Bernard King does have special training skills, and his guidance on footwork has benefited Gan Guoyang a lot.
Gan Guoyang tirelessly performed the seemingly simplest layup training, repeatedly practicing different postures, different angles, and different footwork.
The training process is boring, tedious, and even to the point of being unbearably boring. People are like puppets being pulled by strings, doing the same set of actions.
Bernard King said that some interesting games or special methods can be added to the training to make this training more acceptable.
Gan Guoyang refused, saying, "This is already very interesting."
Bernard King shook his head and looked at the tall Gan Guoyang, who was as quick and agile as a small forward. He once again confirmed that UCLA must have lost its mind.
"He's more talented than Albert. But he works harder than Albert, and even harder than me."
King thought of his younger brother, Albert King. In the past evaluations of people in the New York area, Albert was the one who was more talented than Bernard.
In this year's NBA draft, he followed the path of his brother Bernard King and was selected by the New Jersey Nets with the 10th overall pick (Bernard King was selected by the Nets with the 7th overall pick in 1977).
However, as the older brother, Bernard King has relied on his own efforts to get out of the gloom and become an NBA All-Star.
Whether Albert King can catch up with his brother depends on his own efforts and opportunities.
Bernard King thought that if Albert could be as diligent and focused on basketball as Gan, it would not be a problem to surpass him with his talent.
But the problem is that playing in the greater New York area is not necessarily a good thing, especially for rookies whose hometown is in New York. Being too close to home will make players indulge in a familiar environment, lacking a sense of crisis and motivation to move forward.
Bernard King recalled that when he was playing basketball in New Jersey, he would drive to Manhattan after every home game.
He suddenly made a lot of money and signed a big contract that he had never imagined before. He felt that he was a celebrity in New York and had to go to Manhattan to play.
One night when he was drunk with friends and passed out, Knicks player Dean Meminger, who was also present, took him to his apartment and drove his car downstairs until The next day Ginjiu woke up and drove home.
If not, King would have most likely been driving drunk and died on the road.
But Jin didn't learn his lesson. From then on, he was soaked in alcohol and even took a sip while driving. He was stopped by the police and sent to the police station.
Alcohol made him irritable, and in a 1978 game against the Pistons, he had a conflict with Bob Lanier and threw the ball into Bob Lanier's stomach.
Lanier rushed over with his fist raised. King knew that he would be killed by the punch, so he stepped back to avoid it. As a result, he hit the audience on the sidelines and injured a child's ankle.
The enforcer of that game was Dick Bavetta (he was 39 years old that year). There were 66 personal fouls in the game, 34 for the Nets, and 10 technical fouls, 8 for the Pistons. Three players were ejected and four players fouled out.
This is a scene from the chaos of the NBA in the 1970s. Bernard King was a young man struggling in the turmoil. He was lost.
Pulling away from his memories, Bernard Jin looked at Gan Guoyang who was still training tirelessly on his feet. They had known each other for more than half a year, and Jin had never seen Gan Guoyang go to bars, nightclubs, or romantic places.
He is always playing, playing, and playing, as if all the fun in the world can be found in playing.
Bernard King asked Gan Guoyang, besides playing basketball, do you have any other hobbies?
Gan Guoyang answered simply, "I can also cook."
In line with the idea of preventing Gan's cuisine from being lost, Gan Guoyang will learn to cook a famous dish from Gan Youwei every week.
Such a person is beyond Bernard King's imagination, but Gan Guoyang said, "I'm just relatively simple."
simple? Jin didn't think so. A simple person would not reject UCLA. His decision not to go to UCLA was obviously out of consideration for his future career plans.
His maturity on the court was also pretty scary, and after the CIF Championship in March, the Water Bells went out and played a few more games in the following months.
Florida, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, these games are sold out, and the Water Bells' influence spreads all over the country.
As far as Bernard King knew, the Water Bells had maintained a 100% victory, and Gan was known for his extraordinary consistency in the game - he almost never lost his footing.
After the biochemical man, people gave him another nickname, "ballast", which means ballast stone.
However, this nickname has little momentum. After being mentioned briefly by some media, it disappeared, and few people remember it.
"Bernard! Are you tired already? You've been sitting for 20 minutes!" Gan Guoyang shouted to Jin after watching him rest for a long time.
"Rest is as important as training. You have to let your body recover so that your muscles can perform better."
"I will have plenty of time to rest after I die. If you don't practice, I will practice long-range shooting."
Gan Guoyang is like a tireless machine. While he enjoys training, it is more to make up for himself.
He knows that all technical movements must eventually form a deep muscle memory to be useful, otherwise they will not be able to be used in high-intensity competitions.
How is it formed? It is formed by repeating, repeating, repeating over and over again, like stalactites in a cave, relying on the accumulation of little minerals in water droplets over time.
"Gan, can't you take a break? I have something to tell you."
"Tell me, don't stop me from shooting. I have very good ears."
"Okay, you lunatic. Let me ask you, if you don't go to UCLA, what are your plans?"
"I won't go to Tennessee! I'm going to give up. It's too hot in the south."
"I know damn it. I'm not trying to persuade you to go to Tennessee. I just care about you. I want to give you some advice. Do you want to stay in the Bay Area? The University of San Francisco is finished. Or do you want to stay in California? It's very cool here. Yes, people don’t want to leave once they come here. There are so many good schools here, and the basketball atmosphere is even better..."
"Uh-huh!"
Gan Guoyang made a 24-foot long shot. He never stopped training on his shooting.
After scoring, he said to King: "Bernard, I will not stay in California. I have many choices at hand, but I want to leave here."
Bernard Jin was stunned for a moment. He was still thinking about how to express to Gan Guoyang that it might be a good thing to stay away from home.
Unexpectedly, Gan Guoyang had the same idea as him. Bernard Jin asked: "Can you tell me the reason? Don't say you are tired of this place. No one will be tired of California."
"Uh-huh!"
Gan Guoyang made another long shot. He took a breath and said: "In addition to UCLA, I have also been to other schools in California to understand the situation. They are very enthusiastic, but I can feel that they do not really trust me. No." I think a Chinese player can do the same in the college basketball environment as in high school. I know that college games are much more difficult to play than high school, and most high school players cannot enter college basketball games. The position they gave me is generally He is a good team player, a high-quality bench, and at most an interior defensive core. Maybe, I will also have to serve as a substitute for the seniors in the team. My freshman year is limited by playing time, which is the case in famous schools in California. That is not what I want. Maybe I can prove myself step by step in school with my own strength, and eventually become the core, but I don’t think I need to prove anything to them, I don’t owe them. Come on, I conquered California, they only regard me as a screw. I can be a screw in building a country, but not playing basketball. I have wasted too much time..."
With that said, Gan Guoyang shot another ball, this time it hit the neck of the basket and missed.
Bernard Jin was surprised by Gan Guoyang's arrogance. In his impression, Gan had always been humble and polite.
Then he thought, which talented player is not like Gan? Wasn't he the same at the beginning?
"So do you have a goal?"
"Mr. Karp contacted me yesterday and said that there is a school in Washington state that is very interested in me. Their sports center director will come to meet me tomorrow and said that if he agrees, he will take me to visit the school for two days."
Bernard King nodded and said: "This is the correct attitude towards talents. You don't even know how grand the University of Tennessee was when it welcomed me."
Jin was immersed in his memories again, while Gan Guoyang picked up the ball and continued training.
