The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 294 The Real Battle

On April 13, the Trail Blazers played their last regular season game in San Antonio.

The outcome of this game has no impact on the Trail Blazers' league ranking. To allow the players to rest better, Ramsey only let the starters play for two quarters before substituting the substitutes early on.

The Spurs have already secured the eighth seed in the Western Conference. After this game, they will travel to Portland to face the Trail Blazers in the first round of the playoffs.

With no pressure to win and both the Trail Blazers and Spurs, who were to face each other in the first round, relaxed, the San Antonio crowd put on a decent exhibition game.

Drexler, Kersey, Gan Guoyang, and others took turns dunking on the fast break, while Alvin Robertson, Mike Mitchell, Gilmore, and others also scored repeatedly.

This is a performance before the great battle, the calm before the storm.

With the game nearing its end and the Trail Blazers trailing by a large margin, they essentially gave up.

Ramsey brought on Bill Walton in the final moments, allowing him to wander the field for a minute.

Thus, Bill Walton completed his first and only season with perfect attendance in his career.

It's nothing short of a miracle for Walton to have played 82 games without missing a single one.

This is related to the Trail Blazers' improved medical care and Ramsey's judicious use of Bill Walton.

Ramsey strictly controlled Walton's playing time, averaging less than 20 minutes per game.

Regardless of the game's outcome, Walton must be substituted when the time comes.

If facing a strong opponent, Ramsey will reduce Walton's playing time in the first three quarters, and then bring him on in the crucial moments of the fourth quarter.

When the game ended, the score was 118-125, with the Spurs defeating the Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers finished with a record of 63 wins and 19 losses, their best record ever and second in the league, behind only the Celtics' 68 wins and 14 losses.

After the game, Walton and Ramsey hugged tightly. For Walton, being able to finish a season healthy was already a huge victory.

“Coach, I’ve made it through March,” Walton said to Ramsey, his voice tinged with sadness.

1978年2月28号，沃顿在对阵76人的比赛中受伤，当时开拓者50胜10负，距离3月还有1天时间。

He never returned for the regular season, played two games with an injury in the playoffs, and was sidelined for the rest of the season. He eventually broke with the Trail Blazers and left.

It was on that day three months ago that the Trail Blazers' dream of a dynasty was shattered, and eight years have passed since then.

Ramsey, with tears in his eyes, hugged Walton and said, "We will keep going, keep going, all the way to June."

The Trail Blazers' 1985-1986 regular season has come to a successful end, with Gan Guoyang winning the regular season scoring title with an average of 33.6 points per game.

He won the regular season rebounding title with a consistent average of 16.1 rebounds per game, while also contributing 2.9 blocks, 2.2 steals and 2.5 assists.

That year, he was only 22 years old and was preparing to make a run for the first championship trophy of his career.

Five days after the regular season ends, on April 18th, the first playoff game will begin, with the Trail Blazers facing the Spurs once again.

Early in the morning, just as dawn was breaking, Quentin Stephenson drove his Ram to the front of a detached villa in Lake Hill Park and parked it on the lawn.

Upon getting off the bus, I saw a lot of things displayed at the entrance. The first thing that caught my eye was a large bouquet of roses, followed by red wine, chocolates, a box of apple pie, and two Michael Jackson albums.

Stephenson took a large cardboard box from the car, carefully packed the items into the box, and put it in the car.

Then he took off his oversized coat in the car, put on a tracksuit and track pants, and changed out of his leather shoes into a pair of Avia running shoes.

About five minutes later, the door of the detached villa opened, and Gan Guoyang came out wearing sportswear and snapped his fingers at Quentin Stephenson.

Stephenson rushed out and said, "I'm ready, Sonny."

Gan Guoyang nodded and said, "That's good, let's go. We have a competition tonight, so reduce the running distance; it'll be easier for you."

"My physical fitness is fine right now."

"Really? Is your pace okay?"

"I...I can't keep up, Forrest, slow down a bit."

"Haha, I'll be slow, let's go."

The two set off from Lake Hill Park, one after the other, and ran north along the Willamette River toward Portland.

Some time ago, Stephenson finally lost weight to 250 pounds in less than two months.

The amount of effort he put into this job is unimaginable, and this was Gan Guoyang's first test for him.

After arriving in Portland, Gan Guoyang put Quentin on trial for a period of time, arranging accommodation and transportation for him.

The first thing Quentin did was to drive to Gan Guoyang's house every morning and go for a run with him.

He arrived earlier than Gan Guoyang and tidied up the gifts that the neighbors and citizens had given to Gan Guoyang at his door—Gan Guoyang's door was almost always full of people.

The enthusiasm and love that Portland fans have for Gan Guoyang is evident.

Then he would accompany Gan Guoyang from Lake Hill Park all the way to downtown Portland, and then from downtown to Portland Community College to train with Gan Guoyang.

Although his primary job is defense, Quentin also takes on the responsibility of being a practice partner, defender, and ball retriever when the team is not practicing.

This is a very tough job because Gan Guoyang's training time is very long, and fighting against him is quite grueling. You won't feel any sense of accomplishment.

Let alone Quentin Tarantino, who didn't go to a good college and lacks talent, even players like Kenny Carr and Jones on the Trail Blazers couldn't stand playing against Gan Guoyang for long periods of time.

High pressure, high intensity, and sometimes you have to endure some trash talk.

But none of this seems to be a problem for Quentin. Quentin previously lost 30 pounds through diet control and a lot of exercise.

He runs and swims every day, and with his athletic background, he has plenty of physical strength, after all, he is still very young.

Playing with Gan Guoyang was an even easier thing for him, because he had no competitive spirit when facing Gan Guoyang.

Every time Gan Guoyang scores, he says, "Good shot, beautiful shot."

When Gan Guoyang was training a certain technique, Quentin would always point out, "This move is very graceful, you look so elegant, Gan."

Being scored on head-on by Gan Guoyang was nothing to him; he clapped heartily without feeling any pain.

If he could score one on Gan Guoyang's head, he would be very happy, jumping up and down, and saying, "I got one, I got one!"

His positive mindset and good physical condition enabled him to pass Gan Guoyang's initial trial period.

Before the end of the regular season, Gan Guoyang signed a contract with Quentin Tarantino, hiring him as his personal assistant.

Wang Fuxi was also very satisfied with Quentin's personal assistant, because he was a big, fat, 6-foot-8-inch, 200-pound man, not some beautiful bodyguard.

Quentin is still on probation. He follows behind Gan Guoyang, running hard while keeping a close eye on the road to deal with any unexpected situations.

Along the way, almost every car that passed by would slow down, either honking at Gan Guoyang or rolling down its window to greet him.

As the sun rose and the eastern sky turned white, they had already reached downtown Portland, where they encountered even more people on the streets.

Upon entering the main urban area, they will pass through a small train station where commuters, the elderly, and students are waiting for their trains.

Because Gan Guoyang often passes through this area, many Trail Blazers fans wait here in the morning and cheer for him when he arrives.

Sometimes, some irrational female fans would rush towards Gan Guoyang, and Quentin would have to stop them.

He always carried a gun with him, and Quentin was his last line of defense if anyone tried to harm Gan Guoyang—of course, Portland was still very safe in 1986.

By the 90s, Gan Guoyang could no longer use this running route to enter the city. The area near the train station had become a haunt for homeless people and drug addicts, and was littered with garbage.

With the playoffs approaching, the station was packed with people this morning, and fans even brought a banner that read: "Trail Blazers for the Championship!"
Gan Guoyang waved to them. Most of these young people wouldn't be at the game that night, not because they didn't want to watch the game, but because they simply couldn't buy tickets.

Because the Memorial Arena has limited seating and the Trail Blazers' games are always sold out, it is very difficult for ordinary people to buy a ticket to a Trail Blazers game, except for season ticket holders.

Since we can't see Gan Guoyang at the stadium, we can only catch a glimpse of his charm on his running route.

As the sun rose higher, they entered the city, slowed down, and finally walked to the Memorial Stadium.

Everyone who saw Gan Guoyang along the way greeted him, smiled at him, and cheered him on.

Quentin followed behind Forrest Gump with a stern face, feeling as if some of the cheers and smiles had been shared with him.

It's like a person being illuminated by the sun, receiving some of its brilliance and warmth.

This is one of the reasons why Quentin was willing to put in so much effort and stay by Gan Guoyang's side.

When he felt that life was dark and he couldn't find a way forward, a sun guided him.

Another reason is that Forrest Gump gave a lot of money.

Gan Guoyang warmed up directly in the memorial stadium, where only he and Quentin were present.

He stood under the basket, focusing his mind, and with Quentin's help, caught the ball, shot, turned, released the ball, three-pointer, jump shot.

There were only bang bang bang and swish swish swish sounds.

More and more people arrived, including the team's staff.

A teammate is coming over; it's Bill Walton.

Jim Paxson also arrived.

Jack Ramsey and his coaching staff arrived.

Drexler's arrival means that the entire Trail Blazers team is basically complete.

People began to appear sporadically in the audience.

The San Antonio Spurs players have arrived and are warming up.

As the time came, more and more spectators arrived, and the stadium became increasingly lively.

The fans had small props in their hands to make noise.

Bill Shawnley arrived and sat on the sidelines adjusting the microphone.

NBA official technical personnel arrived, and staff were on site making adjustments.

The referee came out of the locker room with the ball in his hand.

The people who will perform the opening show and sing the national anthem tonight are ready.

Gan Guoyang stood by the court, hands behind his back, looking up at the ceiling.

The championship banner from 1977 is flying high.

The real battle began in the 1986 playoffs!

(End of this chapter)