The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 665 Georgetown Fools

Before the jump ball, Gan Guoyang stood in the center circle, looking at the rather tall African center forward in front of him, and felt a little displeased.

Gan Guoyang did face opponents taller than himself; in fact, throughout his career, he consistently battled against taller centers.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sampson, Parish, Bol – the NBA will never lack giants, nor will it lack those guys who inspire fear just by standing there.

Mutombo is one of them. His performance in his first two months as a rookie showed that he is a very powerful and terrifying giant.

In terms of height, build, and wingspan, he is reminiscent of Gilmore, but visually he even appears longer than Gilmore.

He stood like a lush tree in the paint, constantly disrupting and blocking his opponents' shots.

In college, he and another center, Alonzo Mourning, formed the "no-fly zone" under the basket, becoming the famous Georgetown Twin Towers.

However, when this tall guy stands in front of you, he always raises his head slightly and then "looks at" you with his nostrils.

Now, he looked down at Gan Guoyang with his nostrils, his dark nostrils like cold, lifeless eyes, looking down on the league's top center.

In fact, Mutombo is not an arrogant person. On the contrary, he is humble, low-key, and easy to get along with off the field.

However, due to his height, he inevitably looks down on others. Back in his school days, a teacher complained about him, saying that Mutombo was disrespectful.

In reality, Mutombo couldn't control himself; he was unaware that he was looking down on people, let alone that he was showing "disrespect" to the number one center.

Before the game started, Mutombo was a little nervous. He knew that this game was of great significance, not only because it was a Christmas Day game, but also because it was an opportunity to challenge the best player in the league.

When he was studying and playing basketball at Georgetown University, Mutombo never thought he could make it to the NBA and play professional basketball. He believed he couldn't survive in the NBA.

His original plan was to come to Georgetown, Georgia, to play basketball and study at the same time, using the scholarship money from basketball to support himself and focus more on his studies.

His goal is to attend medical school, become a doctor after graduation, and ideally return to his hometown of Kinshasa to practice medicine, as Africa has always lacked excellent doctors.

However, things didn't go as planned. Mutombo performed exceptionally well on the field and, because he was fluent in multiple foreign languages, became a student at the Foreign Affairs University.

By his junior year, Mutombo was still undecided about whether he could play in the NBA. He could contribute excellent rebounds and blocks per game, but his scoring was relatively low.

Mutombo believes he is unlikely to improve and will not be able to compete with top centers after entering the league.

At this time, his friends and seniors came to comfort and encourage him to try his luck in the league, saying that he could definitely make a name for himself in the NBA.

Patrick Ewing, a senior player, has always had a deep connection with Georgetown, and he often returns to Georgetown to train and watch games.

He became good friends with Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning, and privately told Mutombo that the NBA was nothing to be afraid of.

“Most centers are not as good as you, and you can easily handle them. You can get more rebounds, blocks, and points than you did in the NCAA. As long as you play hard and give it your all every night, you can become one of the best players.”

"Of course, you need to pay attention to Forrest Gump, fight against him, and if you can get through him, you'll be a qualified inside player."

Ewing specifically mentioned Gan Guoyang, who at that time had already won his first three-peat and was enjoying great prestige.

Mutombo certainly knew Gan Guoyang, knew that this guy was the benchmark for foreign players, an anomaly among centers, and also the king among centers.

Former Celtics superstar Bill Russell and John Thompson have maintained a good relationship, and Russell often visits Georgetown to coach the centers.

Mutombo has been taught by Bill Russell more than once. Russell told Mutombo that he could succeed in the NBA as long as he maintained his current defense and didn't need to worry about his offense.

"I won 11 championships with my defense; actually, my offense wasn't that great most of the time," Russell said, using himself as an example.

Mutombo was convinced, and when he decided to enter the draft, he asked Russell, "If I were to face Forrest Gump, what would be considered a great performance?"

Russell thought for a moment and said, "If you can block one of his shots, that's already excellent. One-on-one, that's very difficult. I've observed that he's rarely blocked in one-on-one situations. Only a few top shot blockers have the ability to stop him. Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, I think you can too."

With this encouragement and reminder, Mutombo entered the NBA and was selected by the Denver Nuggets.

So far, Mutombo's performance has put him straight in contention for Rookie of the Year.

His stats and performance are even better than in college, making him an All-Star in the league.

Mutombo was naturally excited; he had more confidence in himself and believed he could survive in the league and even become a star.

However, Mutombo is also worried because he has recently become increasingly aware of physical fatigue and mental exhaustion.

A college season typically consists of only twenty or thirty games, with one or two games played each week. Moreover, players don't need to travel around much, allowing them to get ample rest.

In less than two months in the NBA, he had already played more than 20 games, accompanied by endless flights and buses, traveling back and forth between distant cities.

This is incredibly physically and mentally taxing, especially on a Christmas day like this. Traveling to cold Portland to face the defending champions, with over 13,000 spectators as their opponents, and having to compete against the world's number one player, the pressure and challenges are unimaginable.

Before the game, head coach Paul Westhead reminded everyone to give their all and do their best, as tonight's game was bound to be tough.

Now, Gan Guoyang stands in front of Mutombo, looking incredibly lifelike.

Just as the seniors said, he wasn't very tall, about the same height as Mourning.

But he looks stronger than Mourning—Mourning is already a very strong guy.

Mourning was compact and muscular, but Forrest Gump looked majestic.

His long arms and broad shoulders made him look like a giant beast.

His muscles are large, not as explosive as those of Black players, but full of power.

This is Gan Guoyang's natural skeletal advantage; his frame is larger and his bones are stronger than many black players.

Just as people had described him in his early years, this guy's muscles seemed to be embedded in his bones, and his body was incredibly tough.

Many strong Black men have round, plump bodies that look like chocolate bread, which is attractive, but their absolute strength is not as great as that of Asians and whites.

The two men sized each other up. Gan Guoyang, chewing gum, asked, "Patrick mentioned you, saying your shot-blocking is amazing, is that right?"

The game was about to start, and Mutombo didn't expect Gan Guoyang to speak to him. He hesitated for a moment and replied in a hoarse voice, "Oh, Patrick... uh, my blocks are alright, I think I can block one of yours."

For some reason, Mutombo said this to Gan Guoyang, and coupled with his haughty attitude, he seemed extremely arrogant.

Gan Guoyang originally only wanted to have a simple chat with this younger brother of Ewing, thinking that the kid's haughty attitude was probably not intentional.

Unexpectedly, he said he could cover himself?
After Mutombo finished speaking, he laughed at himself, not out of arrogance, but out of sheer exasperation.

He meant to say that Russell said, "It would be great if I could block you once," but then he remembered that Forrest Gump was asking Ewing, so he blurted out, "I can block you once."

Mutombo's laugh was an awkward laugh, an attempt to cover up his slip of the tongue. But in Gan Guoyang's eyes, this guy was grinning and saying he would block him, and staring at me with his nostrils, he was indeed very arrogant.

Gan Guoyang liked it very much. He liked these energetic rookies, liked to go head-to-head with them, make them crash and burn, and at the same time, he could practice his skills.

"Great, fantastic! Keep up the good work and try your best to block me."

Mutombo knew that Forrest might have misunderstood, but the game was about to start and there was no time to explain.

Besides, wouldn't it be great if he could block one of Forrest Gump's shots? They're the opponents, after all. Mutombo immediately composed himself and stood at center circle, ready for the jump ball.

After listening to the two of them arguing, the referee said to Gan Guoyang, "Sunny, have you finished educating the child? Can we begin now?"

Gan Guoyang said, "What kid? He looks much older than me. Let's begin! You're the referee."

Tonight's referee is an old friend, Jack Madden. Since Earl Strom retired, Madden has been one of the referees with the best relationship with Gan Guoyang.

The two often chatted during the game. Like Strom, Madden was a fearless old-school referee, the kind of tough guy who would "get into a fight with the fans if he couldn't stand it."

As they age and retire one by one, there will be fewer and fewer referees like them in the league.

Madden tossed the ball into the air, and the Christmas Day game began.

During the jump ball, Mutombo, with his exceptionally long wingspan and height, managed to touch the ball first.

The Nuggets earned their first offensive opportunity, and this guy was indeed very tall, easily tipping the ball with a light jump.

However, Gan Guoyang is not planning to compete with Mutom for the jump ball; now the opening jump ball is more of a ritual.

The Nuggets' starting lineup consists of Dikembe Mutombo, power forward Greg Anderson, small forward Reggie Williams, point guard Winston Garland, and shooting guard Mark McConnell.

Overall, this is a roster without much talent, so it's no wonder that Paul Westhead couldn't lead the Nuggets to great success.

The team's leading scorer, Reggie Williams, was selected by the Clippers in the first round of the 1987 draft and later traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Danny Ferry trade.

He then played for the Spurs for two years before joining the Nuggets last season and becoming their leading scorer—averaging 18 points per game.

This is why Mutombo, a center who wasn't particularly good at scoring in college, often scores 20 points in games after joining the Nuggets.

Aside from Paul Westhead's relentless offensive style, the most important reason is that the team simply doesn't have a reliable scoring option.

Having to rely on Mutombo, who has a certain offensive ability and is tall, to take on the scoring task actually gave Mutombo confidence to play in the league.

On the first possession of the night, the Nuggets tried to have Mutombo receive the ball in the low post and challenge Agnes' low post defense.

Mutombo stood like a large tree branch in the paint, arms outstretched, to receive the ball. Of course, the Trail Blazers couldn't help defend or double-team him. If you want to play against Forrest Gump, go ahead.

Mutombo received the ball smoothly, then tried to push inside before turning and cutting inside, followed by a hook shot – his most basic scoring method.

"Give it a push, no problem," Forrest Gump stepped back. Mutombo had heard from Ewing that Forrest Gump's lower body strength was terrifying, and it was almost impossible to push him down in a low position.

I tried it today, and it doesn't seem that exaggerated. Didn't it open up?

Mutombo then made a stiff turn, like a tree come to life, dribbled towards the front, and prepared to make a big hook shot.

As a result, the move was executed beautifully and completely, but Forrest Gump blocked it head-on and slammed the ball away.

The moment Mutombo was blocked, he understood that Forrest Gump was waiting for him and deliberately let him in to hook his hand.

No wonder Mutombo felt he hadn't been strong enough in his defense, hadn't really contained Forrest Gump, and had made his moves too easy.

It turned out to be a trap.

Mutombo is a very intelligent person, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to learn several foreign languages ​​so quickly.

After being blocked, he tried to get the ball back, but the ball had already been taken over by the Trail Blazers players.

They were prepared, knowing Mutombo wouldn't score, and launched a quick counter-attack.

The Nuggets' defense was like paper, easily breached, and Reggie Lewis easily scored with a fast break dunk.

After blocking Mutombo, Gan Guoyang shook his head slightly and said, "Too stiff and too slow. Are Patrick and John Thompson still not going to teach you offensive skills? Are they going to keep making you train like Spartans in school and win games by relying on muscle and physicality?"

Gan Guoyang could tell from Mutombo's turn and hook shot that he was definitely a Georgetown product, yet another Georgetown idiot.

Stiff turns and hook shots, formulaic footwork—the centers developed by John Thompson are always heavy but lack flair.

Despite having excellent touch and mobility, Ewing's offensive tactics are so limited and lack imagination.

Mutombo goes without saying, and then there's Mourning, who probably isn't much better off.

Mutombo remained silent in the face of Gan Guoyang's criticism and continued to focus on the game.

He was smart; after being blocked once, he realized he couldn't go toe-to-toe with Forrest Gump anymore and started cooperating with his teammates.

Greg Anderson also played for the Trail Blazers for a period of time before being drafted in the expansion draft.

He received the pass and drove to the basket, but hesitated to shoot against Agan's help defense and passed the ball to Mutombo in the paint.

Mutombo received the ball, dribbled, and jumped to dunk, but Gan Guoyang, defending against two defenders, turned and blocked Mutombo's shot.

Mutombo still had control of the ball and tried to attack the basket again, but his shot was blocked again, and this time he was pinned to the ground with the ball.

The entire memorial stadium erupted in cheers. Forrest Gump had just given the African mountain three big hats right from the start, showing him who the real mountain was.

The Trail Blazers regained possession, but this time they didn't launch a fast break. Instead, they waited for Gan Guoyang to get into position in the low post.

Mutombo bent down behind Gan Guoyang to block him. He knew this was a test; if he couldn't break through, he should at least defend against one.

Gan Guoyang received the ball and dribbled inside. Mutombo felt an immense force coming from him and couldn't resist it at all.

Turning around and pinning him down, Mutombo tried to jump but couldn't get up at all. He was pinned down and could only watch helplessly as Gan Guoyang dunked the ball into the basket with one hand!

With a powerful and heavy dunk, Mutombo finally had to look up to him instead of looking down at him.

After landing, Gan Guoyang said to Mutombo, "Don't dribble when attacking the basket after receiving the ball. That's a bad habit and you need to change it."

Mutombo was taken aback. This was the ball that had previously blocked him twice in a row, because he had a habitual downward pressing motion when he received the ball and attacked the basket.

As a result, this move slowed down the pace, and Gan Guoyang reacted and blocked two shots in a row. Gan's reaction speed is really amazing. Whether on defense or offense, you have to be fully focused.

Mutombo didn't get discouraged and threw himself into the game. Then he gradually realized why Russell said, "If you can block him once, that's great."

He's too fast, too strong, too swift, and too smart. If you can't keep up in any aspect, you'll end up being toyed with and crushed.

In just a few rounds in the first quarter, Mutombo felt completely overwhelmed, something he had never experienced when facing Olajuwon.

So this is the number one player, the number one center, the insurmountable peak in Asia.

Mutombo did not lose confidence; instead, he became even more motivated to learn and improve himself.

This is an essential quality for an excellent player. Of course, there's also the possibility that he hasn't been hit hard enough.

As long as he's in the west, he'll have plenty of opportunities to compete with Gan Guoyang.

(End of this chapter)