang, he was still far inferior; their strength was not on the same level.

Two players did not participate in extra practice: Bill Walton and Jones.

Both of them are veterans, and Walton is also plagued by injuries, so rest is very important for them.

Walton soaked his legs in a stainless steel ice water tub in the locker room; his legs were covered in bruises.

In order to return to the competition, he has undergone a total of 36 surgeries on his feet, back, and legs so far.

In the future, if one wants to live a normal life, it may be necessary to undergo even more procedures.

Jones, standing to the side, looked at Walton's feet, shook his head, and said, "My God, how did you manage to take that?"

Walton laughed and said, "I don't know either, maybe it's because of basketball."

Dr. Bruce Ogilvy then came to the locker room and said to the two old guys, "Dr. Jack said you two shouldn't train this afternoon, in case you fall apart. You can do visualization training with me instead."

Ramsey shortened training time mainly to take care of the veterans. Last season, the Trail Blazers' oldest player was only 30 years old. This season, they not only have two more 35-year-old veterans, but Thompson is also 31. Vandeweghe and Paxson have both suffered injuries of varying degrees.

Ramsey clearly has high expectations for the new season, so he has been cautious from the beginning, making long-term plans and preparations.

Walton introduced Jones to Dr. Ogilvy, who had proposed the visualization training method that helped the entire Trail Blazers team improve their free throw percentage.

"At that time, my free throw percentage was only 58%, but after a period of visualization, it reached 69%, which was a huge improvement. Even my rebounding improved. I thought about and simulated the landing point of the ball after all the players missed their shots, and improved it from 11 to 14."

For veterans with extensive competition experience and whose bodies have been repeatedly honed, visual training will be more effective.

“Thank you so much, Bruce.” Walton expressed his gratitude to Ogilvy, saying thank you the most since returning to Portland.

However, Walton was a little puzzled and asked Ogilvy, "I've noticed that Jack has really changed a lot. His training time has become shorter, and even his training methods have changed. This is the first time he's been like this... well, how should I put it?"

"Doesn't seem like a dictator anymore?"

"Yes! That's right, he was unusually calm and became very composed."

Ogilvy laughed and said, "Actually, you've changed a lot too. You're quite eloquent now, and you even know how to say thank you."

Because of his stutter, Walton didn't learn to say thank you until he was 28 years old; before that, he had never been able to say this simplest word smoothly.

Wharton said, "In private, I'm no different from a normal person, but I still can't handle large crowds. Luckily, I wasn't asked to give a speech at the airport on the day I came back."

“The people of Portland are willing to understand you and love you.”

"What exactly happened to Dr. Jack?"

"Him? He's cured of his mental illness."

(End of this chapter)