The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 513 Uninvited Guest

Gan Guoyang becomes very focused during important competitions.

Whenever he is very focused, it is as if he has arrived at a pure white plateau.

In fact, Gan Guoyang had never been to a real plateau, a snow-covered area at an altitude of over 5000 meters.

Compared to the Utah Plateau, the Colorado Plateau in the United States is just a slightly higher rocky slope.

When he was a child, Gan Guoyang had a wish to go to the plateau to see the world. He heard that the sky there was especially blue and high.

The plateau is vast and quiet, the whole world seems to quiet down, and people feel calm as well.

He also heard that people's souls would be purified and cleansed by the plateau.

Of course, the reality may not be like that. Forrest Gump later heard that the plateau smelled terrible and was covered in excrement.

Forrest Gump didn't know which was real and which was fake, after all, he had never been to a real plateau.

Fortunately, he had never been there, so when he was focused and arrived at the plateau he had imagined, everything was even more wonderful.

It was quiet all around, the air was bright, and time seemed to slow down.

Everything became more detailed: my own breathing, my movements, the feeling of the ball in my hands.

He could also see Drexler's mustache, the beads of sweat on Moses Malone's head, Charles Barkley's braces, Bernard King's knee pads, Wes Unseld's glasses, Jack Ramsey's floral shirt, Terry Porter's elbow pads... everything was under his control.

As for the shouts, trash talk, loud taunts, and messy banners from the fans on the sidelines, they were completely outside his notice.

His mind was so focused, mobilizing all his senses and energy, that he devoted himself solely to matters related to the competition, shutting out everything else.

After scoring 6 consecutive points, he noticed that the Bullets players looked slightly agitated, and Charles Barkley was gesturing towards Colter.

Gan Guoyang greeted Thompson, indicating that he would come over to help with the defense later.

The bullets' attacks are relatively monotonous, mainly consisting of one-on-one combat, and they have many one-on-one fighters.

Barkley received the ball at the 45-degree angle and attacked, and Gan Guoyang left Moses Malone to come over and double-team him.

Barkley attempted to pass the ball, but under sudden pressure, his pass hit Gan Guoyang's hand.

The ball flew into the air, Gan Guoyang jumped up and caught it, then made a long pass to the frontcourt, where Jerome Kossie received the ball and dunked it on a fast break.

Trailing 0-6, the Trail Blazers went on an 8-0 run to take the lead.

Upon seeing this, Unseld immediately called a timeout to make adjustments.

After the pause, the bullets slowed down and continued to search for Barkley on the offensive.

The combination of the Bullets' two low-post players and offensive rebounds is the cornerstone of their offense.

Buck used a beautiful spin to get past Thompson.

But Thompson blocked Barkley's layup from behind!

A scramble ensued under the basket, but Gan Guoyang maintained firm control of the ball.

The Trail Blazers' offense then failed to score.

Gan Guoyang was double-teamed in the low post and passed the ball to the outside.

Porter got a wide-open three-point shot but missed.

The Trail Blazers seemed to have continued their poor shooting from the previous game, still struggling with their outside shooting.

Barkley then missed a mid-range shot, and Jerome Kossie grabbed the rebound.

Kossi and Porter combined for a fast break. After receiving the ball on the wing, Kossi faked a move to get past Bernard King and made a layup off the backboard.

The Trail Blazers led 10-6, and the momentum was gradually shifting in their favor.

The fundamental reason is that the Bullets' core strengths—basketball offense and offensive rebounding—are somewhat lacking against Gan Guoyang.

In the East, even against Boston's frontcourt trio and the Pistons' savage army, the Bullets performed quite well.

However, facing Forrest Gump and Thompson, who now has a son, the Bullets' interior defense was a complete mess in the first two games, except for the third game.

As a result, the Bullets' offensive focus shifted to the perimeter. Bernard King received the ball at the baseline, turned around and isolated against Korsey, drawing a foul from Korsey.

As Kim stepped up to the free-throw line, the bandage on his right knee was particularly noticeable, a testament to the pain he had endured.

Kim made both free throws, bringing the team within two points.

However, Gan Guoyang immediately received the ball in the same low post position. Before the double team could close in, he quickly turned around and shook off Ma Long, then easily laid the ball in.

The speed and manner of that turn are exactly like those of Bernard King in his prime.

Seeing Forrest Gump make such a move, Bernard King was impressed, saying that a center could make such a quick turnaround attack.

Gan Guoyang's ability to mobilize his mental energy must be many, many times stronger than that of the average player. On the other hand, Bernard King was also wondering why he had taught him everything back then.

Now, he has become an insurmountable mountain on his path to victory.

Kim knew that for most teams and players, the chance to win a championship is always fleeting.

They are not the Celtics or the Lakers, nor the Trail Blazers, with a roster overflowing with talent that can consistently reach the Finals and contend for the championship.

The only truly young and promising person left in this bullet is Charles Barkley.

Moses Malone and Moncrief are both declining year by year and are already in the twilight of their careers.

Bernard King himself knows that he can never return to his peak, and his condition next season is unknown.

They beat the Detroit Pistons this year, can they do it again next year? And what about the Chicago Bulls?

The future of the bullets is uncertain; this year may be their only chance.

With that in mind, Bernard King gave it his all on offense, driving to the basket.

But Jerome Kossie's defense shut down King, and King missed his close-range shot.

Center Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound and withstood the attacks from Barkley and Moses Malone.

Gan Guoyang passed the ball to Jerome Kersey, and the Trail Blazers launched a counterattack.

Moncliffe chose to foul early to prevent Kossie from getting going.

Aside from Gan Guoyang, Ke Xi performed the best tonight.

He can keep up with Gan Guoyang's pace on defense and has a good cooperative relationship with Gan Guoyang on offense.

On the contrary, Moncrief's close marking of Drexler was very effective.

The logic for defending Drexler is simple: let him shoot, and then defend against his fast breaks.

The Trail Blazers didn't have many fast breaks. Moncrief, being short but quick, focused on marking Drexler closely, letting him shoot as he pleased.

Drexler couldn't find his offensive rhythm at all, averaging only 16 points in the first three games, showing no signs of being a second core player.

The intensity of the Finals once again proved that Drexler is not yet a second core player for the Trail Blazers' dual-core system.

He can only be the second core player in the regular season. In the playoffs, especially in the Finals where the defensive intensity is extremely high, the Trail Blazers can only rely on a single core player.

Back in the set offense, Gan Guoyang received a pass from Kexi on the wing, faced Moses Malone's defense, pulled up for a mid-range jump shot, and made it again!
This season, Gan Guoyang has indeed reached a state of effortless mastery, and his mid-range shooting skills have reached an extremely high level.

On the Trail Blazers' bench, Bobby Bellman said with some pride, "Sonny's mid-range shot is better than Bird's at the same age."

Ramsey said, "What, did you teach them?"

"I was the one who coached Sonny on shooting when he first attended training camp!" said Bellman.

Bellman still remembers the basketball training camp in San Francisco when Gan Guoyang had his first shooting practice. Only two of his shots hit the rim; the rest went in cleanly, just grazing the net without touching the rim.

From that moment on, Bellman knew that the kid was exceptionally talented.

I just didn't expect him to have discovered all his talents.

Look at his strong physique and outstanding upper body strength.

Not only did it not affect his shooting percentage, it actually made his shots more consistent.

Behind this seemingly effortless mid-range shot lies countless hours of sweat and repetitive training.

Ramsey watched Gan Guoyang's shot and said, "If he plays like this, he might actually play until he's 50."

With Gan Guoyang's strong performance on both offense and defense, the Trail Blazers led the Bullets 24-17 by 7 points in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Gan Guoyang returned to the court after a three-minute rest. His ruthless mid-range shots pierced through what the bullets thought was an impenetrable defense like a sharp sword.

The dense defense of bullets is very effective against low positions and breakthroughs, but against Gan Guoyang's catapult-like mid-to-long range shots, it makes people's scalps tingle.

In the second quarter, Gan Guoyang's shooting became more and more accurate. Later on, Moses Malone couldn't hold back anymore and rushed over to slap Gan Guoyang's hand hard, committing a foul for hitting his hand!

Malone would rather send Gan Guoyang to the free-throw line than watch Gan Guoyang keep shooting like that; it's too humiliating.

In slow-paced, defensively-heavy games, Gan Guoyang's precise mid-range shots are extremely lethal.

第二节他8投7中，罚球4罚4中，单节拿下18分，半场结束帮助开拓者55:43，领先子弹12分。

If Gan Guoyang continues to play like this in the third quarter, or if the Bullets fail to respond on offense, the Washingtoners will be out for the night.

The halftime break gave the bullets a chance to catch their breath, and they hoped that Gan Guoyang's hand would cool down.

However, to the Trail Blazers' surprise, an uninvited guest suddenly appeared in the locker room, disrupting the team's morale.

(End of this chapter)