The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 423 Door

From the day he defeated the Supersonics, Gan Guoyang returned to Portland and began to abstain from sex.

Aside from training, eating, and watching game videos, he no longer engages in any other activities.

Wang Fuxi prepared the most nutritious meals for him and turned down everything unrelated to basketball—including leaving herself in the spacious and comfortable room while Gan Guoyang slept in a guest room on the second floor.

The couple had a very good relationship after getting married, and were very compatible both emotionally and physically.

On a lazy winter day, they can lie in bed and whisper sweet nothings to each other from dawn till dusk, using their passion and love to ward off Portland’s cold rain and snow.

But at this moment, everything must give way to basketball, to the Los Angeles Lakers, whom Gan Guoyang believes will be the biggest rival this season.

If the Trail Blazers can defeat the Lakers and advance out of the West, they have a good chance of winning the Eastern Conference Finals against whoever comes up in the East.

The Celtics are too old, and the Detroit Pistons are too inexperienced. Only the Lakers, after a season of honing their skills, are at their peak.

After resting at home for two days, Gan Guoyang flew to Los Angeles with the whole team. Wang Fuxi did not go with them; she took a plane back to her home in Los Angeles alone, intending to go to the Great Western Forum with her parents to watch the game.

Gan Guoyang's father-in-law said he wanted to organize more than 100 of his younger brothers to cheer for his son-in-law at the stadium. Wang Fuxi told him that he couldn't get that many tickets and advised his father not to mess around.

Wang Zhengmin said that all the Chinese in Los Angeles were Forrest Gump's supporters, to which Wang Fuxi rolled his eyes and said that Forrest Gump should be their supporter.

During her two days back in Los Angeles, Wang Fuxi did not disturb Gan Guoyang. She knew her husband well; his serious attitude told her that this series would not be easy.

After 82 regular season games, Gan Guoyang knows best how good each opponent is.

Although the Trail Blazers led the Lakers 3-2 in the regular season, they lost both of their matchups after the All-Star break.

Clearly, the Lakers are in excellent form as they enter the final stretch, dominating the league and unstoppable.

Gan Guoyang has been watching the Lakers playoff tapes edited by Spoelstra these past two days. The Lakers were simply crushing the competition in the first two rounds.

The Nuggets and Rockets couldn't even last the first half against the Lakers, and almost completely collapsed by the third quarter. It's a testament to the Lakers' mercy that they managed to hold on until the fourth quarter.

After the first round of games, Doug Mo bluntly stated, "This year is the year of the Los Angeles Lakers," and indeed, the Lakers are quite strong this year.

The Trail Blazers are equally strong, but they seem slightly inferior. However, when it comes to the series, the true test will be on the court.

The Lakers are also taking this series very seriously, and the rise of the Portlanders has made the Lakers management feel fearful.

Jerry West has been resentful about not acquiring James Donaldson before the trade deadline. Kevin Duckworth is excellent, but he is ultimately a rookie and too young.

Now that we've reached the playoffs, the rosters are set, and all that's left is for the players to perform.

On May 16, the day of the competition, the Great Western Forum Stadium was closed to Gan Guoyang as usual during the morning and noon.

At 3:30 p.m., Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers were finally allowed to enter the arena to warm up.

The Trail Blazers protested the Great Western Forum's terrible rules, but Gan Guoyang himself didn't seem to care.

He firmly believed that such prohibition was a product of fear and cowardice, and the more the other party acted this way, the more confident he became.

Around six o'clock, the players from both sides were preparing in the locker room, and both teams were in a tense state.

Pat Riley and Jack Ramsey are showing the players video footage of the first two rounds of matches, urging them to pay attention to various details in the games.

Bobby Bellman looked a bit dazed; he hadn't been sleeping well for the past few days, spending all his time studying the statistics of the two teams.

The same situation occurred in the Lakers' locker room, where Pat Riley and his assistants were also manipulating data to find a breakthrough in the game.

After the Lakers suffered a crushing defeat last summer, Pat Riley devised a "career-best plan".

He urged the players to reach new heights in the new season and deliver the best performance of their careers. At the heart of this plan is a highly detailed data recording system, which Riley has been refining over the past few years.

To understand the players' career development, Riley even went to the players' high schools to dig out their high school game data and included it in the statistical system.

Riley processed this data, comparing players to their past selves and to other players in the league.

Of course, this shows that Bobby Bellman's statistics and Riley's statistics are different.

Berman's statistics aim to find patterns in the game through numbers, guiding the coaching staff to better utilize players and tactics.

Riley's statistics are meant to motivate players, help them become better versions of themselves, and unlock their full potential.

This reflects the different coaching styles of coaches; the same basketball tools will play different roles in the hands of different coaches.

Riley is a coach who likes to motivate players in various ways. Among so-called "motivational coaches," Riley is the king of kings.

Both sides made extensive preparations before the match.

Bobby Bellman gave each player a booklet outlining their offensive habits and basic defensive strategies.

From Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Johnson, from Scott to Cooper, these are the culmination of Bellman's entire regular season experience, as well as the success of working overtime with Adelman these past few days.

Adelman has a family and goes to get off work regularly, while Bellman truly makes his home in the training facility. Most of the time, his only companion is little Spoelstra—this child laborer also has an extraordinary passion for his work.

Riley made similar preparations, but his main focus was on Gan Guoyang.

His book, "The Forrest Gump Rules," is almost a working manual, with very detailed content.

However, Riley knew in his heart that it was impossible to defend against such a top superstar, a player who averaged 38 points per game in the regular season and 81 points in a single game. No matter what rules you used, they would not work.

The most effective strategy is to suppress the team's overall talent, especially their outstanding backcourt of Johnson, Cooper, and Scott. Whether they can match Gan Guoyang's firepower will be crucial to the outcome of the series.

With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stepping down from his central role and becoming an important role player averaging 17 points and 6 rebounds per game, the rest of the Lakers were unleashed on offense.

In many offensive possessions, they no longer need to feed the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or coordinate his movement. Instead, they can focus on Magic Johnson, receiving passes and attacking the basket.

AC Green and Duckworth, two young big men, have performed very well, and now they will face the test of the league's top powerhouse in the Western Conference Finals.

Riley certainly hopes to win the first game of the Great Western Forum, as it will be crucial in setting the course of the series.

Riley knew in his heart that Gan Guoyang always had a terrifying performance in the Great Western Forum, and he would definitely do his best to win the first game.

So Riley prepared a Plan B in case the team lost the first game, like the Veterans Day massacre in Boston in 1985. Riley planned to use some methods to motivate the players and wake them up.

In this respect, Riley truly deserves his reputation as a veteran of Hollywood; his acting and production skills are top-notch.

Before the players even arrived to warm up, Riley came to the locker room early and checked one of the doors.

The Lakers' home locker room has a door that leads directly to the coach's office. This door is divided into two halves, with a short table in the middle where Coca-Cola and Gatorade drinks are placed.

Riley checked the lock cylinder of the door to make sure that the lock was not particularly sturdy, and that it was the kind of ordinary wooden door that could be easily kicked open.

He then discussed with the trainer and team doctor, saying, "If we lose the first game, I will be very angry and yell at the players. At that time, please stay away from this door."

The trainers and team doctors immediately understood what Riley was going to do. This master of performance art was always good at motivating players, even if his methods were a bit crazy.

As the game was about to begin that evening, the players left the locker room to enter the field. Riley glanced at the door, which was neatly closed.

He hopes it will still be fine after tonight's game.

(End of this chapter)