[No matter what kind of difficulties and problems he faces, Ah Gan always tries his best to find solutions, willing to change and adjust himself to adapt to the environment.
This spirit of pragmatism from the East has been his secret to long-term success.
In the 1999-2000 season, when everyone was expecting his downfall, he still persisted tenaciously, like he would always occupy the throne, stubborn and greedy.]
—Excerpt from Phil Jackson’s 2014 autobiography "Christ, Hippies, Indians, Zen and Basketball".
The new season for the Trail Blazers started quite smoothly, although Gan Guoyang was set up by the judicial bureau, running back and forth between two places, greatly exhausting his energy.
But in the second half, Gan Guoyang rushed back to Portland in time, which greatly increased the drama of the game. What was originally a one-sided match turned out to be the focus of media coverage after the game.
Of course, in the post-game team meeting, the cautious Rick Carlisle still remarked that the first two opponents were relatively weak, and winning was normal as the team has not yet faced a real challenge.
The Grizzlies and Clippers are indeed the weakest teams in the Western Conference; for the Trail Blazers, games like these must be won, especially when the veterans’ physical condition and form are still good in the early season.
As the season progresses, fatigue and injuries will increasingly drag down the state of the aging team. If a good foundation in performance is not laid early in the season, there will be significant damage to the overall strength when trying to catch up at the end of the season for ranking.
The team must plan well, win more early, provide enough redundancy and fault tolerance space for the mid to later stages, and calmly make a final push for the championship.
During the Trail Blazers’ first three-peat and four-peat, Jack Ramsey and Bobby Beelman both did this successfully and achieved their goals.
But now it’s Rick Carlisle’s turn, and the situation is much worse.
Back then, Jack Ramsey and Bobby Beelman had been in control for many years, had authority in the team, and could steer the team’s direction.
From management to players to fans, Ramsey and Beelman could maintain control, keeping the team’s big ship from losing its course amid storms.
More importantly, during that time, Gan Guoyang was in his prime, and no matter what strategy the team executed, he would always guarantee his full-effort output for the team.
Jack Ramsey later said during a commentary, "Actually, with Ah Gan back then, you could tie a dog to the coach’s seat, and the team wouldn’t play too badly."
The bottom line ability was too strong, allowing the coach to be very assured, just like driving a powerful car; minor technique errors wouldn’t matter as long as it stays on track, slam the accelerator on the straightway, and it catches up.
But the situation for Carlisle is much more severe, even though he is well-liked within the Trail Blazers, after all, he was an assistant coach, not the head coach, so his authority was not quite enough.
During coaching, he often needs to rely on Bird and Hart for endorsement, and the new assistant coach, Little Spo, being younger and not even 30, could contribute even less.
What’s worse is Gan Guoyang’s condition. With interference from the Ministry of Justice, Gan Guoyang will have to go to New York or Washington every month for hearings and investigations.
The back-and-forth travel will not only cause Gan Guoyang to miss games but also affect his training and maintenance of his condition.
Gan Guoyang was already declining, and his control over the game was decreasing. Coupled with distractions outside the game, the situation would only worsen.
In the game against the Clippers on the 3rd, Gan Guoyang played 21 minutes in the second half, scoring 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Although he only played half a game and didn’t really exert himself due to the large lead, this statistic shows that Gan Guoyang was more cautious on the offensive end.
The two main guarantees that Gan Guoyang used to provide were, first, his excellent rim protection and rebounding ability, ensuring the inside wouldn’t be penetrated.
The second was his historically top-tier scoring capacity, with limitless stamina coupled with a more than 60% super-high shooting percentage, making him an even more terrifyingly efficient scoring machine than Jordan.
As for other aspects like teamwork, playmaking, the space created by drawing defenders, spiritual power, etc., those were just the icing on the cake, additional perks.
Going into this season, first, the defensive ability in the paint, Gan Guoyang has maintained his standard.
But the second aspect, the super-strong scoring capacity, Gan Guoyang gradually no longer possesses, having already restrained his shots for focused attacks during the playoffs.
In the new season, while Carlisle changes the offensive and defensive patterns, he also needs to adjust Gan Guoyang’s shooting rights and coordinate the shot distribution between inside and outside.
Additionally, according to Bird’s suggestion, it would be best for Gan Guoyang to move to the small forward position, maximizing his effectiveness while preserving his stamina and condition.
If so, the paint defense will have more holes that Carlisle needs to find ways to patch, especially since Sabonis is also aging.
With so many issues in front of Carlisle, for him, from training camp onwards, almost every day is a sleepless night, much more challenging than being an assistant coach.
In the subsequent games, the Trail Blazers indeed exposed many problems on both offensive and defensive ends.
On November 5th, they faced the Utah Jazz at home, the Jazz also faced severe aging problems.
But the Jazz won on stability; they resemble snow on high mountains, not melting for a long time, with Malone and Stockton’s cooperation still skilled.
98:94, the Trail Blazers lost this game.
Gan Guoyang still held the advantage in the confrontation with Malone, but the accuracy of the outside shooters was quite terrible.