On the evening of February 13, at the Charlotte Arena, the second game of the Trail Blazers’ Southeast tour.
Before the tip-off, Mourning looked very nervous.
He kept pacing in the center circle, trying to calm himself down.
Meanwhile, Gan Guoyang stood still in the center circle, quietly watching Mourning adjust himself.
When Mourning finally stood face-to-face with Ah Gan in the circle, he found his heart pounding hard.
In fact, like O’Neal, Mourning also saw Ah Gan as his idol.
The first sport Mourning engaged in was football—similar to O’Neal.
Later, he found himself unsuited for the sport, and his teacher introduced him to the boxing club.
The problem was that Mourning’s peers were unwilling to spar with him.
This guy was too tall, strong, and had boundless energy, with a fierce demeanor.
Eventually, his coach recommended him to the basketball court to play basketball.
The main purpose of his father doing this was to deplete Mourning’s inexhaustible energy.
Like a husky, if you don’t let him run in the snow, he will tear apart the house with his overflowing energy.
At that time, Mourning was 8 years old, began to play basketball, and soon dominated locally.
However, at the age of 10, something happened that impacted his life greatly.
This was Mourning’s own choice: at 10, he decided to leave his constantly arguing parents and applied through relevant institutions to live at a boys’ home.
His parents visited him at the boys’ home every week, and he lived collectively with other children his age.
When he was 12, his parents divorced, and he didn’t stay with either side; instead, through a court decision, he went to live with a foster family in good economic condition.
In short, at a very young age, when many children struggled with parents, family choices, and problems like hardships and family conflicts,
Alonzo Mourning had already created a broader path for his life through choice and planning.
In this regard, he is rational and mature, far more shrewd than his wild and rugged appearance suggests.
So, when he told reporters, "I won’t let Ah Gan score 30 points," it was also well-considered.
He needed to establish an image of a tough guy; he couldn’t back down at such a moment.
Besides, would backing down have helped?
Actually, it would, but Mourning couldn’t do that.
At Georgetown, John-Thompson taught him as he taught Ewing.
To arm himself with coldness and toughness.
But generally speaking, the thicker the armor, the softer the interior.
Seeing the tension in Mourning’s eyes, Gan Guoyang smiled again.
Another Georgetown kid with a fierce appearance but scared inside, John-Thompson really likes to cultivate such "tough guys," huh?
Soon, in the initial exchanges, Mourning fell into a disadvantage.
He was a bit shorter than O’Neal, but he wasn’t faster than O’Neal either.
Gan Guoyang found it easier to deal with him than with O’Neal.
Low post catch, back down, turn and hook.
With just this move, Gan Guoyang scored repeatedly over Mourning.
The gap was visibly apparent when Mourning faced Gan Guoyang.
Every move seemed a half-beat slow to Gan Guoyang.
Especially with that stiff Georgetown vibe all over him.
Every offensive and defensive move was done by the book, lacking imagination.
His main scoring method was finding opportunities for outside shots at the top of the arc.
Once he confronted Ah Gan under the basket, he was very likely to get blocked.
With repeated failures in the post-up situations, the Hornets soon fell behind.
Meanwhile, the powerful Trail Blazers played incredibly smoothly, with great shooting form both inside and out tonight.
Their space stretched out as they constantly utilized height advantages and effectively applied the Princeton Offense to find open shots and hit them.
By halftime, the Trail Blazers had quickly widened the lead to 21 points, then followed with a three-point rain in the third quarter that broke the Hornets.
The gap reached as much as 33 points, at which point Gan Guoyang hit a three-pointer from the outside, bringing his personal score to 31 points.
One point more than 30.
At this point, Gan Guoyang raised his hand towards the sideline, signaling for Beelman to sub him out.
Beelman understood and called for a timeout, sending PJ Brown in to replace Ah Gan.
Exactly 31 points, with more than a quarter to go in the game.
Gan Guoyang officially clocked out, while Mourning, sitting on the bench, had a stony face.
In fact, by the second quarter, the Hornets had switched Larry Johnson to match up against Mourning.
Johnson, however, was unhappy, saying, "Alonzo said he wanted to face Ah Gan himself, and now he asks me to do it because he can’t defend him?"
The coach reminded him that they are teammates, and defense is everyone’s responsibility.
Mourning said nothing, but he already harbored resentment against Johnson.
This incident sowed the seeds of discord between them, which would later bear bitter fruit.
As for Gan Guoyang, he rested early and told Beelman, "Facing the second pick, three quarters of teaching is enough."
Beelman replied, "Don’t forget, you were also a second pick."
"What second pick am I, what second pick is he?"
In the end, the Trail Blazers easily crushed the Hornets and left with a big victory.
As for Mourning’s strong pre-game words, they were just bluster, soon forgotten after some mockery.
Everyone’s attention soon shifted to the Trail Blazers’ third game of the Southeast tour, which was the one Gan Guoyang truly cared about.
Miami Heat, Olajuwon.