The game was tied in the final 3 minutes, and most of the Ducks' efforts were wiped out.
But there was no way, they couldn't contain Gan Guoyang. After Gan Guoyang came back, Rasmussen didn't go too far.
All three low-post attacks were blocked and couldn't be resisted at all.
The offensive routine of the center in that era was still too simple. It was a strong attack in the low post, plus some small throws and hooks from the mid-range. The game was too rigid.
Moreover, he lacked strength and was really unable to play in the low post. Sitting on the bench, Rasmussen still couldn't figure out why this 6-foot-10 guy was as hard as a piece of iron and couldn't move at all when he was stuck under the basket. of.
In terms of body shape, Gan Guoyang is quite suitable for playing basketball. His legs are only slightly longer than his upper body, and his upper and lower body ratio is close to 55cm, making his body structure extremely stable.
When you take off your shirt, you can see that he does not have a toned, inverted triangle waist, but a long, wide, and thick core muscle group, which is the engine of his body's energy.
Many years later, a German forward with similar core muscles was spotted by the NBA and became a superstar, but he was only close to Forrest Gump.
In 15 minutes, Gan Guoyang scored 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 assists, helping the Bulldogs complete a reversal, winning the game 74:70 with a 4-point advantage at Memorial Stadium. victory.
The next day, Gan Guoyang led the Bulldogs to a 101:77 victory over the Oregon State Beavers at the same place and at the same time, winning the Far West Classic championship for the first time in team history.
Originally, the players should have been overjoyed. After all, for a small school and team like theirs, any championship is precious.
But except for Dan Fitzgerald, who was extremely happy, everyone acted very calmly, because everyone's goals were looking further ahead.
Because Gan Guoyang did not participate in the first game and only played half of the second game, the Most Valuable Player award of this game was given to John Stockton.
Stockton's parents and girlfriend came to the ceremony to attend the award ceremony. Stockton looked a little shy after receiving this honor.
After returning to the hotel, he came to Gan Guoyang's room with the trophy and said, "I think this trophy should be given to you, you are the most valuable player."
Gan Guoyang said: "Okay John, you won't have many chances to win individual awards in the future, so just keep it, it's not very important to me."
Gan Guoyang's words deserved a beating, but Stockton knew what he said made sense.
Stockton is not sure whether he can enter the NBA. If he cannot play professional basketball, he plans to find a company to work for.
After all, he looked like a white-collar worker in a business suit and holding a briefcase.
Gan Guoyang told Stockton that he could definitely enter the NBA, and maybe he could play for a long time.
After winning the Far West Classic, the Bulldogs continued their undefeated regular season campaign.
They crossed over to 1983 and entered 1984.
Since this year, the United States has gradually emerged from the economic quagmire. This can be clearly seen from the attendance of basketball games. Almost every game is full.
Each university has begun to have money to repair its own stadiums, and more and more new equipment is entering the stadiums to enhance the fans' viewing experience.
NBA ratings are beginning to pick up, and the bad effects of the last bad era are slowly fading away. Emerging forces represented by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird have stepped onto the stage of competition for hegemony in the 1980s.
In February 1984, former NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien officially retired, and his successor was the league's former chief lawyer and chief operating officer, David Stern.
This short Jew with a mustache will usher in a new era in the NBA.
And Gan Guoyang is also leading the Bulldogs to start their NCAA era.
Starting in January, they encountered a series of health troubles.
McAfee has not fully recovered from the fracture, and another scorer, Jason Van Nott, suffered a sprained leg ligament.
The team didn't have enough training staff, so they had to choose a short player named Gino Cerkia from among the basketball enthusiasts in the school to replace him, so that he could play 5v5 matches during training.
Under such difficult conditions, Gan Guoyang led the team to go undefeated until the start of the West Coast League regular season.
In a tough five-game away game, everyone was prepared to lose at least two games. As a result, they maintained a complete victory. In the last game, they narrowly defeated California Santa Maria College with a slight advantage of 1 point.
Gan Guoyang hit the fatal buzzer-beater. At this time, they were 14-0 at the McCann Arena in California and 2-0 in the West Coast Conference.
At this time, the entire Northwest, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho were paying close attention to this crazy team and the crazy Oriental cyborgs.
The "Oregonian" went from reporting every Monday to reporting every game. When it entered the West Coast League games, it was already reporting once a day.
Regardless of whether there is a game or not, a reporter from The Oregonian will find a way to get into Gonzaga University to see if he can dig up some information about the Bulldogs so that he can write a report.
The reason is simple. Newspapers have discovered that as long as there are reports about Gonzaga Bulldogs, sales will increase significantly, and not even a little bit.
The "Seattle Times" and "Seattle Post" in Washington state competed for circulation and reported news about Gan Guoyang and the Bulldogs.
After the Bulldogs achieved a record of 13 wins and 0 losses, the "Seattle Times" launched a special feature. Each issue of the newspaper's college sports section had a headline about the Bulldogs' record, starting with 13-0, 14-0, 15 -0, 16-0, let readers buy the paper and pay attention to when the Bulldogs lose.
As 0 appears more and more often, more and more fans and readers buy the "Seattle Times". Many people are looking forward to the miracle of the Bulldogs' undefeated regular season.
On February 24, 1984, the Bulldogs defeated Loyola Marymount University 80:73 at Gosten Stadium in Los Angeles and achieved a regular season record of 20 wins and 0 losses!
It was after this game that the Bulldogs officially entered the national spotlight, and "The New York Times" and "Sports Illustrated" began to publish articles introducing this currently undefeated team.
Gan Guoyang's photo became the cover of Sports Illustrated in February 1984.
However, basketball fans who buy this issue may be disappointed because there is only a cover character and no story about the cover character: Gan Guoyang refused an interview with a Sports Illustrated reporter because he wanted to focus all his energy on the game.
In the last four games of the regular season, John Stockton suffered a bronchial infection. He participated in the last four games despite the illness, but his condition could only support half a good game.
With his iron will and body, Gan Guoyang supported the team through the last four games of the West Coast League regular season. With a record of 24 wins and 0 losses, 12 wins and 0 losses in the league, he undoubtedly won the first place in the regular season. .
In the national AP-Poll coaching and media voting rankings, they were second only to Georgetown in the West Region and became the No. 2 seed in the West Region. This meant that they successfully qualified for the 1984 NCAA National Competition and had a first-round bye. privilege.
The last team to maintain an undefeated regular season record before the national tournament was the 1979 Indiana State Figs led by Larry Bird.
The Bulldogs' final game of the regular season happens to be at the University of Portland.
They defeated the Portland Navigators with great difficulty. Stockton and other injured players did not appear in this game. Gan Guoyang single-handedly supported the team to win the final victory. victory.
After winning the game, the team held a subtle and warm celebration in the locker room. Fitz opened a bottle of champagne, but no one drank it because alcohol was prohibited in Catholic schools.
The big guy finally lifted Gan Guoyang up, left the locker room, and carried him to the bus.
Because along the way, he has sacrificed too much, played too many games, made too many mistakes, and saved everyone too many times.
In the car, Gan Guoyang shouted, "5 games left! 5 games left! Our goal is the championship, the championship!"
When the car started to leave, Gan Guoyang saw Wang Fuxi wearing a pink hat running not far away.
He quickly asked Coach Delong to stop the car. After getting off the car, Wang Fuxi said to him: "You have to work hard, I will wait for you in Seattle."
This time the NCAA Final Four will be held in Seattle, which is the ultimate destination for this year's college teams.
"It's a deal," Gan Guoyang replied.
"It's a deal."
