(The scheduled time was wrong. It was set at 22:00 on the 9th. I found out later. I’m very sorry.)
The final result of the dispute between Bellman and the women's basketball coach was that the two teams split the court equally, each using half.
Behrman was dissatisfied with this, "Farke, we have to compete for the California championship at the Great Western Forum in the evening, and we want it to be broadcast live on CBS. As a result, we can't even find an arena for warm-up training in the afternoon, and we have to share the arena with a group of girls. !”
The coach was very dissatisfied, but the players didn't think so. The boys and girls warmed up together and became more energetic.
Everyone ran faster than usual, jumped higher, and started to try dunks during layup training.
Looking at this group of ponies showing signs of heat, Bellman yelled loudly, which made the girls across from him giggle.
Okay, more excited.
The coach of the women's basketball team was a middle-aged woman in her 40s. She was very disdainful of Behrman's rude language, and the two quarreled again after a while.
The training couldn't go on anymore. Behrman was so angry that he collected the team and left, going directly to the Great Western Forum Arena to wait.
When leaving, Gan Guohui nodded to Gan Guoyang and said, "Hey, hey, cousin, the girl just now was so on point and tall. Don't you leave her contact information?"
Chen Xing also said: "Yeah, yeah, look, look, people are still looking at you, go over and leave your contact information!"
Gan Guoyang shook his head and said: "The competition is about to start. Don't think about it. Let's go quickly."
With that said, Gan Guoyang left the arena without looking back, without looking at the girl.
But as he said this, the girl's faint smile still flashed through his mind, and he was a little curious, who was she and how did she know him?
The girl didn't catch up and give her her phone number. The two seemed to have just met by chance and passed each other by chance.
Gan Guoyang's heart was filled with basketball and tonight's game, and it was difficult to squeeze in other things.
After leaving the middle school and arriving at the Great Western Forum Arena, the players waited until 4:30 to enter the venue to warm up.
This Colosseum-like circular building is the core of basketball in Los Angeles. It is the most famous indoor stadium in the United States with Madison Square Garden in New York to the east and west.
The Los Angeles Lakers have used this place as their home court since 1967 and have witnessed the Lakers' glory, decline and re-emergence in the past ten years.
Like the Oakland Coliseum, a large number of music concerts are held here, and well-known bands and musicians have performed here.
Compared with those famous figures, the players from Beiqiao Middle School are just little shrimps. They have not been treated normally since they entered the Forum Arena.
There was no staff to guide them into the locker room. Teacher Liu asked and groped around, and finally found their locker room, but the door was locked and there was no key.
Behrman, who had been so angry for a long time, couldn't care so much. He kicked the door of the locker room to pieces, then took out a few green bills from his pocket and gave them to Teacher Liu, asking him to help him pay the compensation. .
"People in Southern California are fucking bullshit. We have to win this game tonight!"
Bellman was quite dissatisfied with the schedule of the California Championship Finals, the poor living environment, poor food, no training venue, and indifferent and inadequate reception.
Compared with Bellman's irritability, the players of the Water Bell team were very calm. They changed clothes in the locker room, chatted, and did not complain along the way.
Gan Guohui said, "It's not easy for us to get here. People will definitely not let us win so easily. This is Los Angeles, not San Francisco."
Xu Xun said, "It's much better than in Korea."
Gan Guoyang said, "It's no big deal. If we have enough food and drink, we can defeat our opponents."
"I can play with bare feet and an empty stomach," Franklin said.
Other players also have no complaints about the "special" treatment during these two days. They just want to win the game.
They shouldered the expectations of Northern California, and they knew from their fathers that the Chinese could endure much more than this.
Bearman was deeply moved by everyone's attitude and said: "I'm proud of you. The people of Los Angeles will pay the price for their arrogance."
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At 6:30 in the evening, the Water Bell team put on their red jerseys and stood on the floor of the Great Western Forum Arena. (The real 1982 CIF Finals were played at the Oakland Coliseum, and in 1983 in Los Angeles.)
The Lakers just finished their home game against the Cavaliers yesterday. The floor was not replaced, and the Lakers' logo remained in the center of the field.
A banner reading "California state basketball championship (California state championship)" hangs on the technical stage.
The Forum Arena, which can accommodate more than 17,000 people, already had more than 15,000 people seated when the game was about to start, and fans were still streaming in.
In the current NBA league, the Lakers are the most popular team and have the best attendance at home, but only more than 14,000 fans attended the last regular season game.
The influence of this California finals is evident.
In such a large stadium, facing tens of thousands of fans, the psychological experience is completely different from that in small and medium-sized stadiums.
The towering dome, shining lights, and tsunami-like noises are like the ancient Roman Colosseum or a magnificent religious altar.
The players are gladiators, sacrifices to the gods. Standing on the field, the game is no longer just a game, but a duel, a sacrifice of faith.
Tonight's opponent of the Water Bells is Riverside Polytechnic High School from Los Angeles. The two teams have never met before this game, and they don't even know each other at all.
In the 1980s when video technology was underdeveloped, neither side had watched the other's game tapes and knew nothing about each other. This was a complete encounter.
The only person who knew something about Riverside High School was Gan Guoyang, because when he looked at the game roster, he saw a familiar name: Reggie Miller.
Before the game started, Gan Guoyang put his arm around Xu Xun's shoulders and said, "Axun, keep an eye on No. 30 during the game. Don't let your guard down just because he is far away from the basket."
Xu Xun nodded. He is the defensive arrow on the outside of the Water Bell team, a stalking defensive back. He dares to bite any super outside scorer in California.
The game is about to begin, and on-site commentators, referees, reporters, and announcers are in place. Several large live TV cameras scattered around the stadium focus their lenses on the stadium.
It's a live broadcast that will be watched by hundreds of thousands of television viewers in California at home - with ratings exceeding that of a typical NBA game.
During the entrance ceremony, when the on-site announcer called out the name "Sunny-Gump", there was a small ups and down in the audience, and someone in a certain area was cheering.
Gan Guoyang glanced in that direction. The lights in the stands had been turned off, and it was so dark that he couldn't see clearly. It should be the Chinese fans group in Los Angeles.
When the players from Riverside Polytechnic High School were introduced, the noise was obviously much louder, especially when "Reggie Miller" was introduced.
It's not because Reggie Miller is so famous in Los Angeles. He is a good player, but what is really famous is his sister - the nationally renowned women's basketball superstar and super scorer Cheryl who scored 105 points in a single game. -Miller.
She is extremely famous in Southern California and is a well-known basketball star. Reggie is just a poor brother living in her shadow.
The live camera promptly cut the camera to Cheryl Miller, who was sitting on the sidelines watching the game. The two siblings looked exactly the same, both with slender figures.
The game started in a depressing and dull atmosphere. First, because this game was very important. It was the first time that Northern and Southern California competed for hegemony. Both players and coaches were very nervous and cautious. Second, because there were few entertainment elements in basketball games at that time. , there were no cheerleaders at the scene, and there were no fancy and interesting interactive activities. The fans seemed to be watching a serious drama at the scene. This was not improved until the next few games.
Both sides played very slowly on offense and defense at the beginning, using positional battles, zone defense, constant passing of the ball, and cautious shots.
The two teams, which had never played against each other before, were testing each other's strength, just like a snake and a leopard confronting each other in the wild.
The leopard looks bigger, has sharp teeth and claws, and seems to be able to kill a snake with one palm.
But snakes are poisonous, and a leopard will die if it is bitten.
Riverside Polytechnic High School is more like a viper. Their leading scorer is the thin and inconspicuous No. 30.
Only Gan Guoyang knew in his heart that this was a dangerous player.
In order to facilitate the live broadcast of the TV station and cooperate with enough advertisers, the final is no longer a two-half system, but changed to a four-quarter 48-minute system.
This poses a greater test to the players' physical fitness and team rotation, which is why Bellman must find a place to warm up during the day.
Gan Guoyang slowly participated in the team's offense and defense in the first quarter. He put away his teeth and claws and kept dealing with the poisonous snake.
The two sides were evenly matched on the field and tied at 16:16 at the end of the first quarter. Gan Guoyang scored 4 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in the first quarter.
The offense of the two teams was very gentle, and a large number of points came from outside shots. Both teams insisted on zone defense, and there were many opportunities for outside shots.
In the second quarter, the style of painting suddenly changed.
The pace of the game accelerated, Gan Guoyang did not rest off the court, and the Water Bell team's offense and defense could not leave him for a moment.
Reggie Miller suddenly took action in the defense, broke the ball from Franklin's hand, and then took a somewhat inward step and dribbled down quickly.
As he approached the basket, Miller slowed down slightly and adjusted his steps to prepare for a two-handed dunk.
At this moment, he caught a glimpse of his sister on the sidelines. She stood up from her seat. She wanted to cheer for his dunk, right?
But her expression seemed wrong. What was she shouting with her mouth wide open? What was she shouting? There was so much noise in the Great Western Forum that Miller couldn't hear clearly.
He jumped up on his own, preparing to dunk with both hands, and then a big hand from behind reached over and forced the ball down.
[...Later I found out that my sister stood up not to cheer for me, but to yell at me, 'There's someone behind me'. The Great Western Forum Arena was too noisy and I didn't hear it. 】
————————Excerpts from Reggie Miller’s biography “I love being the enemy” published in 1995.
