On the morning of May 10th, when Gan Guoyang saw Ramsey in the training hall, the old man had already had two dark circles under his eyes like a giant panda, this was the first time Gan Guoyang saw the old man like this, he also played in the Western Conference Finals last season, and he didn't see Ramsey stay up all night like this, and it seems that Ramsey has a strong desire to win in this series.

In a private conversation a few days ago, Gan Guoyang also learned that Mrs. Ramsay's condition is currently relatively stable, and even shows signs of improvement, which also allows Ramsay to put more energy into his own work.

The evening's game will be played at 7 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum, the second-highest team in the league and the first in the West, and the Trail Blazers have home-court advantage in all series except against the Celtics.

Before the game, Gan Guoyang received a notice that the league would award Gan Guoyang the best defensive player of the season at home in the first game, and in the vote, Gan Guoyang defeated last year's best defensive player, block king Mark Eaton, and Spurs player, steal king Alvin Robertson, and successfully won the first honorary trophy of his career.

Unlike the historic NBA Defensive Team of the Year, the Defensive Player of the Year is voted for by non-professional basketball journalists, which is why the most voted for current and future NBA Defensive Player of the Year votes are often those with excellent block or steal statistics, such as Eaton and Robertson, because such data is the most intuitive.

Compared with last season, Gan Guoyang's block statistics have actually declined, but his performance in defensive rebounding is historic, which is an important reason why he can be favored by reporters.

However, this does not mean that Gan Guoyang is a useless defensive vase, because in the newly released NBA All-Defensive Team, Gan Guoyang successfully overtook Mark Eaton and became the center of the defensive first team.

You know, the votes for the All-Defensive Team are cast by coaches across the NBA, and as front-line workers on the court, no one knows the value of a player on the defensive end better than them, and this also leads to the embarrassment that there is a good chance that the best defensive player will not be on the All-Defensive Team.

At the very least, nothing like this happened to Gan Guoyang, his best defensive player deservedly, and with his efforts, the Trail Blazers' defense has directly improved a notch, they have the most stable backcourt rebounding protection in the league, the best mid-lane blocking machine, and a unique bag trap, which are all based on Gan Guoyang's presence.

After Gan Guoyang received the notice, he was still very excited, anyway, this is a very important award, although in his mind, he wants another more important honor - regular season MVP.

After the league decided who the Defensive Player of the Year would be, he was named the regular season MVP, and Larry Bird was voted the regular season MVP for the third year in a row, becoming the third regular season MVP to dominate three times since Bill Russell in 1963 and Wilt Chamberlain in 1968.

It wasn't the '60s, there were eight or nine teams in a league, the NBA was at the height of competition in the '80s, with more than 300 players on 23 teams, and it was absolutely great that Bird could do this feat.

The 1986 Celtics' 67-15 record and 40-1 record at home can also leave a heavy mark in the history of the league, compared to Gan Guoyang leading the Trail Blazers to break 60 wins for the first time and put on a brilliant individual performance in the second season of his career, it will not be enough to overshadow Bird's limelight.

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"Good evening everybody, and the Portland Trail Blazers welcome you to Memorial Coliseum, where we will be presenting an important award to a player ahead of tonight's game. Let's have a center from the Portland Trail Blazers, Sunny~~~~Gump! ”

Amid the elongated shouts of the live DJ, Gan Guoyang appeared in the tracksuit of the Portland Trail Blazers, which was specially held for him at the Best Defensive Player Award Ceremony held on the spot.

For the award ceremony, different teams and different players will choose different methods, some will present the awards directly in the press conference room of the arena, while others will be more solemn and present the awards live before the playoffs.

Trail Blazers owner Larry Weinberg felt that it was not easy for Gan Guoyang to win this award, so he asked for it to be grander, so Gan Guoyang received the best defensive player trophy handed by Stern himself and held it high amid the cheers and applause of more than 20,000 fans at the memorial stadium.

This is Gan Guoyang's first monument on his path to superstardom, and it's not the last, nor the most important, but it's a beginning.

After the brief award ceremony, Gan and Stern hugged and returned to their teammates, ready to start tonight's game against the opponent he will face.

Just as Gan Guoyang received the trophy, Olajuwon, who was standing on the bench of the away team on the other side, looked at Gan Guoyang's back and clenched his fists.

For Olajuwon, it seems that everything about him is one step worse than Gan Guoyang, second in the NCAA, third in the best rookie, and Gan Guoyang in front; In his rookie season, Gan Guoyang reached the division finals with the team, and he only did it this season, and now Gan Guoyang has won the best defensive player before him.

Fortunately, he has to face Gan Guoyang in the divisional finals, and as long as he is defeated, he can enter the finals one step ahead of Gan Guoyang.

The Rockets' confidence in beating the Lakers 4-1 can be said to have soared, and the cohesion and self-confidence of the entire team have improved more than one notch.

Stepping on the corpse of the king is a shortcut to the throne.

This can be seen from the relaxed appearance of the Rockets players during the warm-up, Gan Guoyang still remembers that when they played the division finals last year, they said that they were not nervous, but they were still a little afraid in the Great Western Forum Arena, and as a result, the first game was slaughtered by the Lakers, which set the tone of the series.

Now, with the Rockets on the one hand, who are confident in the Lakers' upper position, and on the other hand, the Trail Blazers, who have the advantage of being on the home court and reaching the division finals for the second year in a row, a battle has begun.

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“5，4，3，2…… Vanderwig shot, hit! Vanderwig hit a three-pointer! With 24 seconds to go, Vanderwig hit a three-pointer from beyond the three-point line. ”

At the beginning of the first quarter, Sean Li couldn't help but shout "Rip-City", Vanderwich almost lost the ball under McGregory's pressure, and at the same time, the offensive time was about to end, Van Dewych forced a three-point shot at the top of the arc one step outside the three-point line before the bell, and the ball turned out to be hollow into the net, three-pointer.

Vanderwig also smiled after scoring the goal, he had been forced into a desperate situation for this goal, but he was desperate to survive, and he scored a three-point shot, which is both luck and strength, Vanderwig is also the team's three-point king.

Head coach Ramsey looked at the team's first goal like this, and was a little worried, just now the offense and defense can be seen that the Rockets' outside pressing defense makes the Trail Blazers players obviously feel uncomfortable, McGray, Lloyd, Reid and others' defense is much stronger than the Nuggets' outside defense supported by only Dunn.

"Olajuwon, turn around and jump shot after receiving the ball! The ball went in, he turned quickly, and his move made the Lakers suffer enough in the last round. ”

In the blink of an eye, the Rockets also scored the first goal, Olajuwon asked for the ball in the low post on the left side, and after receiving the ball, he turned inside and hit a backward jumper, as Shaunley said, in the last round against the Lakers, Olajuwon's move was almost undefendable, and Abdul-Jabbar or Lambis couldn't keep up with his turn.

Gan Guoyang had already appeared in his face this time, but Olajuwon still hit it with a soft touch, after all, it was too close to the basket.

"You're in luck."

"I'll tell you I wasn't lucky." Gan Guoyang and Olajuwon have already begun a verbal battle.

But soon, the Trail Blazers were in a dilemma, and the inexperienced Colter couldn't organize the team's offense under the high wall of the Rockets' three-man outside line, and the Trail Blazers' starting five were split into five separate parts to fight separately.

When the Trailblazers can't play an efficient offense, the Rockets can play a quick counterattack, the Rockets are tall and tall, and the speed is not slow, even the twin towers are fast masters.

McGray got the rebound, Sampson dribbled and passed to Olajuwon, who made a layup...... Oh, and Gan was covered, but Red followed up from behind and made a layup. This is the third time that the Rockets have won the fast attack, and the Trail Blazers' defense has problems. ”

At 12:7, Ramsey immediately called a timeout, the preparation Ramsey made in the opening did not play a single Trailblazers, the offensive pull conduction, the combination of inside and outside was crushed by the Rocket's oppressive defense, and the rapid retreat in the defense was done, but the impact of the Rockets was too strong, and each of the five players in their starting game could play the forward position, and Gan Guoyang could not withstand the impact of a group of forward players no matter how good his defense was.

Faced with this situation, Ramsey immediately made a decision and immediately used his second plan.

"Colter, you go off, Cosey comes on, Vanderwich you change the position of shooting guard, give up the low post, focus on shooting near the three-point line. Cauchy also appropriately leaned outside when defending, retreated in time, and paid attention to delaying the advance of the Rockets with Drexler. Clyde, you get to the No. 1 position and revitalize the team's offense. Willing to take a heavier job and do your best to ensure backcourt rebounds. Mitchell, teach Ralph a lesson, I think he's playing too happily on the court. ”