The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 527 Person 13

Time flies, and the Trail Blazers' week-long rookie training camp is about to end.

This week is quite grueling for newcomers to the training camp.

Three hours of training a day isn't a long time, but the intensity is at its maximum.

All the players who make it into the training camp and are selected by various teams are among the best of their peers during their youth.

At the very least, they were geniuses who were unbeatable in the community during high school, and then they were selected for college. Even if they weren't top geniuses in college, they were still among the best in the country.

The three European players, Divac, Petrovic, and Sabonis, are basketball heroes and household names in their own countries.

But after the rookie training camp, everyone started to doubt their lives, wondering if what they had been playing was basketball and whether they could survive in the NBA.
Petrovich goes straight to sleep every day when he gets back to his apartment. Before, he could be all lovey-dovey with his girlfriend every day, but this week he has no interest in her at all.

After returning to his apartment, Sabonis called his wife several times, telling her, "I probably can't stay here for more than a year. I can't take it anymore."

Divac is optimistic, believing that he is young enough to last two years.

Some of the remaining players on ten-day contracts didn't even last ten days, quitting after just five.

Go home and find a different job. You can make money playing basketball elsewhere, but playing here is deadly.

Later, Rick Adelman also told Gan Guoyang, "Gan, you should lower the intensity a bit. Not everyone has your kind of physical ability."

Gan Guoyang said, "If a newcomer can endure this kind of torment, then no matter what difficulties he encounters in the future season, he will be able to get through them. Besides, I didn't force them to train with me. If they can't take it, they can stop, and I won't say anything."

Adelman knew that Gan Guoyang was right. Playing in the NBA is very tough. Although it looks glamorous on the outside, with big contracts, frequent flights, and being the center of attention under the spotlight, it is a very tough game.

But behind this lies not only hard work but also the cost to one's health.

Pain, fatigue, stress, and the daily grind of training, competitions, and travel put immense strain on a person's mind and body.

If a player can't even withstand a week of high-intensity training, then an 82-game season will wear him down to a pulp and eliminate him early on.

After a week, only Petrovic had caught up with Gan Guoyang's training pace.

Although he found it very difficult and was extremely tired, he gritted his teeth and practiced from dusk till dusk every day.

By the end of the training camp, he had gradually adapted to the intensity and at least stopped vomiting.

Sabonis and Divac also persevered; training with the national team was extremely tough for players from countries like the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.

Sabonis's willpower is beyond question; he has played through injuries on numerous occasions.

However, the team doctor advised him not to train with Forrest Gump, as his body couldn't handle it.

On the last day of training camp, the team played a practice scrimmage.

Gan Guoyang was not on the sidelines; Rick Adelman acted as referee, officiating the game while observing the players' performance.

Head coach Bobby Bellman, general manager Jerry West, and several team executives were present to observe.

Petrovic and his teammate Divac were on one team, while Sabonis, Cliff Robinson, and Mark Bryant were on the other.

With the addition of other odds and ends, the match was quite exciting, with both sides engaging in fierce competition.

Starting this season, the NBA has increased the number of roster spots for each team by one, from 12 to 13.

This is equivalent to creating more than 20 stable jobs for professional athletes across the United States.

Currently, the Trail Blazers have exactly 12 players with confirmed contracts, leaving one 13th player on the bench.

Today's game will determine who stays with the Trail Blazers, gets a stable job for now, and a decent salary.

If these players can't stay in the United States to play, then they'll have to look for a way out in European leagues.

Although playing in Europe is good in many ways, it is ultimately not as good as staying in the United States, especially for players with ideals and aspirations.

Gan Guoyang sat in the stands with Bellman, West, and Buckwalt to observe the newcomers. There was no doubt that this year's rookie competition was very interesting and exciting.

Petrovic and Sabonis are both rookies with the potential to become NBA starters, and Divac also has great potential and works very well with Petrovic.

They were rivals in Europe, having played each other in the Olympic finals, so they knew each other well and were very competitive.

Clive Robinson may be a bit lazy and lack willpower, but his talent is undeniable.

He would complain endlessly after practicing with Gan Guoyang for an hour and a half every day, saying he couldn't take it anymore and needed to rest.

Gan Guoyang didn't make any demands on him and allowed him to rest on the sidelines for a while because he had performed well during training.

He's tall, with long arms and legs, and has all-around skills, capable of playing both inside and outside, much like John Salley of the Pistons.

The two teams were evenly matched, with Divac playing faster and Sabonis playing more positional attacks and more steadily.

"The quality of this rookie training camp is quite good. Excluding the three European players and Clive Robinson and Mark Bryant, the remaining players are also of good quality. It will be really not easy to pick one to keep."

Buckwalt's assessment of these newcomers.

After West arrived, he put a lot of effort into personnel selection.

The Trail Blazers' roster is definitely not just for the sake of winning a championship.

“European players are a good starting point. They are talented, determined, and have good immediate impact, but they need proper coaching, otherwise they will have a hard time adapting to NBA games,” West said.

West watched most of the training session and was quite satisfied with Sabonis, Divac, and Petrovic.

Of course, what impressed West even more was Gan Guoyang's extremely high-intensity training, as well as the strong combat power, competitiveness, and competitive desire he displayed during training.

West began to understand what Buckwalt had said, and the "flying fox" metaphor he had used.

Forrest Gump did indeed play a decisive role, and a very decisive one at that.

In other respects, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers are really not that different.

Although their team atmosphere is great and they are popular for being the best in the Oregon area, this has made the Trail Blazers' management too conservative and lacking in ambition.

They were comfortable operating in their small territory, lacking cunning tactics and strategic vision.

Their advertising and marketing efforts across the United States were mediocre.

Even though the Trail Blazers won three consecutive championships, they never established a real national influence before Tang Jianguo bought the team—their influence mainly relied on Forrest Gump.

Without Forrest Gump, West believes the Trail Blazers could have been quickly forgotten.

Even though the Trail Blazers lost in the Western Conference Finals in the 1988-1989 season after Tang Jianguo's arrival, the team visibly gained a greater influence.

The team's marketing and promotion have reached a new level, with numerous interviews, books, documentaries, advertisements, and very solid community engagement activities, which have gradually made the Trail Blazers a professional team with a huge influence across the United States.

Tang Jianguo's statement that he wants to build the Trail Blazers into the NBA's New York Yankees is not just empty talk.

However, aside from marketing and promotion, the Trail Blazers' roster building is only at an A- level.

Without Forrest Gump, they might have made it to the Finals, and winning the championship would have been possible but very difficult.

With Forrest Gump, the team was transformed into a dynasty and is now on its way to the next one.

Jerry West's arrival gave the Trail Blazers the possibility of going from A- to A or even A+.

He particularly admires Petrovic, the European guard known as the "Mozart of Basketball," whose playing style is reminiscent of West in his youth.

With accurate shooting and fierce offense, he had the aura of a dominant force on the court, and he was the only one who could keep up with Forrest Gump.

His main problem is defense, which is a consistent weakness of white perimeter players: slow lateral movement and insufficient strength in physical confrontations.

In Europe, relying on zone defense allows teammates to make up for these shortcomings.

In the NBA, where single-man defense is the primary approach and zone defense is prohibited, it's inevitable to be targeted by those super black perimeter players.

During West's era, there weren't many Black perimeter players in the league, and traveling was strictly called.

With the increasing number of explosive black perimeter players like Jordan, the dribbling distance is becoming more and more relaxed. If Petrovic wants to make a name for himself, he must strengthen his defense.

Fortunately, West had already considered this, so he implemented the Mike Sanders patch.

As for centers Vlade Divac and Domantas Sabonis, Jerry West would prefer to hear the opinions of Berman and Gan Guoyang.

He asked Bellman, "Isn't it a shame we didn't trade Divac for Edwards?"

Berman nodded, then shook his head, saying, "Judging from the new season, Edwards is undoubtedly more useful. If he comes, the tactics and rotations next season will be more stable and more certain. Vlad has potential, but he is too young. He has not yet experienced the test of the playoffs, so it is unknown what level he can play."

West then asked, "Does his function conflict with Sabonis'?"

Berman replied, "No, no, it's a misunderstanding. Many people have misunderstood it. Including me, including Forrest Gump, and many commentators have misunderstood it because we haven't watched Divac and Sabonis play properly. We simply think they are both tall, well-rounded European centers who can pass the ball. But in reality, they are very different, even as different as Moses and Karim."

West's expression remained calm as always, but his body unconsciously leaned closer.

Bobby Bellman was the second gem West discovered with the Trail Blazers; this coach was truly exceptional. In the words of Jack Ramsey, while most basketball professionals at the time were still stuck in an agricultural society of impressions and experience, Bobby Bellman had already begun to use data to guide the basketball industrial revolution.

Of course, the failure of the 1988-1989 season led to a lot of criticism of Berman.

After Jack Ramsey's glorious three-peat, Vilman, who took over the Trail Blazers, saw the championship fall in the Western Conference Finals.

Many people believe that Berman's on-field command is far inferior to Ramsey's, and his tactical level is far inferior to Ramsey's. He is just someone who is riding on Gan Guoyang's coattails.

However, West, as an opponent, knew that Bobby Bellman was able to keep the Trail Blazers running smoothly through the regular season and reach the Western Conference Finals in the playoffs despite internal and external troubles. His resource allocation was absolutely top-notch.

If they change coaches, the regular season might be a disaster, and things won't go so smoothly.

Ultimately, they lost due to a series of unexpected events and roster flaws.

After all, they have genuinely lost an All-Star guard, and there has been no replacement.

Just like the Lakers in 1983 who were missing James Worthy in the playoffs, although they made it to the Finals, they were still swept without any suspense.

Drexler's role with the Trail Blazers was far greater than that of Worthy, the 1983 rookie.

Bellman has done his best; if Ramsey were in his shoes, the situation would only be worse, not better.

Berman analyzed Divac and Sabonis, saying, "They have many things in common with European centers: all-around skills, refined technique, outside shooting ability, and good passing. But Divac's playing style is closer to Walton's; he has excellent passing vision and tactical awareness. He takes a more circuitous approach on both offense and defense; he plays with his brain, although he sometimes overdoes it..."

Just then, Adelman blew his whistle on the sidelines. Cliff Robinson charged during an attack, knocking down Divac.

Robinson looked at Adelman with a bewildered expression, while shrugging at Divac, thinking to himself, "Brother, I just touched you lightly, how did you fall down?"
Divac likes to dive on defense; it's one of his signature moves.

He often used this move to deal with the towering Sabonis during training sessions.

Divac's running and jumping ability isn't outstanding, but he has exquisite technique, a great court sense, and plays very cleverly.

He has the air of a seasoned veteran at such a young age, after all, he started playing in adult club competitions when he was 15.

So even though he's only 21, he's actually been playing in European competitions for 6 years and has a lot of experience.

At the age of 19 in 1987, he and his team won the Yugoslav league championship. There was only one center forward in all of Europe who was more popular than him: Sabonis.

"As for Sabonis... he's actually more like Forrest Gump; he plays straight. At first, we thought he would be a Walton-like big man, appearing frequently in the high post and being an excellent offensive hub, but based on careful observation this week and data analysis, I think he's not. He's a larger version of Forrest Gump."

Jerry West looked at the massive Sabonis, who was running a little unsteadily on the court, and found it hard to associate him with the 6-foot-10, muscular and compact Gan Guoyang.

West initially thought Sabonis would be a high-post offensive initiator like Walton, and that he could team up with Gan Guoyang to recreate the glory of the three high-post players in 1986.

Walton even filmed a video with Gan Guoyang to show to Sabonis in an attempt to entice him.

Did they all misjudge the situation?
Berman continued, "Sabonis has good passing skills; he has very large hands and passes with ease, often delivering some beautiful assists. But... but I don't think he has the tactical awareness and vision to be an absolute pivot. His greatest threat is under the basket; on defense, the high post is just a supplement, not his primary weapon. He can be a finisher in a play, or the facilitator before the finisher, but he's difficult to be a passer. His passes are very inspired and penetrating, but they lack overall scope; he can't deliver passes that change the course of the offense or defense."

"You think he lacks tactical imagination?"

"Hmm... He has a high basketball IQ, but the Soviet Union clearly didn't train him to be a passer. He's a great finisher and a great playmaker who draws defenders and then creates opportunities for others to pass. But... you can tell from his stats that he only averaged about two assists per game in European games, even though it's harder to get assists there. I've watched a lot of his game footage and talked to him. If he played in the NBA, it would be hard for him to average more than three assists per game. That's determined by his playing style and abilities."

Bill Walton, a representative of passing-oriented centers, averaged around 4 assists per game during his peak, with his best season reaching 5.

Moreover, assists are only one reference statistic for demonstrating a player's playmaking ability. Many passes do not result in assists, but they are crucial to the team's tactical execution.

Whether in the Soviet team or in Lithuania with Zargis, the coaches never developed Sabonis as an offensive pivot, because that would be a waste of his talent.

If you make a super center who is 7 feet 3 inches tall, incredibly strong, has an outstanding touch, can dribble, and has a first-class hook shot under the basket, but instead spends a lot of time holding the ball in the high post and organizing the offense instead of scoring and drawing fouls under the basket, the fans will all want to kick you out of the game.

Therefore, in this respect, Bellman's judgment was correct; Sabonis's role and function were the same as Gan Guoyang's back then.

As for outside shooting and passing ability, they are merely icing on the cake, not guarantees of Sabonis' dominance in Europe.

West carefully considered Berman's words. He believed Berman's judgment. West himself had also observed Sabonis playing. Judging from certain plays, his passing was truly outstanding, with unique techniques that were truly amazing.

However, looking at the whole game as a whole, Sabonis is more of a traditional center forward.

After the rookie training camp ends, everyone will have a week off, followed by the preseason training camp.

At that time, Bellman will set the tactical tone for the Trail Blazers in the training camp for the new season.

West had originally envisioned a high-low combination of Gan Guoyang and Sabonis, recreating the Walton-Forrest connection.

According to Bellman, things are bound to change.

Moreover, it remains to be seen whether Sabonis will even be able to start.

Although Thompson is old, he has worked with Gan Guoyang for many years and is Gan Guoyang's most capable, trusted and loyal assistant.

Gan Guoyang once said that with him around, Mitchell Thompson was untradeable, and no one could touch this former number one draft pick.

Last year, when Mitchell Thompson got injured halfway through the Western Conference Finals, West felt the series was in the bag. He finally managed to defeat Forrest Gump and the Trail Blazers with a bunch of debuffs.

"So what are your plans for Sabonis?" West asked.

"Anyway, I'll start as a substitute and gradually adapt to my form and role during the regular season."

“Given Sabonis’ passing touch, I think it’s not impossible to develop him into a passing center,” West said.

"This is actually going the long way around. It would be better to let Agam be in the high post more often, since he really likes to shoot mid-range shots now anyway."

"But...does this mean we have to let Forrest Gump adapt to his new role?"

"What does it matter? He's the boss, so he always has to do the hardest things."

The two men simultaneously looked toward Gan Guoyang, who was sitting in the front row, intently watching the game.

At this point, the game entered halftime, with Sabonis leading Petrovic by 46-42.

During the break, Petrovic waved to Gan Guoyang and asked, "Why didn't you play? Are you afraid of being left out of the squad?"

After spending a week together, Petrovich was already able to joke around with Gan Guoyang.

Adelman came over and said, "Forrest doesn't even play in the regular team's scrimmages. If he participates, it will disrupt the balance, and you might not even be able to score."

Petrovic didn't believe him: "Let him go to Avidas's side, I guarantee he can score."

Divac gestured with his eyes, "Brother, you should say less."

Gan Guoyang ultimately had no chance of survival; no matter which side he went to, it would result in a huge imbalance.

The coaching staff doesn't usually let Gan Guoyang play in intra-team scrimmages, because once he starts, it never ends.

If his team wins, that's fine, but if they accidentally lose, then he'll just keep fighting and fighting until he wears you down.

In the second half, Petrovic suddenly found his three-point touch, hitting consecutive three-pointers to help the team take the lead.

His cooperation with Divac is very smooth, and their handoffs after pick-and-rolls and inside-outside passes are very fluid.

Meanwhile, one player has emerged as a standout on the defensive end, starting to take on Sabonis in the low post.

Despite Sabonis's repeated easy scoring in the paint during the first half, he was surprisingly contained in the second half, missing several shots in a row.

In this back-and-forth exchange, Petrovic gained the upper hand and turned the tide of the game.

Ultimately, Petrovic rallied in the second half to complete a comeback and win the intra-squad scrimmage by 5 points.

While West, Bellman, and others focused their attention on Petrovic, Divac, and Sabonis, Gan Guoyang's attention was mostly on the short, black center wearing jersey number 34.

After the game, Gan Guoyang said directly to West, "The 13th man is number 34."

West glanced at number 34, which was Anthony Mason from Tennessee State University.

He was selected by the Trail Blazers in the third round in 1988, but failed to pass the rookie training camp and was cut, and went to Europe to play for a year.

He returned this year and signed a 10-day contract with the Trail Blazers. With his experience, he endured the rigorous training and persevered to the end.

His defensive performance in the second half impressed Gan Guoyang, and was also noticed by West, who agreed with Gan Guoyang's opinion.

Despite having three European talents, the Trail Blazers cannot afford to be complacent; they need to prepare in terms of defense and toughness.

The combination of Sanders on the perimeter and Mason in the paint embodies this approach.

Although it may not be decisive, after all, both of them have limited talent and ability.

But West knew that in the championship race, every spot and every player could play a role.

Any team that underestimates the end of the bench will often suffer greatly in the long season because of an inconspicuous player.

It could even cause a season's worth of hard work to go to waste.

(End of this chapter)