The Golden Age of Basketball

Gan Guoyang wasn't talking nonsense. "'Visualization' is a training method that Bernard King told Gan about. It had just started to gain popularity in the professional basketball scene in the late '70s and early '80s," he explained.

This so-called visualization is about imagining oneself performing various technical moves on the court and simulating game scenarios in the mind. Professional players have proven through practice that this method is effective.

However, it requires the body to undergo a large amount of training and to become very proficient at various technical moves. Coupled with visualization and imagination training, it can serve as an enhancement, allowing players to maintain the sensitivity and stability of neuromuscular responses in high-intensity games.

Nonetheless, this somewhat mysterious training method has only been used by a small number of teams and players. Many believe it's nothing more than self-consolation, while others argue that self-consolation is exactly what players need on the court to maintain their confidence and strength.

At Guoyang's current level, he doesn't need to resort to such esoteric training methods.

Since leaving the University of Notre Dame and distancing himself from the core areas of basketball tactics, Beelman naturally hasn't heard of this newfangled training method.

Gan Guoyang didn't tell Beelman about the extra training he was doing with The Warriors, mainly because he was worried about upsetting the balance of the irascible coach.

Like King, Beelman had just emerged from the shadow of alcoholism. He had invested a great deal of emotion into the Shui Zhong Team and Gan Guoyang.

Gan could feel Beelman's pride in the team and his own growth, considering it the first step to restarting his life.

If he were to tell him, "Your training isn't enough for me, and I need to practice with a professional team instead," it could very well be a blow to Beelman, who had just begun to regain confidence in his new life.

Gan Guoyang didn't want the team to lose morale at the very start of their CIF campaign, so he simply used the "visualization training" as a pretext to placate Beelman.

A white lie to spare the coach's feelings.

Beelman wasn't too concerned about it; after all, Gan Guoyang was someone he found difficult to control. As long as Gan played his role on the court, that was OK.

In the second half, Gan played for over ten minutes, breaking a sweat, and after scoring 33 points, grabbing 17 rebounds, and blocking 8 shots, Beelman took him out of the game.

During the remaining minutes, the players from Balboa High School finally got some breathing space to score normally under the basket.

They enjoyed a bit of the fun of basketball.

The Shui Zhong Team's first game ended smoothly, as they comfortably defeated their opponents with a score of 63 to 45, securing an 18-point victory for their first regular season win.

With this win, everyone from the coaches to the players gained confidence in the new season, at least knowing they weren't the weakest team in the San Francisco League.

However, making a name in California's basketball league is no easy task.

California has been, from the past to the present and likely into the future, the place that produces the most professional players in America.

Only New York State can compare with California in terms of the quantity and quality of players. These two states—one in the South and the other in the North, one in the East and the other in the West—are the treasures of basketball.

However, New York State is small in area and densely populated, while California is vast, divided into Southern and Northern California.

Southern California is centered around the Los Angeles-San Diego city cluster, while Northern California's core is the San Francisco-St. Helix-Sacramento city cluster.

In the past 60 years, due to transportation limitations and funding restrictions, the high school basketball leagues of Southern and Northern California have been conducted separately, each fighting their own battles.

Last season, the California championship game resumed with a format where the teams entering the playoffs were drawn to compete against each other. Two teams from Oakland met in the finals.

Eventually, Bishop O'Dowd High School from Oakland defeated Castlemont High School, also from Oakland, to win the 1981 overall California championship.

This year, the format was changed to decide the champions of Southern and Northern California first and then the two champions will compete for this year's overall California championship.

This regional division format allows more teams to easily join the finals, while significantly increasing the topicality of the final championship game.

Regional competition has always been the most attractive part of sports. Teams represent the talent of their regions and carry the expectations of their communities. A fight to the death on the final stage is bound to be more interesting than a city's teams destroying each other.

With last year's championship and runner-up, Oakland's strength is clear for all to see.

And the San Francisco League, where Shui Zhong belongs, is likewise full of strong adversaries; Balboa High School was just an appetizer.

On November 18th, the Shui Zhong Team encountered the Lincoln Mustangs.

This high school, named after President Abraham Lincoln, along with another named after President George Washington, represents the strongest strength in San Francisco's high schools.

Both are located in San Francisco's Western district, are comprehensive public high schools with a large number of students and a strong faculty. They have strong teams in football, soccer, and basketball.

The game took place at Lincoln High School's Mustang Gym, and it was the toughest game the Shui Zhong Team had played since its formation. They battled for over two hours, with two overtime periods.

The Shui Zhong Team, leading by 10 points in the first half, saw their advantage slowly eaten away in the second half by Lincoln High School.

Although Lincoln High School couldn't stop Gan Guoyang from scoring in the paint, they had a good understanding on both offense and defense, exhibiting higher overall strength than Fremont.

However, Shui Zhong Team proved to be extremely resilient. Under Gan's leadership, they fought fiercely against the Mustangs. By the second overtime, when everyone was completely exhausted, Gan was the only one with energy reserves left.

With the Mustangs' defense loosening, he hit consecutive turn-around jumpers at crucial moments, securing the win for Shui Zhong Team.

With a score of 77 to 75, Shui Zhong Team won the intense double-overtime battle against the strong Mustangs.

Gan Guoyang finished the game with 44 points, 27 rebounds, and 6 blocks.

The game against the Mustangs caused him to sweat more than usual.

However, he wasn't satisfied with his performance after the victory.

Aside from his exceptional scoring and rebounding, he also committed as many as 7 turnovers.

Timely double-teams from Lincoln High School caused a lot of trouble for Gan, a dilemma almost every superstar center has to face.

When he attempted to make connections on offense with Franklin or other teammates, the tenacity and quickness of the Lincoln players on defense gave Gan a hard time.

In the post-game summary, Beelman reminded Gan that if passing wasn't working effectively, it was better to play his own game.

Beelman wasn't a coach adept at orchestrating offense; his focus at the University of Notre Dame was defense.

His temperamental and passionate nature indeed makes him well-suited for a defensive coach role.

Offense needs to be more rational, being able to calmly observe the situation, see through the opponent's defensive strategy, and deliver a fatal blow.

What frustrated Gan Guoyang was that although he could see the opportunities for his teammates on the court, he couldn't successfully convert them into passes and assists.

He realized that the skill of passing was difficult to improve through hard training. You could acquire techniques and passing accuracy, but you couldn't gain vision and experience.

These had to be accumulated through years of actual competition, and also required some distinct innate talent.

On November 23, in the third game of Shui Zhong Team's regular season, the opponent changed to another presidentially named high school from the Western District, Washington High School.

The game was held at the Eagles Stadium of Washington High School. Standing next to the stadium on the bleachers of the adjoining football field, one could gaze at the red Golden Gate Bridge over the strait.

The full capacity operation of Kezar Stadium meant that some games had to be held in the school's own gymnasium.

Beiqiao High School, lacking a home gymnasium, could only suffer by continuously playing away games, not having their own home ground.

This time, Shui Zhong Team and Gan Guoyang finally met their match.

The Washington Eagles were a well-trained team with a complete roster of players at each position and strong individual abilities.

Their strongest combination consisted of a 6-foot-5 forward, David Bonner, and a 6-foot-8 center, Quentin Stephenson.

Both were sturdy black players, among whom Quentin Stephenson, stocky and slightly hunchbacked with a round head, gave off a little Moses Malone vibe.

The Eagles Team had done thorough preparation before the match, and Gan Guoyang was severely double-teamed by the two during the game.

In their interior defense, they used every possible means, pushing, squeezing, encircling, and trapping, just to prevent Gan Guoyang from receiving the ball.

Even when Gan Guoyang moved to the perimeter to receive the ball, Bonner would follow him closely, not giving Gan Guoyang a chance to make an easy long shot.

Everyone knew, this guy had the ability to shoot from distance.

This greatly disrupted Shui Zhong Team's offense, with the ball ending up more in Franklin's hands.

In the first half, Shui Zhong Team managed to keep going with Franklin's scoring.

In the second half, Franklin began to run out of steam, and with Gan Guoyang continuously entangled, they could only maintain their score through offensive rebounds.

The Eagles Team's offense was also very agile; they counterattacked quickly, and their perimeter shooting was accurate.

The small point guard Harry Bobigno, at only 5 feet 10 inches (178 cm), was able to dunk with one hand on the fast break.

Once Chen Xing was separated from the team defense and lost the protection of Gan Guoyang at his back, he could not defend against the opposition one-on-one.

The game had fallen into the Eagles Team's rhythm from the first minute, and the fatigue from chasing points eventually dragged down Shui Zhong Team.

In that game, Gan Guoyang grabbed 28 rebounds, including 9 offensive boards. He stepped up to the free-throw line 10 times and totaled 34 points.

His performance was nothing short of great, but Shui Zhong still lost 62:68 to Washington High School.

This was also the first game Shui Zhong Team had lost since its formation.

On the way back to school, the atmosphere among the team was gloomy; everyone was dejected by the loss.

Gan Guoyang's arms were covered with bruises, all streaks of blood marks, courtesy of Bonner and Stephenson.

As Shui Zhong and Gan Guoyang rose to prominence, more and more teams would study them, and targeted tactics against them would also increase.

They had to be prepared for this.

The next day, in an underground skating rink training hall at Fisherman's Wharf, Beelman summarized the lost game.

They wouldn't meet the Eagles again in the regular season, but if their goal was the playoffs, they were sure to encounter the Eagles.

Without any game recordings, Beelman could only rely on memory to analyze the problems that occurred during the game.

Halfway through the analysis, Beelman asked everyone to sit on the floor, close their eyes, take deep breaths, completely relax, and then imagine the situation of playing against the Eagles Team.

"Our zone defense was pulled apart, their perimeter was accurate, what should we do?"

"Contract, let them shoot, that is the only way out."

"Gan was double-teamed, leading to turnovers."

"Maybe he should receive the ball further out."

"They're counterattacking, picking up the pace! Keep up! But we need to slow down, we can't outrun them…"

"Franklin, your free throws, relax, focus on the hoop, forget about your hand, imagine the ball in your hand, its texture, its weight, relax, shoot…"

Beelman guided the players with his words to recall the scenes of the game, then solve these issues in their imagination.

When everyone opened their eyes, there was a hint of bewilderment in their gaze.

Gan Guoyang asked, "What kind of training method is this?"

Beelman replied, "This is that damn visualization training you talked about! I've been making calls recently, and indeed, there are such training methods. Coach Jack Ramsey of the Portland Trail Blazers uses it, so I thought we'd try it. How do you feel?"

Gan Guoyang said, "I was just talking casually, how come you took it seriously? But I think the solutions you brought up make sense."

"..."

If it weren't for the last part, Beelman would have strangled Gan Guoyang and then suicided.