The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 632 Sirius
The Trail Blazers went all out and secured a thrilling victory against the Suns on the road, solidifying their position as the top team in the Western Conference.

Behind the Trail Blazers, the Suns, Lakers, and Spurs are close behind, with the three teams separated by about two games each, a very small gap.

If a team falters in the schedule, its ranking will change, affecting its playoff opponents.

In the East, the Celtics suffered a series of losses due to Bird's injury, gradually falling from the top spot.

Meanwhile, the Bulls remain in turmoil, with BJ Armstrong considering a trade and Pippen continuing to have conflicts with management over contract issues.

Jordan grew increasingly distant from his teammates, especially Horace Grant, with the two disliking each other and barely speaking to each other off the court.

Meanwhile, Grant and Pippen's relationship was no longer as close as it used to be, and Pippen divorced his first wife in 1990 because of his affair.

Grant's wife did not want her husband to get too close to Pippen, and under her influence, Grant converted to Christianity.

Grant began spending a lot of time reading the Bible, while Pippen, now free, could freely frequent brothels, and the two naturally drifted apart.

However, the Bulls players are performing better and better on the court, and their position as the top team in the Eastern Conference is becoming more and more secure.

They have surpassed the Lakers and Suns to reach second place in the league, just one game behind the Trail Blazers.

By late February 1991, UN forces had completed their assembly in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the outposts were almost finished, the aerial bombardment was almost over, and the mopping-up ground war officially began.

At 4 p.m. local time on February 24, the multinational forces launched a full-scale ground offensive against Iraq, officially marking the beginning of the second phase of the Gulf War.

However, by this time, Iraq had been rendered deaf, blind, and crippled by the relentless bombing of high-tech weapons from the US and British forces, and was powerless to resist.

Just 100 hours later, on February 26, Saddam Hussein announced that he would accept a ceasefire, the Iraqi army quickly collapsed, and the long-awaited ground war came to a swift end.

When the news reached the United States, the whole country rejoiced, celebrating the victory in the war. The media overwhelmingly praised the Bush administration's decisive deployment of troops and the U.S. military's alien-like high-tech weaponry.

Since the Vietnam War, the surging anti-war and anti-government sentiment in the United States was swept away with economic development, the victory in the Cold War, and the swift victory in Iraq. It can be said that the Gulf War opened the door for the United States to enter the golden age of the 90s.

Whether in economics, culture, technology, or military, they are virtually unrivaled on a global scale. This victory in the "just war" has made the United States a beacon for the world.

After arriving in Chicago, Gan Guoyang saw President Bush announcing the end of the war on the hotel television, and he could hear cheers coming from the surrounding rooms.

Many people originally thought that the United States would be bogged down in a bitter desert war, but times have changed and the war situation has also changed. Technology has become the decisive factor in determining the outcome of the war.

This process and its outcome will have a tremendous impact on the military development of many countries, and will also bring about a profound military transformation on the other side of the Pacific.

The world is constantly changing, not static, especially with the rapid development of technology, which makes everything update and iterate faster and faster.

On the very night the war ended, the Trail Blazers would face the Chicago Bulls on the road – the second Gan & Joe battle this year.

When the real war ended, the battle on the basketball court became a substitute for people's daily life.

Currently, the Trail Blazers and Bulls are only one game apart. If the Bulls win this game, they will surpass the Trail Blazers to become the league's best team based on their head-to-head record.

Gan Guoyang certainly doesn't want to relinquish his position as the league's number one team. If the two sides agree to meet in June, it will determine the home-court advantage.

When both teams are evenly matched, the team with home court advantage has a significant advantage, so the Trail Blazers must seize home court advantage.

However, the Bulls have been in phenomenal form lately, achieving a 10-game winning streak, and their defense has left other teams bewildered.

Phil Jackson's triangle offense has yet to show its true power, but his defensive coaching is indeed top-notch, with high-intensity perimeter pressure that cuts off the opponent's offensive initiation at the source.

Some teams are still clinging to the old formula of "low post play + fast breaks" in half-court offense, but this offensive model is completely ineffective against the Bulls' high-speed rotation and pressure defense.

With the inside and outside passes blocked, counterattacks became impossible. The Bulls would set up a defensive line to delay the spread from the three-point line to the mid-court line, making it impossible for most guards to dictate the pace of the game.

As their record improved, the Bulls began to embrace the triangle offense, including Michael Jordan, who realized that Phil Jackson's strategy was correct and the Bulls were getting better.

But just how good are they? They need to go head-to-head with the Portland Trail Blazers, the reigning champions of the league.

The last time the two teams met was at the beginning of the season, when neither team was in form and the Bulls won.

Now that we've entered the final stretch of the season, the team has gelled quite well, so this match is sure to be a clash of titans.

Originally, local advertisers in Chicago wanted to invite Forrest Gump and Michael Jordan to do an event together, just like their previous ping-pong match, for a collaborative promotional campaign.

Gan Guoyang and Jordan both declined, firstly because they didn't need such small events to increase their income, and secondly because this year was truly different, with the atmosphere of hostility between the two sides growing stronger.

Jordan's desire to challenge and defeat Forrest Gump grew stronger because he realized that this year was the perfect time.

Gan Guoyang also felt that Jordan's threat was growing. Although the two had played very well in the previous years, it was clear to everyone that the Trail Blazers' overall strength far surpassed that of the Bulls.

Jordan had to fight tooth and nail to keep up with Forrest Gump and the Trail Blazers in the regular season, but in the playoffs, it was the Trail Blazers' world, and the Bulls and Jordan couldn't even get a chance to play.

This season is truly different. Everyone has a feeling that the real battle is about to begin, and tonight will be a warm-up.

Unlike the Bulls, the Trail Blazers have a harmonious and peaceful team atmosphere, with everyone maintaining a good working relationship.

The team's relaxed atmosphere may have made everyone complacent, and the Trail Blazers' performance has been somewhat inconsistent recently. With Gan Guoyang carrying the team, they defeated the strong Suns.

However, their recent victories have been bumpy, and they tend to make mistakes on both the defensive and offensive ends that they wouldn't have made last season.

Moreover, the team's offense has lost a lot of its flair since the loss of Hornacek and Divac. Although they had many high-scoring games at the beginning of the season, they relied on sheer strength to win.

When playing positional battles against strong teams, the clever passes brought by Hornacek and Divac disappeared, and the team played more physically, more directly, and appeared a bit too rigid.

So far, Reggie Lewis has only reached 80% of expectations on both offense and defense, forcing the Trail Blazers' management to seriously reconsider the correctness of this trade.

February 20th was the league's trade deadline, and teams were considering making trades to strengthen their rosters or make swaps in preparation for future moves. The Trail Blazers also experienced some internal debate about whether to make a trade.

Reggie Lewis, in particular, has struggled to adapt to both the Princeton offense and the old Trail Blazers offensive system.

He is a typical hard-hitting perimeter player who needs one-on-one space, but the Trail Blazers didn't give him many one-on-one opportunities, which was Forrest Gump's chance.

His off-ball movement and positioning abilities are only average among players of the same level, and his passing and playmaking abilities are even more ordinary, making him unable to serve as a hub for the perimeter.

With the Trail Blazers establishing a twin-tower, twin-core interior offense, he is destined to be a role player. However, it is inevitable that such a role player will face criticism for receiving the team's second-largest contract, with some suggesting that Lewis should be traded to acquire some perimeter players who are more suitable to complement the twin towers.

In this situation, Agan stood up to support Reggie Lewis, first affirming Lewis's skills and character, and praising him as a quiet, humble, and very talented perimeter player.

Secondly, Gan Guoyang reminded the management what their purpose was in acquiring Reggie Lewis in the first place. Was it just to make the regular season more exciting?

Their goal was to target Michael Jordan, and they didn't have a single outside shooter who could match up with Jordan, so Lewis was undoubtedly the best option.

The fact that the team didn't gel well during the regular season is not a problem at all; the playoffs are where the real test will be.

Moreover, it remains to be seen how effective the Princeton offense will be in the playoffs. In crucial moments, it will still require players to rely on their individual skills to break through defenses and put the ball in the basket.

Jerry West agreed with Gan Guoyang's point of view, and since he facilitated the trade, he naturally wouldn't change his mind halfway through. So, as usual, the Trail Blazers didn't make any changes to their roster by the trade deadline.

West just hopes Reggie Lewis can perform well in the game against the Bulls at the end of February. He needs to step up his game and find his form in the second half of the season.

So before tonight's game, Lewis was under a lot of pressure, and the atmosphere in the Trail Blazers' locker room was somewhat dull, not particularly lively despite the victory, after all, the team's leader is not American.

In the past, Gan Guoyang would play songs on a large tape recorder in the locker room, and everyone would sway and dance to the rhythm. This was a characteristic of youth in the 80s.

By the 90s, with the widespread use of CD players, everyone listened to their own music with headphones, and the joyful atmosphere of the 70s and 80s was gone.

Gan Guoyang's CD player was playing Michael Jackson's album "BAD". He liked to listen to Jackson's songs before the game because listening to his songs would not get him caught up in his emotions or evoke memories. They were just pure, catchy, and exciting music that gave him the best state of mind for the game.

Therefore, Jackson was the true King of Popular Music, making music that was simple yet most appealing and widely accessible.

However, this album is a bit old, having been released in 1987, which is four years ago. Jackson has been holding concerts since then and hasn't released any new music.

Sometimes Gan Guoyang would call to urge Jackson, asking when he was going to release an album, why he was so lazy and why he didn't write songs every day.

"If you were as hardworking as me, you should be able to release two albums a year."

Jackson exclaimed, "Spare me! I don't have your beastly constitution!"

In his most recent contact, Jackson said he was working on a big album.

We will definitely let Gan Guoyang audition it as soon as possible.

Gan Guoyang thought to himself, "A big album, if I'm not mistaken, it must be 'Dangerous'."

He just didn't want to say it outright, so he made a deal with Jackson that it would be best to write another piece for him on this album.

One of the songs on the 1987 album "BAD" was "Triple Crown," which became a hit.

Later, the song proved prophetic, predicting the Trail Blazers' three-peat and adding to its legendary status.

After the song "Three Consecutive Championships" finished playing, Gan Guoyang took off his headphones, changed into his jersey, and went on the field to warm up with his teammates.

At 7 p.m., both teams took to the court. After the Trail Blazers players entered the game, the lights in the arena were turned off.

Like the Trail Blazers, the Chicago Bulls put a lot of effort into their home game player introduction ceremony this year.

After the lights went out, a colorful halo flashed and music began. It was "Sirius" from The Alan Parsons Project's sixth studio album, "Eye in the Sky," released in 1982. This piece was originally intended as an introductory key to another song, but after it was written and performed, it was found to be very effective and was included separately on the album.

Since the 80s, many sports competitions have used this piece as the prelude to athletes' entrances. For example, some professional wrestlers use it as their entrance music in exhibition matches.

Back in 1984, DJ Tommy Edwards of the United Center began using this song as the prelude to the Bulls players' entrance, but at that time it was just a simple music performance.

With the Trail Blazers' new owner Tang Jianguo pushing them to turn off all the lights, add colored lasers and computer-generated special effects, teams across the league started to imitate them, making their home team entrance ceremonies more grand and mysterious in order to stir up the emotions of the audience.

"Sirius" is indeed an excellent piece of music; otherwise, so many sports teams wouldn't use it.

Rick Pitino's Kentucky Wildcats, for example, used this song as their team's signature entrance music.

Of course, the Portland Trail Blazers' "Sunrise Symphony" is even more magnificent and grand, but it requires a player like Forrest Gump to anchor it; it would be very unsuitable for anyone else to use it.

Michael Jordan was the last to enter the court, the lights came back on, and the cheers from the fans were deafening, putting immense pressure on the visiting team.

Reggie Lewis looked a little nervous; after all, no one would be at ease facing Jordan.

Before the jump ball, Gan Guoyang put his arm around Reggie Lewis and said, "It's okay, I'll back you up. Don't be afraid of Jordan, just play good defense. Play nicely tonight, buddy."

Hearing Gan Guoyang say that, Reggie Lewis felt much more confident.

When Forrest Gump says he'll support you, he really means it; it's not just empty talk.

Reggie Lewis had certainly heard the rumors before the trade deadline, and he knew that it was Forrest Gump who stood by him and saved him from being traded twice in one season.

Taking a deep breath, Reggie Lewis fully focused on the game.

The 12th Ganjo-Ganjo battle has begun.

(End of this chapter)