The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 839 Substitute

In this All-Star Game, in addition to Gan Guoyang and Kobe, the Trail Blazers also have Domantas Sabonis on the roster.

Despite their impressive performance this season, only three players made it to the All-Star team, one of whom is quite controversial and is considered a commercially promoted rising star.

This has always been the Blazers' style: they have a superstar, and while the other players are very strong, their roles are evenly distributed.

Both Blaylock and Chris Mullin have experienced a career resurgence, with impressive performances and statistics, but they still haven't won over the fans.

"The sun's light is so dazzling that you can't see the surrounding stars. In fact, these stars are also dazzling stars in other galaxies."

Sports Illustrated commented on Gan Guoyang's performance after he won the "Star of Stars" award and his third All-Star Game MVP trophy at the All-Star Game.

Whether with the Trail Blazers or in the league, Gan Guoyang is undoubtedly the Suns this season so far.

With the All-Star Game over and the trade deadline approaching, each team is making its own calculations.

They can either strengthen their roster to prepare for the playoffs, or trade for some draft picks to plan for the future.

Because of the Trail Blazers' dominance and the anticipated major labor negotiations in the summer of 1998, other teams had little interest in making big trades.

All of these were minor adjustments; no trades involving core rosters or superstar players occurred.

The Chicago Bulls had been trying to trade Scottie Pippen, but due to Jordan's strong opposition and fan pressure, Krause ultimately failed to do so.

Ultimately, the Bulls only traded Jason Caffey and acquired David Vaughn from the Magic. Both players were minor bench players and did not significantly impact the team's strength.

Krause did this primarily to acquire the Magic's two second-round picks in 1998 and 2000.

By trading players for draft picks, Krause was clearly preparing for Jordan's departure.

Jordan was naturally very unhappy with Krause's underhanded tactics.

It's time to fight for a three-peat, and instead of thinking about strengthening the team, you're still making underhanded moves to prepare for the future?
What about the future? Does Krause really think he can build a dynasty without Jordan, Pippen, and Jackson?

Jordan expressed his doubts, but Jerry Krause was confident in himself. He believed that if he could build a three-time champion dynasty, he could build another one.

The good news is that Forrest Gump was old by then, and if the Bulls had assembled a championship roster, winning the title would have been much easier.

Krause knew perfectly well that without Forrest Gump, the Bulls would have won the championship long ago, and even more.

It's not just Jerry Krause who thinks this way; most other team managers share this view.

Forrest Gump is currently in his prime, but his age is a factor, and he will inevitably decline year by year after he turns 34.

It is inevitable that the pioneers will gradually decline in the future; it is a natural law. If we can't beat you now, then I will wait until you decline and withdraw.

Moreover, it's not just Forrest Gump who's declining and leaving; his generation of golden players will also gradually fade away, and the league will then be in a new phase, a new era.

Forward-thinking general managers have begun to plan ahead and prepare for the end of the SunGod era.

Of course, this season is when the sun is high in the sky, and wherever the divine light shines, there is only scorched earth.

Having rested during the All-Star break, the Trail Blazers are back in action, continuing their regular season campaign.

At this point, the entire team's focus was largely on the playoffs, with everyone from the coaching staff to the players preparing for them.

However, the Trail Blazers did not relax their intensity during the regular season. Gan Guoyang told his teammates in training: "The best preparation for the playoffs is to maintain a good state and deal with the current games with increasing intensity. That way, you won't be unaccustomed to the playoffs. Don't mistake relaxation and excessive rest for preparation. That's not preparation; that's suicide."

The Trail Blazers have never had a tradition of taking large-scale rest days or giving players a lot of rest in preparation for the playoffs.

Excessive rest is not necessarily a good thing for players. While the body stores energy, it also diminishes passion and form.

In addition, Gan Guoyang has always insisted on being responsible to the fans, so the Trail Blazers have always treated the regular season with the attitude of "treating ordinary games like the college entrance examination and the college entrance examination like ordinary games" until the second half of the season.

In late February, the Trail Blazers went on another six-game winning streak, finishing their February games.

In March, the Trail Blazers remained unstoppable, extending their winning streak to 11 games.

The Trail Blazers have only lost two games, both of which were at home, demonstrating their dominance on the road even more than at home.

"We're more focused on the road, we love the feeling of playing against everyone, but we tend to relax a little when we're at home," Larry Bird explained regarding the Trail Blazers' excellent road record.

Of course, some of the games after the All-Star break were a bit tougher compared to the victories in November and December.

All teams have entered a battle mode, with increased intensity and shorter rotations, all preparing for the playoffs.

Furthermore, the entire league has begun to study and counter the Trail Blazers' offensive system, and everyone is trying to find ways to contain the Trail Blazers' formidable offense.

In late March, the Trail Blazers faced a strong challenge from the Mavericks in Dallas.

The Mavericks' performance this season has been unremarkable; they are at the bottom of the league.

Nelson amassed a group of talented backcourt and forward players, including Mike Finley, Eddie Jones, Jim Jackson, and Jamal Mashburn.

After a less-than-successful coaching career with the Bucks, Lakers, and Warriors, Nelson came to the Mavericks and sought change again, pursuing a more aggressive offensive style.

As both coach and manager, he was single-mindedly focused on assembling these tall, scoring swingmen, hoping to build a powerful offensive machine.

However, in the NBA environment of the late 90s, a lineup without defense could not win. Despite the Mavericks' strong offense and impressive offensive statistics, they were unable to achieve good results.

Nelson has faced a lot of criticism this season, but he sticks to his team-building philosophy, believing that it's just the beginning and there's no need to rush.

"The Portland Trail Blazers are the best example. They are a powerful offensive team, which is the ultimate form of basketball."

After repeated failures, Nelson was interviewed by reporters and asked how he viewed his offensive basketball. Nelson used the Trail Blazers as an example.

"But... the Trail Blazers have Forrest Gump."

"I know the Trail Blazers have Forrest Gump! Aren't we just missing a Forrest Gump?"

At this point, Nelson appeared somewhat exasperated.

The regret of the 1984 draft still lingers to this day.

At that time, Nelson served as a coach for the All-Star team in the Olympic trials, acting as a sparring partner for the US Olympic team. Gan Guoyang was on the All-Star team, allowing Nelson to experience coaching his ideal players.

Later in the draft, Nelson tried every means to trade for the No. 2 pick from Stu Inman.

Unfortunately, Inman wasn't stupid. No matter what Nelson offered, he refused to make a substitution, and in the end, he could only watch helplessly as Forrest Gump established his dynasty in Portland.

Don Nelson told himself more than once that if he had acquired Forrest Gump back then, the 80s would have belonged to the Bucks.

Even now, 14 years later, Don Nelson still can't forget it, and he still looks regretful when he is interviewed.

With no hope of making the playoffs this season, Nelson and the management have been discussing the possibility of drafting a center in the 1998 NBA Draft.

"It's not about being able to defend, it's about being able to attack; you absolutely must attack."

Nelson repeatedly emphasized to the scouts that he wanted to continue the team's offensive strategy, rather than pursuing defense.

In fact, Nelson already had someone in mind: Dirk Nowitzki, a young German who had performed exceptionally well at the "Apollo Basketball Summit" held by Avia a week earlier.

This young man from Germany scored 33 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, leading the World All-Stars to a stunning upset victory over the USA All-Stars.

Americans were not familiar with this German lad, and the DJ always called him "Nowitzki" when announcing his name.

In fact, this young German had already shown his talent at the Avia Apollo youth training camp a year ago, leaving a deep impression on NBA stars such as Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen.

Charles Barkley said after training camp that if Nowitzki wants to make it to the NBA, he should come to him and he would definitely be able to help.

In reality, given Nowitzki's talent, he didn't need Barkley's help at all; teams that knew what they were doing had already started planning to acquire this German prodigy.

Don Nelson was one of them. He saw the great potential in Nowitzki's offensive talent. Although he could never be as good as Forrest Gump on the defensive end, he had 70% of Forrest Gump's potential on offense, which was already top-notch.

Nelson hopes that this young man can make up for the regret of 14 years ago.

On the court, Nelson devised another strategy to counter the Trail Blazers' fierce offense.

The strategy is quite simple: a direct confrontation.

Nelson unleashed all the players' inhibitions, demanding that the Trail Blazers be fast, and that we be even faster.

The Trail Blazers employ various passing, movement, and backdoor plays in half-court sets, while the Mavericks don't follow such a complex strategy; Nelson demands a direct attack.

"You have to make a decision in eight seconds. Don't overthink it, don't hesitate, just throw the ball at the basket and get it in. That's all you have to do."

Nelson requires players to make offensive decisions within 8 seconds. Many teams take 6 or 7 seconds to make a decision after crossing half-court. Why not 8 seconds?

The Mavericks players didn't care anymore. Since they couldn't win anyway, they might as well go all out and try their best. Maybe they still had a chance to win?
Surprisingly, the Mavericks really did have an extremely high offensive efficiency in this game.

Finley, Mashburn, Jackson, and others attacked as soon as they got the ball across half-court, disrupting the Trail Blazers' rhythm.

As the saying goes, "a novice can defeat a master," and in the first half, the Mavericks led the Trail Blazers by a staggering 8 points, 71-63.

The 71 points also set a new season record for the Mavericks' halftime scoring and the Trail Blazers' halftime scoring record.

The Trail Blazers, who had lost their composure, came back to their senses in the third quarter, but Bird did not change his strategy to switch to half-court or slow-paced play, trying to control the pace of the game against the Mavericks.

"Since they want to attack us, then let's attack to the bitter end."

The Trail Blazers aren't that obsessed with winning; they've won enough. The key is to play well and play beautifully.

In the second half, both sides launched an even more frantic offensive attack than in the first half.

Bird expanded his rotation, making a 12-man rotation and constantly changing players to go head-to-head with the Mavericks.

During halftime, Nelson thought the Trail Blazers would change their strategy in the second half and slow down the game by playing a warlike style against the Mavericks.

Unexpectedly, Bird displayed his unique thinking and extraordinary courage, going all out to attack the Mavericks.

As a result, the two sides delivered a rare high-scoring battle this season, with the score soaring.

Like the Mavericks, the Trail Blazers have an 8-second shot clock, and the Mavericks have a 7-second shot clock. The ball is like a hot potato; they'll throw it away as soon as it crosses half-court.

In this all-out offensive battle, the Mavericks gradually fell into a disadvantageous position, ultimately proving that their raw strength was simply inferior.

Moreover, after the Trail Blazers made a major rotation, the players were running like crazy, and the Mavericks' starters couldn't keep up with them.

In the fourth quarter, the Mavericks players became weak and unable to score, frequently missing shots.

The Trail Blazers had a full rotation and plenty of energy, and in the final stages, they went on a 12-0 run to widen the score gap.

Ultimately, the Trail Blazers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 148-135, a 13-point advantage, with a high score.

They scored an astonishing 85 points in the second half.

At the end of the game, Nelson and Gan Guoyang shook hands and hugged.

Gan Guoyang scored 37 points in this game, and his teammates also scored a lot. Everyone had a great time playing.

Nelson shook Gan Guoyang's hand and said, "Sonny, it would be great if you played in Dallas."

Gan Guoyang laughed and said, "It's alright, you'll soon have a replacement for me!"

Nelson was taken aback, wondering who this guy was talking about? That German kid?

Wait a minute, the fact that the Mavericks were interested in Dirk Nowitzki was a closely guarded secret, an internal secret.

How did this guy know? Just as I was about to ask him for clarification, Gan Guoyang gave vague answers and went back to the locker room.

Nelson, however, became somewhat apprehensive, recalling how the Trail Blazers traded their draft pick to Kobe in the 1996 NBA draft. Could it be that the Portlanders were eyeing Dirk now?
Forrest Gump was known for his extensive network of connections and influence.

Until the 1998 NBA Draft, Nelson's heart was in his throat, and he never felt at ease.

(End of this chapter)