[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-golden-age-of-basketball":3,"chapter-the-golden-age-of-basketball-the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1361":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Golden Age of Basketball",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1444928,1896,"Chapter 1361 - 26: The Age of Taking Bullets Again and Again (Part 2)","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1361",1361,"\u003Cp>After that, the Trail Blazers were steady when crushing weaker teams, but they clearly struggled against top-tier teams, lacking in game control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bird and the coaching staff studied the matches and identified a serious problem: the gap between Ah Gan and his teammates was too wide, his teammates couldn’t keep up with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In some December games, Gan Guoyang’s shooting attempts significantly increased, while the team’s assists, movements, and cooperation decreased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, Gan Guoyang’s average turnovers reached a career high, not because his skill declined, but because some teammates couldn’t catch his passes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bird could feel Gan Guoyang’s frustration; after all, a high-level player watching his teammates fall behind in all aspects, wouldn’t their mindset explode?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bird understood this well, but as the head coach, he had to balance the locker room while soothing Gan Guoyang’s emotions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the 20th, the Trail Blazers lost at home to the Seattle SuperSonics again, Ewing was humiliated by Gan Guoyang, but Payton exploded for 31 points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The SuperSonics relied on overall performance to narrowly defeat the Trail Blazers by 1 point on the road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the final two seconds, the Trail Blazers had a chance to win, but a turnover on the inbound play cost them the game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a loss made Gan Guoyang very dissatisfied; it was rare for him to lose his temper with his teammates in the locker room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next day after practice, Bird found Gan Guoyang in the locker room to say: \"Sonny, sometimes you need to slow down a bit, otherwise the teammates can’t keep up, which can hurt the team’s morale.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang replied: \"Do you mean I shouldn’t make a move when I have the chance? I really can’t stand wasting opportunities and repeated turnovers, especially turnovers, do you understand, Larry?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I understand, but the problem won’t be solved right away, you said you would be patient and wait for them to grow.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ve already shown enough patience, in some games I wish I could revert to my 1987 playing style, where I could single-handedly crush opponents under the basket. You can’t, Michael can’t, Chamberlain can’t, but I can!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Can you do this in a series against the Utah Jazz or the Chicago Bulls?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang fell silent, he had an answer in his heart, which was a negative.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is the most torturous part of the NBA, playoffs require series.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it were a tournament system, Gan Guoyang’s dominance would be even stronger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could lead the China Team to the finals and win silver at the Barcelona Olympics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if the Olympics were also a series, not a best-of-seven, even a best-of-three, the China Team would be very dangerous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A series requires overall strength, requires error tolerance, and reaching the end needs contributions from everyone on the bench.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The current Trail Blazers are at best a playoff-level strong team, capable of posing significant threats to champion-level teams in a series.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the likelihood of beating the Jazz in a series, or even the current Chicago Bulls, is not high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only if Gan Guoyang explodes can they drag the series into a game seven with a greater possibility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that’s not what Gan Guoyang wants to see, he hopes to move forward together in a united and strong team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So, sometimes you need to wait a bit, be more patient.\" Bird tried his best to comfort Gan Guoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Larry, when I first entered the league in my twenties, we made it to the West Finals in the first year, losing to the Lakers. At that time, I was very patient, I felt the whole season was fun. Losing was a bit painful, but winning was exceptionally joyful, every night was thrilling and extremely satisfying.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I still remember when Yin Man asked me if I wanted to trade away Vandeweghe, that guy’s defense was too poor. We could get Marques Johnson, which would immediately make us strong contenders for the championship. But I refused, I didn’t want to trade anyone, I was patient and wanted to grow together with everyone to win the championship.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Now, winning is still joyful, I’m grateful my joy hasn’t been taken away. But the pain of losing... no, it’s not pain, but the anxiety has increased. Maybe because I retired for two seasons, I always feel like I’ve lost a lot, I want to get everything back quickly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bird sat beside Gan Guoyang, the afternoon winter sun shone through the window onto the bench, and Gan Guoyang’s body was still steaming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you want a trade?\" Bird asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the team’s leader loses patience with the team, the most common choice is to request a trade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Either trade himself, or bring in reliable help through a trade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Bird’s view, maybe Gan Guoyang is no longer at the age of 20 when he could patiently wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang was silent for a while, then said: \"No, I don’t want a trade. Actually... our roster is quite good, I trust my teammates.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bird patted Gan Guoyang’s shoulder, stood up and stretched his arms and legs, saying: \"There’s still some time, would you like to play a game of horse? Or, shall we have a one-on-one?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing about a one-on-one with Bird, Gan Guoyang perked up, jumped up and said: \"Of course! Let’s have a one-on-one, shall we bet on something?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh no no no, we’re just having a simple exercise, exchanging skills only. Besides, I’ve quit gambling.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, Bird and Gan Guoyang returned to the court for a one-on-one match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang agreed not to use physical strength, focusing mainly on technical skill exchanges instead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After years of honing, Gan Guoyang was already a master of comprehensive skills.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His dribbling and shooting reached the level of an outside player.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bird was naturally not good at one-on-one duels, after several rounds, Gan Guoyang scored consecutively.\u003C\u002Fp>",977,"2026-06-06T01:41:54.549Z",1,"novelbin.me","ad07ca746c3c11b6a1806b9df66935cc5742c87fa9dbf3348c8ea53be2979553","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1362","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1360",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]