After more than a week and a total of three games of suspension, Gan Guoyang was finally released on December 6, 1984 and entered the starting list of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Gan Guoyang's first game back on the field was against the San Antonio Spurs who came from afar.

Since the 1980-1981 season, when the Spurs were assigned from the East to the West, it has been a powerhouse in the West.

They finished second in the West in the regular season in 1981, 1982 and 1983 for three consecutive years, reaching the Western Conference Finals twice and losing to the Lakers twice.

After the 1984 season, the Spurs were in decline in 1985, and their core roster that they had maintained for five seasons was aging.

But Ramsey still didn't dare to slack off, no team in the NBA is a weak team in the true sense, especially in the regular season when everyone is not fully prepared, the weak beat the strong, and there are countless games in which the boat capsized in the ditch.

Moreover, the state of the Trail Blazers themselves is not the best now, Gan Guoyang and Sampson have a conflict, Ramsey has also heard of it, and Sampson's poor form in the last game made Ramsay worry about whether he can play normally in this game.

And Gan Guoyang, who has been banned for three games, has just returned to the game, will it be possible to be uncomfortable.

Then there's the team's perimeter defense, which will face the Spurs' old two-pronged guns, and Ramsey worries that their perimeter is likely to be beaten again.

"Gan, I asked you to take a good look at Gilmore's video yesterday, have you watched it?" Ramsey saw Gan Guoyang on the sidelines who was warming up before the game, so he approached him and asked.

Although Gan Guoyang has not played for a week, he has itchy hands, and he is full of energy in the warm-up training, and he even gave a pre-game interview to Portland TV, in the past, Gan Guoyang has always avoided those media.

"I watched! It's the guy with a lot of hair and beard, and he's really like Abdul-Jabbar, except for the hair and beard. Gan Guoyang said and looked at No. 53 who was warming up on the opposite field, Artis Gilmore.

"I'm asking you to focus on his style of play, not his beard and hair......"

'I know he just looks like Abdul-Jabbar and he's different, he's great defensively and I think I'm going to get in some trouble, but trust me that's fine.' Gan Guoyang is always so confident.

Ramsey didn't have anything to say, he could only shake his head, he didn't know where this stinky boy got this kind of confidence, he only played in the NBA for a month, and he felt like an old ball skin who had been playing for many years.

However, Ramsey also has to admit that this kid is really trustworthy most of the time, except for the occasional hot-headedness.

It's just that this time he faced Gilmore, and Ramsey felt that Gan Guoyang might not have such a good time.

For Gilmore, the tall center who is 7'2" tall and has a very similar figure and hairstyle to Abdul-Jabbar, Ramsey can be said to be impressed.

In his first season under his coach, in 1977, he led the Portland Trail Blazers to a first-round encounter with Gilmore's Chicago Bulls. (At that time, the bulls were divided in the west.) ）

In the best-of-three game, the two teams fought fiercely and anxiously, and the two sides fought in the second game in Chicago, and the Trail Blazers also lost that game.

In his recollections after winning the championship, Ramsey believes that among all opponents, the Chicago Bulls in the first round are the toughest and most iron-blooded, and the Trail Blazers have taken off a layer of skin to reach the next round.

The roots of this Bulls' iron blood come from their super center, Artis Gilmore.

Yesterday he watched several videos about Gilmore, and he found that this center who looks very much like Abdul-Jabbar is different from Abdul-Jabbar in many ways.

Like his defense.

Gan Guoyang feels that Gilmore's defensive characteristics are actually very similar to himself, that is, he pays attention to physical confrontation and the competition for position, rather than simply relying on height and arm span to predict and block opponents.

On the offensive end, Gilmore's hook hand and turnaround shooting are very good, especially his shot selection is very reasonable, the shooting percentage is very high, and once you shoot, you will die.

Gan Guoyang also watched Gilmore's game this season, which was the Spurs against the Houston Rockets, a rival in the same state, Gilmore faced the new champion Olajuwon, and scored 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 11-of-13 free throws, while Olajuwon only scored 14 points.

The two of them are in opposition most of the time on the field, and Gan Guoyang, who has played against Olajuwon, knows what level Olajuwon is, and seeing that Olajuwon is quite helpless, it is difficult for Gan Guoyang to relax in his heart.

Soon, Gan Guoyang didn't have the heart to worry about this and that, and in the opening ceremony, the audience used the warmest applause and cheers to welcome Gan Guoyang's return, this kind of enthusiasm Gan Guoyang has not felt for a while.

Because half a month has passed since the last time he played at the Memorial Stadium, and now he is finally officially home.

"It feels so good to be home!" Gan Guoyang also sighed in his heart that he has become more and more fond of the feeling of playing in Portland.

With both sides in place, Gan Guoyang once again stood in the middle circle, he felt full of strength, and the three bans allowed him to get enough rest.

As the referee tossed the ball into the air, the game officially began.

The young and strong Gan Guoyang easily won the ball, and the Trailblazers took the lead in attacking.

According to Ramsay's preparation requirements before the game, the most important thing for the Trail Blazers in this game is to keep running and keep playing fast counterattacks.

The Trail Blazers were originally a team that was good at playing fast, and with Ramsey's instructions, Valentin did not stop organizing at all in the first attack, but rushed to the inside with a little help of Gan Guoyang's cover on the outside.

Valentin is known for being strong among point guards, with thighs as thick as tree stumps, but Spurs point guard John Moore, who defends him, is also a stout player.

He squeezed away Gan Guoyang's block and followed closely after Valentine.

Valentine followed Ramsey's instructions to play fast at the beginning, but he suddenly went too deep and was entangled by Moore and the Spurs inside.

Valentin barely passed the ball to Van Dewig, who flicked a shot from the left side, shook off the defender and went straight to the basket.

One of the tricks that Vanderwich is good at is to break through from the baseline and use his body and his big hands to go straight to the basket after hitting the basket.

This is especially effective against some of the not particularly physically strong and tall defenders, who can always use his physical advantage and rhythm to score or draw fouls under the basket.

But this time, he's facing Gilmore under the basket.

Gilmore, who has been playing professionally in basketball since 1971-1972, first played for Colonel Kentucky and has played for 13 seasons, is no longer the black sè giant who took off his hat with one hand when he was young.

However, he still has a lot of defensive experience and skill.

Seeing Vanderwig hit the basket, Gilmore didn't jump or adjust his pace to prepare for the block, but leaned up, stuck the passage further into the restricted area, and at the same time raised his arms high and held up a giant umbrella under the basket.

Gilmore knows that what a white player like Vanderwich is best at is playing with time difference, and if you jump up and block and the ball doesn't get it, you have to send a foul.

Vanderwich saw Gilmore put up his posture and forced a layup against his defense.

It may be that the opening hand is not hot yet, Vanderwich leaned on Gilmore's layup and did not score, but knocked on the left side of the basket, obviously less forceful.

At this time, Gilmore, who had been raising his arms high, easily pocketed the rebound, firmly grasped the basketball with both hands, and pushed Gan Guoyang, who wanted to pick up the frontcourt rebound from behind, behind.

When Gan Guoyang came into close contact with this giant, he felt that he was more robust than Abdul-Jabbar, and his muscular and strong arms made Gan Guoyang think of Nate Thurmond.

Gilmore firmly controlled the rebound and handed the ball to Moore, and the Spurs began to slowly organize the offense.

An important reason why Ramsey wants the Trail Blazers to keep running and launching fast offense is that the Spurs are already an older team.

The team's core framework was formed in 1982 and Gilmore was an important piece of the puzzle in 1983, but they still couldn't break through the Lakers' dominance.

So far, their starting five players have two players over the age of 30, including Gilmore who is already a 35-year-old veteran.

In the NBA at that time, with the medical technology of the 70s and 80s, many players would reach a period of decline around the age of 30, and after the age of 30, they would be riddled with injuries and had to retire.

Unlike in the 90s and beyond, when many players were in their peak at the age of 30, the professional life of the players was greatly extended by the advancement of medical technology.

In this regard, Gilmore and Abdul-Jabbar are very similar, breaking the restrictions of the times, and they are both evergreens on the court.

Even so, the Spurs have not withstood the passage of time, while the Trail Blazers are a young team with the oldest player at 30 years old, Sampson is the oldest of them all, and Kenny Carr is not far behind.

Therefore, the Spurs naturally had to play slowly, and the Trail Blazers were desperate to speed up in the opening game.

However, the Spurs' slow play does not mean that their offense is not sharp, on the contrary, they have two league-famous outside guns, and they are just as powerful as the combination of Van Dewew and Paxson of the Trail Blazers.

Moore dribbled steadily to the frontcourt, at this time Gan Guoyang stood on the right side of the three-second zone and stared at Gilmore, the entire Spurs were in a 1-4 formation, only Moore stood on the outside of the free throw line, and everyone else stood on the inside of the free throw line, lined up.

This is a very low-effort tactic, which does not require too much running and covering, and there are generally two options for attack, one is that the players pull out to play alone, and the other is to cross cover each other, and then catch the ball and shoot.

The Spurs' shooting guard, Mike Mitchell, is a very efficient small forward with a well-rounded skill set that has a perennial shooting percentage of over 50 percent.

Standing on the far right side of the frontcourt, he suddenly started to drill inside, Gilmore gave him a screen, and Mitchell shook off the already slow Van der Veric and went around the left baseline.

Moore made a through ball and passed it to Mitchell.

If Mitchell receives the ball, he will directly turn over and make a 12-foot baseline jumper, which is 9 out of 10 at his shooting level.

But this time, he didn't catch the ball steadily, because Gan Guoyang had already caught up to make up for the defense.

In the Trail Blazers' defensive system, there are very few supplements and rotations, because Ramsey thinks that the defense is passable, and a lot of supplements and rotations can not only improve defensive efficiency, but also make mistakes the most.

Therefore, Ramsey, who advocates attack, has always asked the players not to lose their positions and not to make up for the defense.

And Gan Guoyang made up for it, not that he disobeyed Ramsey again, on the contrary, he actively participated in the defense of the opponent's outside players according to Ramsey's requirements.

Because in the three games without Gan Guoyang, Ramsey has felt the benefits of proper rotation to supplement the defense of the team, especially against the 76ers, and the interior of the Trail Blazers without Gan Guoyang was full of holes.

So at this moment, Ramsey began to take the initiative to ask Gan Guoyang to expand the defensive area and actively participate in the supplementary defense.

Before Mitchell could reach the ball, he was slapped off by Gan Guoyang, but Gan Guoyang did not break the ball, and Mitchell still stumbled and controlled the ball.

At this time, Sampson and Valentin also surrounded them, and in a situation like this where the opponent was close to death, the Trail Blazers players would still be able to hit it in time.

Mitchell, who had already blocked all possibilities, could only barely make a shot on the right baseline, and the ball smashed to the edge of the basket and didn't go in.

Valentine picked up the rebound in the middle of the crowd and once again ran like a sheepdog towards the opponent's basket.

Vanderwicki, who was originally out of position on the right side of the defense, immediately threw himself into the fast attack, he couldn't defend him, and the offense was his forte.

Van Dewic quickly rushed to the basket, and Valentin also passed the ball to Van Dewig in time, and Van Dewic received the ball and went straight to the basket.

But the Spurs also responded very quickly, with John Moore and Gigi Banks both returning to the basket.

The Spurs' starters are a little different from other teams, they don't start a power forward, or Gigi Banks in the power forward position is not a power forward, but a small forward who is 6 feet to 7 feet tall.

Maybe because their center is tall and strong enough, it doesn't matter if the big forward is short.

And one of the benefits of this is that the return defense is still very fast.

Banks is the youngest player to start, but he's also a veteran who has played four seasons and has plenty of defensive experience.

He didn't go for the jump block Van der Veric because it was too late, and going to block was just a foul.

So he went to the basket and blocked Vanderwicki's path to a layup.

Of course, Vanderwich couldn't stop, so he had to lean on Banks again to force a layup, but the two people flipped under the basket, but the ball didn't go in, and the referee didn't blow a foul.

"Isn't this *** still blocking fouls!" Ramsey yelled from the sidelines, this is the home of the Trail Blazers, and Vanderwig has already blocked two such balls in a row.

The referee's decision cannot be changed, and the Spurs have launched a quick counterattack, which is a must for all teams in the NBA, whether young or old.

The Spurs' quick counterattack also looked full of discipline, with Gan Guoyang waiting for the opponent to come to the basket.

However, it was found that the opponent's No. 44 made a circle, cut into the three-second zone from the top of the arc, shook off Paxson's defense, and rushed to the basket after receiving Moore's pass.

"Just in time!" Gan Guoyang is thinking about giving his opponent a big hat to open his beard.

As a result, the emaciated-looking No. 44 didn't go to the basket at all, but picked the ball lightly with one hand and flicked it out from a distance of 10 feet.

"Huh!" The ball hollows into the net, and Spurs score first!

"How did you shoot this ball?" Gan Guoyang's mind was full of question marks, and No. 44 had turned around and walked away silently.

Gan Guoyang noticed that there seemed to be two words on the No. 44 shoe.

“Ice-Man？”