Gan Guoyang spent a very good Christmas with Thurmond. The warm and friendly atmosphere and the gains in basketball experience made him feel satisfied.
Before the end of the Christmas vacation, the players of the Water Bell team returned to school and resumed training, preparing to complete the remaining regular season in January and hit the playoffs.
Bellman went to New Jersey for Christmas to see his daughter, and met with his ex-wife to discuss relationship issues. Judging from his radiant face, there should be some good progress.
Xu Xun has been busy in the store this Christmas. Unlike Gan Guoyang, who is a basketball star, he still has to help with the work in his spare time. By the way, he has a big bump on his forehead. It seems that he made a mistake playing nunchucks.
Franklin also didn't rest. He didn't train in strength before. He sweated profusely in the dilapidated iron gym in Hunters Point during the holidays, hoping to restore his physical fitness to the best condition as soon as possible. All the school subsidies were given to his mother to take care of the three children at home. A younger brother and sister.
Chen Xing used this vacation to go to Los Angeles, but not to watch the Los Angeles Lakers game, but to buy Nintendo's newly released game handheld console and game cards this year - which are only available in certain stores in Los Angeles in California. .
He also got a new pair of sports glasses, genuine Kareem models, the ones he had cracked during a game against Washington High School.
The boy Gan Guohui ushered in his spring in the winter. He fell in love with a ninth-grade girl from Beiqiao Middle School.
Since joining the basketball team, Gan Guohui has only played a handful of minutes, but his hard training has allowed him to lose weight. At the same time, the aura of Gan Guoyang's cousin shone on him, and he suddenly fascinated the ignorant girl and fell into his arms.
Of course, Gan Guohui's character was still very good. He had not been dating the girl for long, and he took her home for dinner after Christmas, saying bluntly that she was his girlfriend.
Gan Youwei was shocked, thinking that his child was in love while he was still in high school?
But Gan Youtang and Gan Bingguang were not surprised. It was normal for high school boys and girls to fall in love in big cities in the United States.
Moreover, Gan Youtang has always been worried that his son, who is average in studies and not doing his job properly, will not be able to find a wife in the future.
Now at least it proves that he is capable of love and is not a bachelor that no one wants.
They warmly entertained the girl and told Gan Guohui to be responsible to others and not to give up and cause trouble all the time.
In the evening, Gan Youwei quietly asked Gan Guoyang if he was in love. Gan Guoyang replied simply: "I am not very interested in women now."
Regarding Gan Guoyang's answer, Gan Youwei was relieved but also a little worried. Is this normal for his son?
Gan Guoyang's mind is focused on basketball. For him, there are too many areas worth studying in basketball skills and too many areas worth improving in training. There is no room for other distracting thoughts in his heart.
But because of this, more and more girls are writing to Gan Guoyang. The more famous he is, the better he is at playing, and the more ruthless and difficult to pursue, the more those girls want to get close to him and get him.
This resulted in the Water Bell team being exposed at the training venue of the Fisherman's Wharf underground skating rink, and was discovered by two girls who were secretly following Gan Guoyang.
Reporters, agents, people from university admissions offices and sporting goods companies began to wander around the training ground again, and Bellman had nothing to do.
Fortunately, after the incident at the University of San Francisco, these people restrained themselves a lot and did not dare to give gifts or money anymore. They just wanted to get close.
The Water Bell team was able to train normally, and Bellman added 20 minutes of visual training to the training to improve the players' tactical sense and spatial imagination on the court.
The team's progress was visible to the naked eye. Their spirit, physical fitness, skills and tactics reached their best at the end of 1981. In 1982, it was clear that they were going to do something big.
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The year came to 1982.
In the remaining three games of the regular season, the Water Bells defeated Marshall High School, Lowell High School and Galileo High School - schools in the San Francisco area are particularly fond of being named after celebrities.
Gan Guoyang led the Water Bell Team and beat the President, the Justice (Thurgood Marshall), and famous scientists. His performance in high school competitions became more and more skillful and he stood out from the crowd.
The regular season of the San Francisco League ends here. The Water Bells achieved a record of 9 wins and 1 loss, tied for first place with Washington High School in terms of record.
Because they lost to Washington in the head-to-head match, they finished second and entered the playoffs as the second seed.
There are a total of 4 teams in the playoffs. The Water Bell team and the third-ranked Lincoln High School met in the first round. The Water Bell team previously defeated Lincoln High School in overtime.
The overall strength of the two sides was about the same, and even Lincoln was better. However, Gan Guoyang was too strong, and his performance determined the final direction of the game.
This game was held at the Kezar Stadium. Gan Guoyang grabbed an astonishing 41 rebounds in a single game - he learned the lesson of too many mistakes in the previous game against Lincoln. This time he almost did not take the initiative to attack, but did not Stop under the basket and rush for offensive rebounds.
Lincoln High School is weaker inside than Washington, and their perimeter defense is stronger and taller.
But no one could withstand Gan Guoyang's second attack.
The rest of the Water Bell team let go of their shots. Anyway, Gan Guoyang would grab the rebound if he couldn't make the shot.
This kind of single-elimination game requires some irrational playing methods.
The coach of Lincoln High School never expected that Gan Guoyang, who had already started to reduce the rush for offensive rebounds before and immediately returned to defense, would be possessed by Moses Malone this time and beat up Lincoln High School's inside line.
In 40 minutes of first and second half, Gan Guoyang had 20 offensive rebounds. He had 41 points and 41 rebounds in a single game. His double 41 set a historical record for the San Francisco League.
Lincoln High School was defeated at 66:78. Their shooting performance tonight was actually very good, with a high shooting percentage, but their rebounds were blown away too thoroughly.
After the game, the audience rushed into the field and crowded to shake hands with Gan Guoyang. He was escorted back to the locker room by his teammates.
"Gan, you didn't play according to the pre-match plan." Bellman said reproachfully in a very gentle tone.
The strategy formulated by Behrman before the game was conservative, requiring Gan Guoyang to retreat more defensively, catch the ball in high positions, and let Franklin attack first.
Gan Guoyang wiped his sweat and said, "Everything in the world is unpredictable."
Behrman has nothing to say. It’s been beaten like this. What else can you say?
When players find opportunities on the court, they still need to respect the players' ideas, especially the core players.
Gan Guoyang captured Lincoln Middle School's eagerness for revenge. They had many fast breaks in the last game against the Water Bells.
In this game, they wanted to repeat their old tricks and were eager to counterattack quickly. There were not enough rebounders in the backcourt to protect them, and the guards and forwards were all anxious to run to the frontcourt.
As a result, when Gan Guoyang grabbed offensive rebounds, it was difficult for them to stop them.
Gan Guoyang has thoroughly studied the weird missed shots of the Water Bell players.
The "San Francisco Chronicle" once again used a section of the sports section to report on this game, using the title "Double 41" to show people the cyborg's dominant performance on the San Francisco high school court.
In addition to "cyborg", the nickname "Sun King" appeared in the media for the first time.
However, if Gan Guoyang wants to truly win the championship in the San Francisco High School League, he still needs a victory in the finals.
On January 30, the sixth day of the Chinese New Year, the finals between Washington High School and Beiqiao High School were held at the War Memorial Stadium at the University of San Francisco.
The scandal-ridden University of San Francisco men's basketball team has suspended all competition activities to accept an investigation by the disciplinary committee.
A week ago, on New Year's Eve, the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 26:21 in the NFL's 1982 Super Bowl and won the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
San Francisco's enthusiasm for football has reached its peak, which also means that the football season has come to an end.
MLB is in the offseason, and the Golden State Warriors in Oakland next door have just embarked on a road trip.
The eyes of the entire San Francisco sports world were fixed on this final.
The War Memorial Stadium before the game recreated Bill Russell's debut at Kezar Stadium in December 1953.
Nearly 6,000 spectators arrived at the scene, filling the 5,000-seat stadium to capacity, and thousands of people lined up and watched outside the venue.
The highest ticket price on that day was US$200. At the same time, the highest ticket price for the Lakers, the most popular NBA team, at the Great Western Forum Arena was US$60.
Most of these high-priced tickets were bought by Chinese businessmen who came here because of the reputation. In the Chinese circles in the Bay Area, basketball and Gan Guoyang's games are fashionable topics of conversation. Anyone who can see his game is worthy of showing off in the circle.
His double-41 performance in the last game further raised people's expectations for the game.
The more attention comes, the greater the pressure. Many talented young people often cannot bear the pressure, collapse in an important game, and never recover, or it takes a long, long time to get out of the shadows.
Even a genius like Wilt Chamberlain lost to the Carolinas in the 1957 NCAA Finals by one point in three overtimes. From then on, he began to bear the reputation of a "loser" for a full 10 years until 1967. .
Bellman is also worried that such attention will put Gan Guoyang under too much pressure.
In the locker room before the game, he squatted in front of Gan Guoyang and said carefully: "Gan, there are many people watching tonight's game, but this is just a league final."
Gan Guoyang scratched his face and asked, "Coach, are you nervous?"
"Me? No, no, no, I'm not nervous. Why would I be nervous?"
"If the team wins the championship, your ex-wife will remarry you."
"Who the hell said this? Who is spreading these silly rumors and gossip? Farke, there is no basis for it!"
"You said it yourself after drinking."
"..."
"Don't worry, we will win this game. Washington will not be our opponent."
Gan Guoyang said calmly, and the flame of revenge was already burning in his heart.
