The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 263 Trading
In the Portland morning, a light mist drifted over the Willamette River. The weather was already chilly in December, and the city, shrouded in a thin veil, quietly awaited the sunrise.

Before dawn, two figures, one tall and one short, were already running through the hazy fog on the bridge over the Willamette River. Although the fog was not good for the respiratory system, it was better than anesthetics and painkillers.

"Good morning, Gan, you're running so early again!" A mailman delivering newspapers and milk shouted from his vehicle when he saw the runners. The runners were Gan Guoyang and Colt, whose tall figures were familiar to every mailman on the streets of Portland.

Since being forced into drug rehabilitation by Gan Guoyang, Colter has been dragged out of bed to run every morning in Portland, and he now seems to be in much better spirits.

"Hello, sir, watch your speed!" Gan Guoyang said kindly as he watched the postman speeding down the road on his fixed-gear bike.

In the late 70s, postmen sped through the streets and alleys on these bicycles without brakes or flywheels to deliver mail and packages quickly.

On his way to the training ground every morning, Gan Guoyang often saw the postman fall off his fixed-gear bicycle; most people really couldn't handle that kind of bike.

"Thanks for the reminder! But please don't stop, keep going!" the postman shouted as he sped past.

In December, the Trail Blazers faced a grueling schedule, with 16 games in one month, including 11 away games, a four-game road trip, and a five-game road trip.

Last year, the Trail Blazers experienced a dip in form in December, with injuries and defeats following one after another, but this year they persevered.

They won several crucial battles, especially the 122-115 victory over the Celtics in Boston on December 6th, marking their season by defeating both the Lakers and the Celtics.

Steve Colter and Jerome Cahill, who came off the bench, became key to winning the game. Colter made 5 of 9 field goals and 12 of 14 free throws, scoring 22 points in total.

Gan Guoyang once suspected that Cortés might be Stern's illegitimate son, wondering how he could get so many free throws in one game.

But every free throw Cort earned was earned through his own hard work; he received the ball time and time again and drove to the basket.

He carried the Trail Blazers' offense during the transition period, leading them to their most impressive victory of the season.

Jerome Kersey successfully limited Bird on defense, and Bird only scored 18 points on 8-of-26 shooting, a shockingly low shooting percentage.

The Trail Blazers didn't even use their three-big lineup; they relied on a run of offense from their bench players to overwhelm their opponents.

This game exposed the Celtics' second problem: in addition to their inability to sustain slow, positional play for extended periods, the Celtics' overall athleticism is mediocre.

Facing increasingly stronger and faster Black players, the Celtics, with their large number of white players, struggled on both offense and defense. Players like Kirkley, with their exceptional physical attributes, gave Bird a real headache.

Perhaps KC Jones should develop and utilize Marquese Johnson more, but Marquese Johnson is at a significant strength disadvantage when facing Gan Guoyang, which puts the Celtics coaching staff in a dilemma.

The Trail Blazers handed the Boston Celtics their first home loss of the season, which was also the Celtics' only home loss in the regular season.

The Trail Blazers went 3-1 on their four-game road trip, with their only loss coming against the Bullets in Washington.

It is said that Charles Barkley's performance improved dramatically after eating the fish-flavored burger made by Gan Guoyang, and he scored 31 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in the game the following night.

Gene Schoo's flexible lineup and unpredictable tactics caused Portland's Big Three to suffer for the first time this season.

After returning home to play the Warriors, the Trail Blazers embarked on a five-game road trip in the West, where they once again achieved a record of 4 wins and 1 loss.

The only loss was against the Denver Nuggets. Like the Washington Bullets, Doug Mo used speed and shooting to deal with the three big men, never letting the game fall into half-court offense.

The Trail Blazers were exhausted from a series of away games, and the Nuggets, fueled by a desire for revenge, handed the Trail Blazers their third loss of the season at high altitude.

12月21日，开拓者回到波特兰，他们的战绩已经来到了27胜3负，稳居联盟第一，将23胜4负的湖人和21胜6负的凯尔特人都甩在了身后。

This start is even better than the Portland Trail Blazers in 1978, when the defending champion Blazers had a record of 23 wins and 4 losses, and were already dominating the league.

The key figure among them was Bill Walton, whose return became the perfect lubricant for the Trail Blazers, greatly relieving the pressure on their interior defense.

On the court, his passing and defense were crucial. He completely liberated Gan Guoyang, making him the most dangerous inside killer in the league. Gan Guoyang won the Player of the Month award in November. His performance of 32 points, 16 rebounds and 4.7 blocks in a single month made it impossible not to vote for him.

At the same time, Walton's optimism, erudition, enthusiasm, deep affection for the people of Portland, and past championship experience have deeply inspired the team and injected a different kind of energy into the whole team.

Gan Guoyang could sense that last season he was carrying the whole team forward, but in the end he was exhausted and really couldn't carry them anymore.

Even if he blocked Johnson's layup and hit the game-winning three-pointer in that game, they would most likely still lose to the Lakers in Game 7.

There is indeed a significant gap in overall strength. Individual performance can narrow the gap, but it is impossible to surpass it.

This year is different. Gan Guoyang is not dragging the whole team forward, but everyone is moving forward together. In some games, his teammates even carried him forward.

For example, in the away game against Boston, Gan Guoyang was heavily guarded by the Celtics on offense, but Korsey and Cort stepped up to solve the problem. Walton often made key plays in the paint; a beautiful pass or a solid block could always change the course of the game.

This feels amazing.

"Sonny, Sonny...do we have to run until the sun turns yellow?"

Colter, who was running behind him, was out of breath and asked when it would end.

Colter's physical fitness is fine, the problem is that Gan Guoyang's pace is too fast!

"It's cloudy today, so we probably won't see the sun turn yellow. Let's turn back and go to the training hall to train."

"Huh? You're off today? Do we still have to train?"

"Isn't training supposed to be about rest? Do you really need to sleep?"

"..."

Colter has recently been running and training with Gan Guoyang, and he has come to understand what a training fanatic is.

However, Gan Guoyang's training is not simply about piling on time; his efficiency is very high and the intensity is very high.

The total training time is indeed longer than that of ordinary players, about twice as long a day, but if you take into account the intensity and efficiency, the total amount should be four to six times.

His health was poor, and his physical fitness was low, so training with him was a real ordeal. But as long as he persevered, Colt found that he no longer needed painkillers.

Since eating won't help, it's better to tough it out and get used to it once your physical strength improves.

On their way back, the two ran into the same postman again. Gan Guoyang noticed that his left cheek was swollen and there was a hole in his pants at the knee.

"You look like you've suffered a work injury! Looks like you didn't listen to my advice!" Gan Guoyang shouted.

The postman smiled awkwardly. Indeed, he had fallen shortly after passing by Gan Guoyang, scraping his face and knees.

Gan Guoyang told him to stop, took out $10 from his pocket, and said, "Do you have any extra newspapers? I'll buy them all."

"There are some, but it doesn't cost $10."

"It's okay, go change your pants and buy some medicine to apply."

Gan Guoyang bought the extra copies of the newspaper and gave the postman $10.

Colter was exhausted. Now he could finally stop and rest for a while. If he had to run back to the training hall, he would have jumped into the river.

Gan Guoyang flipped through the newspaper. December 1985, as usual, it was filled with all sorts of events, big and small: political and military matters revolving around the US-Soviet rivalry; social issues including escalating racial tensions; and cultural and artistic developments with a constant stream of new films. But in the sports news, which Gan Guoyang was most interested in, he saw the league's latest trade:
The Detroit Pistons traded their tough defensive forward Dan Longfield to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for the Clippers' big man Melvin Tpin, who nearly crushed Donald Sterling with his buttocks.

The trade was met with widespread criticism as soon as it was announced, with many believing that the Pistons were simply making a fool of themselves.

They already lacked interior defense, and then traded away their only strong defensive player at the power forward position to a fat center who proved he couldn't control his mouth during his rookie season.

But Gan Guoyang doesn't see it that way. Langfield is getting old, and last season he was plagued by injuries and only played 50 games, including the game against the Trail Blazers.

He made limited contributions during his one season with the Pistons, and the Pistons needed to update their roster, so keeping him wouldn't make much sense. Therefore, the Pistons tried to trade him for Rick Mahorn in the summer.

Mahorn was a good friend of Barkley, and Barkley said that if Mahorn were traded, he would not want to play in Washington anymore. So the Bullets did not agree, and the Pistons had no choice but to keep Longfield.

The reason they were able to acquire Terpin in a trade with the Clippers was because Terpin's ass embarrassed Sterling; every time he saw Terpin, he felt like he was being ridiculed.

Just when Turpin's performance was mediocre and he couldn't control his weight, they simply sent him to Detroit in exchange for Longfield, who still had some gas left in the tank. After all, this guy was a three-time All-Star and a two-time All-Defensive Team player.

The Clippers are on a one-way street to collecting these washed-up stars, going further and further as long as they can sell tickets.

As for Turpin, his future is linked to Detroit, where he will become Bill Laimbeer's backup or even partner, facing a tough test in the East.

Gan Guoyang is looking forward to seeing how Teddy performs in Detroit, but the game against the Pistons won't be until February next year. Hopefully, Teddy will still be alive in Detroit by then.

(End of this chapter)