The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 343 Balance
After losing the Western Conference Finals, Hakeem Olajuwon ended his 86 season. After a short rest and adjustment, he went to the Houston State Recreation Center for training.

The offseason is very long, and how an NBA player manages this long summer is crucial to their performance in the following season.

For those on the fringes of the alliance, finding their next job is their top priority.

Star players in their prime need to maintain their form during the offseason, and ideally, even improve it.

The veterans should focus on rest and recovery, address their injuries, and build up their physical strength for the new season.

Rising stars like Hakeem Olajuwon, after experiencing the pain of major failures, seek to break through their limits during the offseason.

Hard training in college alone is not enough, especially since Moses Malone did not come to Houston this time; he was recovering from an injury in Philadelphia.

So Hakeem Olajuwon enrolled in Pete Newell's Big Men's Camp, hoping to further hone his skills and get revenge on Forrest Gump next season.

Who knew Forrest Gump would show up too! He's in this state, what's the point of him attending a training camp?

"What are you doing here? Your tutor? If you are, I'll give you a refund," Olajuwon said rudely.

"Oh no, you want me to teach you inside game techniques? I can't. But I can teach you how to win a championship," Gan Guoyang said smugly.

"..."

“You’re already like this, why are you even attending the training camp?” Hakeem Olajuwon complained, in his opinion that Gan Guoyang’s technique was already very advanced.

"There's an old Chinese saying: 'Practice makes perfect.' Basketball skills are like a knife; if you don't sharpen them, they'll become dull. Besides, we still have to play a Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals against you guys, which just shows that I still need to practice."

Hakeem Olajuwon was considering getting a refund, but decided to hold back.

Training together isn't a bad thing; it'll be a good opportunity to see how this kid practices.

Hakeem Olajuwon is Nigerian and did not participate in the 1984 Olympic training camp.

So he didn't know what Gan Guoyang was like during training; he had only heard Drexler mention it.

Drexler said that Gan Guoyang's training was extremely tough, and most people simply couldn't keep up with his intensity.

At the opening ceremony, Gan Guoyang saw several familiar faces, including Joe Barry Carroll and Brad Dougherty, the Cavaliers' first overall pick this year.

Besides NBA players, there are also many college freshmen who hope to improve themselves and prepare for entering the NBA in the future.

Gan Guoyang's presence made these big men a little nervous. After all, Gan Guoyang had a bad reputation, was exceptionally talented, and was the 86 NBA champion. He was surrounded by a dazzling aura.

However, once the training camp started, everyone discovered that Gan Guoyang was actually a very easy person to get along with in private.

He is approachable, witty and natural in his speech and manner, and can chat amicably with anyone, without any airs of a celebrity.

On the contrary, Hakeem Olajuwon always had a dark face and an unapproachable demeanor, making people hesitant to approach him.

Of course, being easy to get along with off the court is one thing, but playing on the court is another. From the very first training session, Gan Guoyang showed a strong aggressiveness.

Pete Newell's training approach is gradual; he believes that all tactics and techniques for interior players should begin with physical contact.

Without confrontation, everything is in vain and illusory.

The key to confrontation lies in balance.

"Without the ability to maintain balance in a confrontation, you will have less control over your body. If you can't control your body, you can't control your movements and the basketball, and consequently you can't control the area you occupy, your opponent, or the game."

Newell emphasizes balance because for smaller players, the ability to maintain balance is almost innate.

But big men are different. Many big men tend to sway and twist during contact, or have difficulty lowering their center of gravity, making it impossible for them to complete certain offensive and defensive moves.

Newell specifically mentioned George Mikan, one of the earliest interior superstars in NBA history, who was not recruited by any college basketball team when he graduated from high school.

The reason is that Mikan cannot maintain his balance during the confrontation. His back is too straight and his knees cannot bend very deeply, which makes it difficult for him to lower his center of gravity and keep up with the speed of the outside players.

Later, DePaul University coach Ray Meyer recruited Mikan, and his first task was to train Mikan's balance in competitive situations, laying the foundation for a series of improvements that followed.

Besides Mikan, Coach Meyer's most successful players include Dallas Mavericks star Mark Aguirre and Milwaukee Bucks forward Terry Cummings. These players all possess solid low-post skills, especially Aguirre. Although not a big man, Aguirre, as a small forward, has excellent offensive finesse in the low post and demonstrates strong control over his large frame.

All of this is inseparable from Coach Meyer's meticulous training and emphasis on balance.

After completing the theoretical instruction, Newell first underwent the most basic non-contact balance training, a balance footwork that coaches teach students to practice in high school and college.

Newell observed the details of each player's movements, stopping from time to time to offer pointers. After walking around, he found that Gan Guoyang and Olajuwon had the most standard and fluid footwork.

The others, to varying degrees, carried the clumsiness of interior players; either their knees didn't bend enough, or their hand-foot coordination was average, making them somewhat disorganized when they sped up.

Only Hakeem Olajuwon and Gan Guoyang are no different from some perimeter players in terms of footwork and center of gravity.

As an advanced training camp, it's definitely not enough to just practice these basics; the training quickly moved into the advanced stage.

"One of the paradoxes about the development of body balance is that you have to lose your balance before you can learn to balance. In basketball, you have to keep sprinting forward, backward, left and right, stopping suddenly, and then pushing and shoving each other in the three-second zone, getting knocked aside, and then you have to get back to your position. Inside players have to be like a roly-poly toy, constantly being pushed down and then quickly recovering to normal."

"Therefore, true balance training needs to be completed in intense competition."

Pete Newell was about to give the players some scrimmage, and the person in charge of doing so was the training camp assistant, Kermit Washington.

That's the league's number one villain who punched Tomjanovich so hard his brains splattered out.

After that infamous punch, Washington struggled in the league. He was traded to Boston, then to the Clippers, and later used as trade bait for Walton to go to Portland, where he spent three seasons with the Trail Blazers.

He was only 30 years old when he left the league in 1982, which is the prime of an inside player's career, but he had to retire due to injuries.

He tried to become a college coach, but no school was willing to accept him. So Pete Newell invited him to be an assistant at the "Big Man" training camp to help train young big men.

Back in his Lakers days, Newell helped Washington when Washington was suffering from knee tendinitis, taking painkillers, and was in poor physical condition, also experiencing muscle atrophy.

Newell took him to training camp and forced him through rigorous rehabilitation training, which helped him regain his health and get into good form, leading to the best performance of his career in the new season.

At that time, Comit-Washington looked to have a bright future, until that accident happened, and everything changed.

Washington's presence was a deterrent to the young players in the training camp. This burly, powerful striker was feared for his terrifying punch.

In fact, since that accident, Kermit Washington's personality has changed drastically. He has been criticized by many and can no longer be aggressive on the court.

He became afraid of fighting; he was afraid his fists would hurt others, and even more afraid of hurting himself.

Pete Newell called on everyone to confront Washington and try to maintain and restore balance while being constantly pushed around by Washington.

Washington's actions were not restricted by the rules; he could push however he wanted. Younger players with weaker physical strength simply couldn't withstand his force and were pushed around awkwardly.

When Hakeem Olajuwon entered the game, he withstood Washington's shoving, quickly recovered after losing his balance, and firmly occupied his position in the paint.

Pete Newell nodded in agreement. Hakeem Olajuwon hadn't trained for nothing by battling Moses Malone every summer at the University of Houston.

Then Gan Guoyang came on the court. Kermit Washington took a deep breath. He had heard that this newly crowned MVP was a tough character, even tougher than himself, Washington.

He tackled Laimbeer, tackled Gilmore, and stormed the Silver Top Center, but nothing happened to him. He even won the MVP award and became the league's number one star.

Compare yourself to him; a single, ordinary punch led to disaster. Now he can't find a proper coaching job and is often used as a negative example to be ridiculed.

They're both fighting, so why is there such a big difference?

Gan Guoyang stood under the basket, and Kermit Washington, holding a large cushion and harboring some resentment, launched an attack on Gan Guoyang.

It remained motionless, completely still.

I tried to apply force, but it didn't move.

Comit-Washington exerted all his strength, pushing and shoving, but found that Gan Guoyang was as unshakeable as a cement pole.

After pushing it several times without success, Gan Guoyang turned to Washington behind him and said, "Hey, haven't you eaten?"

(End of this chapter)