Kobe turned around, avoiding Gan Guoyang’s outstretched hand and pushed himself off the floor to stand up.
After getting up, the two temporarily halted their confrontation. Although Kobe was stubborn, he wasn’t foolish; he realized that he wasn’t a match for Ah Gan right now.
At this moment, most of the people had already left the Willamette University training gym. Bird and two assistant coaches went to enjoy afternoon tea.
Those who were extremely tired had gone back at noon, and those who stayed for extra practice couldn’t bear training with these two madmen, so they all showered, changed clothes, and went home.
Only four people truly stayed behind: Gan Guoyang, Kobe, Little O’neal, and a not-so-noticeable African American player.
His height wasn’t much taller than Kobe’s, but he played power forward, a typical short player for the inside, which made surviving in the League quite difficult.
After a slight adjustment, Gan Guoyang suggested doing two-on-two training, saying: "The one-on-one is only a small part of a basketball game. Being obsessed with one-on-one is detrimental to understanding the whole basketball game. We should try some team confrontations."
So, Little O’neal and Kobe were grouped together, while Gan Guoyang teamed up with that inconspicuous African American player.
Gan Guoyang didn’t even know this person’s name. Every year, many people come and go in the rookie training camp, and only a few are left.
These people were the elite of the elite in the basketball world across the All-America and even globally. But the NBA is extremely ruthless, requiring a harsh elimination of at least half, even among the elites.
"In two-on-two, just focus on defending, protecting the rebounds, receiving my passes and making the basket, OK?" Gan Guoyang instructed the nameless player.
He nodded silently, having already left a good impression on Gan Guoyang.
To be able to complete Coach Bird’s fitness training in the morning and still have additional practice in the afternoon spoke volumes about his physical fitness.
He was indeed not tall, but he looked very robust, like a Little Bull.
Later in the 2vs2 confrontations, Gan Guoyang utilized his ample experience to control the situation.
Kobe and Little O’neal found 2vs2 even harder to play.
You can’t defend Gan Guoyang even with a two-on-one, let alone when he has an additional teammate—how do you play?
Moreover, in style, Gan Guoyang wasn’t exactly like a center; he was versatile.
Skillfully controlling the ball from the outside, his dribbling rhythm was even more polished than in 1992.
Little O’neal’s build was similar to Kobe’s. In the jersey, he was like sugar cane, flying out after a collision.
On the defense end, Gan Guoyang directed Little Bull to follow Kobe near the free throw line.
Allowing Kobe to shoot while simultaneously guarding the basket and defending one-on-one against Little O’neal.
Little O’neal was at a complete disadvantage in terms of weight and physical confrontation.
Gan Guoyang also discovered that Little O’neal’s registered height, promising to be 6 feet 11 inches, or 2.11 meters,
but in reality, it was around 2.07 meters, between 6 feet 9 and 6 feet 10, possibly close to 2.10 meters with shoes on.
Moreover, Little O’neal had relatively narrow shoulders; he originally played guard, but after a growth spurt in high school, he switched to playing inside.
Narrow shoulders, exaggerated height, small weight, which made the so-called 6 feet 11 Little O’neal look significantly smaller when standing alongside Gan Guoyang.
Gan Guoyang’s height was genuinely barefoot 6 feet 10, metric 2.09 meters, taller than many who report inflated heights in the current inside players.
In recent years, the trend of inflating heights in the League has become increasingly prevalent, all to secure a better round in the draft.
So that managers won’t directly pass them over when they see the height column.
Little O’neal felt like he was opposing a mountain, with no chance of winning.
After more than half an hour of confrontation, both parties felt it was almost mealtime.
Kobe squatted on the ground, letting sweat drip onto the floor.
He had anticipated a significant difference, but this gap was too much.
He had heard that at this year’s Olympics, the Dream Team 3 composed of Olajuwon, Reggie Miller, Gary Payton, and others almost got turned over during training by a college team led by Tim Duncan.
Kobe thought, the Dream Team 3 is indeed like this, if Tim Duncan can lead his team to turn them over, then at the rookie training camp, he surely can teach Ah Gan a lesson, right?
Now he understood, instead of leaving lessons with Ah Gan, he took a load of them himself, enough to make him sick.
Of course, Kobe didn’t know that Gan Guoyang had been seriously studying him for quite a while.
Today may seem as if Gan Guoyang played leisurely, but in reality, he was well-prepared and targeted, intending to teach him a lesson.
When returning to the locker room to change, Kobe no longer had his previous excessive enthusiasm and arrogance; he sat dumbly on the bench, pondering things after taking off his clothes.
Little O’neal changed his clothes and sat beside him, hoping that when Kobe felt a bit better, they could find a place for a hearty meal together.
Gan Guoyang didn’t bother much with these two young ones; today’s training and lessons were enough for them to digest for a while.
After changing his clothes, he went to the parking lot to find Quentin, encountering Little Bull at the door.
Gan Guoyang asked, "Hey! How tall are you?"
Little Bull hesitated, stammering, "Uh... I, 6 feet 9 inches."
Gan Guoyang laughed, saying, "You’re just a bit taller than Kobe, at most 6 feet 7, around 2 meters. It doesn’t matter, the key is performance."
Little Bull seemed relieved to receive Gan Guoyang’s recognition.
"What’s your name?"
"Ben, Ben Wallace."
Gan Guoyang looked him up and down and asked, "Who introduced you to the training camp?"
Ben Wallace replied: "It was Coach Bird. I originally played the summer league for the Celtics; he thought I was good and let me try in Portland."
Gan Guoyang nodded, saying, "Keep up the hard work, there’ll be a spot for you at the Trail Blazers. Also, if your height isn’t enough, remember to work on your muscles more."
"Okay, thanks, Ah Gan."