The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 828 Sunshine
As the season progressed, Bird increasingly tried to have Gan Guoyang play the small forward position.

Firstly, it will further leverage Gan Guoyang's all-around abilities, and secondly, it will compensate for the Trail Blazers' weakness at the small forward position.

Another point is that it can give Jermaine O'Neal and Ben Wallace more playing time.

It was another arrangement that killed three birds with one stone, but of course, the cost was sacrificing Gan Guoyang's comfort.

Many team leaders play in their comfort zone, while role players fill in the gaps and make up for the deficiencies in tactics and functions.

Gan Guoyang is the complete opposite. He is a superstar who lets other players play to their strengths, personally identifies and fills in the gaps, and provides a safety net for everyone.

Back during the three-peat and four-peat era, Gan Guoyang often moved between multiple positions to relieve pressure on his teammates and shoulder the burden himself.

Last season, Gan Guoyang had no choice but to play in his strongest area because his teammates were not good enough.

With the team's strength greatly increased this season, Gan Guoyang has once again begun to play the role of an all-around player, capable of doing anything.

In terms of versatility, no position is more versatile than the small forward (or small forward). It is the position that demands the most comprehensive skills among the five positions and is also the one that best allows a player to showcase their all-around abilities.

Over the years, Gan Guoyang has made continuous progress. He actually reached his ceiling at the center position quite early on, otherwise he wouldn't have won the championship in his second year as a rookie in 1986.

Over the years that followed, he grew not vertically but horizontally, constantly enriching his skills and positional abilities, expanding his skill set with each battle, and then reducing it again, until he reached the realm of effortless mastery.

After his comeback, he went from playing less and less, then more and more, and this season he has completely entered a state of doing whatever he wants without overstepping the bounds.

In other words, on the court, he can play however he wants, go to whichever position he wants, and play against whomever he wants.

He is completely different from the boastful claims that he can play all five positions. For example, Magic Johnson was said to be able to play from number one to number five. In the 1980 NBA Finals, he replaced Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as center and won the championship. His Finals MVP award has become a legendary story in the NBA.

But those who truly understand the facts will know that Johnson was merely replacing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the center jump ball; he was still playing point guard, not center.

Furthermore, Johnson's off-ball movement and catch-and-shoot ability are inadequate if he plays shooting guard or small forward; he cannot perform well in these two positions.

If you put him at center, his height and weight wouldn't be enough to compete with a real center; he can only fill in occasionally.

Gan Guoyang was different; by 1998, he was technically and physically capable of playing any position.

Needless to say, he played center and power forward, and Gan Guoyang often filled in at point guard, with his performance in the 1992 Finals being a classic example.

The shooting guard position is the only position that makes Gan Guoyang seem a bit out of place, but Gan Guoyang has excellent C&S skills and a beautiful step-back shot, all of which he learned from Vandeweghe. So if he insists on playing the shooting guard position, there is absolutely no problem.

However, it's a waste of his talent to play shooting guard; it's unnecessary. The small forward position is where he can truly showcase his all-around abilities: the offense of shooting guard, the defense of small forward and power forward, and the passing of point guard.

Bird realized this while watching the game live on TV during his recovery period, because watching the game live is a pure God's-eye view, even clearer than the head coach's.

He discovered that Forrest Gump could really go anywhere he wanted; he could receive the ball from any position and it was never a blind spot for him. He could launch an attack or coordinate with his teammates.

Forrest Gump has reached a point where he can do whatever he wants, which is another reason why the Trail Blazers are winning streak: they have an unprecedented superstar.

Although his past achievements were already astonishing and unattainable, he was still evolving until 1998.

This evolution is not because Gan Guoyang worked harder; on the contrary, Gan Guoyang has been reducing his training time and intensity this season.

He used to be the first to arrive at the training facility, but now he allows himself to rest and recover more fully. Now, the people who open the doors to the training facility are Kobe and Jermaine O'Neal.

Gan Guoyang's training intensity has always been known to be so high that other NBA players can't handle it and feel nauseous when they train with him; Barkley couldn't even last a day.

This season, Gan Guoyang reduced the frequency of high-intensity training and replaced it with medium- and low-intensity training. According to research by sports experts at the University of Portland, high-level athletes do not necessarily achieve the same results from continuous high-intensity training as they do from medium- and low-intensity training.

Gan Guoyang has reached the age where he can use scientific methods to extend his athletic career and improve his health. He wants to continue to survive at a high level in the league and doesn't want to decline to the level of Jordan or even be worse than Jordan.

Gan Guoyang has also increased his time for visual training. What was once a joke in high school has now become an essential part of Gan Guoyang's daily training.

Therefore, Gan Guoyang did not experience any qualitative or quantitative changes in his training.

Reaching such a level was not due to Gan Guoyang suddenly having an epiphany or entering some new realm of thought.

In fact, Gan Guoyang's basketball philosophy has not changed much over the years; his thoughts are no different from when he first entered the league.

Many things in his mind were already completed before he came to this time and space. Unlike Jordan, he didn't have to spend many years understanding ordinary players, empathizing with them, and thus becoming a team player.

He understands ordinary people better than any genius.

What truly propelled Gan Guoyang to his peak in the 1997-1998 season was the environment.

The NBA environment, the Portland Trail Blazers environment, is like a vast sky where birds can fly freely and a wide sea where fish can leap freely.

Gan Guoyang is already a big bird and a whale. What limits him is not himself, but whether the sky is high enough and the sea is wide enough.

In the 1997-1998 season, the entire league was at a turning point where veterans were gradually dying out and new talents were emerging.

Gan Guoyang's old friends and rivals, such as Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, and Michael Jordan, are all entering the twilight of their careers.

Hakeem Olajuwon went to the Nets, Charles Barkley stayed with the Heat, and Clyde Drexler was about to retire; the teams they played for were no longer as strong as before.

As for the middle-aged and new generation of players, none of them have truly taken the lead yet. Players like O'Neal, Duncan, Iverson, McGrady, Kidd, and Webber still need time to challenge for the top spot.

And then there's the Portland Trail Blazers this season; they're a perfect fit for Gan Guoyang, they've really brought out his best.

As a result, this NBA season became a vast ocean for Gan Guoyang, where he could freely showcase all the knowledge he had acquired throughout his life.

Bird, as a superstar coach, used his keen court intuition to detect this, which is why he consciously began to increase Gan Guoyang's role at the small forward position.

In recent team tactical training sessions, Gan Guoyang has frequently appeared at the small forward position. During post-training tactical discussions, Bird has also often discussed the role of the small forward position with Gan Guoyang.

Bird himself achieved great success transitioning from power forward to small forward, and he knew how important a good small forward would be in the league today and in the future.

“Sonny, I think if you want to continue dominating the league and survive in the NBA at an older age, slowly transitioning to the small forward position is a good option.”

Bird offered his opinion.

"Why? Is it because the small forward position allows for quicker offense with hands on hips, making it less strenuous and allowing me to stay in the league longer?"

"..."

"That's only a small part of the reason; the small forward position is indeed less tiring than the center position. More importantly, I believe the small forward position allows you to better utilize your talent and energy."

"Oh, so you mean you can squeeze me out of the game better, and then the team will play better, right?"

"Why are you saying such harsh things? Although... there's a point to it, superstars are meant to be exploited."

Position 3 can reduce Gan Guoyang's consumption while increasing the oil yield, which is a win-win situation.

Bird himself considered himself a genius, so naturally he wanted to formally promote Forrest Gump's small forward style, which was Bird's trump card.

Gan Guoyang has played the small forward position in some previous games. Tonight, against the Lakers, facing the Lakers' strong frontcourt, Bird thinks he should give it a try.

Three minutes into the fourth quarter, the game remained very close, with Bird and Del Harris showing no rush to bring their starters onto the court.

Bird used Kobe extensively, and Kobe was in excellent form in this game. Whenever the team's offense stalled, Kobe would use his individual skills to break the deadlock.

Even if the drive doesn't go in, it still gives the inside players a rebound and a second-chance opportunity, which is very important (one reason the Bulls lost to the Trail Blazers in the Finals was that they couldn't generate these second-chance opportunities).
In Bird's mind, Kobe was that important X variable, the imperfection that made perfection possible.

For the Lakers, Kidd played the most minutes tonight, and the Lakers' offense was basically inseparable from Kidd's orchestration.

After three quarters, he had already dished out 14 assists, and was heading towards 20 assists for the entire game.

This is just the number of assists; there are many more other passes that, while not considered assists, had a tactical impact.

Trail Blazers' point guard Blaylock is very effective at defending small guards like Stockton and Van Exel.

Kidd is no good. Braylock is only 183cm tall. Kidd is too tall. Braylock has a very hard time defending against Kidd.

They were basically unable to interfere with Kidd's passing, allowing Kidd to organize the attack without any pressure.

Later, Bird assigned Kobe to guard Kidd, but the effect was mediocre, because Kobe was good at biting and shoving, while Kidd was not the kind of player who could be well defended by biting and shoving.

The most important thing in defending Kidd is to stop his passing. By limiting this highly skilled point guard through the system and the whole team, Kidd's passing ability is paramount.

This is precisely the weakness of high school players like Kobe. He has no problem with one-on-one defense, but once the focus shifts to team defense and coordinating with teammates, he easily becomes lost.

Kobe is still young, and he still has a long way to go in many aspects.

The two teams battled to a 91-87 lead, with the Trail Blazers still holding a 4-point advantage over the Lakers. Del Harris called a timeout, and all the starters returned to the court.

As the team chasing the score, the Lakers must step up their game; this is their last chance to end the Trail Blazers' winning streak.

Bird also made a substitution, but instead of replacing Jermaine O'Neal, he replaced Mullin and brought on Gan Guoyang, while Kobe and Blake remained on the court.

The Trail Blazers used a lineup of Sabonis, O'Neal, Gan Guoyang, Kobe, and Blake.

The team's forward line suddenly became much taller, and they seemed to be using a traditional tactic: "three tall players".

This was the Trail Blazers' secret weapon in winning the championship in 1986. At that time, the lineup of Walton, Thompson and Gan Guoyang, a trio of tall players, struck fear into the hearts of the entire league.

At that time, Walton was plagued by injuries and was in the final stage of his career, only able to perform at a high level for 15 to 20 minutes per game. Therefore, the Trail Blazers' three big men always came on at crucial moments and put their opponents to death.

At that time, Gan Guoyang was already playing the small forward position thanks to his excellent shooting skills.

However, at that time, Gan Guoyang basically had no passing or playmaking abilities, and his dribbling and breakthrough abilities were also average.

The power of the three tall players is still evident in the paint, as well as in Gan Guoyang's unexpected long-range shots.

The current version of the three-high position is quite different, with Gan Guoyang becoming a more authentic small forward.

Of course, the Lakers players and Del Harris had no idea and thought the Trail Blazers had gone crazy, fielding three big men to deal with O'Neal.

Shaquille O'Neal was fretting at the sight of three big men. One Forrest Gump was enough; what more could they want? A mini-O'Neal?
"Isn't one Shaq enough? Do you want another Shaq?" Shaq was sweating profusely.

However, when the offense was in position, O'Neal discovered that he was being guarded by Sabonis instead.
O'Neal was delighted and immediately moved to the right low post to establish position. Although Sabonis was a heavy center, his strength and weight were still no match for O'Neal.

O'Neal received the ball, turned around and squeezed past Sabonis, bumped into him, and slammed the ball in with a left-handed one-handed dunk!

This was O'Neal's first dunk of the night; he'd been holding back for so long.

The Lakers narrowed the gap to two points, and only then did the Lakers players realize that Agan wasn't in the paint; he had completely drifted to the perimeter.

Gan Guoyang received a pass from Kobe on the perimeter. Holly came out to defend and immediately closed in, still wary of Gan Guoyang's three-pointer earlier.

Gan Guoyang immediately ducked and drove to the basket like a tank, knocking O'Neal aside in mid-air and putting the ball into the hoop.

This ball actually went into the basket, not a traditional layup off the backboard. Gan Guoyang wasn't particularly fast, but he was very steady and had tremendous power.

After jumping, his body control in the air is top-notch. He can hang in the air for a while and then steadily put the ball into the basket.

The referee blew his whistle and called a blocking foul on O'Neal, and Gan Guoyang was awarded a penalty.

Before the free throws, Gan Guoyang asked O'Neal, "How does it feel to dunk, Shaq?"

O'Neal stammered and didn't dare to answer directly. Gan Guoyang then threw the ball and made the free throw. This guy's free throws are too accurate.

Since Gan Guoyang was no longer guarding O'Neal one-on-one, the Lakers put the ball back in Shaq's hands, but Kidd soon realized that it wasn't so easy.

After Agan moved to the perimeter, the defensive intensity in the backcourt suddenly increased.

Gan Guoyang's height is average for a center, but he's absolutely monstrous for a small forward, not to mention his wingspan.

Kevin McHale used to frequently defend the small forward position, and his incredible wingspan caused a lot of trouble for opposing small forwards.

Gan Guoyang is now causing trouble for the Lakers' frontcourt as well. Kidd is affected by Gan Guoyang's sweeping defense and almost makes a mistake.

McGrady's drive was slapped away by Gan Guoyang, who came over to help defend. The Trail Blazers launched a counterattack, and Gan Guoyang was at the forefront again.

A great opportunity for a fast break!

Gan Guoyang, of course, wouldn't let it go, and turned to charge towards the front.

Bird, watching from the sidelines, sighed, "They're more aggressive on the fast break than anyone else."

Watching Gan Guoyang's excited reaction after receiving the ball and dunking, Bird realized he envied Gan.

This guy seems to be able to do anything, he has no knots in his heart, not many taboos, he is clear-headed and always radiant.

You can make him play center, which will exhaust him, and he won't complain. You can also make him happy to play small forward. He's top-notch on both offense and defense, but he also enjoys running fast breaks with his hands on his hips.

He is like the sun, spreading its light everywhere.

But Bird, having experienced the ways of the world, knew that everyone has shadows.

Even the hottest sun cannot eliminate all shadows; in fact, shadows must exist.

But where exactly is Forrest Gump's shadow? Why does it seem like no one ever sees it?

Or is it hidden in the unseen past?
Bird recalled that he had been reading some random books recently, one of which was "Forrest Gump's Secret," which had been published in many editions and was still a bestseller.

The book says that Forrest Gump escaped from a biochemical laboratory in Eastern Europe. He was a complete scientific experiment, so his childhood and adolescence are unreliable because they are very dark and obscure.

This book was first published in the early 1980s, and I don't know how many editions it has gone through since. It has been constantly embellished and has remained popular for a long time. Recently, it has become popular again, and it is said that it will be made into a movie and a TV series.

Bird initially didn't believe it, but then he suddenly wondered, "Could it be that what the book says is true?"
Is it because Forrest Gump had such a dark past that the sun shines so brightly now?

While Bird was lost in thought, Gan Guoyang led the Trail Blazers on an 11-4 offensive run.

Apart from one basket scored by O'Neal and two of four free throws, the Lakers failed to score any other points.

On the Trail Blazers' side, once Gan Guoyang gets to the small forward position and starts driving with the ball, the Lakers have absolutely no answer.

How can we defend against that? What the hell? McGrady and Horry were both getting blown out, and Gan Guoyang's bald head added to the mix. The young Lakers' frontcourt was completely helpless.

In the end, they had no choice but to foul, which meant giving Gan Guoyang free throws. He made all six of his free throws, widening the score gap.

The Trail Blazers finally pulled away in the final stages of the fourth quarter.

Harris used another timeout, and Gan Guoyang then began to defend O'Neal one-on-one at a crucial moment.

O'Neal didn't dare to go one-on-one and could only pass to the outside, which stagnated the Lakers' offense, leaving Kidd with no choice but to shoot three-pointers.

The shot missed, and Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound. He dribbled and was about to charge when McGrady fouled him by pulling him up.

The Lakers are terrified of being attacked like this; they've experienced the same fear that the Chicago Bulls felt when they were dominated by Gan Guoyang's attacks in the 1992 NBA Finals.

The Lakers committed too many fouls, and Gan Guoyang went straight to the free-throw line, giving away points again. He made both free throws, widening the gap to more than 10 points.

This was the biggest point difference between the two teams in the game, and if they continue to play like this, the gap will only widen.

Gan Guoyang displayed an offensive ability that transcends this era while playing the number three position.

With a center anchoring the paint and outside players able to handcheck him, he dismantled all defenses trying to stop him, thanks to his skillful dribbling, strong physique, and diverse offensive techniques.

The only thing that could stop him was his own touch.

Oh, and his teammates too.

Kobe then missed three consecutive shots on offense without passing the ball, allowing the Lakers to close the gap to four points.

Gan Guoyang gave him a good scolding, then regained possession of the ball and hit a three-pointer himself, before assisting Jermaine O'Neal to dunk.

The Trail Blazers then secured the victory.

Gan Guoyang scored a game-high 47 points, leading his team to a 122-113 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at home, achieving an unprecedented and likely unparalleled 34-game winning streak.

At the moment the game ended, red and white plastic sheets were scattered in the arena, and the fans cheered. 34-0, the Trail Blazers made history!

Gan Guoyang waved to the entire audience, and the television cameras were focused on him. He shone like the sun, showcasing the style of a basketball king to Portland, Oregon, the whole of America, and even the world.

"Sonny, is this the most important victory of your career?" an NBC reporter asked Gan Guoyang amidst a shower of colored lights.

"Tonight's victory is important, and I'm very happy, but it's not the most important thing."

"Which one will be the most important victory?"

"Um... I think it should be the next match."

(End of this chapter)