Back to face the Warriors, Yang Hansen has improved! But it’s still not enough! His strengths and weaknesses are both quite obvious!

In his first NBA preseason game against the Warriors, Yang Hansen had a disastrous start: 4 points, 4 rebounds, 4 turnovers, and fouled out with 6 fouls. My summary for that day was “embarrassing.”

Although in the second game against the Kings, he delivered a dazzling 14-point quarter, making him trend online and earning widespread praise.

Yet, I still hold very high expectations for today’s game: a rematch against the Warriors.

Why?

The Warriors are a unique challenge in the NBA world; over the past decade, they have led the league’s trends. Especially when it comes to defending big centers, Coach Kerr’s team has unparalleled experience.

The Warriors use a lot of cuts, off-ball movement, and ball movement, which is a huge test for a big man defender like Yang Hansen.

So I’d say Yang Hansen’s preseason debut against Green and Horford was like taking the toughest math problem first in a college entrance exam.

Having stumbled once, can he improve by taking another “test”?

He can.

Don’t expect him to replicate his offensive performance against the Kings; my expectation for him is:Can he do the blue-collar work well?

In today’s NBA, the trend for centers is clearly toward blue-collar roles.

If you’re not Jokic or Sengun, teams prefer role-playing centers who protect the rim, rebound, set screens, don’t dominate the ball, and can shoot from outside.

At Yang’s current stage, don’t expect the Trail Blazers to run plays through you like you’re the focal point — this isn’t the CBA Qingdao team. Don’t expect teammates to give you lots of touches; if you want to stay on the floor, you have to do the dirty work first.

By this standard, here are the important areas where he made progress today:

1. Controlling fouls.

2. Rebounding.

3. Quality of screens, such as those set for teammate Gortat.

4. Defensive positioning and anticipation.

If you watched the first game against the Warriors, he performed poorly in all these four aspects — how could he get beaten by Poole like that... no NBA coach would accept that.

Focus on being a “role player” first, then talk about offense.

Receiving the ball and opening up Horford, then driving inside for a layup — that was a highlight play.

What’s that based on? Rebounds.

The Warriors probably studied the Trail Blazers and Kings games and noticed Yang Hansen’s corner three-point shooting; otherwise, a veteran like Horford wouldn’t have jumped that way.

In the second half, there were outside shots made, good assists to teammates, and signature dreamlike footwork — all plus points.

Currently, his playing time and rotation on the Trail Blazers are relatively stable: basically about 8 minutes per quarter before being subbed out for Klingenberg.

Then, at certain moments, Bilups plays small lineups.

Maybe Klingenberg’s appearance has also been discussed on Chinese forums; I heard we gave him a new nickname: “Nurkić 2.0.”

Big Root got motivated; this direct competitor played especially hard today, nearly a double-double by halftime, and even started hitting threes.

This is healthy competition.

With 20 minutes on the court, he scored 9 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, dished 1 assist, and blocked 1 shot.

Though there is progress, praising highlight plays alone is meaningless.

Yang Hansen’s shortcomings are also very clear.

The most visible problems to the naked eye:

First, stamina.

At the start, he could do quite a bit, but after three minutes... retreating on defense, moving, rotating on defense all became major issues; he started putting hands on hips and knees, and shots he usually makes were missed.

Second, defending pick-and-rolls.

Many of his defensive choices still reflect “CBA thinking,” unable to make decisions, and often failing to move properly.

Some possessions today, just because Curry or Poole missed shots, doesn’t mean they lack that level of skill...

As the new season begins, it’s predictable opponents will run many pick-and-roll mismatches against him.

In the fourth quarter, veteran Spencer kept running pick-and-rolls with the center endlessly, testing Yang Hansen’s defense, with good results.

Third, physicality.

Yang Hansen’s current strength level means he basically can’t hold position inside.

Often it’s not that teammates don’t want to pass to you, but you can’t withstand the physical pressure... If Yang Hansen scored only 40 points in the first game against the Warriors, today he could score 65.

Growing through battle.

To improve in basketball, just talking is useless.

Sitting and discussing is never as effective as standing up and doing.