Chapter 387: The Lion Fights the Rabbit
Unlike the 1960s, the Baker League is no longer a high-level league where professional players gather. Although there are good players on the streets of Philadelphia and the game style is tough, these amateur young people cannot compete with retired superstars, especially Irving has only retired for two years, not to mention the superstars at the peak.
Chamberlain is talented and has unparalleled physical fitness. He is nearly 60 years old. He can still call the wind and rain in the amateur field and can also knock one on the opponent's head. This is why he likes to play games everywhere so much.
Today, Chamberlain was really very satisfied with the fight. Specifically, it was very satisfying to be abused by Gan Guoyang. Gan Guoyang did not save face for Lao Zhang. He used his young body and superb skills to beat Chamberlain in his fifties all over the ground in the inside.
After the game, Chamberlain was finally unhappy and threw the ball and said he would not play anymore. At that time, Gan Guoyang had already scored 50 points on Chamberlain's head. He could shoot as much as he could. The attacks from others were in vain.
However, Dr. J also has the strength to fight Gan Guoyang. After all, he has just retired and everyone is playing. Irving can often offer exciting dunks, making the audience cheer loudly, as if he is savoring the glory of the past.
Sonny Hill, who was standing aside, could see that Gan Guoyang was doing his best. Once a player of this level did his best in the amateur field, the other person would not have much impact on the result of the game if he replaced the primary school student. He decisively stopped the game, not hoping that Chamberlain would lose face again.
But Dr. J signaled Hill that he hoped the game would continue.
"Someone once said that Hammond scored 50 points in the half, but I want to say that it is impossible, he can't score 50 points, but now, there are indeed people who can score 50 points in the Baker League half." Dr. J said to everyone.
In the game against Joe Hammond, the Destroyers thought he had scored 50 points in the first half, and Dr. J believed that this was impossible. In the end, the showdown between the two became a legend on the street, which was praised by others but no one knew the truth.
Gan Guoyang didn't know if this was Dr. J's conspiracy. He gave himself all his strength in the Baker League, and then left Gan Guoyang without the strength to play in tomorrow's game.
However, Gan Guoyang's superb street ball skills conquered everyone present. Everyone on the scene could see that Gan Guoyang did not play orthodox basketball here, but had a strong street style. His skillful dribbling and spinning turn under his crotch made it hard to believe that he was a center forward of six feet.
Of course, he didn't get another fifty points in the second half. He still wanted to save some face for Chamberlain. In the end, he scored 70 points in the whole game and led the team to win easily.
At night, Chamberlain was so angry that he didn't want to have dinner with Gan Guoyang, so he ran to the hotel alone to find a girl to spend the night with him. Gan Guoyang and Dr. J found a small restaurant to have some late-night snacks.
Before this game, the friendship between Gan Guoyang and Irving was not too deep. After all, the two were not players of the same generation. When Gan Guoyang just reached its peak, Dr. J's basketball career had ended.
In the few matches, the two had no grudges and hatreds. Facing the Philadelphia 76ers, Gan Guoyang, Moses Malone and Barkley's relationship was obviously deeper - of course, they were more quarrels with Barkley and angry.
This time, the two of them could sit down and have some delicious food and chat. If Drexler knew about it, he would definitely be jealous of Gan Guoyang. Dr. J has always been Drexler's idol.
As an iconic figure in the NBA period, Dr. J is different from many black players. He is humble, elegant and has good conversations. He has never been known for his trash talk in the league, but a gentle and gentleman.
His dunks on the court also looked graceful and elegant, without the violent aura of Dominic Wilkins. In the post-match interview, he was the favorite of the media except Magic Johnson, and he always maintained a good relationship with the media.
In Philadelphia, Dr. J is also deeply loved. The small restaurant that Gan Guoyang and him came to is permanently free for Dr. J.
The two of them were eating Kansai veal imported from Japan and chatting, and finally they would definitely talk about basketball. The one who Gan Guoyang was most interested in was of course the championship.
Dr. J's 1983 championship was hard-won and the process was heart-wrenching. He lost only one game in three series, setting a record in the NBA playoffs.
"Keep the absolute desire for victory. When you and your team reach a certain level, your spiritual power will be extremely strong. The desire for victory will make you concentrate all your attention and focus on victory and championship. Sometimes this is more important than anything else." Dr. J talked about the 1983 championship, his deepest feelings.
"Sometimes, I'm just too casual and lack some motivation. Just like in 1977, we thought we were going to win and the champion was already in the bag, but the result... we were in Portland in a dirt. Then year after year, of course, the arrival of Moses is very, very important, but I believe that even without Moses, we could still win the championship in 1983, and our desire for the championship has reached its limit."
"When your hunger for victory and championship disappears, sometimes the team is over, it's over. We died miserably in 1984 and were...the feeling of losing is like jumping out of a plane and failing to open a parachute in the air. We thought we could open the parachute, and we still had Charles, but it was useless. In fact, I understand, we didn't bring a parachute at all."
When Dr. J talked about the champion, his eyes were still bright, but when he remembered the painful failure of the following year, his expression became sad again.
Gan Guoyang sat there and listened quietly. He was already familiar with the stories of the champions, but when he heard those champion witnesses telling him the ups and downs of the ups and downs, the feeling was completely different.
Gan Guoyang believes that this is a transmission of spiritual power. In the eyes of those basketball superstars, Gan Guoyang is no longer a yellow boy from the other side of the ocean, but a superstar who can inherit the character of the champion.
"I believe I will win the championship this year, and our condition is unparalleled." Gan Guoyang said confidently, and took a bite of veal.
"Hahaha, you are now the team with the highest odds to win the championship, which is higher than the Detroit Pistons. However, I bet that in the eyes of many old fans and NBA players, you are not the most powerful contenders for the championship." Dr. J said with a smile.
Gan Guoyang nodded after hearing this. He knew that from the record, the Trail Blazers rank first in the league and the team's books were strong, but many people still believe that the Trail Blazers do not have the temperament of a champion, which is more or less due to people's prejudice against Gan Guoyang, the Trail Blazers core.
In the 1988 season, the Trail Blazers had better record, and Gan Guoyang's data performed even better, but Gan Guoyang lost to Jordan in the MVP selection. Jordan's data performance was indeed amazing, but the team's record was much worse than the Trail Blazers.
It was rumored at that time that the reason why Gan Guoyang failed to get the MVP and fell behind many votes in the selection was that Gan Guoyang was a yellow person and the NBA could not accept their regular season MVP was a yellow-skinned foreigner.
Dr. J looked at Gan Guoyang, finished eating the last piece of meat on the plate, and leaned over to Gan Guoyang and said, "Your team is very strong and the overall strength is very outstanding. However, you still have to play MVP and win an MVP to prove to everyone that you are not only the best team, but also the best players."
Up to now, Gan Guoyang's performance on rebounds is still stable. The rebounding champion is basically in the lottery, but his performance in scoring has declined significantly compared to last year. After 11 games, his average score is "only" 24 points. Although he has two 40 plus and two 30 plus games, his scoring fluctuations are very high, and he often takes a few shots in one game and gets ten points.
This is related to the overall tactics of the Trail Blazers. Adelman pursues the rationality of the team's shooting and the dispersibility of the scoring. Moreover, several players on the outside have strong scoring abilities, and Gan Guoyang is currently very happy to share the ball rights with his teammates.
"Of course, I don't want you to seize the right to attack from your teammates. Your coach will have his own arrangements. It's a bad thing to seize the right to attack. But I'm sure you can play better. Now you have too few playing time, averaging 34 minutes per game. Are you the same age as me? Your game will be getting more and more difficult in the future, and there will not always be a chance to solve your opponent in three quarters. Playing a shocking performance, you will find that the kind of heart will follow."
Listening to Dr. J's words, Gan Guoyang remembered his performance in the past dozen games. He did feel like he was fishing for three days and running on the net for two days. When his teammates came, he would take a break from his busy schedule. When his teammates couldn't do it, he would take the lead.
This loose and tight state is acceptable at the beginning of the regular season, but as the season deepens, the teams get well in running-in, and the strong teams will get more and more into the state. At that time, the Trail Blazers will also have their own problems, injuries, tactical running-in problems, schedule problems, and the game will definitely become more and more difficult.
In fact, this time, the sixth consecutive visitor was a huge challenge. Gan Guoyang realized that he should not be fearless. Even if the strength of the Trail Blazers is indeed higher than that of other teams, he cannot tolerate any negligence in competitive sports.
Chapter completed!