[…I met Forrest in warmups before the home opener of the 1981-1982 season, when he was a high school student and the hottest basketball figure in San Francisco in October. That game was the Warriors versus the Jazz. Only more than 7,000 spectators showed up, and the box office was dismal. Thurmond brought Forrest to the scene and said that he had a question and wanted to ask for advice. At that time, several of us wanted to teach this guy a lesson. You know, it is a tradition on the court to suppress popular fried chickens. We have all been taught this lesson. Al assigned Larry and I to answer his questions, and we winked at each other, understanding that we wanted to give him some clues. Then...it's hard for me to describe the specific situation. Anyway, starting from that season, Larry Smith's performance on the field never reached the level of his rookie season. I think he might have been shocked, haha. 】
————Bernard King’s autobiography “Game Face” was published in 2017, excerpt 1.
Gan Guoyang followed Bernard King and Larry Smith to the court. While warming up, the two of them joked with Gan Guoyang.
Bernard King is a small forward who was just traded to the Warriors last season. A talented but troubled young man troubled by alcoholism and various troubles, he is the team's second-leading scorer.
Larry Smith was the 24th overall pick in the second round of 1980. He was a 6-foot-8 (203) strong power forward with amazing rebounding energy at the basket. In his rookie season, he averaged 12 rebounds per game, including 5.3 rebounds per game. offensive rebounds - Moses Malone, known as the king of offensive rebounds, only had 5.9 offensive rebounds in the 1981 season.
"Man, you said you wanted to know about the turn-over jump shot. But I don't know what level you are at now. How about you compete with Larry and shoot one, and I can give you some advice after watching it."
After warming up, Bernard King threw the ball to Gan Guoyang and asked him to compete with Larry Smith in the low post.
"Come on, I'll be gentle, not too strong, just throw one."
Larry Smith stood tall in the ribs and waved to Gan Guoyang. Gan Guoyang threw the ball back to Jin and came to the low post to lean against Smith.
Smith is 23 years old and graduated from Alkane State University. He weighs 220 pounds and is a stocky and strong short inside man.
Judging from his offensive rebounding performance in his rookie season, Larry Smith has a proud confrontational ability.
Coming from the southern state of Mississippi, he has a stocky body and looks like a country farmer. His playing style is as simple and hard as his appearance.
Facing Gan Guoyang, a lean man with yellow skin who was only a little taller than himself, Smith didn't pay much attention to him.
However, at the moment when the two sides made physical contact, Larry Smith felt like he was being pressed against by a steel plate.
Gan Guoyang is firmly nailed to the ribs and his feet are stuck in a deep position. Once he catches the ball, he can turn around and put the basket directly to attack the basket.
Jin passed the ball over, and Gan Guoyang did not attack the basket directly. Instead, he moved his feet, took a step outside, and chose a turn-over jump shot.
Larry Smith was severely suppressed just now. When Gan Guoyang turned around and shot, he didn't even have time to jump up and block the shot.
The ball easily fell into the basket, and two points were scored. Gan Guoyang picked up the ball, threw it to Jin, and said: "That's it, a very simple turn around and shoot. But I feel that if in a high-intensity game, It’s going to be hard for me to cast, it seems a little slow.”
Bernard King looked at Larry Smith and wondered why this guy didn't move. Did he promise to teach this kid a lesson?
Jinzui said: "Yes, your steps are too rough and too slow... Well, try again. This time, when you turn around, don't step outwards, try inwards."
"Inward?"
"Yes, when many people turn around to shoot, they always like to take a step outside, trying to distance themselves from the defender. This is wrong. Instead, the opponent will block the shot and interfere with it, unless you shake his center of gravity. Normally. In this case, you should go in, jam the opponent, do not dodge, make physical contact with the opponent, squeeze out the space and then turn around. Remember, the space for turning is squeezed out, not hidden. Try again."
In the same position, Gan Guoyang once again had his back against Larry Smith. This time Smith tried his best to hold Gan Guoyang from behind and interfere with him catching the ball.
Gan Guoyang felt that Larry Smith's confrontation was increasing. He used the blocking technique he learned from Thurmond to engage in repeated battles with Larry Smith in the ribs.
The arms of the two were entangled, but Gan Guoyang could still reach out for the ball with his right hand. At the same time, his core was stable and firmly planted there to fight against Larry Smith.
Gan Guoyang has been doing strength training recently. He mainly trained his lower limbs, waist and abdomen. He also trained his arms a little, but didn't train his chest muscles because they were useless.
Due to his physical condition, his strength increases faster than that of ordinary people. Sometimes Bellman wonders whether this kid is really a cyborg as rumored.
Although Larry Smith is strong, he is not as tall as Gan Guoyang and does not have a big weight advantage. Gan Guoyang learned his skills from Thurmond and is good at hand-to-hand combat and is not afraid at all.
"Pass the ball, pass the ball!" Gan Guoyang reminded Bernard Jin to pass the ball to him.
Jin then realized and threw the ball to Gan Guoyang.
Gan Guoyang caught the ball, followed Jin's instructions, dribbled the ball, put his feet in, and pushed away Larry Smith!
Smith staggered and took two steps back. Gan Guoyang took off and shot from close range, hitting two points.
After the goal, Gan Guoyang asked Bernard King, "How is it? Is there anything wrong with the shot?"
Bernard King was a little dumbfounded. He licked his lips and said, "It's not bad, but the speed is a bit slow. And the force you hit just now was too strong, and it's easy to get an offensive foul. Let me demonstrate it to you."
Bernard Jin asked Gan Guoyang to observe from the side. He stood in front of Larry Smith with the ball and whispered: "What the hell are you doing? Are you playing with this kid?"
Larry Smith said: "Fart, I guarded against him seriously, but I couldn't handle him!"
"Are you kidding me?"
"I'm not fucking kidding, this kid is as hard as Moses Malone."
Bernard King still didn't believe it, so he demonstrated his turnaround jump shot.
The pace is very fast and the range of movement is not large. He turns around and confronts the opponent, and then quickly takes off and shoots, hitting the target.
Gan Guoyang looked at his shooting movements, a straight-armed master's shot, a striker's choice to shoot inside to prevent blocking.
The foot speed is indeed very fast, and it is very nimble, giving the defender a short reaction time, and the confrontation is the essence.
Bernard Jin said to Gan Guoyang: "Boy, come and defend me and feel it directly."
Jin wanted to see if Gan Guoyang was as tough as Larry said.
"You know how to defend low, right? Try your best, I'll be quick."
Bernard Jin reminded Gan Guoyang, then dribbled, accelerated, broke through, stayed close, turned around and faced off!
A set of coherent actions may seem simple, but it contains many details.
Starting off, where your feet land, how to determine your pivot foot, how fast you turn, and when to take off after a confrontation.
All determine the success of an attack. Behind every seemingly light goal on the field is the sweat of countless hard training.
King was confident in his shot and found a new lease of life in the Bay Area after recovering from alcoholism and sexual assault.
Those bad years were behind him, and he, who was considered rude and rude in the Nets, softened up after coming to Golden State.
He started interacting with reporters and would go to the community welfare center to play ball with the children. Everything was getting better.
He believes he will hit more and more shots and become a true superstar in the league.
There was a "pop" sound, and Jin's ball failed to be released. It was directly pressed into his hand and blocked.
[Compared to Larry Smith, my situation is not much better. One of my turnaround shooting demonstrations was blocked by him, and it was a solid block. To be honest, I couldn't remember the last time I was blocked like this. It was a head-on collision with the ball still in my hand and was blocked. Although I was a little careless at the time because it was a demonstration and I wasn't that fast, it was indeed beyond my expectation. There are two defenders that I least want to face in my career. One is George Johnson. He is my teammate in the Warriors. He knows a lot of details. Another one is Gan, he is so smart. 】
————In 2017, Bernard King’s autobiography “Game Face” was published, excerpt 2.
