On October 25, 1985, the NBA game of the new season kicked off.

In the previous two weeks, the NBA's preseason season had been in full swing, and in such warm-up games, young players and new signings from each team were the main targets of training.

Gan Guoyang missed the preseason last season due to a back injury, and this season, as the main force of the iron fight, he no longer needs to prove anything in the preseason.

A few games were played in a relaxed and comfortable way, followed by the real regular season.

According to the schedule, the Trail Blazers' first opponent is the Phoenix Suns, who are also in the Pacific Division.

Last season, the Phoenix Suns entered the playoffs as eighth in the West, and were swept in the first round by the eventual champions, the Los Angeles Lakers.

And in the offseason, the biggest deal the Suns made was with the Lakers, that is, to send Morris Lucas to the Western Giants, which in the eyes of many people is simply "aiding and abetting".

Of course, the Suns have their own calculations, with Maurice Lucas suffering injuries in the regular season last season, playing in just 63 games.

However, he averaged 19.7 points per game in three games against the Lakers in the playoffs, his highest scoring per game in a series since the 1977 Trail Blazers' championship season.

Because of this, it also contributed to the Lakers and the Suns to complete this trade, but Lucas, a 10-year veteran in the league, still has a lot of gas in his mailbox, and the Suns' uniform team does know best.

In the draft, the Suns' main move was to use the No. 10 pick to acquire Villanova University's small forward Ed Pinckney.

Villanova University relied on Pinnick's 16 points and 6 rebounds in this year's NCAA Finals - a team-second and team-first outstanding performance - to defeat Georgetown University and win the NCAA championship trophy.

Therefore, Pinnick's value in the draft also rose, and he came to the middle of the table and was picked by the Suns.

In addition, the Suns have no big moves worth noting, they still retain the main lineup of last season with Larry Nance, Alwan Adams, and Walter Davis as the core, and the bench is supplemented by James Edwards, which is still very competitive.

And in the Trail Blazers' locker room before the game began, there was one person who looked more nervous than everyone else.

"Relax, Mr. Bellman, relax, it's just a regular season game, don't worry about it with me." Gan Guoyang was putting his hand on Bellman's shoulder at this time, and Bellman was as stiff as a stone.

Over the course of the month, Bellman has begun to slowly adapt to working on an NBA team, from the initial novelty and excitement, to the great pressure of working on an NBA team.

NBA players are different from college players, in college, coaches are equivalent to teachers, players are obliged to follow the teacher's command, and college students are children after all, and it is relatively simple to discipline children.

In a professional team, the relationship between the player and the assistant coach is a colleague, and although the players have to obey the coach's command, if the coach does not show enough authority and ability, it is easy to be ignored by the players.

Fortunately, in the Trail Blazers, Gan Guoyang, as a former disciple of Bellman, has absolute respect and obedience to him, and in the entire Trail Blazers, no player is more prickly than Gan Guoyang.

But Gan's obedience alone is not enough, Bellman must show enough value, and the Trail Blazers can improve well to convince the players, as well as coach Ramsey and the team's management.

After in-depth communication with Ramsey and repeated discussions with the entire coaching staff, some of Bellman's defensive ideas have received some support, and his defensive philosophy has been implemented in training.

In the preseason, the Trail Blazers tried a little bit of Bellman's defense, but because the intensity of the preseason game was too low and the players on the court were mainly new players, it did not show immediate results.

The moment to really test Bellman's defensive philosophy is the NBA's regular season, and today's first game against the Suns will be Bellman's first test.

"Come on, block the free throw line." Bellman said to Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang listened and nodded, and then Ramsey made a little arrangement on the whiteboard in the locker room, and the time was up, and it was time to play.

Tonight's Portland Memorial Coliseum is packed with people, and the smoke of last season's Western Conference Finals, where the Trail Blazers vs. Lakers match, seems to have not cleared.

In Game 3, the Trail Blazers, who trailed 2-0 in the first two games, returned to their home court and beat the Lakers to the cheers of thousands of fans and won the only victory in the series.

Although they were eliminated from the finals in the end, such a growing team undoubtedly gave fans great hope, and the fans naturally gave great enthusiasm to the Trail Blazers, and the stadium was already full before the warm-up began.

Bellman was also deeply shocked when he saw this situation, although he had also been to the scene to watch the NBA game, but the feeling on the court was different from that in the stands, and the burden of winning and losing on his shoulders was different from simply watching the game.

Bellman watched Gan Guoyang pick up the ball and go to the court for warm-up training, just like he did in college, when he warmed up, he liked to shoot 17-18 feet in the horn position.

"This kid has really grown up, he is now a superstar in the NBA......" Bellman looked at Gan Guoyang's figure and thought with emotion.

However, Bellman soon ran out of time to break down, and after the warm-up, the first game at the Memorial Stadium was about to kick off.

As the first game, the Memorial Coliseum held a grand opening ceremony, which is also a major feature of the NBA this season, began to incorporate more entertainment elements, the opening performances of the stadium became more and more abundant, and the atmosphere was more and more enthusiastic.

“…… no，from-gonzaga-university,six-ten,at-center，sunny~~~~~gump！ (Now, it's the six-foot-ten center from Gonzaga University, Sonny Gan!) ）”

As the DJs on the scene introduced the players from both sides one by one, the first regular season game was about to begin.

It is worth noting that since the beginning of this season, Gan Guoyang's appearance order has been adjusted to last place, which also means that he has become the top star of the Trail Blazers.

Gan Guoyang shook hands with the Suns' old rivals one by one, and then looked around, and he saw a familiar face on the bench not far away, league president David Stern.

Stern chooses one of these games to watch every round, and it's a habit he'll stick to.

In the first game of the new season, he skipped the Celtics vs. Bulls and Rockets vs. Jazz games, and instead chose the opening game between the Trail Blazers and the Suns to watch it live, which is enough to see the importance that Stern attaches to Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers.

"The game is about to begin, the NBA game is back on fire today after a four-month hiatus, and the Trail Blazers, who lost in the Western Conference Finals last season, will set sail again, and after a season of growth, I believe they will come out on top, let's wait and see...... Okay, the game is on, Gan touches the ball first, and the Trail Blazers have the right to attack!"

The Trail Blazers' game, of course, is indispensable for Shaunley's live commentary.

Gan Guoyang won comfortably in the scramble with Adams, who was even shorter than him and was still a white insider.

One positive for the Trail Blazers is that their star star, power forward Larry Nance, misses the game due to injury.

Last season, Larry Nance played very well against the Trail Blazers, that is, he was able to contain Gan Guoyang when he defended him.

Larry Nance can't play, and the tallest player on the Suns court is Adavan Adams, a 6-foot-9 interior lineman, who is instantly a notch behind the Trail Blazers in height.

Of course, the Trail Blazers will not take advantage of such an advantage, and Gan Guoyang began to actively ask for positions in the low post on the first ball.

"Gan is in the low post on the left side to see if he can shoot the first shot of the new season for the Trail Blazers! Valentine hoisted the ball to Gan, the Suns didn't have a bag, Gan dribbled and squeezed in, Adams couldn't stop Gan at all, Gan hooked under the basket! The ball is in! The first goal of the season for the Trail Blazers, a hook from Gan! ”

Shaunley probably didn't expect Gan Guoyang to use a small hook to complete this attack, which was rarely seen last season.

Last season, even if Gan Guoyang grabbed a frontcourt rebound under the basket, he rarely used a small hook - he would dunk it directly.

If he plays singles in the low post, Gan Guoyang will either break through the basket or make a big hook shot, and the success rate is very good.

But this time, he took advantage of his body and ran Adams all the way to a very close position under the basket, and then easily hit a small hook with a straight arm.

Adams, as a skill-based white insider, is still a veteran, and he can't compete with Gan Guoyang in terms of strength, so he was really pushed into it directly.

Soon it was the Suns' turn to attack, and the Suns didn't have Larry Nance, and the highest starter was Adams, so they had to play fast and play outside.

Rookie Jane Humphries, who played as a backup point guard for the Suns last season, switched to point guard this season and was promoted to the team's starter.

The tall point guard at 6-foot-3 is physically fit and technically solid, while Valentine, although experienced, suffers more from his height, Humphries did not stay in the organization after dribbling past half court, but stepped directly from the middle to the inside, Valentine was caught off guard and was knocked away by Humphries and lost his defensive position.

But Humphries had just gotten to the free-throw line when he found his breakaway blocked.

After Gan Guoyang returned to defense, he did not go down to the three-second zone as before, but went to the high position of the free throw line to delay the Suns' little brother player!

This was the first major change Bellman made to reform the Trail Blazers' defensive system, and Gan's main defensive area was expanded from the three-second zone under the basket to the free throw line at the top of the arc.

Humphries was in such a gear, there was definitely no way to go inside, he wanted to make a quick stop jump shot, but looking at Gan Guoyang's outstretched arms, he had to choose to pass the ball to the wing and give it to Mike Sanders on the right.

Sanders shook off after receiving the ball, ready to continue to break through with the ball, and the main tactic of the Suns at the beginning of this game was to impact the Trail Blazers' interior line, kill the opponent, and strive to offset the Trail Blazers' interior advantage.

It was Van de Verkiw who defended Sanders, and as the biggest colander in the Trail Blazers' defense, Bellman also made a request to make up for his shortcomings.

When Sanders was about to break through, he found that Van Dewig was not standing in front of him, but leaned inward, as if opening a door, leaking the baseline but blocking the 45-degree course.

"Sanders broke through from the baseline, Sampson stepped in and he blocked Sanders' layup! Nice cap! The Trail Blazers won the ball, a beautiful defense! ”

Bellman's defensive improvements seem to have really paid off.

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