The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 356 The First Pot
The game between the Trail Blazers and the 76ers on November 14th has special significance.

This will be Dr. J Irving's last time stepping onto the floor of Portland Memorial Stadium for a game.

At the post-game press conference following the opening game of the new season, Irving announced that the 1986-1987 season would be the last season of his long basketball career.

Since the ABA in 1971, Irving has been playing for 16 years. "Looking back, all I can think of is boredom."

Kyrie Irving said this at the post-game press conference, his voice revealing fatigue. After losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in last year's playoffs, Irving knew that the 76ers' era in the East was over.

Last season, his average points per game dropped below 20 for the first time, and his shooting percentage also reached an all-time low. At 35 years old, his influence on the court has reached its lowest point.

Although Irving was very unwilling, because he had always wanted to retire after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was already 40 years old.

It was originally thought that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would retire in 1985, but who knew that he would win the championship and Finals MVP in 1985, and his career would be rejuvenated for who knows how many years.

It seems that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar may have to stay in the league for another two or three years, while Kyrie Irving, who is about to turn 36, really can't hold on any longer.

For a winner like him, if he can't win, he won't want to continue playing even if he still has fuel in his tank.

During the offseason, the Philadelphia 76ers made a big trade, sending away Moses Malone, who brought the team a championship, and acquiring Luland from the Washington Bullets.

The Philadelphia 76ers also gave up a first-round draft pick in the process, a trade that drew a lot of criticism, given that Moses Malone is only 30 years old and was still an All-Star center averaging 24 points and 13 rebounds per game last season.

Luland was plagued by injuries for two consecutive seasons, appearing in only 67 games in total. The 76ers were essentially selling him off at a loss in order to rebuild and get rid of Malone's huge contract.

Irving made no comment on this, but from that moment on he knew his career was over.

After the announcement of his retirement, whenever Irving went to an away game, the home team would spontaneously pay tribute to the great striker, sending him gifts and best wishes.

Portland Memorial Arena holds special memories for Dr. J Kyrie Irving, where he made his first NBA Finals appearance and then suffered the first-ever 0-2 comeback defeat in history.

It was from here that Irving began his relentless pursuit of the NBA championship. After two more painful Finals defeats, it was not until 1983, six years later, that he finally achieved his dream.

Before the game on the 14th, during the opening ceremony, the Trail Blazers held a small ceremony for Dr. J, Kyrie Irving, and presented him with a glass crystal sculpture depicting Irving's iconic gliding dunk over Gross in the 1977 NBA Finals.

Gan Guoyang personally selected this gift because the Pioneers originally planned to give Dr. J a set of crystal chess pieces. Gan Guoyang thought to himself, what kind of brain could come up with such a gift?

Before the game, Gan Guoyang personally presented the statue to Irving, and the entire stadium erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers, paying tribute to the NBA superstar.

As many NBA historians have said, Julius Erving's presence further expanded the professional basketball market. He was not just a dunking star, but enabled many people to make a living from basketball, laying the foundation for the commercialization of basketball in the United States.

Kyrie Irving really liked the crystal statue and held it in his hands, reluctant to put it down. When talking about the Portland Trail Blazers, Irving said humorously, "I have to thank the people of Portland. That loss in 1977 gave me the motivation to continue playing basketball. Otherwise, I might have retired three years earlier."

Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere was joyful.

However, once the game actually started, the Trail Blazers players and fans were no longer smiling.

The Trail Blazers played terribly tonight, with their outside shooting all falling flat.

Kiki Vandeweghe, who had performed exceptionally well in the previous games, has been missing his outside shots repeatedly.

The poor shooting touch spread like a virus, affecting other outside shots as well, resulting in numerous missed shots.

Gan Guoyang fought hard for rebounds under the basket, struggling to hold on, but no matter how many he tried, he couldn't get them all.

On the contrary, the 76ers were in excellent form tonight. Kyrie Irving, who has already decided to retire, may have been completely relaxed and no longer cared about winning or losing. His shooting percentage tonight was exceptionally high.

With his mid-range shots coming out of his hand, he made all 7 of 7 shots in the first half, a 100% shooting percentage, and the 76ers led all the way into the second half.

In the second half, the 76ers maintained their hot shooting, repeatedly scoring on fast breaks and extending their lead to as much as 15 points. Gan Guoyang could defend two defenders under the basket, but the problem was that the 76ers didn't choose to challenge him at all, instead launching attacks from the corners, wings, and top of the key.

76ers center Tim McCormick scored 17 points with a single shot from the corner.

Clearly, the entire league is developing new tactics to counter Gan Guoyang's defense, and no coach is foolish enough to send their interior players to challenge Gan in the low post.

Regardless of height, they would pull out to shoot, and not to the top of the key, but to the bottom, which would be most effective, leaving Gan Guoyang no time to cover the three-second zone.

The Trail Blazers failed to respond well tonight, lacking a clear strategy on both offense and defense, and ultimately lost to the 76ers 125-113 at home, a 12-point deficit.

76人首发五人得分全部上15，三个外线得分超过20分，欧文全场14投11中拿下29分，是他开赛以来表现最好的一战。

After the game, Irving told Gan Guoyang, "After this game, I regret it a bit. I think I should have played for another year instead of retiring."

Irving was obviously joking, but it still made Gan Guoyang's face turn ugly when he returned to the locker room. The loss was too bad.

After becoming a professional player, Gan Guoyang had long been used to losing. No matter how great a player or team is, losing is inevitable.

Especially the regular season games, they are like news in a newspaper, they are immediate, and once they are over they are quickly forgotten, and the players themselves will forget about them too.

However, some losses are memorable, such as the painful defeats in crucial matches, and those losses that make you feel that something is wrong with the team.

Gan Guoyang could sense that the team was in poor form during this game. It wasn't just a problem with inaccurate shooting; the players' focus and teamwork on offense were not as good as last season.

For some reason, everyone hesitated on certain offensive options.

The team's rotation is also in a chaotic phase. Apart from Gan Guoyang, who is very consistent, the playing time and roles of the other players are somewhat unclear.

Jack Ramsey seemed to be constantly observing and exploring, and this experienced coach appeared somewhat lost during the 1986-1987 season.

Because the team was about to embark on a new away trip, they didn't have time to review their performance before immediately flying to Houston to challenge the Houston Rockets.

The Western Conference Finals rivals met again, with the Trail Blazers battling it out in double overtime at the Peak Arena. Gan Guoyang scored 48 points and grabbed 22 rebounds, single-handedly turning the tide twice, and finally assisting Terry Porter for a game-winning mid-range jumper!
129-128, the Trail Blazers refused to go on a losing streak.

But in their next game, they flew to the Denver Plateau, where their old rivals, the Nuggets, gave the Trail Blazers a rude awakening.

The Nuggets, firing on all cylinders, scored a whopping 45 points in the first quarter and maintained their lead throughout the game, ultimately sweeping the defending champions 124-142 at home.

After losing the game, Gan Guoyang finally lost his temper and said to Jack Ramsey after the press conference: "Jack, I think we should sit down and talk. Our situation this season is terrible, and this is not normal."

Ramsey agreed, saying, "I also think it's time for everyone to open up and talk about their own difficulties."

So, after returning to the locker room, Gan Guoyang locked the door from the inside, and all irrelevant people left, leaving only the coaching staff and 12 players for an emergency meeting.

Gan Guoyang held a clean towel in his hand and said, "Whoever gets the towel speaks. Speak your mind, your thoughts on the team and on yourselves. You can say anything, there are no taboos."

With that, Gan Guoyang tossed the towel to Drexler and said, "You go first, Clyde. This season you're not a glider, you're a tractor. Tell us what's going on."

Drexler took the towel, looking somewhat embarrassed; his performance this season had indeed been terrible.

After two weeks of competition, he averaged only 17 points per game, with a shooting percentage of less than 45%.

If anyone has to take the blame for the Trail Blazers' inconsistent performance since the start of the new season, Drexler definitely deserves a large share.

(End of this chapter)