The University of Houston, the most famous school in Texas, is also the NCAA's basketball school. This school has contributed all-star players to the NBA such as Elvin Hayes, Akeem Olajuwon, Drexler and Ortis Birdson.

So, every summer, the training hall of the University of Houston is always full of stars. Not only will the Houston Rockets players come here to train, but the stars who have graduated will also return here, and they will sweat in the hall like they did when they were in college.

"Stay the lower plate, keep it steady! Don't give him a chance..."

"Bang!"

"nice shot!"

In the basketball hall of the University of Houston campus entertainment center, there were constant sizzling sounds of sneakers rubbing the floor and shouting from the players. It was obvious that a fierce confrontation training was underway.

"Beautiful job, Akim, you must find space, space, in the most crowded place, as long as you have space, you have the chance to get out." A tall black man in a red vest and blue shorts stood on the sidelines and said, "He was Moses Malone."

After leaving Portland, Malone returned to Houston.

Since Malone entered the NBA directly after graduating from high school, he is an outlier in the league. Naturally, he did not return to his alma mater to train like those who graduated from college, but instead came to Houston habitually - although he is playing in Philadelphia now.

As early as when Malone was still playing for the Rockets, he would come to Houston during the offseason to train with Akim Olajuwon, who was also a college player at the time. His huge strength and excellent skills in the low post deeply influenced Olajuwon and laid a solid foundation for this future super center.

Now, Olajuwon is a professional NBA player, and the two have become opponents on the court, but this does not prevent them from being similar to a master-apprentice relationship off the court.

"Akim did a good job, and Gan you, your reaction seems to be slower, and you shouldn't push forward. If it were me, I would give up this opportunity to block because you have lost the most powerful conditions for blocking, and Akim already has room."

Ma Long then changed the subject and pointed to the center forward against Olajuwon, the biggest enemy of the University of Houston - Gan Guoyang.

Before coming to Houston, Gan Guoyang never expected that in the NCAA, college fans would hold such a grudge, so when he was taken to the University of Houston by Drexler, he was given a middle finger and exceeded Gan Guoyang's average rebounds last season.

"Fortunately, it's time for holidays, otherwise the person who gives you a middle finger will surpass your total rebounds in the season." Gan Guoyang could only "give" that he came too late when he heard Drexler say this.

But when Gan Guoyang made a little adjustment and came to the training hall the next day to start training, he was no longer "lucky" that he came too late because he found that nearly a month of slackness made him at a disadvantage when confronting Olajuwon.

Whether during the NCAA period or during the professional league, Gan Guoyang can always maintain a certain degree of suppression against Olajuwon.

Although Olajuwon has better bounce, speed and explosive power, Gan Guoyang is smarter, more solid in technology, and a very important point. Gan Guoyang has great advantages in key forces.

Even though Olajuwon claimed to be able to compete with Moses Malone in terms of strength when he was in college, it was just a propaganda. Gan Guoyangcai and Moses were of the same level of strength, while Olajuwon was still one level of magnitude.

But when he came to the first day of the training camp, Gan Guoyang discovered that Olajuwon had made great progress in his strength. Even if he still couldn't reach his level, the gap was narrowed.

What's worse is that Olajuwon's skills have made significant progress compared to his rookie season, and his pace has begun to become more dreamy.

With the goal just now, Olajuwon grabbed the frontcourt rebound at the basket. Gan Guoyang raised his hands and defended closely. Olajuwon tried to push Gan Guoyang away but failed, but he immediately turned around and quickly got away from Gan Guoyang's close body with his right foot, and then made a fake move of hooking his right hand.

Although he did not deceive Gan Guoyang, he immediately took a step back and jumped directly, not only throwing the ball, but also causing Gan Guoyang's foul.

If this only happened once, it would be normal. It would be impossible to take advantage of a player like Olajuwon every time.

However, in today's training, Gan Guoyang could hardly limit Olajuwon's offense against Olajuwon on the defensive end. Olajuwon, who already had excellent jump shot ability, was simply unstoppable with more flexible and changeable steps.

In the offense, Gan Guoyang was also very difficult. Facing the Chinese players' skillful turnover jump shot and replaced Olajuwon to defend, it was completely lost, Gan Guoyang was difficult for even taking action.

And Gan Guoyang was convinced that Olajuwon had definitely accepted Moses Malone's guidance on how to defend the hook, which made Gan Guoyang even more difficult on the offensive end. "Okay, let's take a break, we have been playing for half an hour in a row, everyone can adjust it." Moses Malone clapped his hands and said.

"You are not in good condition. Why did you come here so late? I thought you have been training in Portland." Drexler said to Gan Guoyang during the break.

In the two sides' confrontation match, Drexler and Gan Guoyang were in a group, while Olajuwon had Birdson as his assistant. Compared with Gan Guoyang's sluggishness, Drexler's condition was obviously much better. He had been training here for more than a month and his situation was quite good in all aspects.

"I know, I'm too lazy. I've been running around this month and there's no systematic training at all. I hope it's not too late to start now." Gan Guoyang reflected while drinking water.

The lack of systematic training caused by a month of lack of systematic training seems not obvious on the surface, especially after Gan Guoyang abused the Chinese team, he even felt that he was more stable and mature in his strength.

But it is certain that Gan Guoyang is defeated in one-on-one after a month of targeted improvement.

"It's not too late to start now. Many training camps started at this time, and there are team training camps in September. Come on," Drexler comforted Gan Guoyang and said that he had made such mistakes before.

However, Drexler also understood that with Gan Guoyang's character, slackness was only temporary, and what followed was crazy training. You should know that he was the one who worked hardest in the Trail Blazers.

Just as some of the players were resting and some exchanged experiences with each other, a middle-aged white man wearing a beige T-shirt walked into the training hall, attracting everyone's attention.

"Coach Lewis!" Drexler was the first to walk forward. The person who came was the head coach of the Houston Jaguars, Guy Lewis.

Gan Guoyang still has a deep impression of this coach. This legendary coach who graduated from the University of Houston and has served as the head coach of the Jaguars since 1956. He led the Jaguars to Final-four four times. He was always so calm when commanding on the sidelines, which is in sharp contrast to the passion of the former Bulldogs coach Bellman.

"Hello, Mr. Lewis." Gan Guoyang also stepped forward to shake hands with the famous coach.

Although Gan Guoyang destroyed the opportunity of coach Lewis to lead the Jaguars to the highest honor of the NCAA, his winning streak, coupled with Olajuwon's departure, made Lewis realize that he would never have the chance to touch the trophy again.

But he still admires Gan Guoyang very much, appreciates his football skills, and his extraordinary game feeling.

"Hello, Gan, welcome to the University of Houston. Maybe the people here are hostile to you, but on the court we respect every opponent. I hope you can make progress." Coach Lewis seemed very friendly.

This season, the Jaguars, who lost their outstanding players in the last session, failed to enter the national competition. Gay Lewis was already a little discouraged and ready to leave his position as head coach.

However, during the offseason, he was still very happy to go to the training ground to give guidance to his former proud disciples so that they could go further in the NBA.

The training continued soon, and this time, a group of one-on-one confrontation exercises began. Gan Guoyang was separated with Olajuwon without any surprise. The two of them had to continue to hone their one-on-one skills at both ends of offense and defense.

"Akim's recent progress is indeed obvious. As expected, as long as there is a target opponent in front of him, his progress will be faster... However, Gan's technology does not seem to have changed much, and his arsenal is still a bit monotonous, but his sense of ball is really good, better than Akim..."

Coach Lewis observed the confrontation between his beloved disciple and Gan Guoyang, and he also saw that Olajuwon's hard training over the past month had improved, while Gan Guoyang seemed to be standing still.

Unlike coach Bellman and Georgetown coach John Thompson, both of them are good at tuning players' defensive abilities and defensive awareness, especially the latter, Mutombo and Mooning will be his favorite disciples in the future.

Coach Lewis is good at developing players' offensive potential, especially at promoting players' offensive advantages and independent offensive awareness. Therefore, his four disciples, Hayes, Olajuwon, Drexler and Birdson, are all offensive strongmen.

Of course, the disadvantage of him is that Hayes and Olajuwon were once called black holes on the court, Drexler was unrepentant of his shooting flaws, and Birdson was also a shooting guard who only knew how to attack and did not pass the ball. These were all bad habits formed under the Lewis free system.

However, because of this, he is very good at coaching players' offense.
Chapter completed!