October 1981.
The economic recession that began with the oil crisis shows no signs of ending. The unemployment rate has further increased, the stock market continues to decline, and prices are still rising.
Young people spend their money, energy, and time on drugs, sex, movies, and music. The emergence of this new thing, MTV, organically combines these elements.
The song "Girls on Film" by the British band Duran Duran landed in the U.S. market through MTV. The bold costumes and sexually suggestive actions in the film soon set off a trend, and it was used in nightclubs with high-definition TV screens, as well as It is heavily played on television on Playboy premium channels.
In order to survive and keep up with the trend, Gan's Restaurant installed a color TV in the lobby to attract young customers. Punk bands performed here almost every day. The restaurant's income was rising, but the situation in the restaurant's toilets continued to get worse.
Fortunately, Gan Guohui no longer has to dig out the toilet, because Gan Guohui is a member of the Water Bell Team and he has to train and participate in competitions.
Sports events will always become a spiritual anesthetic to attract people's attention and temporarily stay away from the pain of life in a difficult economic situation.
Like horse racing and baseball during the Great Depression.
However, at this time, MLB had just ended its lockout in August, and both labor and management suffered heavy losses. At the same time, the confusing competition system and playoff rules after the resumption of play were confusing, causing fans to pay much less attention to them.
The situation in the NFL is not optimistic either. The collective bargaining agreement they signed after the 1974 strike will expire next year in 1982. The players union is ready to move, and the summer negotiations with the owners are not going well.
As for basketball, the NBA season and the NCAA are both in the offseason, and there are no games for fans to consume.
The NBA is mired in debt and scandal after one of the lowest-rated and least-watched Finals in history.
As for the NCAA, San Francisco's local school, the legendary San Francisco Dons, was warned by the NCAA in 1980 for illegally recruiting players.
If they do it again, they will be banned for the entire season.
However, it seems that the University of San Francisco is not alert and some violations are still being carried out in private, laying a time bomb for the future.
At this time, the Peking University Water Bells emerged and became an eye-catching highlight in the San Francisco sports world.
From the legend of Gan Guoyang's sudden rise from the streets, to Kezar Stadium's victory over Lihua Middle School, to a series of subsequent victories, the current water clock is like the horse racing "Sea Biscuit" in the Great Depression era, and San Franciscans' expectations and attention to it The force is getting stronger.
Especially in Chinatown, almost everyone is talking about the Water Bells in private.
After the news broke that the Water Bells and Fremont were about to play a qualifying game, the attention on the Water Bells in the Bay Area reached a peak.
This game involves: 1. Racial discrimination against the Chinese, 2. CIF qualification of the Water Bell team, 3. The most important point, San Francisco vs. Oakland.
The two cities are separated by a bridge, and the battle and competition between them has never stopped, especially in basketball. Oakland has been beating San Francisco in recent years.
The Warriors used to play their home stadium in San Francisco and were also called the San Francisco Warriors. However, after the Oakland Stadium was put into use in 1966, the Warriors began to play more games in Oakland.
In 1971, the Warriors officially moved to Oakland and changed their name to the "Golden State Warriors". They no longer only represented San Francisco but represented the entire California. In 1975, the Warriors won the championship.
San Francisco basketball fans must have had opinions in their hearts. Even if they were only separated by a bridge, it would not affect their attendance at the game. However, the city name San Francsico has since disappeared from the NBA. (Many years later, the Warriors moved their home court back to San Francisco, and were also criticized by Oakland fans.)
On the street, Oakland has always been known for its toughness. Many Oakland strongmen will come to San Francisco to play games, but few San Francisco players can conquer Oakland.
Economically speaking, San Francisco is richer, while Oakland is relatively backward. San Francisco has more white people. Oakland has many black slums. One is an international metropolis on the Pacific Ocean, and the other is the urban-rural fringe of the Bay Area.
This series of comparisons makes the two cities closely connected, but also deeply divided and grudged. At this time, if there is a basketball game that can represent the two regions, its influence can be imagined.
The game is held on the second Monday in October, which is Columbus Day, commemorating Columbus's discovery of the New World 390 years ago.
The game will take place at Tiger Stadium at Fremont High School.
This is a large stadium composed of a football field and a basketball stadium. On one side of the football field is a smaller basketball stadium.
Before this complex stadium was modernized, it was called a "prison" by local players and students because it was dilapidated, huge, and dark.
The game starts at 7pm tonight and the jail is packed tonight.
Not only the students from Fremont came to watch the game, but also the neighbors from the surrounding streets. Parents and children, older brothers and sisters with younger brothers and sisters, all crowded into the small basketball gym.
Many people who couldn't get in lined up outside to watch, and vehicles blocked surrounding streets and intersections, causing traffic jams.
In previous Fremont High School games, violence occurred outside the stadium due to crowd gathering. In addition, the game was very influential, so the Oakland police sent 9 police cars and 30 police officers to maintain order near the arena. To prevent unexpected occurrences.
The bus carrying Water Bell players arrived at Fremont High School at 6 p.m. and slowly drove into the parking lot of the arena.
Because of the traffic jam, a police car had to clear the way in front.
Flashing red and blue police lights, black teenagers hanging on barbed wire shouting at vehicles, and faint chants coming from the stadium.
All this, combined with the dark red sunset in Auckland, formed a rather terrifying picture - the Water Bell team seemed to be new prisoners sent to prison, and what awaited them was the fate of being ravaged by old prisoners.
The faces of the team members were more or less nervous. Even Franklin, who had always been arrogant, bit his lower lip and looked at the Auckland teenagers outside the car window in a daze.
Some people were spewing trash talk at Franklin. Although they couldn't hear clearly, they were definitely not good words.
When I got off the car, there was no barrier from the window glass, and the noisy sound came. After entering the stadium, the sound was amplified at least three times.
Everyone was silent as they changed in the locker room. Bellman tried to cheer everyone up, but he didn't know what to say.
These guys dared to come here to compete with great courage. He did not expect that this game would turn into a duel between two cities.
There was undoubtedly media behind it, and without other sports events to divert attention, the showdown between the two high school teams turned out to be so eye-catching.
The players changed their jerseys and went to the court to warm up. The players from Fremont High School had already been on the court to prepare for the game - their entire team was made up of black men, and everyone was tall and fast.
The fans at the scene kept trash-talking the players of the Water Bell team. Due to the repeated publicity before the game, the two teams, which had no grudges or hatred, suddenly became incompatible with each other.
This is a great test for the mentality of the players. When the game is about to start, Bellman gathers the players together and encourages everyone to forget about the environment and devote themselves to the game.
He specifically asked Gan Guoyang, the backbone of the team, "Gan, are you afraid?"
Gan Guoyang shook his head and said: "I will not be afraid of the enemies in front of me, because there are no enemies in my eyes. They will not upset me. I have made enough preparations and there is no room for negotiation, honey. Unless you Kill me before the game.”
Xu Xun added: "This is what Bruce Lee said."
Behrman: "Fuck you, don't use celebrity lines to show off."
Everyone laughed and the atmosphere became a little more relaxed.
Standing on the court, the game is about to officially begin. Gan Guoyang jumps the ball with his opponent.
The center of Fremont High School is as tall as Gan Guoyang, 6 feet 9. This is the first opponent Gan Guoyang has faced in the game so far who is eye level with him.
During the jump ball, the center named Herbert hit Gan Guoyang hard in the air and took the lead in getting the ball. The Fremont Tigers attacked.
"I'll keep an eye on you, Chinaman."
Gan Guoyang was too lazy to respond to such a provocation. It was not worth his while to waste his words on such a black man with little education.
Fremont High School's offense started quickly, and their core player was small forward Henry Turner.
Turner caught the ball near the three-second zone and used his back steps to run over Franklin and drive in - Franklin's number one task tonight is to defend Turner.
Turner has a better body and hand skills. He used his body to get closer to the basket. When Gan Guoyang came to help defend, he distributed the ball to the bottom left side. His teammate caught the ball and hit it from mid-range.
Fremont High School scored the first points, which is a most common tactic of breaking through the middle to the bottom of the ball.
In the Water Bell team's round, Chen Xing has gradually grown into a more reliable ball handler.
But tonight when he dribbled the ball past half-court, Gan Guoyang was still on hand to support him.
Sure enough, Fremont double-teamed Chen Xing, and he passed the ball to Gan Guoyang.
Gan Guoyang caught the ball in the high post, made some adjustments, and passed it to Franklin who crossed over from the baseline.
Franklin also tried a zero-degree mid-range shot from the bottom line, but missed, and the crowd booed.
Gan Guoyang was unable to grab an offensive rebound on this shot, and the Tigers launched a counterattack.
Almost the same strategy, Turner breaks into the middle and distributes the ball to the players on the bottom side.
You can catch and shoot from the bottom side or break through with the dribble. Splitting in the middle to catch the ball from the wings is the most basic offensive move.
This time the person receiving the ball chose to break through, and Gan Guoyang had already returned to defense in time and successfully interfered with the opponent's layup.
The Tigers center grabbed an offensive rebound and tried to score on Gan Guoyang, but there was a walking violation and the ball returned to the Water Bell.
There was a sigh at the scene. This defense was enough to prove that this Chinese player No. 11 is definitely capable.
As the game progressed, the spectators found that the Water Bell team had gained a firm foothold and played back and forth with the Tiger team.
Although the players on the water clock are obviously short and slow, they have a No. 11 inside who has excellent defense and excellent rebound control.
They adopted a tight zone defense and quickly retreated once the offense failed, immediately forming a formation and not giving the Tigers a chance to make a fast break.
Gan Guoyang even gave up offensive rebounds at the beginning. He appeared in high positions in large numbers to provide screens for his teammates, creating offensive space for Franklin and making it easier for him to retreat quickly.
This was a game strategy formulated by Bellman before the game. He knew that when there was a gap in strength between the two sides, the defense must be stable.
The individual abilities of Fremont High School players are indeed very strong, and everyone can launch their own offense, but they are a little impatient under the zone defense.
They were only thinking about defeating their opponents quickly and ending the qualifying match early, which made them appear impetuous.
Many unreasonable shots and rude fouls on defense meant that although they had the advantage, the score did not open up.
When Fremont High School requested a timeout for the first time, the score was 10:11, and the Tigers only led by one point.
In addition to Franklin's miss in the opening game, he scored 3 consecutive goals and scored 6 points. Gan Guoyang made a tip-in and made two free throws. The two scored 10 points together.
Everyone else is working hard to do their jobs and defend with all their strength. The team's zone defense has become very proficient under Bellman's two months of practice.
Although the physical fitness of Chinese teenagers is not as good as that of blacks, they have good minds, are united and do not show off, and the difficult zone defense becomes extremely tough under their weaving.
After getting over the impact of the opponent's opening, the darkness of the "prison" and the noise of the students were no longer a problem.
Returning to the court, Gan Guoyang made a big block on Henry Turner in defense. After controlling the ball, he passed a long pass to the frontcourt.
Franklin caught the ball, he knew the opportunity was coming, accelerated, impacted, jumped, and dunked with both hands!
The Water Bell team overtook the score at 12:11!
No one expected this result when the Tigers came back from timeout.
Not only did they not score, they were forced into a counterattack and fell behind for the first time.
The substitute players of the Water Clock stood on the sidelines cheering for the team, which seemed very harsh in the "prison" that became much quieter.
When he returned to the court, Franklin high-fived Gan Guoyang. Franklin thought it would be great to be a teammate with this guy.
