The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 503 The Extreme Point
The Trail Blazers' flight landed at Portland Airport on the morning of May 27.

It was a red-eye flight; they didn't linger in Los Angeles. After the second game, they immediately went to the airport and flew back overnight.

The players looked exhausted, and the loss had put them in a bad mood, especially the second game, which was a crushing defeat.

This was the Trail Blazers' most crushing playoff loss since Gan Guoyang entered the league in 1984.

From the moment he left the Great Western Forum until he landed at Portland Airport, Gan Guoyang barely spoke.

The atmosphere in the team was unusually oppressive; if Agan didn't speak, no one else dared to utter a sound.

After everyone got off the plane and left the terminal with their luggage, they saw thousands of fans waiting to greet them outside the airport.

Despite the Trail Blazers losing their first two games, Portland fans remain enthusiastic and fully support their team.

As everyone was about to disperse, Gan Guoyang said, "See you at the training hall at 2 PM. I hope everyone will be on time."

Gan Guoyang's voice was calm and firm. At two o'clock in the afternoon, everyone arrived at the training hall on time, and no one was late.

The first training session wasn't about shooting, tactics, or physical conditioning; it was about watching the video of the second game together in the video room.

Spoelstra has edited the video of the second match, removing unnecessary parts and keeping only the content of the match between the two sides.

The lights in the video room were turned off, and everyone sat in the dark room. The fluorescent light from the television screen illuminated their faces, and everyone looked terrible.

They were in big trouble from the start of the game – less than 30 seconds into the game, Gan Guoyang was called for a foul while playing defense.

The Trail Blazers then went through a long six-minute scoring drought, going a full six minutes and twenty-three seconds without scoring a single point.

This led to them trailing the Lakers by as many as 17 points, 15-32, in the first quarter, which practically plunged them into a deep abyss.

Spoelstra cut in the entire 6 minutes and 23 seconds, including the slow-motion footage from the TV station.

The rim seemed to have a lid on it for the Trail Blazers players; they just couldn't score no matter how they tried.

Gan Guoyang was constantly surrounded by two Lakers players in the paint, with endless double-teaming and early double-teaming.

He chose to pass the ball to his teammate, but his teammate missed both the three-pointer and the layup.

The team's performance declined as the game progressed, and they seemed to have completely lost their ability to play from behind.

In the second and third quarters, the team went on a downward spiral, turning the entire fourth quarter into garbage time.

Watching their poor performance in the game, the Trail Blazers felt like they were being tortured, and everyone was restless.

At 6 minutes and 24 seconds, Gan Guoyang finally made a strong shot, hitting a mid-range jumper despite being double-teamed, scoring his first point.

Gan Guoyang's two previous hook shots also missed, so he didn't think it was all his teammates' fault.

After spending nearly an hour watching the game replay, Jack Ramsey turned on the room lights, and everyone felt as if they had returned from hell to earth.

When asked about their thoughts, Gan Guoyang said, "The bad news is that we are down 0-2, and we have never played so badly. The good news is that we will never play worse than this."

Gan Guoyang's words eased the atmosphere within the team.

Being able to return to Portland gave everyone a chance to catch their breath.

The Trail Blazers need to adjust and find their rhythm.

Ramsey and Bobby Bellman held a meeting overnight to discuss countermeasures.

Bobby Bellman suggested changing the starting lineup, moving Agan back to the power forward position and starting Gilmore.

Ramsey believes this game is different from the Mavericks; the problem lies in the backcourt, and the Trail Blazers need to figure out how to deal with a three-guard lineup.

After much deliberation, they could only come up with one idea: have Forrest Gump defend the defense one-on-one.

Although this method is simple and crude, it is the best strategy that can be thought of.

Drexler's defense against Johnson was only so-so, especially this season as Johnson's shooting has become increasingly excellent, making him more and more difficult to defend.

The key is that you can't double-team Johnson; his passes are just too sharp.

When the Lakers employ their normal offensive strategy, Johnson's direct passes to the basket are less effective.

Because Gan Guoyang protects the rim, he puts a lot of pressure on players cutting to the basket. However, with three guards, the Lakers' numerous mid-range and corner shots reduce Gan Guoyang's defensive effectiveness.

This is exactly the same as Nelson's fast break with two wings spread out. The Lakers' change in offensive strategy has only one goal: to reduce Gan Guoyang's presence on the defensive end and avoid attacking him.

In that case, let's just have Forrest Gump directly target the Lakers' strongest point and shut down their offensive source.

During the afternoon training session, Bobby Bellman told Gan Guoyang about the coaching staff's decision.

Gan Guoyang nodded to indicate that there was no problem. When asked if he could keep up with his pace, Gan Guoyang said, "I'm 5 pounds lighter than at the beginning of the season."

At the start of the season, Gan Guoyang weighed 265 pounds and was unstoppable in the paint.

The combined mental and physical strain of the entire season caused Gan Guoyang to lose weight.

It's not that Gan Guoyang deliberately wanted to lose weight, but rather that this season has been too tough and too taxing.

Berman felt sorry for Gan Guoyang and wanted to tell him that it wouldn't matter if they lost this series.

This is only Gan Guoyang's fourth season, but he has already achieved what many players can't reach in their entire careers.

Victory and defeat are common occurrences in warfare; no one can win forever.

This isn't the 60s anymore, when a league only had eight teams, and winning just two series was enough to win the championship.

The schedule was so difficult and long, and the opponents were so strong and tough. The players were exhausted, and the opponents had studied the Trail Blazers from every angle and had already figured them out thoroughly.

Last night, Bellman and Ramsey discussed it all night and found that they had no more hidden cards left, only revealed cards.

Don Nelson, that old fox, still has a trump card up his sleeve, saving it for the playoffs to play a three-guard lineup and launch a surprise attack.

From the first round onwards, the Trail Blazers were targeted in almost every game, and then they went all out to break through and seize the initiative.

Playing a game like this will inevitably lead to fatigue and exhaustion, but that is the fate of the defending champion: to accept wave after wave of challenges until they are defeated by a challenger.

However, Berman didn't say it out loud. He knew Gan Guoyang; he was a man who never gave up.

The afternoon training session was unexpectedly long, with Gan Guoyang leading everyone in physical exercises.

Everyone participated, and no one was allowed to leave early. After the physical training ended, Gan Guoyang began to organize sparring training.

We just finished a game last night and then took a two-hour flight. Everyone was so tired that they could barely lift their legs.

Gan Guoyang, however, did not allow anyone to leave, and the 6 vs 6 battle continued without pause.

The scrimmage lasted from dawn till dusk, until Greg Anderson was the first to give in and ran to the sidelines to vomit.

Seeing this, Berman blew his whistle to stop the game and ran over to Gan Guoyang, saying, "Gan, let's end it. We have another game tomorrow."

This was the first time Gan Guoyang had tormented his teammate both mentally and physically, in a way that was almost cruel, and of course, he was also tormenting himself.

In the past, Gan Guoyang was always open-minded and tolerant, shouldering everything and moving forward, giving his teammates confidence and strength.

However, this confidence and strength are limited and cannot be squandered indefinitely. When the team was aiming for its third championship, it became difficult to unite the team's morale.

People's attention is too easily distracted, and they are too easily disturbed by negative things.

Everyone shared the same thought as Biellman: losing this year is no big deal; two consecutive championships are already a great achievement, and we can always try again next year.

Gan Guoyang didn't think that way. He used the grueling training to make everyone feel his desire for victory and the championship.

When a person's body and mind reach their limits, they either collapse or concentrate their attention and unleash deeper potential.

There's a saying that people reach their limit in long-distance running. When you reach your limit, it's the most uncomfortable time and the easiest time to give up.

But once you get past the limit, your body will enter a completely new state.

When the Trail Blazers players left the training facility, everyone felt like they were about to float away.

After such a long season, the entire team has reached its peak.

Whether the extreme point will lead to collapse or a resurgence depends on tomorrow's game.

(End of this chapter)