The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 884 Core Benefits
The victory over the Heat makes the Trail Blazers look like they're getting back on track, and they've won four straight games.

However, the Trail Blazers also showed weaknesses they hadn't had before: their offense became inconsistent.

Especially with the second unit, even with Charles Barkley on the court, the Trail Blazers still frequently experience periods of sluggish performance.

This was not the case in the past two seasons. The Trail Blazers' starting lineup and second unit have a smooth transition, and the second unit is even more aggressive than the starters.

Kobe's move from the bench to the starting lineup is largely due to the decline of players like Mullin, Porter, and A.C. Green, which further degraded the quality of the Trail Blazers' bench resources.

While Jermaine O'Neal and Ben Wallace have developed into promising players, their primary role as interior players has been on defense rather than offense.

Ben Wallace, in particular, had a terrible offensive game. His free throw percentage was even worse than Shaquille O'Neal's, and he had absolutely no independent offensive ability.

In this situation, it would be difficult to maintain the continuity of the second unit's offense by relying on a 36-year-old Charles Barkley and a 36-year-old Dell Curry.

Judging from the results of many games in the early part of the season, the Trail Blazers' bench has a certain explosiveness, but it is also prone to going cold and scoring droughts, making the games more likely to be unpredictable.

Faced with this situation, it's unlikely that the Trail Blazers will be able to finish the game at halftime and then dominate in the third quarter. The game will likely go into the crucial moments of the fourth quarter, testing the hard skills of their star players.

Fortunately, this is one of the Trail Blazers' strengths.

This season, Gan Guoyang has basically stopped exerting himself in the first half, saving his energy and offensive power for the second half.

Meanwhile, Kobe entered his fourth season in his career. After the experience of the 1999 NBA Finals, Kobe's personal abilities and mentality have been greatly improved.

His dribbling, penetration, shooting, and ability to finish difficult shots gradually made him stand out among his peers, reminding people of a young Michael Jordan.

In the game against the Heat, Kobe Bryant scored consecutive baskets in the final half of the quarter to extinguish the Heat's comeback attempt.

Leaving Miami, the Trail Blazers headed to Orlando for their next game. Facing a weaker Magic, the Trail Blazers were dragged into the final moments of the game.

Both sides scored very low. In the final stage, it was Kobe and Gan Guoyang again. Kobe scored 5 points in a row, and Gan Guoyang scored 4 points in a row, widening the gap.

The Trail Blazers defeated the Magic 94-90, a four-point advantage, and achieved their fifth consecutive victory.

The Orlando Magic went downhill after losing Shaquille O'Neal, and Anfernee Hardaway was plagued by injuries and quickly fell from his position as a top star in the league.

In August of that summer, the Magic finally decided to trade Hardaway to the Suns, receiving Danny Manning, who was also plagued by injuries, in return, along with two first-round draft picks from 2001 and 2002.

If the Magic had kept O'Neal, the team's record would definitely have been better and more consistent, Hardaway's injury might have been alleviated to some extent, and he wouldn't have had to bear so much pressure.

With Hardaway's trade, the Magic's first glorious era came to an abrupt end. At that time, O'Neal was only 27 years old and Hardaway was 28, both in their prime. The Magic's management paid the price for their stupidity, arrogance, and lack of experience.

On November 20th, the Trail Blazers defeated the 76ers in Philadelphia in a similar manner.

The two sides fought fiercely until the very last moment of the game, ending in a tie of 88-88.

With 11 seconds remaining in the game, the Trail Blazers had possession of the ball.

Allen Iverson just hit a game-tying mid-range shot on offense.

Philadelphia fans went wild as Iverson has emerged as one of the league’s best scorers this season.

His breakthroughs, crossover dribbling, and pull-up jump shots have made him a benchmark player for the new era.

His iconic cornrows and wire afro brought street culture to the NBA. With baggy shorts, hip-hop style, big gold chains, diamond rings, and all sorts of tattoos, he began to lead a new era of trends.

Just like Gan Guoyang and Jordan led the basketball fashion trend in the 80s and 90s in 1984, they are now outdated. The fashion trend at the beginning of the 21st century belongs to Allen Iverson.

Leading a trend requires more than just appearance and attire; more importantly, it requires real ability.

After Larry Brown took over the Philadelphia 76ers, he began to build a tactical system entirely around Allen Iverson.

This season, Iverson averaged a career-high 28 points per game, officially entering the ranks of superstars.

With the team averaging around 80 field goal attempts per game, Iverson had an astonishing 24 attempts.

They account for 30% of the team's total possessions, demonstrating their remarkable ability to manage ball control.

In contrast, in the 1987 season, Michael Jordan averaged 27.8 field goal attempts per game, accounting for 31.9 of the Bulls' total attempts.

Even Gan Guoyang in 1987 couldn't compare to Jordan or Iverson in this respect, because Gan Guoyang's shooting percentage was too high; he didn't need to take as many shots to score more points.

However, Jordan is 198cm tall, the ceiling height and physical attributes among guards, while Gan Guoyang is 209cm tall, with superhuman strength and an extremely long wingspan. Both of them are exceptionally talented monsters.

Allen Iverson also possessed exceptional physical attributes, but at 183 cm, or even less than 180 cm in actual height, he stood out so much in the NBA, a league full of giants, as if he were an ordinary person challenging the gods.

His scoring ability and dazzling skills have made him increasingly popular among ordinary fans.

Fans were getting tired of basketball being just a sport for giants, and Iverson provided them with a way to challenge those giants.

In this match, Iverson scored the equalizer while being defended by Gan Guoyang.

He still remembers the torment and humiliation he suffered at the hands of Forrest Gump during his rookie season. Forrest Gump, like a warden, completely locked Iverson in a cage.

Now, Iverson is faster and more experienced, while Gan Guoyang's defensive footwork is clearly not as good as it was at its peak. Iverson made this shot, which was extremely important to him. After making the shot, he roared loudly and showed the audience on the sidelines his not-so-developed, even somewhat lean, biceps.

Iverson knew the game wasn't over yet; with 11 seconds left, it was enough for Forrest Gump to punish everyone with a game-winning shot.

So who cares, let's celebrate first. We'll be stunned if we get a last-second kill later, so celebrating now is worth it.

With 11 seconds left, the score was tied. After the Trail Blazers' timeout ended, Larry Brown immediately called another timeout to disrupt the Trail Blazers' strategy.

Carlisle wasn't idle either. When the 76ers' timeout ended and the Trail Blazers had difficulty inbounding the ball, Carlisle also called a timeout.

In the final 11 seconds, the game was repeatedly paused, causing anxiety among fans both at the stadium and watching on television, and the game dragged on for a long time.

Finally, the Trail Blazers launched an attack. Gan Guoyang inbounded the ball to Kobe and then went to the low post to draw attention.

Kobe received the ball and drove to the basket, stopping abruptly near the free-throw line to shoot a jump shot. However, the shot was faked and passed directly to Gan Guoyang under the basket.

Gan Guoyang received the ball and easily laid it in! He scored two points, and the Trail Blazers successfully took the lead 90-88, leaving the 76ers with only 3 seconds left.

Larry Brown used his last timeout. Iverson looked up at the scoreboard and the big screen, thinking, "Damn it, Forrest made the shot."

Gan Guoyang's face remained expressionless as he scored the winning goal, as if it were just another ordinary goal. In his long career, such goals were all too common.

The 76ers had a chance to win the game in the final moments. Iverson was double-teamed and passed the ball to Aaron McGee, who took a three-pointer. If it went in, it would be a slaying blow against his former team.

Unfortunately, the shot was clearly off target from the moment it was released. There wasn't enough time, and the ball bounced off the front of the rim and flew out. The game ended, and the Trail Blazers secured another victory.

It was a hard-fought victory. The Trail Blazers' wins aren't as easy as they used to be; their recent games have gone down to the wire.

When the buzzer sounded, the whole team breathed a sigh of relief. Kobe had played well tonight, and had made some brilliant plays in the crucial moments.

But when the game ended, he ignored Allen Iverson who came over to say hello, and left the court alone with his head down, returning to the locker room as if he had lost the game.

Within the Trail Blazers, Kobe seemed increasingly isolated and withdrawn.

His skills have improved significantly since his rookie season, but his relationship with his teammates is not as good as it was during his rookie year.

Back then, although he was arrogant, competitive, and aloof, at least he was lively and occasionally quite funny, like a child. Everyone treated him with great tolerance, like a callow youth, and could forgive many of his flaws.

He has now been in the league for four years, which, from a workplace perspective, makes him a veteran employee.

His competitive and ambitious mindset remained unchanged, even intensified, while his temper became increasingly eccentric and unpredictable.

He doesn't attend most parties or social events, has no private interactions, and disappears after training and competitions; nobody knows where he goes.

Even Jermaine O'Neal, who had always been close to Kobe, often couldn't figure out what Kobe was thinking or doing at the start of this season.

Gan Guoyang was preoccupied with various matters both on and off the court, and had no time to pay attention to his younger brother. Besides, he had been in the league for four years and should have learned to walk on his own long ago.

Of course, nothing stays secret forever. The daily gossip of sports stars is always a favorite of the media, and paparazzi are always the first to get involved in any scandals.

On the flight from Portland to Miami that day, Gan Guoyang saw a news article about Kobe's affair: he was getting along very well with a beautiful woman in Los Angeles.

In the fall, Kobe went to Los Angeles for training. He had a group of friends in the hip-hop scene who helped him record a hip-hop album—this was a common practice for many black NBA stars at the time, and there was a lot of interaction between the NBA and the hip-hop scene.

During the recording of the music video, Kobe met a beautiful 17-year-old girl named Vanessa who was a backup dancer in the video. Kobe fell in love with her at first sight.

At that time, Vanessa was still in high school, but Kobe didn't care about that and immediately began pursuing Vanessa.

He started sending flowers to Vanessa's Orange County High School and drove his Mercedes to pick her up from school, causing a disturbance in the neighborhood.

At the time, Gan Guoyang's espionage case was making headlines, so not many people paid attention to Kobe's love life.

Once the heat of the spy case subsided, the media in Portland and Los Angeles began to shift their attention to Kobe and his young girlfriend.

Because they lived and worked in Portland, Kobe and Vanessa embarked on a painful long-distance relationship. The only good news for Kobe was that there were two teams in Los Angeles, giving him four opportunities to play away games in Los Angeles each season.

Kobe desperately wanted Vanessa to transfer to Portland, and he would pay for all the expenses. He was even willing to pay off the debts of Vanessa's not-so-well-off family.

However, this behavior undoubtedly went against Kobe's parents, especially his controlling mother Pamela, who opposed the relationship from the beginning.

Ironically, Pamela faced similar opposition from her family when she fell in love with Joe Bryant. Pamela's father was extremely shocked and strongly opposed to his daughter falling in love with a basketball player. He had always hoped that his highly educated daughter would marry a lawyer or a doctor, rather than associating with a black professional basketball player from South Philadelphia, where the reputation of professional basketball players was not good.

Despite her father's objections, the strong-willed and opinionated Pamela stayed with Joe Bryant and gave birth to Kobe.

Now it's Kobe's turn to torment Pamela. Faced with fierce opposition from his parents, especially his mother, Kobe declared that he was determined to be with Vanessa.

Therefore, when the team wasn't training or playing, Kobe would fly to Los Angeles to meet Vanessa, and he was willing to go and return the same day just to see her.

Vanessa would also take advantage of her weekends to fly to Portland and watch the Trail Blazers games at the Rose Garden.

Kobe started staying out all night and living with Vanessa, which caused his mother to completely lose control of him.

The two young people sparked a brilliant idea together, and they began to plan for the future.

For Kobe, falling in love with Vanessa was not just love at first sight, but also an escape from his past life.

He didn't want to be controlled by his parents anymore, and he didn't want to do homework every day like a child.

Vanessa's appearance provided him with an escape route. They hit it off immediately, enjoying the joys of youth and the hope for the future, something no one could stop.

On the court, Kobe became increasingly withdrawn, and his teamwork with his teammates deteriorated. Carlisle criticized Kobe more than once, saying he needed to play more as a team player.

However, his individual offensive skills became more and more proficient. Romance did not diminish his dedication to training. On the contrary, it made him work even harder to hone his singles skills.

On November 25th, the Trail Blazers faced the Charlotte Hornets in a back-to-back away game. The exhausted Trail Blazers and Hornets went into overtime, and the Trail Blazers' offensive slump became glaringly obvious.

Kobe stepped up in overtime, scoring 7 consecutive points with individual plays to help the Trail Blazers win 104-100 on the road and continue their winning streak.

Kobe scored a game-high 31 points, along with 3 assists and 2 steals. With the veterans on the road exhausted, Kobe's performance was even more outstanding.

On November 27, in the fourth game of the Trail Blazers' Eastern Conference road trip against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kobe Bryant had an offensive explosion, scoring 40 points, his first 40-point game of the season.

However, the Trail Blazers lost the game 98-101 on the road, a 3-point deficit, ending their winning streak.

The fatigue had clearly accumulated to a certain extent, and the whole team was in a relaxed state. To make matters worse, the Trail Blazers were about to go to Minnesota for a back-to-back away game on the 28th.

The season has just begun, and the first away trip already includes two back-to-back away games. This kind of schedule is really not friendly to the veteran team.

Upon arriving in Minnesota, the Trail Blazers' overall performance remained sluggish, but Kobe Bryant and Gan Guoyang carried the team's offense with their individual abilities.

With 34 points and 38 points and 22 rebounds respectively, the two players withstood the Timberwolves' attack in Minnesota, defeating them 97-83 and ending their long road trip with a 5-1 record.

The combination of Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury looks powerful, but the two seem to struggle to develop sufficient chemistry.

During the game, Marbury arrogantly tried to challenge Kobe and further challenged Gan Guoyang's defense under the basket, only to be met with a merciless defeat.

Kevin Garnett even had a disastrous 4-for-24 performance under Gan Guoyang's one-on-one defense, making it seem like the next generation of big men has a long way to go before they can surpass the older generation of superstars.

On the contrary, the connection and chemistry between Gan Guoyang and Kobe in these games have become increasingly apparent.

Gan Guoyang began to enjoy playing with Kobe more, sharing control of the team in both offense and defense.

This is a core treatment that Drexler, Petrovic, Sabonis, and Reggie Lewis never enjoyed before.

Drexler and others were known as the "number two" on the Trail Blazers, but under Gan Guoyang's blazing light, they were more like "the more outstanding one among the rest."

When commenting on Gan Guoyang's career, various media outlets and experts always say that the Trail Blazers are actually a one-man team for Gan, not because the other players are not good, but because Gan's influence is too great.

Until this season, with Gan Guoyang's gradual decline and Kobe's slow rise, it finally feels like the moon is revolving around the earth.

Through this away trip, the Trail Blazers' new operating model is becoming increasingly clear and distinct.

The team departed from the Target Center by car and arrived at Minnesota Airport, where they prepared to board the Trail Blazers 1 back to Portland.

Everyone was relaxed. In any case, a record of 5 wins and 1 loss was acceptable, and the first month of the new season passed by just like that.

Just as everyone was carrying their luggage and preparing to board the plane, Kobe informed the team that he was not returning to Portland.

He bought a plane ticket to Los Angeles and took advantage of the team's two-day break to go directly to Los Angeles to date his girlfriend Vanessa.

Carlisle hesitated. According to team records, leaving the team early was not allowed, but Kobe's tickets had already been bought. This guy was acting first and asking questions later.

An old-school coach would have been furious and forbade Kobe from leaving, but Carlisle, as the new coach, didn't want his authority to be challenged.

Faced with this dilemma, Gan Guoyang stepped in to resolve the situation, saying, "Even if you let Kobe go back to Portland with you, he still has to buy a ticket to Los Angeles, so don't make things difficult for him. This year's situation is quite special. This isn't treating Rick differently; it's humane management."

Since Gan Guoyang said so, Carlisle had no choice but to agree.

Then Gan Guoyang pulled out a plane ticket and said, "Sorry Rick, I can't go back to Portland with the team either. I'm going to New York."

Gan Guoyang has another hearing on December 1st, and he needs to prepare in advance. Instead of going back and forth to Portland, he might as well go directly to New York.

Carlisle wiped his face and sighed deeply. There was nothing he could do. Why did he, as a rookie head coach, have to be put in such a difficult situation from the start?

(End of this chapter)