[The first time I had a conflict with Gan was on the second Monday, the 12th, in October 1981, at Tiger Stadium. That game between the Water Bells and the Tigers became known as the Columbus Day Miracle. Miracles be damned, Water Clock was pretty strong back then. I was in ninth grade, and a lot of my friends were in Fremont. I've been bitching about Forrest Gump since the first half because he beat the shit out of my friend Herbert. In the second half, he probably couldn't stand it anymore and ran to the sidelines and asked me my name. I told him and he said hello to me, "Fuck, Gary"! Of course I wouldn't let him go. I stood up and continued to attack him. He dunked another fucking one on Herbert under the basket - I'm sorry for Herbert. Then he ran to the sidelines and said to me, 'This is a fucking gift from me to you, we are not done yet'! I still remember this sentence to this day, and I started following him, biu, biu, biu~]
——An interview with NBA legend Gary Payton in the 2023 publication "Trash Talk", excerpt 1.
Gan Guoyang's mood has always been stable. When such a big event as time travel happened to him, he quickly calmed down.
But in the noisy and chaotic environment of Tiger Stadium, he who originally focused on the game was finally annoyed by the continuous trash talk.
That guy is so eloquent. If he were from Tianjin, he would be very suitable to talk about cross talk. God will reward you with food.
Of course, Gan Guoyang is not prepared to get into too many verbal entanglements with this kid. His performance on the court is the most important thing.
In the second half, he decided to increase his shots and consolidate the team's victory.
Orwell, the Tigers' coach, paced the sidelines, wearing a yellow plaid suit that was popular at the time.
Through the half-time contest, Orwell already had a preliminary understanding of the Water Bell team's offensive and defensive patterns.
The Water Bell team is obviously much tougher than expected, especially the No. 11 center and No. 14 small forward, both of whom are very good players.
With these two as the backbone, the rest of the Water Bell team has defense, fixed-point shooting, and rebounding as their main tasks. It can be said that the division of labor is clear, orderly, and they play in a orderly manner.
There was a lot of pressure on Orwell's shoulders. What was originally just an ordinary warm-up match turned into a qualifying match and even a city battle.
No one knows what will happen in the arena once Fremont loses.
Orwell was worried that he might lose all his prestige within the team. It would be a shame to lose to a Chinese team.
During the halftime break, he rearranged his strategy: the defensive end should increase pressure on Franklin, include more double-teams and more physical contact.
On the offensive end, we need to pass the ball more, attack the interior more, beat and consume No. 11 repeatedly, and strive to gradually tear apart the opponent's zone defense formation.
The offensive and defensive battles of zone defense are often a competition of mentality. The defensive team must weave a net, and the offensive team must constantly pass the ball and shoot from long range.
Whoever is more patient and can stabilize his mentality will have the upper hand in this offensive and defensive game.
At present, it seems that the well-prepared Water Bell team is much more patient than the Tigers, and the lagging Tigers are obviously a little impatient.
Facing the zone defense, Henry Turner tried a long-range shot from the front after receiving the ball but failed to hit.
Gan Guoyang grabbed a backcourt rebound, and the Water Bell team made a mistake during the counterattack, and the pass to Franklin was intercepted.
However, the Tigers' counterattack was even more impetuous. The point guard's layup was interfered by Gan Guoyang. The layup failed and the ball was controlled by Gan Guoyang again.
The Tigers were strengthening their defense against Franklin. Gan Guoyang escorted Chen Xing across half court, cut to the basket and squeezed Hurlburt for the ball.
Gary was yelling from the sidelines, "Guard him, butt him, choke him, kick him, stab him, put a shit basin on this Chinese guy's head! Fuck him, Herbert!"
But such shouting seemed to have the opposite effect. Gan Guoyang squeezed back, used his simple strength and footsteps to push away Herbert, and made a light layup with his right hand, scoring two points.
In the center's Cavaliers matchup, the Tigers never thought about double-teaming Gan Guoyang in the low post, thinking that Herbert should handle it alone.
But Hulbert couldn't handle it. He seemed very frustrated. His teammates didn't come to help, and he didn't want his teammates to help. He was embarrassed to say this.
Gan Guoyang did not embarrass Herbert anymore, but shouted when he passed Gary: "Work harder, you are going to scold me, almost!"
Gary cursed in his mind, "Fuck you." He still didn't stop, but his momentum had weakened a lot.
There is no way, no matter how much you talk on the sidelines, you will not be able to play on the court.
He is in eighth grade this year and will go to high school next year. What he wants most is to go to Fremont High School and play ball with his good friends.
However, his father did not want him to go to Fremont to study. He thought it was too chaotic and full of black people - even though their own family was black.
As Gan Guoyang scored consecutive goals, the Water Bell team was widening the point difference. Orwell shouted on the sidelines, asking to strengthen the defense against Gan Guoyang.
But the Tigers players were a little confused. During the halftime break, they said they should strengthen their defense against Franklin, and now they have to strengthen their defense against Forrest Gump.
There are only five of us among the five people on the opposite side. If we flank Franklin and then flank Forrest Gump, will everyone else be off guard?
The Tigers' offense also struggled, with the passing game becoming hesitant and the Waterbell's zone defense feeling more confident.
Xu Xun actually took the initiative, intercepted the Tigers' pass, and then counterattacked with the ball!
The Tigers chose to foul and pulled Xu Xun from behind, and Xu Xun fell to the ground.
This was a physical foul and should have been a free throw plus the ball, but the on-site referee only called a common foul.
Bellman yelled at the referee, "This is a technical foul! A physical foul! Free throws, free throws!"
The referee comforted Behrman and said: "I'm doing it for your own good, and it's also for my own good. Just calm down."
Bellman thought that this was the opponent's venue, a gymnasium with hundreds of black people squatting outside, and police cars patrolling the road. It made sense, so he might as well endure it.
Franklin was severely double-teamed on the Water Bell team's sideline ball and could not catch the ball. Gan Guoyang came out to catch the ball, handed it to Chen Xing, and walked in after covering.
Gan Guoyang attracted the defense. Chen Xing did not dare to dribble more, but he calmly found Xu Xun who cut around. Xu Xun caught the ball at a 45-degree angle on the right side and threw the ball away!
The ball went straight to the basket. Gan Guoyang knew at a glance that it would be difficult to score the ball because it was so powerful.
He ran to the left, and the ball hit the basket and bounced to the left. Gan Guoyang jumped up to get the ball in the air, and then hit the board and tipped the ball in!
After scoring the goal, Gan Guoyang did not forget to greet little Gary on the sidelines, "Speak louder Gary! I feel so lonely when I can't hear your breath! This is also a reward for you!"
Little Gary's face became more and more ugly. He felt that the air was condensing in his chest, his throat was a little choked, his eyes became sour, and tears were about to flow out.
Everyone talks a lot on the streets of Auckland because the environment here is that if you don't look tough, you're going to get bullied.
Spraying trash is like a cat's breath or a dog's bark, all to make yourself look like a tough guy. Don't think you can bully me.
Gary’s father, Al, was also a street ball player and trash talker, and was a well-known mean man in Oakland—he wrote so on his homemade car license plate.
He inherited his father's characteristics, but after all, he was only 13 years old, and he was still a mentally fragile and sensitive boy. The feeling of being unable to resist was quite uncomfortable.
He thought that as long as he could play on the court, even if the opponent was a center, he would not be afraid or uncomfortable, and he would choose to fight with the opponent.
Now he is standing on the sidelines, trying hard to suppress tears. He does not dare to look back or wipe the corners of his eyes with his hands. If his friends find out, he will be laughed at for the rest of his life.
He continued to shout to Gan Guoyang in a somewhat broken voice, and the Tigers finally scored a goal. Henry Turner, surrounded by heavy players, caught the ball in the low post and turned and hit a jumper.
In the subsequent attack, Gan Guoyang ran to the outside to catch the ball, not far from Gary, and cooperated with his teammates by passing the ball back and forth three times, teasing Herbert.
Then, Gan Guoyang fired directly from a long distance and shot from 23 feet away from the basket - the NBA three-point line is 23.5 feet.
Beautiful hand shape, beautiful arc, the ball passed through the net so neatly that the decibels in Tiger Stadium were instantly reduced by half.
After the goal, Gan Guoyang could see Gary as soon as he turned around, and the two looked at each other.
Gan Guoyang looked at him, smiled, shrugged, and ran away without saying anything.
But little Gary couldn't hold it back all of a sudden, and two big tears rolled down and fell into his mouth.
It tastes salty.
[...At that time, I was so fucking screamed by him. Really, I have never told anyone about this. He hit a 20-plus foot long shot, and there was no three-point line back then, you know, no one was shooting that kind of long shot. But as a center forward, he took the shot naturally and smoothly. After entering, he turned his head and looked at me without saying anything. Before, he yelled at me every time he scored a goal, but this time he really didn't say anything. He just smiled and shrugged. But I felt like he said everything. I was hugely insulted. I really couldn't bear it. I stopped and shed two tears. But I swear, there were only two. I stood on the sidelines and didn’t dare to look back or wipe my tears. I just hugged my chest and kept my eyes open until the tears dried. It was so fucking embarrassing...]
——An interview with NBA legend Gary Payton in the 2023 publication "Trash talk", excerpt 2.
