The Golden Age of Basketball

After the finals ended, Gan Guoyang devoted himself to preparing for the Olympics.

From mid-June to the end of July, Gan Guoyang underwent targeted training for a month.

He not only worked on integrating with his teammates but also set new demands for himself for the Olympics and the new season.

The main focus was weight reduction.

In the 1992 season, Gan Guoyang's weight reached a peak of 270 pounds.

Towards the end of the season, it was almost 275 pounds, but after the finals, it dropped to 265 pounds due to the extensive energy consumption.

In preparation for the Olympics and the new season, Gan Guoyang studied a lot and decided to reduce his weight back to around 260 pounds.

The purpose of this was first for health and stamina; a large weight, although powerful, does cause significant damage to the knees and ankles.

Gan Guoyang was approaching 30 and needed to control his weight slightly to maintain health consistently.

Secondly, it was about playing style. After unlocking more advanced techniques in the finals, Gan Guoyang needed a more agile body.

If he used backcourt dribbling, quick breakthroughs, and change-of-direction moves frequently, the large weight brought significant inertia and impact, which would hurt his joints while breaking through opponents.

Thus, he only used such tactics desperately in the 1992 finals, and after winning the championship in the sixth game, Gan Guoyang could feel his knees burning.

He had to reduce his weight for the new season and the Olympics.

After his weight dropped, Gan Guoyang's ability to fight slightly decreased, but in the basketball world of that time, he was still an invincible presence.

At 6'10", 260 pounds was already heavyweight in FIBA, while Francovic was 10 centimeters taller than Gan Guoyang at 2.18 meters and only weighed 255 pounds.

In 1990, Francovic was drafted by the Celtics and played in the NBA for a while, but later chose to leave to play in Europe due to Divac's arrival.

In the final moments of the match, Francovic could only sit on the sidelines to watch.

But Croatia still had a major player in the paint, and that was Raja.

Raja and Francovic complemented each other, one focused on attack, and the other on defense.

Raja was originally wanted by the Celtics but was snatched away by the Lakers.

Later, the Celtics got Divac, so Raja naturally wouldn't go to Boston.

It is said that next season, Raja will have the opportunity to go to the Lakers and start his NBA career in Los Angeles.

Raja has a very skillful low post footwork and great offensive talent, but tonight his talent didn't shine through.

In the one-on-one confrontations, whether facing Ma Jian alone, Gan Guoyang coming for backup defense, or facing Ah Gan one-on-one, Raja's performance was not satisfactory.

It must be said that the Three Second Zone defended by Gan Guoyang is indeed impregnable, and Croatia's inside scoring tonight was only 10 points.

Later on, Raja gave up the idea of attacking in the low post and could only steal some points during second-chance opportunities and pick-and-rolls.

During a critical offensive play by the Croatia Team, Petrović was caught in hesitation—should he attack himself or follow the team strategy and create opportunities for his teammates?

This hesitation led Petrović to be indecisive when making a choice, aware that Raja had a chance to receive the ball in the low post and attack the basket.

The player defending Raja wasn't Ah Gan, but Ma Jian. Petrović thought for 0.1 seconds and decided to play it safe by passing the ball to Raja to single-handedly take on Ma Jian in the low post.

As the ball left Petrović's hand flying towards Raja, a feeling of regret surged up, and Petrović thought, I should have taken that shot myself.

If it were Ah Gan, would he pass?

He would, right? During critical moments when teammates have an opportunity, Ah Gan would pass.

But instinct told Petrović that in such moments, Ah Gan would definitely take the shot himself.

But it was too late; the ball smoothly flew into Raja's hands, and Raja used his height and footwork to overpower Ma Jian.

Ma Jian was barely over 2 meters, while Raja was 2.10 meters, but Raja weighed only 225 pounds, just over 100 kilograms.

In terms of weight, Ma Jian wasn't at a significant disadvantage.

Previously Ma Jian pursued the path of a flexible inside player, which worked quite well in Asia.

With Gong Xiaobin, the two forwards barely over 2 meters, they had great offensive impact against teams with smaller physiques like Korea and the Philippines.

But once facing taller, equally flexible European teams, they weren't as effective.

In Portland, Gan Guoyang advised Ma Jian that if he wishes to play in America, he should either take the outside route and play as a forward.

But playing as a forward requires outside skills, like dribbling and shooting, which Ma Jian lacks due to his upbringing as an inside player.

The second option is to pursue the path of a strong center player, like Mason, enhancing one's strength, defense, and rebounding ability.

Gan Guoyang has always been Ma Jian's idol, someone considered the greatest player in history by Ma Jian, and of course, he listens to his idol's advice.

So, for the past month, he focused heavily on improving his strength and defensive awareness, and unexpectedly, he showed great understanding in this area.

Tonight, facing Croatia, Ma Jian played a surprisingly effective role on defense.

Raja was struggling hard to push against Ma Jian.

Just as Raja was about to spin for a hook shot, Gan Guoyang's backup defense was already in place.

The ball was in mid-air, and Ma Jian merely raised his arms high without jumping or committing a foul.

Gan Guoyang came from behind, leaping high, and gently tapped the ball with his fingers.

Gan Guoyang's classic soft-touch block ensured the opponent wouldn't regain possession for an easy second-chance opportunity.