Chapter 1320 - 16: Back Again_5

His jumping ability is excellent, with quick bounce speed, strong hang-time in the air, and impressive ability to catch and shoot from the outside.

With his left hand, when he’s accurate, you can’t stop him; when he’s off, there’s no limit to the misses.

In one-on-one offense, Van Exel can boast that there’s no point guard in the league who dares to say they can guard him one-on-one.

Including Gary Payton, who won Defensive Player of the Year in the 1995-1996 season.

Van Exel can score 40 points over Payton’s head.

Gan Guoyang, utilizing his excellent ball distribution skills, creates opportunities for Van Exel to go one-on-one and directly attack the basket.

The NBC commentary was almost constantly "Gump to Van Exel!" for nearly five minutes.

When the Grizzlies realized they needed to guard Van Exel, Gan Guoyang used two three-pointers from the top of the arc to tell them that he’s even scarier when attacking.

The Trail Blazers hit the Grizzlies with a 17:5 offensive wave, expanding a 7-point lead before the timeout to a 19-point gap.

The Grizzlies called a timeout, but it was ineffective as the Trail Blazers’ machine was already in motion and had found a useful weapon.

However, Van Exel has a flaw; once he gets excited, he becomes reckless, especially with random three-pointers.

If he makes one, the next time he gets the ball, he’ll definitely shoot again, regardless of the position, even from the center circle.

Even when double-teamed or defended well, he’ll throw the ball with some strange posture or move.

Sometimes he makes it, leaving a deep impression on fans and opponents, but most of the time, it’s not ideal.

This reckless style makes him lack consistency, brilliant one game, terrible the next, a double-edged sword.

Seeing Van Exel start to lose control, in the past, the Trail Blazers had no one to manage him, but now Gan Guoyang can.

The Grizzlies furiously chased again, cutting the deficit to 13 points, and Gan Guoyang began calling for the ball in the low post.

"If you shoot another three, I’ll kill you." Gan Guoyang warned Van Exel.

Thus, Van Exel obediently passed the ball to Gan Guoyang in the low post.

Two seasons of rest hadn’t made Gan Guoyang lose his skills.

But fans who often watch Gan Guoyang’s games can see that his low-post technique has changed.

The swift turnaround jumper is gone, replaced by more probing with strength and rhythm, culminating in familiar hook shots to finish the offense.

Consecutive Moon-hook shots, his left hand, right hand, all included, leaving the slightly slow Big Country powerless to disrupt the beautiful arc.

Bob Costas said, "For the fans in the arena and watching on TV, seeing this elegant hook shot makes the ticket and viewing fee absolutely worth it. It contains classic techniques, hard work, day-in-day-out tough training, and the early glory of centers. Ah Gan has brought it back to the NBA court, and my God, watching his elegant moves makes me want to cry..."

The game gradually entered into Gan Guoyang’s rhythm, and he could feel himself playing better and better, his condition improving.

The passion for basketball bottled up for two seasons, the yearning for the court, and the hesitation and regret born from inner struggles, and the sadness of 1993, were at this moment covered by the sweat-pouring simplicity of the basketball game.

He didn’t want to think about anything else, no longer cared if his teammates played defense or made mistakes, none of that was his business.

He just enjoyed the fun of playing basketball, enjoyed the beautiful swish of the ball going through the hoop.

In the latter half of the third quarter, Gan Guoyang completely dominated the offensive end, scoring whenever he touched the ball.

He’s slower than in his youth, without the violent dunks attacking the hoop inside and offensive rebounds.

He had more refined dribbling, beautiful hook shots, perfectly timed floaters, and consistently accurate shooting.

As the game progressed, Bird was reluctant to take Gan Guoyang off the court, feeling that substituting him would be a crime, a waste of his performance.

The Grizzlies were very cooperative, never giving up; no matter what, they had to be tenacious in their home opener.

Plus, the Trail Blazers’ defense was mediocre, so the lead never fully extended, allowing Gan Guoyang to continue on the court in the fourth quarter.

By this time, he already had 22 points, 17 rebounds, and 16 assists.

Bird realized that this might be Ah Gan’s chance to set a historical data record.

"Ah Gan, I’m not planning to sub you out; can you hold on?"

"Of course, I want to keep playing; I haven’t played for two years. I want to play a little longer."

So, at the start of the fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang continued to stay on the court.

His powerful stamina ranked first in history among all stars for sustaining performance.

He continued attacking in the low post, facing a Grizzlies triple-team, Gan Guoyang made a high lob pass to Little O’Neal.

Little O’Neal caught it, finished with an alley-oop dunk! It was Little O’Neal’s first career point.

The Grizzlies responded with a three-pointer from the outside, and Gan Guoyang again received the ball in the low post.

No one doubled him, he backed in past Big Country, cutting to the basket for an easy one-handed dunk.

The Grizzlies once again tried to catch up with threes, in a season where the three-point line was shortened, everyone was taking more and more threes.

This time they missed, Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound and led a fast break himself; the Grizzlies focused on guarding others.

As a result, Gan Guoyang reached the arc, directly shooting a three, the distance was too close for him, and he made it!

Scoring, assisting, rebounding, for Gan Guoyang, it was as easy as reaching into his pocket.

As time passed, Gan Guoyang continued his performance, and the Grizzlies’ resistance gradually collapsed.

The most frustrated of course was Big Country Rivers; to this point, he still hadn’t scored.

It wasn’t that Gan Guoyang was locking him down, but Rivers found himself unable to keep up with the pace of the game.

Especially after being destroyed on defense, he couldn’t score one-on-one on offense, couldn’t grab offensive rebounds, how could he score?

When Gan Guoyang passed to Little O’Neal at the baseline, and Little O’Neal hit a mid-range shot, the fans erupted into cheers.

Because on the big screen, the stats table showed Gan Guoyang’s stats: 31 points, 22 rebounds, and 20 assists!

Next to the stats was a note: First time in history.

The first time in NBA history that a player recorded a 30+20+20 super stat line.

Ah Gan did it again, the fans witnessed another record set by him.

Even the usually composed Bird couldn’t hold it anymore; he stood up and applauded, loudly cheering for Gan Guoyang.

"Well done, Sonny! Truly an enhanced version of me!"

After achieving this feat, Bird substituted Gan Guoyang out; the game had entered garbage time.

Gan Guoyang said to Bird, "Larry, you really owe me 20 this time; you were shouting and cheering."

"I was cheering for you," Bird defended.

"I bet that you’d cheer for me, you had no chance to scold me."

Gan Guoyang went to the bench to rest; this wave of attack finally destroyed the Grizzlies completely.

110:89, the Trail Blazers ultimately won the opener against the Grizzlies with a 21-point advantage.

Though the team exposed many problems, the individual abilities of the players far outmatched the opponents.

Gan Guoyang also used his incredible performance to announce his perfect return to the entire league.

The next day, the New Yorker used huge numbers and titles to write: "30+20+20, that familiar Ah Gan is back."