The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 903 A clever plan
After the third game, the Trail Blazers' locker room was filled with a sense of frustration.

Although the team is leading 2-1 in the series, the situation is not very favorable for the Trail Blazers.

The first two wins were hard-fought, and the third game in Minnesota ended in a disappointing defeat, losing the opportunity for a quick victory.

Everyone knows that Gan Guoyang has to attend a hearing in the fourth game and may be absent, so he wants to end this series as soon as possible to prepare for the semifinals.

That's how it is with teams that are mostly veterans; they can't afford to drag things out. The longer it drags on, the more it tests the team's stamina and reduces the risk of injuries.

Sabonis, Barkley, Mullin, A.C. Green, Terry Porter, and Gan Guoyang, each with thick ice packs strapped to their backs, were either lying down or sitting, receiving simple massages from the therapists to relax.

Gan Guoyang scored 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists in this game, which can only be considered a mediocre performance for him. Apart from him, no other player scored more than 20 points.

The Timberwolves' defensive strategy was quite effective, utilizing Kevin Garnett's covering help defense to shut down the Trail Blazers' other players' offense and reduce their shooting percentage, while simultaneously launching an offensive attack.

The bet is that Gan Guoyang will find it increasingly difficult to consistently and efficiently defeat his opponents with his superior offense in every game of a playoff series. This is 2000, not 1987 or 1997.

Scoring 30 points with a 50% field goal percentage is already a very good performance, but to win, he was just 5% off peak Forrest Gump's field goal percentage, one more three-pointer, one more foul drawn and free throws, and two more isolation plays.

That's how the playoffs are; many games are decided by the smallest margins, resulting in dramatic reversals. A few points of shooting percentage or a difference of a few points can be the difference between victory and defeat.

"It's just one game lost, don't be so discouraged, guys. The playoffs have only just begun, this is nothing."

Seeing that no one was speaking, Gan Guoyang took the initiative to comfort them. He did not lose his temper with his teammates because of the loss, even though his teammates did not perform well.

Kobe made 7 of 21 shots, a mere 33% shooting percentage, wasting a lot of shot opportunities. But if he didn't shoot, it was even more difficult for others to get a shot off.

Charles Barkley came off the bench, making 0 of 2 three-point attempts and committing 3 turnovers.

His hips and gluteal muscles were constantly sore, and after a season of exertion, his body was nearing its limit.

With Gan Guoyang absent for various reasons, Charles Barkley had to step up and support the team's low-post offense. He played in 80 out of 82 regular season games, a level of attendance Barkley had not achieved since the 1987-1988 season.

Barkley really gave it his all for the championship. He was disciplined in his daily life, trained hard, and played seriously. During his six months in Portland, there were no negative news stories about him.

Of course, Gan Guoyang's supervision played a significant role, but Gan Guoyang was often too busy with his own affairs to manage Barkley. It was mostly due to Barkley's self-discipline.

However, in the playoffs, Barkley's performance fluctuated significantly across the three games, with one game being phenomenal and the other two being disastrous, a pattern that could continue throughout the series.

The same applies to players like Sabonis, Mullin, and Porter; the limited fuel in the tank means they can't keep pushing forward every game.

If you accelerate hard in one game, you might need a major overhaul and slow down in the next, and your performance on the field might not be as good as expected.

The young players were clearly still getting used to playing as starters in the playoffs for the first time, and the feeling of being a starter and a substitute is completely different.

The main players bear the most responsibility and pressure, and high demands are placed on their intensity, endurance, and attention to detail. In the first three games, both Ben Wallace and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer underperformed.

This places high demands on the coaching staff's rotation, tactical arrangements, and psychological guidance. Rick Carlisle is already extremely anxious, thinking about how to play the fourth game.

With Agan absent and the team playing away, their morale, tactics, and rotation will suffer a heavy blow. Although there is a fifth game to play after losing the fourth, who wants to play all five games in the first round?

Game 5 is fraught with uncertainty. Even if they win, it will be a huge drain on the veterans' physical condition, and there's also the risk of injury, which would be a major disadvantage for the Trail Blazers in the rest of the series.

Therefore, Carlisle is deeply troubled, and his troubles have been constant throughout the season.

Even if they understand the true meaning of "enduring hardship like Forrest Gump" midway through the season, what if they ban Forrest Gump in the next game?

Throughout the season and right now, Carlisle has been like a tinker who is learning tailoring skills while patching things up, using all his knowledge to support the team.

Many years later, Rick Carlisle recalled that season, saying that he learned a large part of his coaching career during the 1999-2000 season.

"In particular, learn how to face despair."

Gan Guoyang encouraged his teammates in the locker room, and everyone's morale soared again.

Only Carlisle remained silent, discussing countermeasures with Spoelstra and Dick Hart.

Even as he boarded the bus to return to his hotel, Carlisle still looked worried.

As a rookie coach, the pressure on his shoulders is unimaginable. If he loses the first round of the playoffs, the criticism he will face will be overwhelming, and it may even end his head coaching career that has just begun.

In all of Forrest Gump's previous seasons, he was guaranteed at least a Western Conference Finals appearance. No matter which coach was on the team, even a idiot like PJ Carlesimo, he could still get him to the Western Conference Finals and have a blast, raising the ceiling of his entire career.

Gan Guoyang noticed Carlisle's nervousness. Instead of returning to the hotel with the group, he would go directly to the airport to fly to New York to prepare for the sixth hearing.

As they parted, Gan Guoyang pulled Carlisle aside and said, "Richard, you're overreacting. It's only 2-1, we're in the lead, it's not a big deal at all."

Carlisle took a deep breath and said, “I know, I know, but…we have a lot of problems, and I feel like I don’t have enough control. And…you know, you’re going to New York.”

Gan Guoyang patted Carlisle on the shoulder. He knew that Carlisle had a tough season. The regular season was full of ups and downs, and he tried all sorts of rotations, tactics, and playing styles. To be honest, he couldn't find the optimal solution in the end. It was already very difficult to get 57 wins. In the playoffs, he would have to take it one step at a time.

It's hard to imagine that the Trail Blazers, a defending champion aiming for a three-peat and the league's dominant force for the past decade, had different starting lineups in the first three games of the first round, indicating that their core fighting roster is still not fully formed.

Gan Guoyang didn't say much, but took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Carlisle, saying, "Rick, this is my secret plan for you. You absolutely must not open it now. Wait until the fourth game, when it's at its most critical moment, and you'll find out how to win. Remember, don't open it beforehand, trust me, Rick."

Carlisle took the note from Gan Guoyang and held it in his palm. He looked at it suspiciously, then glanced at Gan Guoyang's determined eyes. He knew that trusting Gan was the best choice at this moment.

"Okay, I understand. I'll save it for when it's most dangerous."

After saying goodbye, Gan Guoyang boarded a private car to the airport and flew to New York in the early hours of the morning.
-
The third and fourth hearings were separated by one day, May 1st, when Gan Guoyang was in New York preparing for his sixth hearing.

He had received information that the investigation committee might "fight fire with fire," giving a lengthy speech to delay the competition and prevent Gan Guoyang from participating on the evening of the 2nd.

In response, Gan Guoyang took proactive measures, utilizing all his connections, both overt and covert, to resolve this potential trouble.

On the other hand, the Portland Trail Blazers will eventually have to face the situation that Gan Guoyang is likely to be absent. Carlisle conducted a team tactical training session on the 1st.

Perhaps due to excessive pressure, or perhaps because he was too reliant on veteran superstars, Carlisle decided to start Charles Barkley in Game 4, pairing him with Jermaine O'Neal in the frontcourt.

The other two coaches disagreed with Carlisle's approach, believing it would be safer to start Sabonis. However, the pressure seemed to have fueled Carlisle's gambling instincts, and he insisted on starting Barkley.

Another possibility is that Gan Guoyang's secret plan gave Carlisle confidence. For the past two days, he has kept the card close to his body, taking it out from time to time to caress and gaze at it, as if it contained the magic of victory.

At 2 PM on May 2nd, the sixth hearing in the investigation of Gan Guoyang's espionage case was held at New York City Hall. If it had ended before 5 PM as normal, Gan Guoyang would have immediately gone to the airport to take a private plane to Minnesota, so that he could make it to the second half or the fourth quarter of the game.

Once it's past six o'clock, unless Gan Guoyang has Doraemon's Anywhere Door, he will have a hard time making it to the game and will be powerless to change the outcome.

Clearly, the investigation committee did not want the hearing to end so quickly. Just minutes into the hearing, Representative Cox interrupted the normal proceedings, stepped forward, and announced that he would give a speech summarizing all the doubts surrounding the espionage case.

Because of his severe lower body injury, he brought a specially made iron frame to support him while standing on the podium. The speech doesn't need to be too long, but it will exceed an hour. This hearing is likely to go over time.

Gan Guoyang protested, claiming that this was not a normal procedure, but the investigation committee deemed the protest invalid because Gan Guoyang had been given the opportunity to speak on the previous occasion, and had spoken for 18 hours.

A smug smile appeared on Cox's face as he slowly opened his speech, cleared his throat, and prepared to deliver his eloquent speech. However, the speech lasted less than fifteen minutes before Cox's expression suddenly turned serious. He then stepped down from the podium to consult with the committee.

Two minutes later, Cox disappeared from the podium, the hearing continued, and the other committee members had little interest in disrupting the process; they were also tired of the endless hearings.

The exposure from this case has been almost exhausted, turning it into a long and tedious soap opera in the eyes of the public, mixed with the personal feud between Forrest Gump and Cox.

As relations between the two countries further ease, the investigation and hearings on Gan Guoyang are gradually becoming a staged performance, and the committee is waiting for an opportunity to end his case.

The time for it to end should be after the 2000 election, when everything will be settled and there will be no need for this grand show.

Time passed slowly, and Gan Guoyang kept checking his watch. Cox had not reappeared after leaving, and Gan Guoyang wondered if he was dead or alive.

The hearing lasted for two and a half hours and ended at 4:30. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and packed up their things to leave, just like clocking out of get off work.

Gan Guoyang immediately left the city hall, got into the car that had been prepared in advance, entered the underground parking lot of a nearby skyscraper, got out of the car, and took the elevator directly from the underground to the top floor.

On the rooftop helicopter platform, a helicopter marked "Trump" was on standby. The wind pressure from the spinning rotors made Gan Guoyang's suit and hair fly wildly. Team owner Tang Jianguo opened the cabin door and had been waiting for a long time.

"Sonny! You should be able to make it tonight!"

"If everything goes well, we can make it to the second half! Fuck, Cox almost messed things up."

"Hahaha, he's going to suffer this time. He won't be able to get out of bed for another two days."

It turns out that Gan Guoyang and Tang Jianguo bribed an assistant to replace one of Cox's daily medications with a laxative, allowing them to precisely control the timing of the sustained-release capsule to be taken before 2:30 PM.

This disrupted Cox's plan to stall for time with a lengthy speech. After all, even a hero can't withstand three bouts of diarrhea. No matter how much Cox wanted to sabotage things, he didn't want to have diarrhea in public on stage, as that would make him a laughingstock for life and affect his upcoming election.

Unfortunately, Cox had to interrupt his speech early to go to the restroom, and he couldn't get up after that.

Gan Guoyang and Tang Jianguo laughed heartily as the helicopter sped towards New York Airport, where Gan Guoyang's private jet was already waiting.

Everything went smoothly, and the weather was fine in both New York and Minnesota that night. The plane took off quickly and flew towards Minneapolis.
-
At 7 p.m. on the 2nd, the fourth game between the Trail Blazers and the Timberwolves tipped off at Target Center.

Before the match began, Carlisle held the card in his hand, pondering when to open it.

Charles Barkley started at power forward for the Trail Blazers in this game. He gritted his teeth and looked serious, hoping to make a decisive contribution.

But Barkley is already 36 years old, and this season he is averaging 13 points per game. He is no longer the dominant force under the basket that once commanded the basket.

Even though he has the mentality and skills of a superstar, his physical disadvantages prevented him from performing well at the start of the game.

Three consecutive missed shots under the basket gave the Timberwolves a chance for a fast break.

In this series, Stephon Marbury became the Timberwolves' most important offensive engine.

His speed and explosiveness, along with his finishing ability on counterattacks, caused the Trail Blazers a lot of trouble.

Blaylock's decline this season has made it exceptionally difficult for him to compete against explosive young players like Marbury.

Carlisle tried to have Kobe deal with Marbury, but Kobe had a more important role on offense.

In short, without Gan Guoyang, the Trail Blazers' resource allocation is a huge problem.

Carlisle had quite a few capable men under his command, but each of them seemed to have some intolerable flaws.

Too old, too slow, too inconsistent, and with terrible free throws—this is a truly hellish challenge for a rookie coach.

You need to ensure that they can play to their strengths while their weaknesses are covered up, but that's too difficult and not something a coach can do.

The one who can do all of this best is Forrest Gump. He can fill in the gaps for everyone, even though he is 36 years old and his vigor is not what it used to be.

He's been doing this for over a decade, and no one has done it better than him, but he's not here tonight.

The Timberwolves were in high spirits at their home court, Target Center, with Kevin Garnett roaring after every block or disruption of the opponent's offense.

Although no one knew what he was yelling about, because the Blazers still had possession of the ball and some fouls had resulted in free throws, he still kept yelling.

The atmosphere at the stadium and with the home team was energized, and the Timberwolves gradually gained the upper hand on the court, leading the Trail Blazers by 4 points in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, without Gan Guoyang as their leader on offense, the Trail Blazers became increasingly disorganized, repeatedly missing outside shots and failing to close the gap.

Fortunately, the Trail Blazers' defense kept them in check, preventing the Timberwolves from pulling away. At halftime, the score was 43-48, with the Timberwolves leading the Trail Blazers by 5 points.

The Trail Blazers' 43-point halftime score was hardly in line with their offensive firepower, but there was nothing they could do; many offensive possessions were simply ended by forced shots.

Kevin Garnett had an excellent defensive performance, but his offense was terrible tonight, otherwise the Timberwolves would have led by more in the first half.

During halftime in the locker room, Rick Carlisle was very anxious. Being down by 5 points may not seem like much, but the Trail Blazers' offense was really struggling to keep up.

Clutching the note, Carlisle resisted the urge to open it. But when the third quarter began and the Timberwolves, thanks to Marbury's aggressive drives and unstoppable three-point shooting, quickly extended their lead to 10 points, Carlisle knew it was too late; he couldn't hold on any longer.

He first called a pause, then opened the note that was already soaked with his sweat. It read: "Hang in there, I'll be back."

Carlisle was so angry he wanted to curse, muttering "Shit!"

What kind of brilliant plan is this?

When the hell are you coming back...?

Just as Carlisle was muttering to himself, already having a headache and not knowing what tactics to deploy, a commotion arose from the other side of the field.

The scene that Timberwolves fans least wanted to see has occurred: Gan Guoyang, wearing jersey number 11, jogged onto the court and ran towards the Trail Blazers' bench.

Many people started to cover their heads, a small number of Trail Blazers fans wearing Gan Guoyang's jerseys began to cheer, and in front of the television, countless fans turned on their TVs again.

The ratings rose again at this moment.

Gan Guoyang went to the bench, looked up at the score, and then looked at his teammates who looked a little lost.

"Ladies, I'm late. Damn, we're only 10 points behind! You've made my rush less legendary!"

Carlisle could clearly sense that when Gan Guoyang appeared, the atmosphere and morale of the entire stadium underwent a fundamental reversal.

Every player on the Trail Blazers, including himself, was radiant, while the Timberwolves seemed shrouded in darkness.

The timeout ended quickly. Carlisle didn't say anything or make any arrangements; he simply made a substitution decision.

Gan Guoyang took to the court, and despite a nearly four-hour journey, he finally made it to the game and is ready to end the series tonight.

(End of this chapter)