The Golden Age of Basketball

Gan Guoyang spent the All-Star Weekend laughing and joking like this. Compared with the Indiana All-Stars last season, Gan Guoyang was obviously more relaxed and more accustomed to the atmosphere of the All-Stars.

Gan Guoyang has fully possessed the temperament of a basketball star and is on the road to a superstar.

In comparison, Ewing, who entered the league a year later than Gan Guoyang, was much more bored. Not to mention he was injured before the game and couldn’t play, he also sat at the end of the bench off the court, basically the drinking fountain of the Eastern All-Star team.

The TV station showed Ewing many times, and Ewing’s expression was rather monotonous, staring at the field like a countryman entering the city, and occasionally opened his mouth slightly; but when he saw Gan Guoyang imitating Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, The guy grinned too.

Unlike the happy All-Star players, there is one thing that many ordinary players are worried about, and that is the trade deadline after the All-Star break.

In January 1986, entering the middle and late stages of the league, each team began to improve the problems faced by the team in the first half of the season, either signing some veterans or fringe players in the free market, or of course seeking opportunities for trading.

There are not many players that can be expected in the free market. Bob McAdoo was unemployed for half a season after being waived by the Lakers. He was signed by the Philadelphia 76ers at the end of January as a supplement to the interior. It is considered to be a mortal enemy.

The other teams signed some players with short 10-day contracts, which are minor repairs and not worth mentioning.

On the other hand, the trading market was deserted before it was closed. At that time, there were relatively few mid-season transactions between teams, unlike the 21st century when big mid-season transactions would come out every once in a while.

The team that was most likely to have a mid-season trade this season was the Portland Trail Blazers. Vandeweghe, Sampson and others had already made preparations to change teams before March, but in the end the team's situation changed. The stability made the management give up the plan to hurt the muscles and bones, and prepare to start thinking about the structure of the lineup during the offseason.

From the current point of view, the Trail Blazers this season are obviously capable of competing for the championship. Before them, they still rank first in the Western Conference and are second only to the Celtics in the league.

After the end of the All-Star game, the Blazers' schedule is still intensive, and they still have three back-to-back schedules in the second half of the month, which makes the Blazers suffer.

In Game [-] after the All-Star break, they played against the Washington Bullets at home, and it was a tough game.

The team's original starting point guard Valentine has been absent for many games due to injuries. He still failed to return to the starting lineup in this game, and Colter continued to replace him.

Since Colter became the starter, his performance has been relatively stable, and he has regained the trust of Ramsey. However, as a small point guard with a thin body, his weakness was exposed after many games-defense problems .

The Blazers' backcourt defense is not satisfactory. Valentine still has the advantage of being strong and experienced. Colter doesn't even have this advantage. All he has left is enthusiasm.

As a result, the Bullets' backcourt Gus Williams and Jeff Malone played very well in this game. One contributed 20 points and 10 assists, and the other even scored 42 points from the outside.

Drexler's performance in the game is like sleepwalking. It is estimated that he played too much in the All-Star Game and has not yet adapted to the intensity of the official game. He failed to guard Malone at all, and more importantly, he was on the offensive end. There was not enough pressure on Malone so that Malone could focus entirely on offense.

For this, Gan Guoyang finally couldn't help yelling at Drexler in the game. He sent 6 blocks in the interior alone, and beat Sam Bowie to the point where he couldn't take care of himself, but the outside line was pierced by the opponent .

The only player who gave Gan Guoyang his full support in the game was veteran Sampson. He and Gan Guoyang completely suppressed the inside line of the bullets. In this way, the two teams were exploded on the inside and outside.

The Blazers fell behind by a large margin from the first quarter, dug a 12-point hole, and then filled the hole on the inside for the rest of the game, and they were about to fill the hole in the middle of the third quarter. Another 10:0 shot was hit by a bullet, and he fell into the pit again.

In the last quarter, Gan Guoyang exhausted all his strength. He was double-teamed by Sam Bowie, Cliff Robinson, and Manute Ball. Each of them was the tallest in the league. A 7-foot-1 and a 6-foot-9 powerful power forward, three people squeezed around Gan Guoyang is simply towering trees, blocking out the sun.

Gan Guoyang's ability to transfer the ball was mediocre. In this situation where it was difficult to catch the ball, he still scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. Among them, tonight he made a burst of shots and made 5 of 5 shots in the fourth quarter, which made the bullets terrible The three-teaming did not play the best effect.

But the hole dug in front was too big, and the Trail Blazers team was obviously out of shape. With Gan Guoyang's tip-up in the end, the Blazers lost to the Bullets by one point at home 119:120, and were defeated in the All-Star Game. After the first defeat.

After the game, Ramsey went into a rage in the locker room and scolded everyone, including Gan Guoyang. Although he made 27 of 13 shots and 9 of 6 free throws, he scored 32, 18 rebounds and 6 times. Blocked shots, but he didn't dish out an assist.

Not to mention the others, except for the veteran Sampson who completed his task conscientiously and scored 20 points and 11 rebounds, basically the players who played did not perform at a normal competitive level.

But even so, the Blazers still have a chance to kill the bullets at home, which is enough to show that the current hard power of the Blazers is indeed quite strong, but the state of this game is really worrying.

After experiencing the regrettable loss of this game, the Trail Blazers' record has also changed to 42 wins and 12 losses, still ranking second in the Western Conference's first league, but they also suffered their first losing streak this season.

Without much time to reflect on adjustments, the Blazers immediately set off to Los Angeles to face the Clippers away.

The rapid momentum of the Clippers at the beginning of the season has long since disappeared, and the overly aging lineup made them suffer from injuries. But even so, the Blazers still encountered a strong resistance from the Clippers in the away game. After the rest of the offseason, they are full of energy.

The two sides staggered until the last moment of the fourth quarter. Only then did the Blazers rely on the sudden explosion of Vandeweghe and Paxson to hit consecutive outside jumpers. 24 points, and finally 6:115, a five-point advantage won the game with difficulty.

The Blazers exposed two problems in the two games. The backcourt defense is a problem that runs through the whole season. The second problem is that the Blazers failed to discover before, that is, the combination of inside and outside in the offense.

The previous Trail Blazers played the best offense in the league. Their quick counterattack is not as bad as the Lakers. In the positional offense, what they do best is the combination of inside and outside. There is a strong attack point, and there are many other offensive points at the same time. , Every player on the court has a strong offensive power, even a rookie like Porter dares to attack.

As a result, the opponent is often exhausted, trying to pinch a certain attack point, but another or two attack points are opened again, and the opponent often dies under the arrows.

However, as the season progressed, the teams found after playing against the Blazers that although the Blazers had many offensive points and a balanced offense inside and outside, they lacked connection inside and outside. Little progress has been made this season.

So the Bullets and the Clippers began to pinch the Blazers' internal and external passes with all their strength, and actively expanded the defense line. Except Gan Guoyang, he would never double-team anyone else, and he was determined to grab the frontcourt rebounds with all his strength to prevent Gan Guoyang from passing super easily. The long pass, coupled with the general condition of the Blazers outside, made the game so difficult.

Without a sharp fast break, without a combination of inside and outside to mobilize the opponent's defense, the offense that the Blazers rely on for survival is in trouble.

When Ramsey and Behrman analyzed to Gan Guoyang after the game, hoping that he could continue to improve his passing level so as to better help the team, Gan Guoyang still felt very sad.

For him, it is unacceptable for him to let the team get into trouble because of his own reasons. After all, he really worked very hard on the court. He scored more than 30 points and 15 rebounds in both games .

However, Gan Guoyang can also feel that he suffers more and more double-teams on the field. Once he is double-teamed, his transfer of the ball will always be half a beat slower. It ends with a shot, and the hit rate can be imagined.

Gan Guoyang accepted the opinions of the two coaches, but it is basically impossible to improve his passing awareness in a short period of time. Gan Guoyang can only continue to practice in actual combat.

The Blazers' next opponents are the Boston Celtics who came to Portland to visit, and Bill Wharton who returned to his hometown.

During the Portland period, Walton was known as the most passing center. In his peak 1977-1978 season (mvp of the season), he averaged five assists per game.

And his passing ability does not only lie in the data of these five assists, but also in his combing of the Blazers' team offense and his command and deployment of the team's players, showing the style of a general.

Before the Celtics' visit to Portland, the comparison between the passing level of the two was repeatedly exaggerated. This season, Gan Guoyang averaged only 1.7 assists per game—his super long Long passes are often not counted as assists.

The TV station also made a video comparing the passing of the two. Gan Guoyang's was all mistakes, and Bill Wharton's were all good passes.

This undoubtedly angered Gan Guoyang. During the game, he took the initiative to ask to catch the ball in the high position instead of always in the low position. Ramsey agreed with Gan Guoyang's proposal. He originally wanted Gan Guoyang to avoid the Celtics in the attack. The edge of a strong frontcourt.

As a result, at the Memorial Stadium, Gan Guoyang scored his first triple-double of the season - 27 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8 blocks, almost completing a quadruple-double miracle.

The Celtics' idea of ​​revenge in Portland was shattered, and they were double-killed by the Trail Blazers this season!