"John, do you think we should go to these rural countries to play in this life?"

"Maybe, I don't know, I'm skeptical that I'll be able to play professionally in the future, maybe I'm better suited to accounting, I'm already in contact with a company."

"No John, trust me, you're going to be a great player, very, very great."

"To borrow your words, if there is a team willing to take me in, I think I will dedicate 20 years to him...... Even in a hellish place like Utah. ”

In the eyes of most Americans, Utah, the Mormon hangout and snow-covered western plateau in winter, is indeed a haunted place.

Gan Guoyang, who was sitting next to Stockton, listened to his words and felt a little funny in his heart, because he knew that Stockton was likely to struggle in Salt Lake City for 20 years in the future.

The premise is that Gan's arrival doesn't change Stockton's draft trajectory, as his presence has changed Gunzaga University's NCAA history.

Since 1943, when the Gonzaga University basketball team joined the NCAA League, they have played in the INDdú lì League, the Big-Sky League, and the CC West Coast League, but have never made it to the NCAA National Games.

They only won the league championship in the 1965-1966 and 1966-1967 seasons, but they also failed to make it to the NCAA national due to their record and team level.

Without Gan, they wouldn't have had until the 1994-1995 season to break through to the NCAA national round of 64 and then stop in the first round.

Gan Guoyang's arrival has advanced this time by 11 years, and their goal is not the first round.

But to the displeasure of Gan and the entire Gonzaga Bulldogs, their first and second round matches were held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Now, on March 16, Gan Guoyang sat on the flight to Salt Lake City with the whole team of Gunzaga, thinking about his description of Utah in later news reports, and Gan Guoyang couldn't help but have a feeling of "sadness coming from it."

Spokane itself is located in the far northwest of the United States, and it is already in the remote part of the United States, and Utah is the legendary ice and snow plateau, plus the Omaha where I have been to play more than half of the places where Gan Guoyang and Gunzaga played are in the "big countryside".

In fact, it is not the NCAA organizing committee that makes it difficult for Gonzaga, they allocate the venue according to the team's geography and record.

IF THE TEAM CAN MAKE IT TO THE TOP OF THE SEAT-SIXTEEN, THEN THEY WILL BE ABLE TO PLAY IN LOS ANGELES, THE LARGEST CITY IN CALIFORNIA, WHICH IS FAMILIAR TO GAN.

What's more, the NCAA Final-four will be held in Seattle, the Emerald City, a city in Washington state, which is half of Gonzaga's home stadium.

So, before heading to Salt Lake City, Gan and Gonzaga's players spontaneously mapped out a championship roadmap from Spokane to Salt Lake City to Los Angeles to Seattle, with the slogan of their NCAA National Tour being "Going-the-Seattle."

Such a local slogan, it is naturally Gan Guoyang who came up with it, this guy remembered that every time China competed in a video competition in the future, there would be a "direct access to XXX", and he took the sheep with him.

But before they could make it to Seattle, they had to get through two hurdles in the cold Utah Plateau, the first of which was at the famous Princeton University.

Princeton is naturally known because of their tactical system - the Princeton Tactic.

Princeton University itself is an academic institution, and he is a member of the prestigious Everychūn Rattan League. But it's not a basketball powerhouse, and they didn't even have basketball scholarships in the early days.

Because of this, Princeton University has no way of attracting talented high school students, and their basketball team is full of players with some of the best in the world.

Therefore, their coach Pete Carell has created a set of tactics that are specifically suitable for "mediocre players", through this set of tactics, the potential of each player can be maximized, the small is big, and the weak is better than the strong.

It was with this set of tactics that Coach Carell led the mediocre Princeton University to victory after victory.

Although it is difficult for them to break through without talent in the higher level and more competitive national competitions, their results have surpassed the abilities of each of their players, which is truly a miracle of basketball tactics and team collectives.

This tactic was not very famous in the eighties, and it wasn't until Carell entered the NBA as an assistant coach that this magical basketball idea became known.

But Bellman, as a basketball insider, has heard of this, and after learning more about his content, he believes that this kind of offensive and tactical thinking should be a good fit for Gunzaga University.

So he looked for an opportunity to pay a special visit to Pete Carell to learn this tactical system.

However, Gan Guoyang's arrival disrupted Bellman's tactical design plan, because with a talented center like Gan Guoyang, playing Princeton was really a waste.

The game in Omaha has also proved that Princeton may not be a good fit for Gunzaga or Gan.

For such a center, he should be allowed to play in a good way, show his basic skills and talents, and maximize his ability.

Moreover, Gan Guoyang is not the kind of player who likes to shoot crazy when he monopolizes the ball, whenever he feels average or tactically needs, he can always give enough support to other teammates.

The most important thing is that Bellman's offensive tactics are really very average and lacking, he is good at adjusting the defense, so he relies heavily on the star players of the team when attacking.

Now, Bellman's team will face Princeton University, the ancestor of Princeton's tactics, in a "go home or win" match, and that's the brutality of March Madness.

However, Gunzaga University has one day to relax and prepare before the brutal knockout round, which means Gan has a chance to visit the legendary Salt Lake City.

By the time the 16rì plane arrived in Salt Lake City, it was already completely dark, and Gan Guoyang's first feeling when he walked out of the airport was that the city was so fucking dark.

For the big cities of the United States, there is no such thing as night, and the colorful lights in the big cities are lit up all night long.

For many Americans, nightfall is the beginning of life.

However, Salt Lake City, the largest city in Utah with a population of more than 1 million and half of Utah's total population, is only lit up with a few lights at night, like a lighthouse on the coast, guiding people who wander at night to return to Hong Kong to rest.

"Oh my God, is this America? There's no nightlife here? Gan Guoyang said as he looked at the dark sky, where he thought of Shanghai in the 80s, and when he left China in 1981, the night was just as dark.

"That's the way it is in Salt Lake City, there's no nightlife here because Mormons aren't allowed to drink." Stockton explained.

"I bet John, this city is with you, and this will be the best place for you." Gan Guoyang said that he was ready to give a magic stick and bet that this history would not be changed by him.

"Come on, I'd like to go to the cinema in the evening, I've heard there's only one movie theater in Salt Lake City." Stockton said helplessly.

"Alright, let's see, then."

Taking the airport bus, Gan Guoyang and his entourage arrived at the hotel designated by the organizing committee of the event, where a total of six college teams stayed and competed for two places to go to Los Angeles.

"Oh my God, Texas El Paso, El Paso, I heard that this place is near Mexico, and they are going to Utah to compete, it's crazy!" Gan Guoyang lay comfortably on the bed in the hotel, looked at the schedule and said.

If they can make it through the first round, then their opponents in the second round will be the Texas University of El Paso, the southernmost school in the United States.

"Really? But I think the Princeton players who came from New Jersey to Utah are worse than the Texas cowboys. Stockton, who was lying on the bed next to him, said that he slept with Gan Guoyang tonight.

Gan Guoyang almost squirted out of his mouth when he heard this, New Jersey? It's located on the east coast of the United States, the easternmost point!

"Why? How the fuck is this partitioned? Gan Guoyang looked very puzzled.

The NCAA is like any other sport in the United States, and they are divided into four zones, namely the Southeast, West, Midwest, and East. The survivors of each district elimination will be the four lucky winners of the Final-Four, who will gather in Seattle.

However, the problem arises when the teams are assigned to the district, because the teams that enter the NCAA national tournament change every year, and the distribution of universities in the United States is not even, obviously more in the East and less in the West.

In addition, some of the strong teams are very close to each other, even in a city, so dividing them by geography will make the strong dialogue play out prematurely.

As a result, some eastern teams will be thrown to play far west to balance the differences between east and west.

For a long time to come, Princeton will be playing in Salt Lake City, Utah, or being sent to Denver, Colorado, to endure the highland environment, or to be kicked to the Texas prairie to smell the.

After listening to Stockton explain the reason, Gan Guoyang was a little lucky, maybe it would be a good choice to be assigned to Utah, which is not too far away.

"By the way, John, tomorrow we're going to the basketball court in Salt Lake City after practice to watch the Utah Jazz game, you see, the newspaper says that tomorrow the Utah Jazz will play the Dallas Mavericks at home."

"No problem, but I'm a fan of the Sonics, and I don't like either team." Stockton is a native of Spokane, and Spokane is fairly close to Seattle.

"Trust me, you're going to like them."

……

The next day, after a morning of acclimatization and pre-game preparation, Bellman gave the team a break in the afternoon and allowed the players to visit Salt Lake City.

Bellman wasn't too worried about the players going out and playing, because Salt Lake City was so lacking in entertainment that it was like the countryside, and the only places to spend time were movie theaters and basketball halls — there weren't even football or baseball teams.

In March, the weather in the north has begun to warm, and players no longer have to wear thick padded jackets all day to the sports unit to train, and then have to take off the padded jackets one by one and put them back on again after training.

But Salt Lake City, located on the plateau, is still very cold, although the latitude here is no higher than that of Spokane.

Walking through the city, a layer of smog hangs in the air, caused by the cold and high-pressure air blowing from Alaska near the Great Salt Lake, causing poor air circulation.

Even so, at the right angle and orientation, through those tall buildings, you can still see the tall white snow-capped mountains in the distance, which is also the symbol of Utah Salt Lake City, and in 1997, the Jazz jersey was printed and became a timeless classic.

And now the Jazz's jersey is still the note LOGO brought from New Orleans in 1979, which is somewhat out of step with the temperament of Salt Lake City.

Walking around the streets of Salt Lake City, there is really nothing attractive except for the famous Utah burger, and basketball players can't eat burgers.

So, Stockton and Gan Guoyang went straight to the Salt Palace Arena to watch the NBA game in the evening, and it was also a pre-game point, because their game will also be held at the Salt Palace Arena.

With more than 12,000 seats, the Salt Palace Arena, the main arena of the Utah Jazz, was used not only as a basketball venue, but also as the main venue for the 1972 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where various ice games were held.

As soon as he entered the Salt Palace Gymnasium, Gan Guoyang could feel a wave of meaning coming over him.

Because the décor here is all cold and cold, coupled with the cold weather in Utah, it is estimated that every opponent who plays here will complain.

"Hey John, what do you think of this place? Doesn't it feel very intimate? Gan Guoyang asked Stockton.

"No, no. What's wrong with you, why do you keep asking me questions about Salt Lake City, making me feel like I'm going to play here as soon as I graduate? Stockton replied that he was surprised by Gan's question.

"I don't know, but I always think... I feel that you are very, very consistent with the temperament here, calm, low-key, and restrained. ”

"Forget it, the Jazz, it used to be Maravich's team, and it has nothing to do with being calm and low-key. It's just that now that they're in the hell of Salt Lake City, everything has changed. ”

Because the two came very early, they chatted with each other like this, and Gan Guoyang always wanted to have something to do with Stockton and the Jazz team, intentionally or unintentionally.

As the number of people on the pitch slowly increased, the two teams also came out of the players' tunnel and began to warm up on the field.

At this time, Gan Guoyang saw a familiar tall figure on the field, as if it was someone he knew.

"Hey! Eaton! Gan Guoyang shouted into the arena.

As soon as Gan Guoyang saw the huge height, he remembered that he was an enthusiastic car mechanic he met when he went to UCLA before, and Gan Guoyang still remembered his name, which was Mark Eaton, because Abdul-Jabbar had also mentioned him to Gan Guoyang later.

Because there were not many people in the audience, Gan Guoyang had a loud voice, so Eaton, who was shooting, heard someone shouting at him.

Gan Guoyang jumped from his seat and ran to the edge of the court, while Eaton also walked over with the ball.

"Hello Eton, I didn't expect to see you here." Gan Guoyang said excitedly.

Eaton also remembered Gan Guoyang, the Chinese he met near UCLA, and said, "Oh, it's Gan, hello, I didn't expect you to come here." ”

"Yes, tomorrow we'll play here too, against Princeton."

"You're really amazing, I've heard about you, you actually ran away from UCLA, ran away to Gonzaga University, and took Gunzaga to the national competition."

"Hehe, but then you and I are not brothers." Gan Guoyang thought that Eaton was also produced by UCLA, and he felt a little embarrassed.

"It doesn't matter, everyone should find a place that suits them. Actually, I don't really like UCLA very much, and that Coach Famar doesn't appreciate me, but right now, I'm feeling good in Utah, great. "Eaton doesn't have a deep affection for UCLA because he was picked up by UCLA and is not taken seriously by the coach.

He had a place to shine in Utah, as a 26-year-old rookie was drafted in third place in the fourth round and 72nd overall.

But after a season off the bench, he was firmly in the Jazz's starting center position in his second season, averaging 5 points, 7 rebounds and a staggering 4.3 blocks per game.

He often has more blocks than points in his games, and that's his strength and his specialty, and he's at home here.

"I had a great time with Gunzaga, oh yes, my teammates are still here, a great point guard...... John! Gan Guoyang called Stockton over.

"Hello, my name is John Stockton, I'm from Spokane, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Eaton."

"Oh no, don't be so polite, I'm not a star, I'm just a trick. I'm glad to meet you too. ”

Two good teammates of the future Jazz met for the first time under Gan Guoyang's "matchmaking", and this pair of players, one tall and one short, will hold up the ice and snow peak of Utah in the future.