The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 469 I must go

Gan Guoyang always acts with great restraint, often achieving explosive results while leaving the person unharmed.

However, there are always exceptions. Tonight, Gan Guoyang lost his temper and not only made Miller bleed, but also made him experience falling asleep instantly. Unfortunately, he was woken up by the team doctor, so it seems he didn't sleep soundly.

Gan Guoyang praised Miller's courage for his actions.

However, in order to let him experience the cruelty of professional competition, Gan Guoyang needed to teach him a lesson.

Such scenes occurred almost daily on the professional sports field in the 80s.

The matches in the 80s were not as violent as those in the 60s and 70s; people would hold back when fighting.

However, the overall spirit of martial arts still exists. If you want to be a good guy, then be a good guy for life. Over time, others will respect you.

Someone like Mark Price, you'd be embarrassed to even get dirty with him sometimes.

Or, like Michael Jordan, persisting in responding to opponents with basketball skills is equally worthy of respect.

Once you start working on a project, you'll constantly face challenges from newcomers. If they get the hang of you, you'll need to give them a taste of their own medicine.

Gan Guoyang was indeed invincible in the league, turning many people into pacifists.

But every year, new, inexperienced young people join the ranks.

They were full of enthusiasm and eager to achieve great things, so they wanted to target the strongest team in the league.

As the defending champion, you must respond forcefully.

Otherwise, after the match, the younger guys will say, "That guy is nothing special. I elbowed him, and he didn't do anything."

Then more and more young people will want to give it a try.

Regardless of what Miller thought, Gan Guoyang had to retaliate.

The referee called a foul on Gan Guoyang, but did not eject him from the game.

Reggie Miller, on the other hand, was helped back to the locker room by the team doctor to treat his wound.

However, Miller shook off the team doctor's hand, saying that he could walk on his own and didn't need anyone's help.

Miller is indeed tough; he's a player with the mentality of a team leader.

In the second half, Reggie Miller returned to the court with a bandage around his eyebrow.

For a competitive person like him, wounds were not a source of fear, but rather an honor.

Within the Pacers, Reggie Miller could boldly tell his teammates, "I'm the kind of guy who dares to go up against Forrest Gump and elbow him."

Based on this alone, he can surpass Tissdale and Chuck Pacers to become the Pacers' undisputed leader.

To protect Miller, Mike Schuler reduced Miller's playing time in the second half and separated him from Gan Guoyang.

Provoking Gan Guoyang not only got Miller beaten up, but also caused the entire Pacers team to get brutally beaten up.

The only highlight of the match was Gan Guoyang's elbow to Miller.

Aside from that, the Pacers failed to mount any decent offense or defense and couldn't find any way to beat the Trail Blazers.

Chuck Pasen had decent stats, scoring 20 points, but he lacked offensive firepower.

Last season, he averaged 18.8 points per game and won Rookie of the Year, but this season his average points and shooting percentage have both declined.

Nicknamed "The Long Gunner," he became increasingly obsessed with long-range shooting, significantly increasing his three-point attempts while decreasing his free throws, resulting in a decline in his overall shooting percentage.

So far this season, he has only averaged 17 points per game, his rebounds have dropped from 8 to 6, his turnovers have increased, and his blocks and assists have decreased.

During his rookie season, he confidently told his wife, "One day, I will achieve great things. I mean, I don't have any obvious weaknesses."

His wife retorted sarcastically, "You can't cook, you can't clean, you can't wash or iron clothes."

Whether his wife is right or wrong, Paisson displayed radiant confidence last year, and he certainly seemed to have no flaws.

However, having no flaws also means having no outstanding strengths.

For Paison, after a year in the NBA, his biggest takeaway was that there were just too many monsters in the league.

It was even more terrifying than when I faced Charles Barkley and Jackson back at Auburn University.

Especially Forrest Gump and Michael Jordan, they were so strong that it gave people no confidence to catch up.

This may be Paison's biggest weakness; his fighting spirit has been worn down in the monster-filled NBA.

He was content to be a long-range shooter, a forward with accurate shooting, rather than trying to become the next Larry Bird.

步行者本场被开拓者击碎，115：96，19分的差距。甘国阳全场拿到33分，14个篮板球外加10次封盖的三双数据。

At the end of the game, Gan Guoyang shook hands and hugged Reggie Miller, saying, "Your head is pretty hard; my elbow hurts a bit from the bump you hit."

Miller retorted, "I have to wear a helmet to play against you."

Gan Guoyang respects someone as tough as Miller.

As for Chuck Paison, a master of flattery, Gan Guoyang said, "Chuck, I've heard your trash talk is top-notch in the league. You should show off your skills next time you come to Portland."

Paison's trash talk is well-known in the league, but trash talk must be backed by real ability.

If you have real talent, trash talk is just icing on the cake, adding to your brilliance.

If you lack ability, talking trash will only make you look like a clown and ridiculous.

"Oh no, I don't want to see your top-notch wrestling and ramming skills."

Paisson was self-aware enough to know better than to talk trash in front of Forrest Gump.

Gan Guoyang smiled and shook his head, thinking to himself, "I'm not that scary."

In his opinion, Paison was not as good as Miller; at least Miller was brave.

Back in the locker room, Gan Guoyang pulled a fast one, taking $100 from the money he had gambled with last time.

Goodness, one game is equivalent to five or six games for an average player.

Drexler also received $20, and he asked curiously, "Forrest Gump, where's the bucket?"

"Bucket? What bucket? There's no bucket here."

“We’d bet we’d each have a bucket of money.”

"Now we're not betting anymore, there's no bucket."

"..."
-
After leaving Indiana, the pioneers had two days of rest.

They arrived in Chicago, their next game location, and rested until the 31st, the last day of 1987, when they played the Bulls.

This is undoubtedly the last major battle of the year that has garnered much attention.

Major TV stations are ready for the new season of "Gan vs. Joe".

News media flocked to Chicago, preparing for this highly anticipated match.

Tim Haney, Avia's former marketing director and now general manager, visited Gan Guoyang at a hotel in Chicago to tell him that Avia was preparing to hold a business event in Chicago with Nike.

Because of signing Gan Guoyang, Hani naturally became the company's general manager. He also served as the account manager, and his only client was Gan Guoyang.

For Gan Guoyang, having Avia's top general manager as his personal account manager was entirely deserved.

Without him, Avia wouldn't be where she is today; he's the company's number one asset.

Gan Guoyang said, "You guys are cooperating with Nike more and more these days. Aren't you competitors?"

"Didn't you say that companies, like athletes, need to both compete and cooperate? Although we compete with Nike, we cooperate in more areas, and the results are quite good."

Nike and Avia do have different strategic directions.

In the same sports field, Nike's target audience is mainly Black, while Avia's target audience is mainly White and Asian.

Nike will focus on the mid-to-high-end market in the future, while Avia is preparing to concentrate on affordable products.

The two sides compete with each other but do not interfere with each other, and since they are both located in Portland, they cooperate a lot.

"What kind of business activity? Do you want us to play basketball? It's not going to be a video game, is it? I'm not going to play video games."

Gan Guoyang thought back to the last time he did a game advertisement with Bird. Although the game was quite fun, he still didn't want to do it a second time.

Hani shook his head and said, "It's not a game, just a promotional event for both brands. You might play basketball, interact with fans, and give some speeches. Oh, by the way, Michael seemed to say he wanted to play a game of ping pong with you."

"What? Ping pong?"

"If you don't like playing or don't know how, you can refuse this part."

Hani thought Gan Guoyang wasn't interested in table tennis, and that it would be quite embarrassing for him to lose to Jordan in a table tennis match during the event.

Unexpectedly, Gan Guoyang said, "Go! I'll definitely go to this event. By the way, take me to the best sports equipment store in Chicago. I want to buy a good ping-pong paddle and rubber."

(End of this chapter)