The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 7 Details
Gan Guoyang's goal and block made the black man in the green vest with the afro feel humiliated.

At the same time, he also felt the strong sense of pressure emanating from Gan Guoyang.

This is quite different from his previous stereotypes about Chinese people.

The tall, stern-faced young man in front of me stood on the court with unwavering resolve, inspiring awe.

This is not only due to Gan Guoyang's height and inexplicable basketball talent, but also to the perseverance he developed in the welfare home.

His childhood and adolescence were spent in cold stares, discrimination and pity, but he did not become timid and weak because of this. Instead, he dared to glare angrily at all power and injustice.

Therefore, he was deeply attracted to basketball, a sport with intense competition. Although he never stepped onto the court, his spirit had been honed countless times on the court.

The contemptuous attitude towards Chinese Americans in the 80s was utterly insignificant in Gan Guoyang's eyes.

His confidence and boldness quickly enveloped the field.

Basketball is not only a contest of skills and tactics, but also a psychological battle.

If one side is psychologically at a disadvantage, even if they have better technical and tactical skills, they may not be able to perform at their best.

The Rippers are a mid-tier team at Hunts Point, and the three of them are players on the Philips and Saraburton High School teams.

Although he wasn't a regular starter, but just a substitute for the second team, his skill level was still far above average.

They often put on some great games at Hunters Arena, winning against some tough opponents, and they have considerable strength.

But today, facing Gan Guoyang and his two companions, they quickly found themselves at a disadvantage.

The two-meter-tall Gan Guoyang cast a huge shadow over their interior defense.

His blocking and defense are terrifying; every layup or shot you take requires you to be distracted when facing such a shot-blocking expert.

This can lead to psychological hesitation, technical distortion, and even frustration and mental breakdown.

Besides his opening volleyball-style block to establish his authority, Gan Guoyang's subsequent defense and blocks became even more intelligent and cunning.

He doesn't jump easily, nor does he block the ball very far. He stares at you like a viper, and when a block is needed, he flicks his tongue lightly on the ball to change its trajectory.

This way, he can directly pocket the ball and return the attacking opportunity to his own team.

On offense, he has a precise mid-range jump shot, which he can unleash unexpectedly after receiving the ball.

He has already scored four goals from the outside, and has also assisted Chen Xing to score twice.

Later in the game, the Rippers had to focus their offense on the perimeter, using jump shots to solve their problems.

Gan Guohui became a defensive liability on the field. After falling behind by 4 goals at 3-7, the Rippers changed their strategy and began to attack Gan Guohui, their weak point.

The guy in shorts and the guy in green vest made a screen play, with the guy in green vest using his body to block Gan Guoyang from helping defend the guy in shorts. The guy in shorts pulled up near the free-throw line and made a jump shot.

During Gan Guoyang's offensive possession, the Rippers completely abandoned their defense against Gan Guohui and instead double-teamed Gan Guoyang, while Jason put intense pressure on Chen Xing one-on-one on the perimeter.

Chen Xing made a mistake, and possession of the ball went to the Ripper.

It was another display of skillful outside shooting coordination.

In a three-on-three half-court game, there is a lot of space on the field.

Jason moves the ball away from Gan Guoyang as much as possible.

He received the ball at a zero-degree angle in his shorts, took a mid-range jump shot, and made it again.

5-7, the Rippers rallied to catch up.

The fear of being repeatedly blocked by Gan Guoyang was slowly subsiding.

They also know that if they can't afford to offend them, they can't afford to avoid them either.

Chen Xing used his personal breakthrough ability to rush to the basket, but his layup was blocked by a big blocker from the player in the green vest.

Gan Guoyang followed up, pushed through the crowd, grabbed the backboard, and scored on the putback.

"Shit, how come this guy is so strong?"

Jason complained that he had just been pushed away by Gan Guoyang and had no chance to resist.

Judging from his physique, Gan Guoyang is not very strong, but his muscles appear very compact, as if muscles have grown into his bones.

5-8, 10 goals, Gan Guoyang's team is two goals away from victory.

The Rippers called a timeout to take a sip of water and regroup.

Jason, the man in the green vest, and the man in shorts huddled together to discuss their strategy.

"That tall guy's defense is terrifying. Which high school is he from?" "I've never heard of him in San Francisco, but that fat guy is a liability."

"We should stick to our strategy and protect the rebounds."

"Let's try to take down that kid. We need some morale, some morale!"

Jason instructed the green-shirted player to hit Gan Guoyang with a shot; if he kept avoiding the opponent's defensive anchor, it wouldn't be honorable even if he won.

The man in the green vest nodded. He then called for the ball in the low post again. This time, instead of driving hard, he used his footwork to turn around and walk towards the basket. Leaning against Gan Guoyang, he used his experience and subtle movements to dodge Gan Guoyang's block at a very subtle time difference and scored a layup off the backboard.

This was Green Vest's first goal of the night. After scoring, he showed no signs of pride, only a slight sigh of relief.

The oppressive feeling Gan Guoyang had just given him from behind made his hair stand on end. He had to use all his experience and skills, forcing him to recall the details he had learned from the school team training, in order to make a layup under the basket that seemed unremarkable.

Gan Guoyang grabbed the ball with one hand. He was not frustrated by the failed defense; on the contrary, he was filled with a strong sense of excitement.

Because of that shot, he experienced something he could never experience outside of basketball games or in video games.

The details of the confrontation, the subtle changes in center of gravity and rhythm, the control of 0.1-second time differences, and the various small movements of the hands, shoulders, and back.

If you don't experience competition at a higher level, you'll never understand these things, let alone learn them.

In the past, it seemed that shooting, dunking, dribbling, driving, three-pointers, crossovers, and catch-shoots were all the skills involved.

No, that's not it. Details are everything; they are the key to truly differentiating players' skill levels.

"Let's call a timeout too!"

Chen Xing used the only timeout in the game.

Gan Guoyang was rubbing the ball in his hand, making a hissing sound. Chen Xing thought that Gan Guoyang was frustrated because of his failed defense.

He comforted him, "It's okay, Guoyang, you've done a great job. Panghui, you're the weak link now, you haven't scored a single goal."

Gan Guohui failed to score a single goal during the match and repeatedly became a defensive weakness, leading the Rippers to focus on him.

He looked dejected, pursed his lips, wanting to refute but not knowing what to say, because Chen Xing was right.

Gan Guoyang patted his younger brother on the back and said, "It's alright, Guohui. Since they look down on you, you should seize the opportunity and make them pay the price."

Gan Guohui's eyes, however, showed confusion. Seize the opportunity? Where would the opportunity come from?
His abilities are indeed quite poor, even inferior to Chen Xing's. That kid's skills have improved significantly after the summer camp training.

Not to mention facing the three members of the Ripper school team, he couldn't handle any of them, so he naturally felt discouraged.

After the timeout ended and they returned to the court, Gan Guoyang suddenly called for the ball on the left side, and Chen Xing immediately passed the ball to Gan Guoyang.

The shorts-clad guards came over to double-team Gan Guoyang, but Gan Guoyang quickly dribbled, turned, and cut to the basket from the baseline, avoiding the double-team.

This move is almost identical to the footwork used by the green-shirt player earlier. He steps forward with his right foot, turns around, and uses his thigh to press against the opponent's leg. After squeezing into the basket, he uses his back to block the defender. At the moment when the opponent loses his balance, he jumps and easily scores a layup off the backboard.

He thought Gan Guoyang was provoking him with the same goal-scoring method as the guy in the green vest, but he didn't know that he was just using what he had learned.

Full of energy, the man in the green vest then grabbed an offensive rebound and attempted a strong layup under the basket, but was easily blocked by the well-prepared Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang, who regained possession of the ball, threw it to Chen Xing, who called for the ball again in the same low post. The green-vested player clearly lacked experience in low post defense; he didn't even try to box out for the ball.

The ball was easily passed to Gan Guoyang; one more goal and they would win the game.

The shorts immediately came from above to surround him, and he was even faster than before.

This time, Gan Guoyang didn't dribble and turn, but instead passed the ball to Gan Guohui, who was left wide open.

"cast!"

Gan Guohui received the ball and paused for a moment.

"You must seize the opportunity and make them pay the price."

So, the opportunity was here.

He raised his hand, aimed at the white square on the backboard, and released the shot gently.

The ball flew in a less-than-ideal arc, hit the backboard, but bounced right into the basket.

Gan Guohui scored his only goal of the game.

"Won?"

"Won!"

(End of this chapter)