The Golden Age of Basketball.

Chapter 992 My Fighting Style
For Gan Guoyang, having the opening game of the new season in Milwaukee was a completely new experience.

Because he had always played for Western Conference teams, the opening game was always a battle between Western Conference teams.

Especially teams from nearby cities, such as Seattle, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Phoenix.

Seattle and Los Angeles are the most common, and it has become a routine for Gan Guoyang to start the new season with these two teams, since it is either the first, second, or third game anyway.

This season, the Glorious were assigned to the Eastern Conference, which changed the situation. The vice president in charge of scheduling no longer had control over Las Vegas's geographical location and could only fill all 82 games at will.

Yao Ming's first NBA regular season game will begin with this Eastern Conference tour. After this game in Milwaukee, their next stop is Chicago, a visit to Jordan's old turf. The third game will be back in Las Vegas. What an interesting schedule.

At the end of October, Milwaukee was entering winter, with temperatures nearing zero degrees Celsius. When planes arrived at the airport at night, the cold wind made it even more chilly.

After arriving at the hotel, Gan Guoyang took everyone to a famous Chinese restaurant nearby to have something to eat so they could get a good night's sleep.

Everyone is excited, nervous, and a little scared about the new season, especially the newly joined players.

Jordan and Gan Guoyang were renowned figures, two legends who dominated the entire 90s. Younger players grew up watching their games.

Based on their interactions during the preseason training camp over the past month, the young players have found that Forrest Gump seems easier to get along with, while Jordan is more demanding on the court. Forrest Gump is more lenient and gives you some room to adjust after making a mistake, whereas Jordan might immediately start scolding you.

But after spending more time with him, the players realized that Forrest Gump had a stronger and wider range of control.

Because Jordan only cares about your performance on the court, a few offensive and defensive plays. If you don't do well, he'll scold you; if you do well, he'll let it go.

Forrest Gump, however, can control every aspect of your life. Apart from your private life, his powerful influence covers you in every way, an invisible dominance.

For example, you can't gamble in Las Vegas. Although no one will arrest you, you're guaranteed to lose if you go to the casino.

Your lavish lifestyle will be controlled. You can go drinking and have sex, but if you do it too often, the manager will come over and tell you, "Mr. Sonny has paid for it."

Once or twice is one thing, but if it happens every time, you'll start to think, "Damn it, I'm being monitored by Forrest Gump. Forget it, I'm done playing this game, I owe too much."

There's also the matter of meals. Gan Guoyang often treats everyone to meals and drinks to foster camaraderie.

In Las Vegas, if you're married, you're expected to bring your wife and children with you.

These family gatherings can enhance team cohesion and also allow wives and children to become a source of motivation for the players' hard work.

Gan Guoyang said to them, "The season is in progress, and playing away games will be tough. The men can't do without your contributions. Thank you for your contributions."

Pat Riley used this tactic when he was with the Lakers, with the ultimate goal of preventing women from holding players back and allowing family matters to interfere with their performance on the court.

Humans are actually quite similar to dogs. One or two dogs pose no threat; they'll tuck their tails between their legs and run away when they see a human.

Once dogs form packs, even pet dogs, they can become a powerful predatory group in cities, suburbs, and rural areas.

They might even attack children, becoming a local menace.

The key to dogs and wolves forming packs is having a strong leader.

After a season of development and with the addition of strong reinforcements this season, Glory is becoming a powerful force.

On the evening of October 30th, the Milwaukee Glorious visited the Bucks at Bradley Arena, and the stadium was packed with every single seat filled.

The Bucks have had good attendance rates for the past two years, ranking high in the league, because they have indeed played well in recent seasons.

However, their ticket prices had never been very high, but as a result, tickets for this first battle between the two Radiant Gods were sold out.

Many fans from other states booked tickets, even buying scalped tickets, after the schedule was released, just to come to Milwaukee to see Gangacho.

This is a huge boon for a small market like Milwaukee; this quiet little city hasn't been this lively in a long time.

Even when they reached the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2001 season, the atmosphere at home was not as intense as in this game.

The Bradley Arena, which originally had 18717 seats, has been expanded to 19200 seats.

Just like the Glass Palace in Portland back then, all that's missing is selling hanging tickets. You know, an extra hundred seats would mean tens of thousands in ticket revenue.

The fans were already there when the warm-up started, and the scene was truly spectacular, especially for Yao Ming.

When playing in the CBA, even the most popular finals only had a few thousand spectators per game, which is incomparable to the nearly 20000 people in the NBA arena.

Even for younger players like Miller, Bale, and Wallace, who have a few years of experience, such a lineup still makes them nervous.

Only Gan Guoyang and Jordan were completely unfazed; they had experienced far too many big moments before.

Like the 1987 World Cup Finals at the Silver Dome, with 40000 spectators in attendance, the stands were as tall and magnificent as the Super Bowl stadium.

In such a situation, with the entire world broadcasting it live, they could just attack whoever they wanted, without caring at all.

During Jordan's rookie season, wherever he went, the streets were packed with people, and countless fans surrounded him to watch him play, going crazy for him.

Both of them are natural-born for big stages; the bigger the stage, the more excited they become, and the better they perform.

With such a small number of players in Milwaukee, it's impossible to get them into peak condition; they can only warm up slowly.

Even before the game started, Bucks players ran over to the Glory team and asked to take a photo with Gan Guoyang and Jordan and get their autographs.

Neither of them refused; getting a photo and autograph from both of them during a match is quite valuable.

Bucks head coach George Karl couldn't stand it anymore and strictly forbade the team's young players from doing so, forbidding them from getting autographs and photos with the two stars.

“George’s temper is still as bad as ever,” Gan Guoyang said with a laugh.

Gan Guoyang and Jordan can be considered George Karl's biggest nemesis in his career, as he has never beaten either of them in the playoffs.

The Western Conference teams were thoroughly defeated by Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers. After finally making it to the Finals, they were then beaten by Jordan and the Bulls, losing the championship.

After joining the Bucks, he made a name for himself with a lineup of Cassell, Ray Allen, and Robinson.

In the 2001 season, with Duncan sidelined due to injury, they battled the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals and almost made it to the NBA Finals.

However, after Duncan returned from injury, the Eastern Conference became the Celtics' domain.

This season, two more old scoundrels teamed up, which infuriated George Karl.

Just as Karl was forbidding players from taking photos with Gan Guoyang and Jordan, Ray Allen deliberately went over and chatted with his two idols.

Then they went to the sidelines and had a reporter take a picture of the three of them, an action that made George Karl very angry.

Back on the bench, Karl confronted Ray Allen: "I told you not to take pictures with them, we're opponents!"

Ray Allen nonchalantly replied, "That's my prerogative. The game hasn't even started yet."

Karl almost wanted to strip Ray Allen of his starting position, but it was the opening game with 20000 spectators in attendance, and the opponent was the Radiant.

The head coach inexplicably gave the star player to DNP, which was bound to cause dissatisfaction among the fans, so Karl could only suppress his anger.

Ray Allen, however, sneered inwardly. Karl had become increasingly unreasonable over the past two seasons.

Karl is always like this; when he first joins a team, he can infect the team with his passion and madness, ignite a flame in a team that lacks vitality, and drive it forward.

From the Cavaliers to the Warriors, from the SuperSonics to the Bucks, Karl was a basketball fanatic, a megalomaniac who feared no one.

But over time, Karl's passion and madness will turn into an unreasonable desire for control and dictatorship, especially after leading the team to achieve certain results, he will become increasingly unbearable. In terms of control, unlike Gan Guoyang, who has a good balance of strictness and leniency, he will escalate the situation until the team's cohesion explodes under his manipulation.

The Bucks were no exception this time. In the 2001 season, Karl led the Bucks' Big Three to a successful season, and Karl received praise.

However, in a subsequent interview with Ray Allen in Sports Illustrated that year, he criticized Ray Allen, saying that Ray Allen cared too much about his own style, was too gentlemanly in the game, not crazy or wild enough, and that he didn't like Ray Allen smiling during the game.

This public attack angered Ray Allen, causing their relationship to deteriorate rapidly.

Later, Ray Allen discovered that George Carr forbade assistant coach Stotts from playing golf with Ray Allen, saying it would make Ray Allen's course style soft.

Ray Allen found this utterly absurd. "What does my playing golf have to do with you? What does it have to do with my playing style?" Jordan also enjoyed playing golf.

From then on, their relationship gradually deteriorated.

In the 2001-2002 season, the Bucks signed Anthony Mason in free agency. This former teammate of Gan Guoyang on the Trail Blazers has now made a name for himself in the league.

After playing for several teams, this muscular and rugged man has developed a knack for playmaking and offense. It was initially thought that his arrival would boost the Bucks' offense and defense.

Little did they know that this veteran player was ruining the team, constantly complaining on the court that he didn't have the ball.

In the locker room, he disobeyed the coach's instructions, turning his chair around to indicate that he was not listening when George Karl explained the tactics.

If Carl reminded him, Mason would say fiercely, "Shut up, you fat pig."

Anthony Mason went too far, yet George Karl, that coward who bullies the weak, didn't dare to fight back.

This led to a further deterioration in the Bucks' locker room, ultimately causing them to slip from the Eastern Conference Finals last season to the lower half of the Eastern Conference, where they were simply unable to challenge the Celtics.

The team was in disarray, and the Bucks' solution was to trade Glenn Robinson for Toni Kukoc and a 2003 first-round draft pick.

Management clearly had lost patience with the roster, a harbinger of a rebuild, and Ray Allen knew his time in Milwaukee was numbered.

So he didn't tolerate George Karl at all. You won't let us sign autographs and take photos? I'm going anyway. They're both my idols, and this is a rare opportunity.

The game began in this atmosphere. The Glorious team was united and of one mind, while the Bucks, though appearing to be a team, were actually divided and not far from disintegration.

The Bucks' starting lineup consists of Sam Cassell, Ray Allen, Jason Caffey, Dan Gadzuric, and Tim Thomas.

The Bucks' summer trade for Big Dog Robinson was a complete disaster. They didn't get a quality big man in return, only a 2003 draft pick whose position was still unknown.

Their starting center is a rookie, and their power forward is a fat guy who's about to drop out of the league.

With such a weak interior, they were completely unable to contend with the veteran starting lineup of Gan Guoyang and Ewing for the Glory team.

Ewing is indeed getting old, but he can still hold his own for about fifteen minutes in the starting lineup.

Despite being 38 years old, Gan Guoyang is in excellent form after a season of recovery and a summer of adjustment.

Moreover, Yao Ming, the number one draft pick, was sitting on the bench of the Glorious team.

The starting perimeter players for the team were Jordan, Wallace, and Andre Miller.

This is an outside shooting lineup that isn't very good at shooting from beyond the arc.

However, in this era, having a high-level three-point shooter like Gan Guoyang in the starting lineup is enough.

The game started quickly, and it was a jump ball between Ewing and Gazuric. Ewing really couldn't jump.

With each jump during the game, Ewing felt that his career was about to end a little bit longer.

At the start of the game, the Bucks were clearly hesitant on offense. Who wouldn't be afraid when facing a team led by Forrest Gump and Jordan?

Ray Allen quickly broke the deadlock with a layup after receiving the ball, scoring the first point of the game.

For Glorious, Jordan controlled the ball up to half-court. The initial tactical setup was clear: Gan Guoyang ran a pick-and-roll with Jordan at the right three-point line.

Here comes the age-old problem for defenders: how do you defend when these two players run a pick-and-roll?

A pincer attack? Then who are you planning to let in?

Switching defenders? Does it make sense?
Not changing it? What's the point?
It doesn't seem to be very effective; just do whatever you need to defend against!

Jordan accelerated and found an opportunity at the top of the arc, pulled up and took a jump shot, and it went in!
The fans in the stadium cheered, even though it was the away team.

"It was easy, very light," Jordan said to Gan Guoyang with a smile after scoring.

"I told you to lose weight, and it definitely works! Trust me, you won't regret it!"

The two chatted while playing, which did not hinder their defense and offense on the court at all.

Sam Cassell was double-teamed, so he passed the ball to the outside, then rotated to the inside.

Kafi received the ball and went for a layup, but Gan Guoyang blocked it with a big shot.

Miller gets the ball, fast breaks the defense, drives the length of the court, and scores a layup!

Andre Miller is a player with mediocre shooting ability, average speed and explosiveness, and a very simple playing style.

But on the court, he was very consistent in scoring, assists, and defense.

The reason the team acquired him in the Glory trade was that they wanted a reliable point guard to complement the unpredictable Van Exel on the bench.

Although Glorious relies on Gan Guoyang and Jordan as the core of their offense, both players allow other players enough autonomy to play the offense they are good at.

Jordan and Gan Guoyang are both the kind of old-school all-around basketball players who can handle the ball and perform well in team off-ball play.

After taking the lead with a fast break, the Bucks' offense became even more difficult. They couldn't penetrate inside, and their outside shooting relied on Cassell and Ray Allen taking turns attacking or forcing shots, resulting in a clear lack of depth in their offense.

If the attack lacks structure and variation, Glorious can simply hold a single formation and wait for you to charge.

If you manage to get in, consider yourself lucky; if you don't, just wait for the counterattack.

The Bucks were clearly unlucky tonight, with Ray Allen missing a three-pointer and a floater after a baseline drive.

Gan Guoyang firmly controlled the rebounds. Jordan took the ball and launched a counterattack. After slowly crossing half-court, he squeezed his way in over Ray Allen, then made a fadeaway jump shot!

"Fuck, who told you to use a fadeaway jumper on the counterattack?" Gan Guoyang was dissatisfied with Jordan's offensive choice.

However, Gan Guoyang then launched a long-range three-pointer during the counterattack and made it!

"You're still hitting three-pointers on the fast break, and from way beyond that!"

"You don't understand, this is the latest style of play, my own style!"

In the first five minutes, the Bucks went on a 14-4 run, leaving them with no chance to fight back, while the fans in the arena cheered and applauded.

They had set aside their differences of friend and foe and were simply appreciating the grand symphony of basketball; their control of the rhythm was truly superb.

Although this is their first time being teammates, they have been friends for almost 20 years and know each other better than anyone else.

(End of this chapter)