The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 94 Gorgeous
After a few days of rest, the remaining 37 people gathered again in Bloomington for a four-day training camp.

This training camp will undergo a third selection process, reducing the number of participants to around 20, leaving only the most outstanding individuals.

When selecting from 20 players, the focus may shift from ability to the coach's team requirements, player personality, and relationship with the coach.

The four-day training camp reduced the intensity of training while further improving its precision.

Because the Olympics used FIBA ​​rules, which were more physically demanding and required better shooting, the trapezoidal three-second zone was much wider, making it more difficult for interior players to launch attacks in the low post than in the NCAA (the NCAA's three-second zone was narrower than the NBA's).

Therefore, during the training camp, Knight placed great emphasis on the players' perimeter shooting ability and increased the amount of shooting practice.

There are only two training sessions a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. There is no training in the evening, giving the players free time.

Charles Barkley was undoubtedly the best player at the meal, eating the most, the fastest, and the most voraciously, devouring the food on the table like a whirlwind.

Moreover, even eating couldn't shut him up; he would talk while eating. He was familiar with everyone in the training camp and had a good relationship with them, including Coach Knight's son, Pat Knight.

This kid loves playing with Barkley. When they're not training, they play basketball together, wrestle, and talk nonsense.

After dinner, it should have been rest time, but these young people didn't want to go back to their rooms to play cards so early. Nothing was more suitable for killing time than playing ball on the court.

They were divided into several groups to play a match, 10 balls each. The losing group would go out and be replaced by the next group, and then they would play another 10 balls.

Gan Guoyang teamed up with Stockton, Joe Dumars, Terry Porter, and Anthony Karl.

The reason they were grouped like this is because they all came from obscure elementary schools. Gonzaga only took off this year; before that, he was just a nobody.

Joe Dumars, from McNee State University in Louisiana, joined NCAA Division 1 in 72 but never made it to the NCAA national championships and was virtually unknown nationwide.

Terry Porter comes from Santa Clara University in California, and like McNeapolis State University, he joined the NCAA in 1908, with a national record of 0.

Anthony Karl's situation is slightly better. Wichita State is somewhat well-known and has produced some NBA players, but the team still makes no progress in national competitions and is completely incomparable to those well-known powerhouses.

If it weren't for Gan Guoyang, Gonzaga University would have taken more than a decade to gain national recognition.

However, these players are all very talented, which shows that playing in elementary schools has not overshadowed their talent. It also shows that Coach Knight has put a lot of effort into discovering new talent, and he is definitely not just looking at those students from prestigious schools.

Since taking over the Olympic mission in 1982, Bob Knight has been scouting young players across the United States.

He used his connections to get the phone numbers of a large number of school coaches, called them one by one to inquire about their situations, and then personally went to watch these players play.

It took more than two years to select this group of outstanding talents, most of whom will not be able to make the Olympic team and will eventually be eliminated.

However, participating in such a high-level national training camp, receiving guidance from renowned coaches across the United States (almost all the famous college coaches come to provide guidance and advice), and training and competing with geniuses of the same age will undoubtedly have a positive and significant impact on their basketball careers.

Gan Guoyang led these four players to win many games in a row under FIBA ​​rules.

They beat all five other groups, which is equivalent to winning a round, and stayed on the field for an hour without leaving.

Porter, Dumars, and Stockton are all players who don't show off, but have strong shooting ability and a tough and calm personality.

Anthony Karl was physically strong and was the only power forward who could rival Charles Barkley—even Karl Malone couldn't handle Barkley's big butt.

With Gan Guoyang anchoring the paint, his defense, Stockton's pick-and-roll, and his simple yet efficient one-on-one play became the core foundation of this lineup.

With Porter and Dumars' accurate jump shots, combinations like Ewing + Karl Malone + Mullin, Barkley + Paison + Curry, and Jordan + Perkins + Dawkins all fell short.

Jordan almost single-handedly defeated Gan Guoyang's team. He scored quickly and repeatedly, breaking through like the wind, bringing the score to 9-7. One more goal would have ended the game.

He was really fast, with an amazing burst of speed. For the first time, Gan Guoyang felt that he couldn't keep up with the big guy and was a beat too slow.

Gan Guoyang first made a hook shot, and then cooperated with his teammates in a one-on-one defense to force Jordan to shoot, but he missed.

He grabbed the defensive rebound, dribbled the ball across half-court, turned past Perkins, and scored a layup, leaving the coaches and reporters on the sidelines speechless. Later, in a crucial defensive play, Gan Guoyang and Stockton double-teamed Jordan, forcing him to pass to Perkins.

Perkins had a chance to end the game, but Gan Guoyang unexpectedly turned around and blocked Perkins' layup—although it was a foul and sent Perkins to the free-throw line.

Unfortunately, Perkins only made one of two free throws, giving Gan Guoyang's team a chance to win the game.

Surprisingly, Gan Guoyang caught the ball two steps past half-court, about 45 feet away, and casually threw it, which actually went in off the backboard!
After scoring, Gan Guoyang raised his arms high, and they successfully completed a round, becoming invincible.

Jordan stood at the top of the arc with his hands on his hips, still thinking about how he was going to block Gan Guoyang's shot later.

Seeing Gan Guoyang make such a shot and then make it, he was filled with disbelief and muttered, "Shit!"

He thought to himself that if he were at North Carolina, Coach Dean Smith would be furious with him for making a shot like that, and he would never allow it.

Coach Dean Smith, a member of the Olympic selection voting team, was on the sidelines with John Thompson and others. They watched Gan Guoyang's performance in the final moments and were all amazed.

They felt their basketball values ​​had been completely shattered. "Does a center play like this?"

Gan Guoyang's final long-range shot reminded them of Jerry West's 60-foot game-tying shot in the 1970 Finals. Although the Lakers ultimately lost the game, the impact of that shot, many years later, has even surpassed the significance of the championship, making it unforgettable.

Jordan left the court with utter frustration. He had done his best, but they still lost. He could only watch as Gan Guoyang's team remained on the court.

He walked up to Dean Smith and said, "That guy was just shooting recklessly. I didn't know he'd dare to shoot like that. He's fucking lucky."

Smith shook his head, denying his disciple's statement, and said, "No, he wasn't just shooting blindly; he had to do it. Everyone else was exhausted, and if they played a set offense methodically, they would definitely lose in the end. He made the right decision, forcing you to shoot and Perkins to take free throws from a great distance. He had an element of luck, but you really didn't seize the opportunity, while he did."

Jordan was greatly shocked when he heard Smith say that. So this kid wasn't just playing randomly, but was actually calculating?

At this point, Gan Guoyang's team was indeed running out of energy and was defeated by Ewing, Mullin, and others with a score of 10-5, finally ending their reign as champions.

Knight and John Thompson stood together watching the young players compete.

Knight said without hesitation, "If Gan were American, I wouldn't have let Ewing stay."

John Thompson wanted to speak up for his protégé, saying, "Ewing has some qualities that Gane doesn't possess."

"What? Is she ugly?"

"Bob, Patrick is an excellent player, he has great potential."

“I’m not denying Patrick, but to be honest, John, you’re being a bit too protective of him. He’s going to stay in school for another year, you should give him more freedom and allow him more imagination.”

In Bob Knight's view, Ewing is undoubtedly an excellent, very excellent center.

However, compared to Gan Guoyang, he appears too rigid and lacks imagination on the court.

Gan Guoyang is dazzling on the court, which is all based on his talent, hard training, and deep understanding of basketball.

When the players finished their game and packed up for the day, Knight said to Stu Inman from the coaching staff, "Stu, you absolutely have to draft Forrest Gump this time."

Stu Inman gave Knight a strange look for three seconds and said, "Bob, do you think I'm stupid? Do I need you to remind me of this? I'm just praying that the Houstonians get Hakeem Olajuwon and not Forrest Gump."

Just a few days ago, Stu Inman, representing the Trail Blazers, went to the NBA office in New York to decide who would get the first pick in the 1984 NBA draft by flipping a coin.

The Rockets had incredible luck, winning the number one draft pick for the second consecutive year, and their primary target was naturally Hakeem Olajuwon.

The Trail Blazers were very happy to get the second overall pick, since they would have chosen the one that was left over, whether it was Forrest Gump or Hakeem Olajuwon.

But after seeing Gan Guoyang's performance in training camp, Stu Inman now only hopes that the Houston Rockets will acquire Hakeem Olajuwon and leave Gan to them.

(End of this chapter)