Nighttime, ARCO Arena, packed to the rafters.
The team's mascot, a golden lion, waved the "Feel the Roar!" flag and ran across the center of the court.
This season, Sacramento has an unprecedented fervor for basketball, thanks to the excellent performance of the Kings on the court.
An outstanding starting lineup, a beautiful offensive style of play, slicing through opponents with ease. Even if tonight's game wasn't between Ah Gan and the Glory Team, the fans would still fill the stands.
With more than half an hour to go before the game starts, Gan Guoyang strolls around, chatting with old friends like Rick Adelman, Divac, Carell, and others on the sidelines.
Although he stayed in Portland for a short time, it was where Divac's dream began, allowing him to reach the pinnacle early. His experience with the Trail Blazers is unforgettable.
In Boston, Divac and Hornacek quickly became the team's future hopes, but the management soon fell into chaos. One went to the Jazz, and the other came to the Kings, finding a place where they could truly shine.
Divac has always stayed in contact with Gan Guoyang and has stood by his side during the espionage incident because America bombed his country.
He doesn't say it, but seeing Ah Gan score 74 points against the Spurs made him secretly delighted. All Serbian players and young people look up to Ah Gan as an idol.
Rick Adelman, after stints with the Warriors and Pacers, also found his career springtime with the Kings.
Compared to his days in Portland, he's aged quite a bit, his hair has whitened, his face has broadened, and he no longer looks as much like a head of state.
"Rick, can I take a look at your tactics board?" Gan Guoyang made a rather impolite request.
"Why are you looking at the tactics board? Don't you have your own?"
"I want to see yours, to learn a bit."
"What's there to learn? You already know the Princeton stuff! You're even better at it than I am!"
"I watched your footage, and there are differences. The details must be different, right? Rick, don't be so stingy. Let's exchange some ideas."
"If you're willing to join the Kings, I'll teach you. How about that?"
"That's secret recruitment, you know. I could report you."
Adelman sighed. This guy, Ah Gan, has become more and more unruly with age.
There's no way around it. Being the number one in the league, he's already at a stage where he can do whatever he wants without overstepping. He can do as he pleases.
The FBI can't do anything about him, so what can you do? Just go along with him, play with him.
And Gan Guoyang was half-joking, half-serious about learning from Adelman.
Tactical development is never static. In the previous two games against the Kings, the Glory lost without any complaints.
The offense was indeed smooth, achieving a good balance between team play and individual ability.
Compared to their time with the Trail Blazers, the Kings' Princeton has integrated more modern basketball tactical ideas, making their strategies richer and more refined in detail.
Adelman knew that the key reason the Trail Blazers' Princeton was unbeatable back then was because Ah Gan was unbeatable. When tactics couldn't work, giving the ball to Ah Gan solved everything for you.
Chris Weber is a very talented forward, but his ability to hold down the fort is much weaker.
Therefore, although Weber is the tactical core of the Kings, he is not the absolute core.
Divac and Mike Bibby's status in the team's tactics is not much lower than Weber's.
Gan Guoyang wanted to see how the Kings distributed the ball and how they adjusted their tactics to suit the players' abilities.
Adelman has tweaked the Kings' play for several seasons; there's no way he would reveal these secrets to Gan Guoyang. If you want to learn, figure it out yourself.
At seven o'clock in the evening, after the opening ceremony, the game officially began.
The Kings Team, on a 12-game winning streak, had great momentum and aimed to secure a 13th consecutive win at home tonight.
Their starting lineup included Divac, Chris Weber, Christie, Stojakovic, and Mike Bibby.
On the bench were the Turk Turkoglu, Pollard, and Bobby Jackson, forming a team with balanced strength and strong combat ability.
The Glory Team, however, was not at full strength. Gilbert Arenas was on the injury list due to an ankle strain, and Old Porter had to step into the starting position to face the young and strong Bibby.
Gerald Wallace was out for two weeks due to a leg strain, with his starting spot taken by Padgett.
If Wallace was a fierce panther, Padgett was at best a dedicated shepherd dog, with a decent three-point shot but otherwise quite average, yet passable.
The reason Gan Guoyang chose him when finalizing the roster was that his name seemed familiar.
In Gan Guoyang's distant memory, he was once Yao Ming's teammate on the Rockets.
In another reality, Yao Ming was the most watched star by Chinese people, and every player on the Houston Rockets, even a water boy, was scrutinized top to bottom by Chinese fans and media.
Among Yao Ming's teammates, who couldn't measure up but were burdened with unrealistic expectations by Chinese fans, Padgett was considered decent because no one had pinned much hope on him in the first place.
In this timeline, fate has changed, and whether Yao Ming will go to the Rockets seems uncertain.
And as Padgett joined the Glory Team, he received much more attention than before.
As a three-point shooter, he shot with a 55% success rate last season with the Jazz, though the number of attempts was too small to be significant.