Gan Guoyang may not have thought that Jordan, like him, has been looking forward to this game for a long time.

Back in 1982, when Michael Jordan was still a freshman at the University of North Carolina, he saw a report about Gan Guoyang in a sports newspaper.

It was still in February, and Gan Guoyang was still playing in the North Division of the California Division II League, when Gan Guoyang showed his strength in the knockout round.

Although the report was extremely biased, it was cynical about Gan Guoyang's skin color and had obvious racist tendencies.

But Jordan still showed a strong interest in a Chinese center who could make a big splash in California high schools.

He was under Coach Dean Smith at the time, and every day Coach Smith would say to him in practice, "You always have to remember that somewhere in this world, there must be someone who works as hard, if not harder than you." ”

Jordan was inspired by Smith's words, and whenever he felt that he had trained enough this year, he thought that there was someone somewhere who was also training hard, so he continued to practice until he had no strength.

I don't know why, since reading the biased report, what Jordan thinks of when he trains is often Gan Guoyang.

He always wondered how hard a yellow-skinned person would have to work hard to succeed in basketball in a foreign country, and how talented he was.

Finally, in the 1982 NCAA Finals, Jordan won the championship for North Carolina with a stunner, and the sweat he left on the training ground finally paid off.

By 1983, Jordan was still paying close attention to Gan Guoyang's dynamics, thinking that he would eventually go to that university.

Later, he learned that Gan Guoyang had gone to UCLA, and he thought that this Chinese might be able to inherit the mantle of Abdul-Jabbar and Wharton there, and he was very much looking forward to North Carolina fighting UCLA in the NCAA national competition.

Unexpectedly, Gan Guoyang actually left UCLA and switched to the little-known Gunzaga University, which caused a big sensation in the college basketball world at that time.

Jordan also felt sorry for Gan Guoyang, and felt that such a center might be ruined in such a transfer school, not to mention the difference in the reputation of the two schools, at least Gan Guoyang couldn't play for a year.

After the 1982 championship season, North Carolina small forward James Worthy entered the NBA draft and joined the Los Angeles Lakers as the top pick.

In the 1983 NCAA tournament, the defending champion North Carolina Blue Devils lost to the University of Georgia in an 8-4 game.

In 1984, they took a step back and lost 16-8 to say goodbye to the NCAA early, and Jordan also decided to say goodbye to college and enter a higher-level basketball game.

In 1984, Gan Guoyang ushered in the first peak of his basketball career, he led Gonzaga University, which had never entered the NCAA national competition, to the national tournament with an undefeated record.

Then he made his way through Georgetown, defeated the Kentucky Twin Towers, beat Houston, and made it to the top of the nation with a perfect all-win season.

That year, Jordan won the Wooden Award, the Naismith Award, the Robertson Award, the Sports News Athlete of the Year of the America, the AP and UPI Athlete of the Year Awards, and almost all the awards that an NCAA player can get.

But the final MOP, that is, the Final-four Best Player, the final award, was undoubtedly taken away by Gan Guoyang.

It was unacceptable for Jordan, who was hit hard, but he didn't want to stay in the NCAA anymore, and he didn't have anything to pursue here.

He's in the Olympics, he's in the NBA draft, and he's going to prove himself in a higher world.

After winning the gold medal in the Olympics, Jordan learned from his agent David Falck that Gan Guoyang was also going to participate in the 1984 NBA draft.

After that, Jordan, who was originally reluctant to sign Nike and wanted to sign Adidas, still chose Nike, because Gan Guoyang would also sign Nike, and his contract amount was higher than Gan Guoyang.

In the draft, Jordan was far away from Gan Guoyang, and when he heard that the Trail Blazers selected Gan Guoyang with the second pick, and Gan Guoyang became the eye of the list, Jordan couldn't help but feel a loss again, and he lost again.

Although he knew he should be drafted by the Bulls with the third pick, he didn't like to be crushed all the time.

After the real start of the NBA game, one of the things Jordan must do every day is to see if the Trail Blazers have a game that day after the game, and if so, to see how Gan Guoyang performs.

In his game against the Milwaukee Bucks in October, Michael Jordan scored 37 points, the most for a rookie in that class; Just a few days later, Gan scored 39 points at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles, surpassing Jordan and becoming the 84-rookie player with the most points.

For this reason, Jordan scored 33 points in the subsequent game against the Knicks, 27 points and 34 points in the game against the Pacers, and wanted to surpass Gan Guoyang with a sigh of relief.

But it also drew a lot of criticism for him, who thought he played too alone, wouldn't share the ball, and used high shots and low shots to score points.

Before the game against the Trail Blazers, the Bulls had just experienced a wave of four consecutive losses, and the winning rate plummeted, and the pressure on Jordan gradually increased.

In contrast, Gan Guoyang's Trailblazers won all the way, and Gan Guoyang was also under Ramsay's tutelage, becoming more and more like an orthodox center, with good offense and defense, and silently contributing to the team.

All this made Jordan eager to prove himself in this game and lead the Bulls to victory in a direct dialogue with Gan Guoyang.

At the beginning, Gan Guoyang always stared at Jordan intentionally or unintentionally, but in fact, Jordan has been paying attention to Gan Guoyang.

So, as soon as Jordan started to use his breakthrough to try to tear apart the Trail Blazers' defense, and at the same time use the pass to lead his teammates to attack and set a good tone for the game.

Jordan's breakthrough was so sharp, his technical level obviously surpassed the ordinary defenders at the time, and his pace control, change of direction, control, and his own physical fitness were beyond the times.

When basketball was first invented, basketball games were similar to football games, not all offense and defense, but there were special guards guarding the backcourt as defensive players, so there was the name "guard".

Later, with the continuous improvement of skills and tactics, every player participated in the attack and defense, but the name of the defender was retained, along with the tactical position of the defender, they were only auxiliary players on the field, and the real core of the team was the center.

This phenomenon did not completely change until the 60s, and that was that guards had to be subject to all kinds of restrictions, including dribbling, wrist flip and blowing penalties, so many players developed skilled one-handed dribbling and low-back rushing.

Because changing hands, dribbling and a big change of direction are often fouls.

In the '70s, that was starting to change, especially in the ABA, where more and more street elements poured into the NBA, until the NBA swallowed the ABA, along with all the styles of the ABA — including the three-point line.

In the 80s, various techniques on the outside finally began to explode, and the dribbling of defenders began to become more and more fancy, and at the same time extremely sharp, dribbling under the crotch, continuous change of direction, breaking through the step, jumping, European step, and the arsenal of outside players was gradually enriched.

Among them, Jordan is one of the representatives inside, super talent, plus the solid foundation laid in college, so that he can do any outside moves, is so chic and light.

He always seems to be a beat or a half faster than a man, and whenever defenders try to keep up with him, Jordan is often already in the air.

"Keep your distance and let him jump! Jumper! If he's going to break through, let him go from the left, don't let his right hand go! Also, the main thing is to cut off the connection between him and the rest of the team, everyone to keep a good focus on their defenders, don't easily wrap up, it's a big deal for us to let him score. ”

Towards the end of the first quarter, Ramsey called a timeout, and the score was 25-25 and the two sides were tied.

On the Trail Blazers' side, they are not inferior in every position, relying on the individual abilities of Sampson and Vanderwich in the offense, and the Bulls have nothing to do with them.

But on defense, the Trail Blazers also didn't have much to do with Jordan, a rookie, and today he was like an angry bull who frantically attacked the Trail Blazers' interior at the beginning.

It would be fine if he only broke through, but Jordan had already delivered 4 assists in the first quarter, and the entire Bulls' offense was revitalized by him.

In comparison, Gan Guoyang played mediocre, he didn't get too much offensive power, and the Bulls' center made him extremely unhappy.

In the last game against the Nets, Gominsky made Gan Guoyang a little dizzy on offense, and he really didn't have much to do about this kind of ball spirit who couldn't run fast and couldn't jump high, but relied on time difference and experience to play.

And today, facing the Bulls center, Dave Korzin, who is 6-foot-11 tall and weighs 250 pounds, a white center who also has a beard, Gan Guoyang once again experienced what basketball oil is.

Korzin is mediocre in physicality and talent, and like most white centers, he eats on awareness and strength.

Although Gan Guoyang rarely went to the low post in the first quarter, Korzin did not let go of Gan Guoyang, who responded in the high position, and did he make a few small moves when defending him, such as mixing his legs under his feet, pulling his clothes, and waving his elbows with his arms, so that Gan Guoyang was not annoyed.

Gan Guoyang, who has never been a fuel-efficient lamp, naturally took advantage of Korzin in his mouth, but Korzin really didn't move his mouth, no matter how Gan Guoyang sprayed him with trash talk, Korzin was unmoved.

Korzin didn't return the mouth, and it wouldn't be interesting for Gan Guoyang to spray alone.

In defense, Korzin is a complete blue-collar worker, basically does not shoot without 100% vacancy, and the main task is to cover, pick up leaks, and open the way for Jordan's breakthrough.

Gan Guoyang wanted to reward Korzin with a big hat, but he didn't have a chance.

Gan Guoyang finally began to appreciate the difference between the style of the eastern team and the western team.

In the contest with the center of the western team, Abdul-Jabbar, Wharton, Sikma, and Eaton are either long-established old-timers or good friends of Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang won that is justifiable to win, and losing is also convincing.

And teams like the Nuggets and Suns are faster than the Trailblazers, and they don't grind positions with you at all, and half of Gan Guoyang's energy has to be spent on switchback running.

In the east, compared with the west, the overall fight is slower and more focused on positional attack, so the confrontation on the inside line will be more intense and there will be more conflicts.

In the last game against the Nets, Gan Guoyang felt that it was not the same as playing in the West.

Playing the bulls today, when he encounters an old oilman like Korzin who doesn't eat oil and salt, Gan Guoyang really doesn't know how to say it for a while, not to mention that his main attention is on Jordan.

In Jordan's breakthrough, Gan Guoyang had three direct conversations with Jordan, the first ball was passed by Jordan and sent an assist, the second ball was directly broken by Jordan and the layup was successful, and the third ball Gan Guoyang rewarded Jordan with a hat.

Unfortunately, the ball was picked up by Korzin, who was following him, and he made an easy layup under the basket.

In the first quarter, on the whole, both sides were relatively relaxed, except for Jordan and Gan Guoyang, who were holding back their strength, everyone else was in a tentative state.

Ramsey called a timeout thinking that it was time to adjust the lineup and let the main players come down and rest.

"No, I don't need a break, let me stay a little longer!" Gan Guoyang knew that it was time for him to rest, and without waiting for Ramsey to speak, he shook his head, hoping to play a little longer.

Among the pioneers, only Gan Guoyang dared to say such things, and in fact, Ramsey sometimes allowed Gan Guoyang to openly disobey instructions like this.

"Okay, you play a little longer, and if you can't score, you don't have to play in the second quarter!" Ramsay said.

He wasn't joking, he kept the main players on the bench, and Ramsey did it completely.

The timeout ended and the game resumed, by which time the Bulls had replaced Jordan to give him a little more rest.

The Trail Blazers replaced Drexler, and Gan Guoyang remained on the court.

"Hey Clyde, your fight with Jordan must be good." Gan Guoyang is looking forward to another set of matchups in his heart, which is Drexler vs. Jordan, but unfortunately the playing time of the two is staggered.

"There's going to be a chance."

"Colter! Remember to pass the ball to me! Gan Guoyang said to the point guard Colter who came off the bench.

Since the last game against the Lakers, Gan Guoyang yelled at Colter to give him the ball, and then scored consecutive goals, Colter has been in awe of Gan Guoyang.

Coming to the offensive general, Gan Guoyang asked for the ball in the low post on the right side for the first time, and it was not unreasonable for Ramsey to leave Gan Guoyang on the field, at this time he was still very physical, which happened to be a stable scoring point.

Gan Guoyang's card position is still fierce, he stepped on one foot in the three-second zone, one foot outside, and quickly reached the position, which is a very threatening position.

Colte's feeding was very timely, and Gan Guoyang would have been three seconds later.

After Gan Guoyang got the ball, he didn't pause, turned directly to the right basket, and rushed to the three-second zone.

The left hand is not a shot that Gan Guoyang is good at, so he didn't use a hook, but relied on his strength to squeeze away from Korzin and Steven Johnson, who stepped forward to wrap up, and used his shoulders to resist the two and go directly to the basket!

"Beep!" The referee's whistle blew, but Gan Guoyang's ball was not able to be shot because his arm was completely held by Korzin.

Korzin's entire body was almost pressed against Gan Guoyang's arm.

After the referee's whistle, the arms of the two were still entangled.

Gan Guoyang was enraged all of a sudden, and he slammed his force, flung it hard like a wild horse throwing off the reins, and Korzin was completely thrown away.

"Beep beep!" Seeing that the situation was not good, the referee immediately blew the whistle continuously and ran between the two to separate them.

"Be careful, rookie." This is the first sentence that Korzin said to Gan Guoyang today.

"Thanks, I'll get 30 points on your head, so be careful." Gan Guoyang didn't look at Korzin, but looked at Jordan on the bench and said.