On February 18, the Trail Blazers played against the Seattle Supersonics at home. Among the few teams that have defeated the Trail Blazers this season, the Seattle Supersonics are on the list.

At the beginning of the season, Supersonics' main power forward Tom Chambers was abducted by the Suns, and the team did not have any special reinforcements. Everyone believed that Supersonics would slowly enter the reconstruction period and fall into the lottery for a while.

As a result, after experiencing the ups and downs at the beginning of the season, the Seattle Supersonics' record began to stabilize in January. The Supersonics lost three games in January, two fewer than the Trail Blazers. Among the opponents they defeated, there were many teams with relatively strong strength such as the Lakers, Trail Blazers, Hawks, Rockets.

There are several important reasons for Seattle's unexpected efforts. One is that although Chambers left, power forward Michael Cage, who transferred from the Clippers, did fill the gap better. Although his scoring ability is not as good as Chambers, the inside hardness, rebounds and defense he provides are not that Chambers does not have.

The second reason is the further outbreak of Supersonics' top scorer Dell Ellis this season. The shooting guard who was selected by the Mavericks in the ninth first round in 1983 was never given the opportunity to play because of Blackman and Aquili. His talent and talent were buried on the Mavericks' bench.

In the 1987 season, the Supersonics exchanged Ellis to the team. Ellis completed a gorgeous turn. He played as a small forward at the Mavericks and changed to a shooting guard at the Supersonics. His average score soared from 7.1 points last season to 24.9 points, more than three times the original score. His ability was fully released at the Supersonics and he won the title of fastest-progress player that season.

In 1989, with Chambers' departure, Ellis reached the peak of his career, with his average score of 27.5 points, becoming one of the best backcourt scorers in the league.

Moreover, Ellis is one of the most deadly three-pointers in the league. He averaged 4.1 three-pointers and hit 2, with a three-point shooting percentage of 47%. In the game against the Trail Blazers, his three-pointer made the Trail Blazers' outside defense miserable. At that time, Adelman asked to quickly make up for the defense rotation and expand the defense area to deal with Ellis' three-pointers. However, Ellis, who has changed from a small forward to a shooting guard, is 6-foot-7, and has a very strong ability to shoot anti-interference.

It was precisely because of his three-point restraint that disrupted the Trail Blazers' defensive deployment that the Supersonics defeated the Trail Blazers in an upset manner.

The second reason for the supersonic record is that they have a super sixth player, "X-man" Xavier McDaniel.

As a classmate with Ewing in 1985, McDaniel was second only to Ewing for his outstanding performance in the votes, which made him feel the same as Gan Guoyang.

As a high-ranking show with fourth place in the first round, McDaniel has always been on the bench, not because he is not strong, but because he is a professional sixth person.

He is 6-foot-7 in position and is very similar to Buck Williams. He is both small forward power forward swaying, but Williams is more powerful forward, while McDaniel is more likely to be small forward. This is because McDaniel has better outside skills and shooting skills, which allows him to catch rebounds inside and outside, and can also shoot long shots from the outside. Just like his nickname "X-man", he is a panacea player with X functions.

Moreover, McDaniel plays extremely tough. No matter who his opponent is, the Emperor is not afraid. So after the Supersonics left Chambers, a soft white man, these two players became leaders on the court and on the bench, and the team's record did not decline but rose.

For the Trail Blazers, both of them are troublesome.

As a result, during the whole game, when the starters of both sides competed on the court, the Trail Blazers could always maintain their advantage, but once they entered the lineup rotation, McDaniel would play. If Gan Guoyang could still cure him on the court, McDaniel would be lawless in the first game, but Gan Guoyang could not stay on the court forever. Moreover, Adelman was always worried that Gan Guoyang would fight with McDaniel, and the two had extremely frequent physical conflicts on the court.

McDaniel grabbed 37 points in the whole game, made 12 of 21 shots, and his shooting percentage was as high as 57%. It was majestic. Buck Williams still looked much older in front of McDaniel, and the Trail Blazers really lacked substitutes in the backcourt.

What's even more terrible is that Drexler missed this game because of a cold. Adelman had to let Andre Brans replace the starter. The player's ability was mediocre, and the key was unambiguous. He scored 4 of his 14 shots in the game, allowing Ellis, who was against the match, to score 33 points.

Even though Gan Guoyang showed his might tonight and scored 45 points and 13 rebounds again, Drexler's absence, the sluggish outside players and the outstanding performance of the opponent still allowed the Trail Blazers to lose 115:116 at home. At the last moment, Gan Guoyang's final shot also hit the basket. The Trail Blazers unfortunately lost at home, and they also lost twice this season by the Supersonics.

After the game, Gan Guoyang passed by the bench and saw Jim Paxson sitting on the bench in casual clothes. He had missed many games due to a foot injury.

Gan Guoyang walked forward and asked Paxson, "When will you come back?"

After hearing Gan Guoyang's words, Parkson was about to say that I should be able to make a comeback in the next game, but suddenly he thought that Gan Guoyang seemed to have something to say.

Gan Guoyang did have something in his words. He asked Paxson "when will he come back", not only when he would be able to recover from injury, but also when Paxson could get back in his form.

In the 1986 season, Paxson was replaced by Drexler as a substitute shooting guard. That season, he performed well on the bench and became the most stable outside output point on the Blazers' bench and an important contributor to the team's ability to reach the finals.

But in 1987, Paxson's condition began to fluctuate. His age and injuries made the All-Star guard perform worse than the other. In the 1987 season, his average score dropped to 12 points, which was the first time he averaged 15 points since his rookie season.

By 1988, his average scores further declined, and he could only score 8 points per game, and his playing time also shrank. When he was on the court, the contribution he could make from defense and offense was limited. He was on the court just to give Drexler some rest time.

This season, with Paxson's condition further downturn and the trouble of injury, Adelman was not even willing to let Paxson play. Many times he played with Danny Young and Terry Porter's double point guards, and was beaten on the defensive end, and he was unwilling to let Paxson play, because Paxson really couldn't keep up with the pace of others.

Now, Inman has been looking for a deal, hoping to pack Paxson out for a reliable and stable shooting guard as Drexler's substitute. Drexler's playing time this season also reached a career-high 39 minutes, and the Trail Blazers urgently need a reliable substitute.

But in Paxson's state, no good players can be replaced. The strong team does not want, and the weak team does not have good players. What makes Inman even more distressed is that Gan Guoyang does not really want to replace Paxson. The two had a bad relationship in the past. However, after a few seasons, especially after Jack Ramsey retired, Paxson became a firm ally of Gan Guoyang. The relationship between the two became better. Gan Guoyang also hoped that the management could give Paxson some time to change his playing style and recover.

Paxson looked at Gan Guoyang, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I don't know, maybe I will never come back."

"What are you talking about? You have made so much effort and put in so much sweat in the summer just to win the championship in the new season. Do you want to be traded like this, or wear a ring in a suit?"

Paxson didn't want to return. In the summer of 1988, he made great efforts to recover. He hired special trainers for recovery training, and also took time to practice high-intensity shooting with Gan Guoyang. However, at the beginning of the new season, intermittent injuries made him unable to get a chance to play, which made Paxson, who was originally full of enthusiasm and wanted to have a big fight with Gan Guoyang, feel a little discouraged.
Chapter completed!