Chapter 1324 - 17: Spectacular Debut (Part 4)

"Ah Gan is like this, sometimes he plays selfishly, but he always builds on the foundation of the team’s best interest. He knows what to do and when to do it. He never complains, never shifts the blame onto others, telling you to do this or that. He will personally do it and lead you to do it, and make sure it’s done right. From his rookie days, he has been like this, bringing up the Trail Blazers’ defense, giving everyone encouragement, and also offering ruthless criticism."

"Right now, the Trail Blazers’ defense is somewhat disorganized, but I believe that Ah Gan and Bird will reorganize everything. I trust them."

Gan Guoyang couldn’t hear Jack Ramsey’s words on the court. The old coach’s hair was already gone, and his face had a kind and amiable look, no longer the stern visage of before, looking like an old monk.

In the third quarter, as the Trail Blazers’ defense gradually solidified, they played better and better.

As the third quarter was about to end, Little O’Neal blocked Schlamfeste’s shot firmly under the basket.

The Trail Blazers counterattacked, and Riddle charged ahead again. Receiving a long pass from Terry Porter, he dunked with both hands!

With this play, the Trail Blazers brought the score closer to 62:64, only 2 points behind. They outscored the Supersonics by 12 points in the entire third quarter.

All of this was based on aggressive defense, which led to effective counterattacks—although, of course, the Trail Blazers still made too many mistakes.

In the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers suddenly couldn’t hold up anymore. They had a slight problem with their stamina, as apart from Ah Gan, the other players were tired from back-to-back away games.

Consecutive mistakes and continuous fouls on defense allowed the Supersonics players to get to the free-throw line, and Bird’s large-scale rotation meant that when some players came on, the defensive intensity dropped.

In contrast, the Supersonics had quite a stable rotation. Their lineup and system had been honed over several seasons and proven successful and effective.

In this situation, the defensively solid Supersonics gained the upper hand, keeping the lead around 8 points. Whenever the Trail Blazers tried harder, they made mistakes.

Ultimately, 89:96. The Trail Blazers lost the second game of the season on the road, trailing by 7 points to the Supersonics, failing to achieve a winning streak.

Gan Guoyang had an outstanding performance, scoring 28 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and providing 7 assists, but wins and losses are commonplace in battlefield tactics.

Ewing scored 20 points, got 9 rebounds, and added 4 blocks, becoming the Sea-Calming Needle of the Supersonics’ interior. He found it really comfortable not having to match up against Ah Gan.

For Gan Guoyang, losing was, of course, unpleasant. After playing this game against a truly top-notch team in the league, the Trail Blazers finally exposed their problems.

At the same time, Gan Guoyang also felt that over the past two seasons, the style and feel of the NBA games had undergone some changes.

The three-point line was shortened, space became cramped again, defensive confrontation was stronger, and referees had further relaxed the calls on fouls, clearly encouraging physical play.

The pace of the game became slower, fast breaks and counterattacks became less efficient, and the increased physicality made scoring more challenging, as playing too fast led to mistakes.

In a slow-paced game, when you try to speed up the pace, only to follow it with a pile of mistakes, it shatters your offensive rhythm.

It’s like a person constantly kicking little rocks while running—not hurting their foot, but their running rhythm is completely disrupted.

The Trail Blazers have completely lost their sense of game style and rhythm; everyone was playing based purely on intuition and experience.

The results Bird was pursuing in training camp hoped to fully manifest during the regular season—excellent fitness, strong defense, and a balanced offense.

The team’s cohesion in the third quarter comeback based on defense was a good sign, but it didn’t last long.

After the game, in the locker room, Bird praised the team’s performance in the third quarter, saying that if every quarter was played like the third, they could win the game.

After saying this, Bird shook his head and said, "But I know it’s impossible... Gosh, this is what coaches used to say. At that time, I always thought you were fucking delusional. Now I’ve become the delusional one. I think coaches, teachers, parents, they all drive you to idiocy."

Players can’t always maintain good form during games; that’s a natural law.

Complaints aside, losing one game doesn’t mean the sky is falling.

The good news is that the Trail Blazers can finally return to home court for the next game.

They got a day of rest, and on November 4th, the home opener will host the visiting Atlanta Hawks.

The fans’ enthusiasm was unmatched, much more boisterous than the preseason opener—Ah Gan’s homecoming game.

The pop king, Michael Jackson, who had been sporadically appearing in public, even came to the venue to watch, causing a great commotion.

This game did not disappoint the fans. The Trail Blazers, facing the Hawks, who had signed Dikembe Mutombo over the summer, once trailed by as much as 15 points.

The Trail Blazers’ offense remained chaotic and lacked structure against the Hawks’ tough defense.

But in the second half, the Trail Blazers launched a comeback based on solid defense, tying the score in the closing stages of the fourth quarter.

At the most crucial moment, Gan Guoyang successfully intercepted Leight’s layup on defense, taking possession for the final attack.

Bird didn’t call a timeout; he let the players solve the last play themselves.

Gan Guoyang received a pass from Terry Porter, turned, broke into the paint, and faced three Hawks players, including the African Mountain, before taking a left-handed floater.

The ball bounced twice on the rim, then fell through the net at the buzzer—a game-winning shot!

90:92, the home team Trail Blazers edged out the Hawks by two points.

The Rose Garden Arena was engulfed in a sea of joy, another happy victory night.

Gan Guoyang scored 24 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and made 9 assists for the game, including the most decisive buzzer-beater.

Trail Blazers fans rediscovered the joy of watching a game, and Gan Guoyang relished the exhilarating game-winning moment.

However, the Trail Blazers’ early schedule was indeed unfriendly. After this game, they had to play back-to-back on the road again on the 5th.

The new season began with a 5-game stretch over 4 days, including two back-to-backs. Old Tang directly complained to the league, saying the schedule was set up to mess with them.

Of course, the complaint went unheard. If there aren’t 5 games in 4 days now, there will inevitably be during the midseason.

The intense schedule left the Trail Blazers with no time to stop, reflect, and absorb the lessons from these games.

The little free time they had was used for rest. Bird hadn’t organized a team practice for several days.

But at the Willamette University Gymnasium, you could still see someone continuously shooting, dribbling, and shooting from dawn to dusk.

That was Kobe Bryant, whose minor hand fracture had almost healed. He didn’t travel with the team to Golden State on the 5th but instead stayed in Portland to undergo recovery training after removing his cast.

He was eager to showcase himself. Watching his teammates and idol fighting while he was benched was too hard to bear.

Little O’Neal had started to make an impact in the games, while Kobe hadn’t played even a single match yet; he couldn’t wait any longer.

In the blink of an eye, it was November 10th. The Trail Blazers had played a home game, then another road game, and on the 10th, they returned home to face the Spurs.

After six games, the Trail Blazers were 3 wins and 3 losses, winning one, losing one, winning one, then losing one, without any winning or losing streaks.

Against the Spurs, Kobe was finally going to make his debut, and Bird promised him before the game, "You will get to play in this game."

The day before the game on the 10th, Little O’Neal called Kobe, asking him if he was nervous.

Kobe replied that he was only excited, not nervous, and that he was determined to deliver a spectacular debut.