Trail Blazers and team reporters: Yang Hansen defeated the Lakers second team, but there are still problems with his defensive positioning

The Portland Trail Blazers talked with team reporter Mike Richman on his podcast "Locked On Blazers" about Yang Hansen's previous performance in the NBA Development League.

Richman said: In a recent game against the South Bay Lakers, a subsidiary of the Los Angeles Lakers, Drew Timme, who was playing against Yang Hansen, was beaten by Yang Hansen. Although Young's movement speed looks good, when we watch the entire game in its entirety and not just the highlights, I see that he still has some issues with his defensive positioning. This is not to say that he is not actively blocking shots, but that when he is a help defender, his distance from the ball is always a little different. For example, when he is helping his teammates defend pick-and-rolls, he is always too far away from the ball, or he sinks too much in the paint area.

Richman continued: Therefore, Yang Hansen did not have much impact on the defensive end. I don’t think he’s developed those intuitive defensive instincts yet. However, because he is very tall, things like defensive positioning can be learned later. For some smaller players, they need to have relatively strong intuition and defensive prediction ability, and this part cannot be completely made up for through acquired training. But for a big man like Hexion, he can adjust his position on the court by watching video in this regard. As long as he can stand in the right position, he can use his huge advantage in size to make up for other deficiencies. I think his defensive positioning against the South Bay Lakers was not ideal, and this may also be one of his more obvious weaknesses at this stage.

Since the beginning of this season, Yang Hansen has played a total of 5 times in the NBA regular season, averaging 5.8 minutes per game, averaging 1.8 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks per game, as well as 0.6 turnovers and 0.8 fouls. He shot 22.2% from the field, 0% from the three-point range, and 83.3% from the free throw line. In the NBA Development League this season, Yang Hansen has played a total of 2 times so far, averaging 29.8 minutes per game, averaging 14.5 points, 11 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks per game. He also has 3.5 turnovers and 3 fouls. His field goal percentage is 44.4%, three-point shooting percentage is 28.6%, and free throw percentage is 66.7%. Yang Hansen's performance in the second game of the NBA Development League was indeed quite good, and it did have a very good effect, but judging from the current situation, it does not seem to be easy for him to get more playing time in the Trail Blazers. I don’t know if Yang Hansen can gain the trust of the team’s coaching staff through his own efforts and strive to appear in the team’s rotation.