Chapter 1321: Chapter 17: A Spectacular Debut
The victory in the season opener made everyone feel at ease.
Regardless of the strength of the opponent and how many issues the Trail Blazers exposed during the game—they had as many as 17 turnovers throughout.
Winning can temporarily throw all worries behind, and immediately move on to the next challenge.
The Trail Blazers will play the first two games of the new season away, marking a change in their schedule compared to the past.
In the late 80s and early 90s, the Trail Blazers often had a series of home games in November.
In the first month of the season, they only had to travel for two or three games, usually on the West Coast.
The remaining games were held in Portland, which was beneficial for the team to build a good state and record.
A good start is half the battle, and the Trail Blazers more or less benefited from such scheduling.
But in recent seasons, with the increasing number of teams in the League, the schedule arrangements have undergone some changes.
This season, the Trail Blazers have 10 away games in November, including a four-game swing in the Eastern Conference.
This was unprecedented in the Trail Blazers’ regular-season schedule, undoubtedly adding to the season’s difficulty for them.
Gan Guoyang even called the League’s Vice President Matt Wenick to ask if he intended to make things difficult for Ah Gan.
Despite the NBA now generating so much annual revenue, with player salaries in the hundreds of thousands or millions, globally known brands, and billions of fans watching their games.
The most important schedule preparation work each year is still completed by Vice President Matt Winkie alone.
Since 1985, Winkie has been fully responsible for each season’s schedule arrangement.
An office, a desk, a regular computer, and his brain are all the tools Winkie has.
The NBA now has over 20 teams, with each team playing 82 games per season, 41 on the road.
Winkie has to consider travel, arena events, special holidays, home and away games, back-to-backs, and many other factors.
Winkie has been in this position for 10 years; he began his work when Gan Guoyang just entered the League.
"If there’s a particularly tough month in your schedule, it means there will be a relatively easy month; I always try to be fair."
Winkie explained to Gan Guoyang, for him, being criticized by teams and players is very normal.
Managing to schedule well each year is already extremely difficult for him, pleasing everyone is impossible.
However, the Trail Blazers’ new season opener’s schedule was indeed a bit inconsiderate; they had to play the dreaded away back-to-back in the first two games.
The opponent for the second game was the long-time rival Seattle SuperSonics; Winkie arranged this, considering the proximity of Vancouver and Seattle.
But no matter how close the distance, an away back-to-back is a significant test for the team; players don’t get any rest or adjustment time before going into the next game.
This is exactly what’s tough about the NBA. In terms of game frequency, only MLB can compare, but in confrontation and physical exertion, baseball doesn’t measure up to basketball.
Bird, as a player who has long endured the arduous battles in the NBA, knows the pains, so after arriving at the Seattle hotel, he immediately instructed the players to rest and adjust well.
Meanwhile, he locked himself in the room to review the first game’s video, hoping to draw some conclusions from it.
The first game was won, yet Bird wasn’t very excited, as the team faced too many issues.
Gan Guoyang’s performance and the Grizzlies’ weakness overshadowed everything; the post-match stats showed the Trail Blazers’ overall defense was unsatisfactory.
Offensively, there was no discernible method, and most of it relied on players’ individual abilities; it was due to the Grizzlies’ poor defense that the Trail Blazers could charge straight ahead.
But what if they encounter a strong defensive team? What if they meet a team with balanced inside and outside lines, with every position strong?
The Seattle SuperSonics are just such an opponent; they have been the best team in the Western Conference over the past two seasons.
They made it to the finals twice, though they lost once to the Heat and once to the Bulls, but in the West, they performed strongly enough, even with a certain dominance.
All originated from the trade for Patrick Ewing. After being eliminated by the Trail Blazers in 1992 and 1993 and the crushing defeat as the top-seed in 1994, the SuperSonics management lost patience with Shawn Kemp.
They craved a traditional inside player who could provide the team with rim protection, rebounding, and low-post scoring ability.
In the first round of 1994, their inside was bombarded by Dikembe Mutombo, the African Mountain, who averaged 12 rebounds and 6.2 blocks a game.
Kemp’s shooting percentage in the series was only 37%, and while his rebounding, blocking, and assist stats were decent, his impact on the game was disappointing.
The SuperSonics traded him along with Glen Rice to New York for Mutombo’s Georgetown fellow, a true 7-foot center, Patrick Ewing.
This was a decisive change for the SuperSonics; although they gave up Rice in the trade, the SuperSonics were not short on shooters on the outside.
They had the German Schlammfeste and signed Lithuanian shooter Sarunas Marciulionis in the summer of 1994.
Ewing found the sensation he had at Georgetown again in Seattle, with a fierce, suffocating defense.
George Karl’s slightly manic demeanor was intriguingly similar to John-Thompson, both adept at inciting player emotions and creating an atmosphere of opposition against the world.
Ewing is the kind of player with a simple mind requiring direct stimulation; don’t talk to him about basketball IQ or playing with his brain.
