The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 303 Tone
Just half an hour after the Washington Bullets and Milwaukee Bucks' Game 7 thriller ended, the Trail Blazers and Rockets were about to begin their Western Conference Finals series at Portland Memorial Stadium.

The Memorial Stadium wasn't the only one packed; the Paramount Theatre next door, located on the other side of the Willamette River near the Portland Museum of Art, also had many people queuing up early in front of the theater.

Tonight will feature a performance by the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, with renowned conductor Norman Leiden taking the stage. He has been collaborating with the orchestra since 1970, a partnership that has lasted sixteen years.

Previously, as a composer and arranger, he wrote theme songs for many Disney animated films and musicals, and also arranged music for many famous pop and jazz musicians in the 50s and 60s.

The concert began at 7 p.m. Pacific Time. Before going on stage, Norman Leiden sent a backup musician to listen to the radio with headphones on in the audience.

The radio wasn't playing music or the weather forecast; it was a live broadcast from Portland radio of the Portland game between the Trail Blazers and the Rockets—the game was scheduled to start in half an hour at 7:30.

Before the performance began, Norman asked the audience for their opinions, saying, "Actually, I have tickets for the Memorial Stadium game tonight, but unfortunately, I can't go because of the performance."

The audience initially burst into laughter, because getting a ticket to the Memorial Arena playoffs was extremely difficult. The Memorial Arena is too small, with only a little over 10,000 seats, which is far from enough to meet the demand of Portland fans to watch the game live.

Norman gave up the opportunity to watch the game for the concert, which everyone thought was a real pity.

Norman continued, "I've assigned a special assistant who will keep a close eye on the Rockets and Trail Blazers game. During the breaks in the concert, we'll be broadcasting the live scores of the Trail Blazers and Rockets."

As soon as he finished speaking, the audience burst into enthusiastic applause.

One audience member shouted, "Why do you think we're here for a concert tonight?"

Everyone laughed again, not finding the audience member impolite at all, because most of the audience members who came to the concert tonight were unable to buy tickets for the Memorial Stadium.

Norman laughed along, and the concert officially began. The venue quieted down, but everyone was concerned not only with the music, but also with the game at the Memorial Stadium.

This was just the Western Conference Finals, but it showed just how crazy the Portlanders were about the Trail Blazers; the whole city was caught up in the Blazers' fate.

They also made it to the Western Conference Finals last year, but last year was different; everyone knew the Trail Blazers would be a tough opponent for the Lakers.

The Trail Blazers didn't even win a single game in the Western Conference Finals at Memorial Arena last season, losing all three home games to the Lakers.

Many fans believe that it's because the Portland fans aren't crazy enough and aren't giving the team enough support.

Portlanders are going crazy this year; before the game even started, the noise at Memorial Arena was already blasting off the sky.

Instead of announcing the starting lineups for both teams, Bill Shawnley broadcast the Trail Blazers' upcoming game plan and schedule.

For their third game, they will travel to Houston. We hope fans will come to see them off, and we also hope fans will come to welcome them back to Portland, on the same day and at the same time.

Shawnley is the leader of the fans and has a huge influence among them. Players come and go on the Trail Blazers, but Shawnley remains constant.

He used his voice to ignite the passion of the entire Portland City fan base. When the national anthem ceremony ended and the players from both sides took to the field one by one, Memorial Stadium seemed to be 500 meters underwater, filled with a suffocating atmosphere and immense pressure.

Everyone was under pressure, especially in the first game. The away players felt isolated and helpless, while the home team felt they couldn't afford to lose and had no way out.

Hakeem Olajuwon stood with his hands on his hips near the center circle, his expression as silent and calm as an African rock.

On the contrary, Gan Guoyang grinned on the sidelines, chatting with the referee on duty that night and cracking jokes from time to time.

When the referee signaled Gan Guoyang to prepare for the jump ball, the smile on Gan Guoyang's face disappeared, and he walked past Olajuwon.

Forrest Gump's eyes were as sharp as knives. Hakeem Olajuwon stared at him. The guy hadn't smiled at all; his mouth was open, but his eyes showed no sign of laughter.

The two maintained their pre-match tradition of exchanging glances without uttering a word, as they had grown accustomed to each other's silence.

Unlike Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon hated Gan Guoyang on the court, and this hatred was his driving force to keep moving forward.

Tonight's referee is Darrell Garrison, a "robot referee" known for his dislike of communicating with players and coaches.

He believes that excessive communication with players and coaches can lead to referees making decisions based on personal feelings, so the less communication, the better.

Even so, he still chatted with Forrest Gump for a bit before the game started, after all, this was Portland.

"I hope everything goes well tonight. Remember, this is a basketball game, not a boxing ring, understand?"

Before the jump ball, Garretson reminded Gan Guoyang and Olajuwon, two of the most talented young big men in the league, who were also known for their fighting prowess.

However, they haven't actually fought yet, but given their current tense situation, they could easily come to blows.

The noise from the crowd subsided slightly as the referee tossed the ball into the air.

Gan Guoyang jumped with a speed that Olajuwon hadn't anticipated, and was the first to touch the ball.

The Trail Blazers gained possession on offense for the first time in the game, and starting player Jim Paxson began to orchestrate the attack.

Surprisingly, both sides made a series of mistakes right at the start of the match.

Paxson passed the ball to Vandeweghe, but it went out of bounds.

Hakeem Olajuwon received the ball in the low post, but his pass to the weak side went out of bounds, resulting in a turnover.

Drexler attempted to pass the ball to Gan Guoyang, but Reed knocked it away, though Gan Guoyang accidentally touched it. Possession returned to the Rockets. It was clear that both teams were under a lot of pressure, and their movements were somewhat hesitant.

At this point, someone needs to step up and score a goal to loosen everyone's grip and allow the game to continue smoothly.

Hakeem Olajuwon received the ball in the low post and attempted to overpower Gan Guoyang, but his turnaround fadeaway shot missed.

Thompson grabbed the rebound, and Vandeweghe's outside shot missed.

The Rockets made another mistake on offense, with Reed and Sampson colliding, leaving it unclear who should receive the ball.

The ball rolled out of bounds, and the Trail Blazers gained possession.

"Both sides made a lot of mistakes at the start, and it was clear that they were both a bit nervous."

"Goal! The game needs goals! Who can be the first to break the deadlock for both sides!"

Drexler finally got the ball to Gan Guoyang, who firmly marked Olajuwon in the low right post.

Hakeem Olajuwon crouched down, bracing himself against Gan Guoyang with his arms, and planted his legs firmly on the ground. He knew that Forrest Gump's offensive impact was immense, and he couldn't withstand it without this stance.

When his teammates tried to come over to help defend, Hakeem Olajuwon yelled, "Get out of the way!"

Gan Guoyang started very quickly, turned outside and went to the baseline, using his shoulder strength to forcefully challenge Olajuwon!
This is a pure contest of strength. During the regular season, Hakeem Olajuwon could hold his own against Gan Guoyang one-on-one, even though Gan Guoyang was lighter than he was in his rookie season.

But the playoffs are not the regular season. Gan Guoyang's sudden outburst was like a volcano. In fact, Hakeem Olajuwon should have noticed it when the ball was thrown. Gan was different tonight.

Hakeem Olajuwon couldn't stop Gan Guoyang from driving hard from the baseline to the basket and then dunking with one hand!
"Shet!"

Hakeem Olajuwon slapped the ball hard and went to the baseline to serve.

He didn't understand why Forrest Gump was so strong when they were about the same size.

He had experienced the power of this monstrous man during the NCAA finals.

After entering the league, Hakeem Olajuwon worked hard to train his strength, making himself incredibly muscular.

During his training at the University of Houston last summer, he was already able to hold his own against Moses Malone in physical contests.

But it still didn't work against Forrest Gump; that guy was as tough as iron.

The first basket set the tone for the game: Hakeem Olajuwon still couldn't stop Forrest Gump one-on-one, especially in the playoffs.

As Hakeem Olajuwon said in his autobiography, "Your first confrontation often sets the stage for everything that will follow."

After scoring, Gan Guoyang didn't mock Olajuwon or say, "Why didn't you let your teammates double-team you?" He remained silent.

The silent Gan Guoyang is even more terrifying than the talkative one, because silence means he won't be distracted by anything other than basketball.

Robert Reed's floater was blocked by Gan Guoyang, and Drexler's fast break layup drew a foul from Ralph Sampson.

Drexler made both free throws, while Olajuwon, two steps inside the free-throw line, received the ball, turned, faked a shot, and then made a hook shot, scoring the Rockets' first point.

However, it wasn't Gan Guoyang who was guarding Olajuwon, but Thompson. Gan Guoyang was responsible for guarding Ralph Sampson.

The Rockets continued to have Hakeem Olajuwon guard Gan Guoyang one-on-one, with Gan receiving the ball on the left low post this time.

After the double team closed in, he passed the ball to the weak side, where Paxson received it, drove to the baseline, and then passed it to Vandeweghe for a jump shot that went in.

The offensive and defensive maneuvers of both sides gradually began to get on track.

Hakeem Olajuwon has a strong aggressive mentality at the start of the game.

Sampson attempted an alley-oop under the basket, but Gan Guoyang made the timely save, and the Rockets didn't dare to pass the ball.

The ball was passed to Hakeem Olajuwon on the other side, who caught it, turned, and took a fadeaway jump shot, but missed.

Drexler came over to cover, and he interfered with Olajuwon's play.

Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound under the basket, but he did not pass the ball to Drexler.

Instead, he dribbled the ball across half-court himself, disrupting the Rockets' defensive matchups.

Gan Guoyang dribbled the ball himself, drove straight to the basket, and slammed it home with a gliding dunk!
Bill Fitch called a timeout and paced back and forth on the sidelines with his arms crossed.

No matter how much you plan and strategize before the game, you still don't know what your opponent will do when the game starts.

In fact, not only did Fitch not know, but Jack Ramsey himself did not know that Gan Guoyang would play like this at the beginning of the game.

The game is unpredictable; the players make judgments based on the situation. No one can predict it, not even the players themselves.

(End of this chapter)