The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 397 Dog-Walking Style of Play

Although Jordan lost a lot of money to Gan Guoyang in the card game, he still gave Gan Guoyang a gift before parting: a pair of expensive Rolex watches.

Jordan said it was a wedding gift for Gan Guoyang, which made Gan Guoyang feel very indebted. He had won money from Jordan and was also receiving a gift from him. As the saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding." Gan Guoyang made a promise: "In tomorrow's game, we will win by a little less, at most five points."

Jordan could only express his emotions with the middle finger, but after Gan Guoyang left, Juanita said gently, "Michael, I think you had a great time tonight."

"I'm happy? I lost cleanly, and I even gave that son of a bitch a pair of matching watches. And tomorrow's match, to be honest, I'm not very confident of beating him."

Jordan didn't mind showing his vulnerability in front of Juanita; the Bulls were indeed far behind the Trail Blazers in terms of strength.

The Bulls' roster is completely dependent on Jordan. Every night, Jordan has to give his all, and if Jordan doesn't perform well, the Bulls will have a hard time winning.

No one could step up and shoulder most of the responsibility for winning on nights when Jordan was off. They were lucky if they could just play normally and not drag Jordan down.

Jordan would complain and criticize his teammates, which is different from Gan Guoyang. He always openly expressed his negative opinions instead of hiding them.

His purpose in doing this was not to suppress anyone, nor to get rid of anyone; he simply wanted his teammates to follow in his footsteps.

He would yell at anyone who couldn't keep up, which made his teammates a little afraid of him. Only Charles Oakley wasn't too afraid of Jordan because he did a good job and always stood up for Jordan, both on and off the court.

After entering the NBA, Jordan did not have an easy time in the first few seasons, as the people around him kept changing.

The coaching staff has changed three times. Of the 11 teammates who played alongside Jordan during his rookie years, only Dave Kaulzin remains by his side after just two years; the others have all been replaced.

Among them were excellent players such as Wesley Matthews, Ulrich, and Steve Johnson, but they were all traded away. To this day, Jordan doesn't even have a teammate who averages more than 15 points per game.

In comparison, Gan Guoyang is much luckier. The Trail Blazers have a stable core lineup and a stable coaching staff. Over the past three years, his personal strength and the team's strength have steadily improved.

Juanita understood Jordan's anxieties. Leaning on his broad shoulder, she said, "Sonny's a funny guy, much more interesting than anyone else in the league. If one day you can beat him in the Finals..."

Jordan laughed and said, "I can't imagine what that would be like. I would feel like I'm standing at the top, and I would definitely beat him in my lifetime."

Juanita looked at Jordan, whose young face radiated confidence that was incredibly captivating, making one feel that no difficulty in life was insurmountable.

Of course, Gan Guoyang is now a challenge that Jordan cannot overcome; he still has a long way to go.

The next day, the big battle between the Trail Blazers and the Bulls was about to begin at the Chicago Arena. Before the game started, Gan Guoyang and Jordan looked radiant.

They are all extremely energetic players. Last night's party and card game had no impact on their physical condition; on the contrary, it made them even more eager to fight.

Jordan, in particular, felt a surge of anger when he thought about the crushing defeat he suffered last night. He wished he could score 50 points on Gan Guoyang's head to vent his frustration.

Besides the teams' wins and losses, the biggest highlight of this game is the scoring duel between Jordan and Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang's average points per game still surpass Jordan's by 0.3 points, and their scoring title duel is likely to continue until the last game of the regular season.

The attendance at Chicago Stadium was drastically different from the previous two seasons. In the 1984 season, the Bulls only had around 25 attendees at their 41 home games.

With Jordan's arrival in the 1985 season, attendance nearly doubled to 48. This season, the Bulls' home attendance will most likely exceed 60.

The stadium was packed tonight, making it the perfect setting for the two players to shine.

As expected, Jordan and Gan Guoyang displayed strong aggression from the start of the game.

Jordan couldn't possibly start the game thinking about leading his teammates; relying on his teammates would have meant certain defeat. He had to go all out on offense from the start and get into a rhythm.

Gan Guoyang didn't hold back either, taking the ball at the start of the game and attacking without even observing the Bulls' defense. He immediately launched an attack after receiving the ball, hurting the Bulls' inside game.

The two sides were evenly matched in the first quarter. Jordan was in a great offensive position. The Trail Blazers insisted on one-on-one defense on the perimeter, without double-teaming or helping, and let Drexler guard him one-on-one.

Drexler was having a tough time; he couldn't stop Jordan from scoring on him repeatedly. Jordan scored 18 points in the first quarter, while Gan Guoyang added 14, tying the game. In the second quarter, Jordan remained on the court, Gan Guoyang went to the bench for a rest, Walton entered the game, and Drexler began to dominate the Trail Blazers' offense.

The Trail Blazers' advantages began to emerge. Even without Gan Guoyang on the court, they were still able to maintain their offensive efficiency and consistent offensive output.

On the defensive end, the Trail Blazers continued to stick to one-on-one defense, without any double-teaming or rotation. Jordan, you can score if you want, I'll just kill Drexler, it doesn't matter.

When Jordan left the court midway through the second quarter, Gan Guoyang returned to the game and immediately led the team on a 10-0 run, helping the Trail Blazers widen the score gap.

At this point, Jordan had to return to the court and start fighting back to score. The Trail Blazers and Gan Guoyang were no longer in a hurry and slowly wore down the Bulls in a positional battle.

Towards the end of the season, the Trail Blazers controlled the pace of the game better and better, and with the return of Bill Walton, they had reached a level of perfection.

Jordan gradually realized that the Trail Blazers weren't playing basketball, but fishing, or walking a dog. They would put bait in front of you and let you chase it until you were exhausted, then suddenly reel in the line and easily catch you, leaving you with no power to resist.

At halftime, the Bulls trailed the Trail Blazers by 3 points. Jordan had already scored 30 points, but Gan Guoyang had also scored 25 points.

Whenever Jordan led his team to close the gap, Gan Guoyang could always respond. When the Bulls couldn't score and the Trail Blazers didn't counterattack, Gan Guoyang would pass the ball to his teammates to facilitate their offense.

"Damn Forrest Gump and the Trail Blazers, they're messing with us!" Jordan complained to his teammates and coach Collins in the locker room.

Collins understood what Jordan meant, but all he could say was, "That's the strength of the Portlanders. We have to stick close so we don't lose the game too early."

Jordan reluctantly agreed with Collins's assessment, saying it was a calculated move by the Trail Blazers; they could leisurely stroll around the court with you for the whole game, then suddenly unleash their power to send you home.

If you can't even keep up with the pace in the middle, the Trail Blazers won't even need to exert themselves at the end; they can crush you in the third quarter.

In the Trail Blazers' locker room, Bobby Bellman looked at the first-half statistics and mentally assessed the team's performance.

Gan Guoyang was as consistent as ever, Drexler and Porter played well offensively, and the biggest surprise was Jerome Cahill, whose presence perfectly made up for Kenny Carr's absence.

It could even be said that Kenny Karl's season-ending injury allowed the Trail Blazers to make greater progress, because a seasoned player like Karl had little room for improvement.

Conversely, the young Jerome Kossie is more energetic on both ends of the court. His outstanding performance after the All-Star Game, coupled with the return of Bill Walton, puts the Trail Blazers in their best form.

Their dog-walking style of play not only helps the team win, but also greatly boosts the players' confidence, destroys the opponent, and reduces energy consumption in the regular season.

Bellman, Ramsey, and Adelman discussed their strategy for the second half. They decided to increase Hornacek and Dell Curry's playing time in the third quarter to let them experience Jordan's intensity.

“Jeff, you’ll have about three minutes in the second half to guard Jordan,” Ramsey told Hornacek.

"Huh?" Hornacek was a little confused. Jordan scored 30 points in the first half. Did he expect me to take care of him?

Why not let Forrest Gump go? Hornacek anxiously touched his face.

For any guard in the league, trying to guard Jordan one-on-one is no different from asking a center to primarily guard Gan Guoyang; both are suicidal acts.

“I’m giving you a chance to practice,” Bellman added.

The current Trail Blazers are so confident that they can use Jordan as a tool to train young players.

In the third quarter, Hornacek was indeed sent out to defend Jordan one-on-one.

Jordan looked at Hornacek's 30-year-old face and said, "Don't the Trail Blazers coaching staff know you're a rookie? Why did they send you to guard me one-on-one?"

Hornacek said, "They're letting me get some practice. Anyway, you can't beat us, we have Forrest Gump."

(End of this chapter)