Event With the 16th pick, Blazers have selected Hansen Yang

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by SlyPokerDog, Jun 25, 2025.

  1. julius

    julius I wonder if there's beer on the sun Staff Member Global Moderator

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    I wonder if the bit where he says he "matched up" with a player was lost in translation. Why would he trash talk his own teammate?

    It makes me think it was supposed to be "unsurprisingly, their team lost" instead of "our team".

    Unless of course, it was the other team that they engaged in trash talk, and that got into his teammates head. The way it's written/transcribed could be confusing.
     
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  2. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    Here, see for yourself.

    https://epaper.guanhai.com.cn/conpaper/qdwb/html/2025-07/25/content_144695_2442643.htm
     
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  3. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    On the afternoon of July 24, Yang Hansen arrived at Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport by plane, and then returned to the Guoxin Basketball Training Base in the West Coast New District to meet with his former Qingdao Guoxin Men's Basketball teammates and coaches, and attended a media meeting organized by the club.

      Hug with teammates

      It's nice to be back in Qingdao

      At 5:30 pm on July 24, Yang Hansen appeared on the training ground of Guoxin Basketball Training Base on time, accompanied by cheers. After several months of pursuing his dream in the United States, Yang Hansen has now become a big star in Chinese basketball and even Chinese sports circles.

      Yang Hansen first ran to his teammates and hugged his former captain Wang Ruize, roommate Duan Angjun and others. Afterwards, he walked and chatted with Qingdao Men's Basketball coach Liu Weiwei. Yang Hansen, who kept joking, seemed to be at home and was particularly relaxed.

      "It's so nice to be back in Qingdao! I'm grateful to the Qingdao fans for their support." At the beginning, Yang Hansen first thanked the fans, and then he talked about his time in the United States, from food to climate, just like chatting with family. "The climate in Portland is similar to that in Qingdao, and I'm quite adapted to it. As for eating, there are many Chinese restaurants opened by Chinese people, but after the improvement, the food still tastes a bit strange." Yang Hansen revealed that after his first game in the summer league, he also contacted Liu Weiwei and asked about how to adapt to the rhythm of NBA games. Qingdao team coach Liu Weiwei commented on Yang Hansen's performance in the summer league: "We saw a lot of different things in Yang Hansen's adaptation to the NBA summer league, especially on the court. He can always maintain a kind of confidence and play some of his characteristics. I think it is relatively successful for him. I hope he can adapt and integrate into the new team and new coach as quickly as possible."

      Missing the Asian Cup

      Concentrate on preparing for the new NBA regular season

      This year's Asian Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia from August 5 to August 17. The opponents in the same group as the Chinese men's basketball team are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and India. Whether Yang Hansen will return to the national team to prepare for the Asian Cup after finishing the NBA Summer League has become a topic of concern for fans.

      On the evening of the 24th, the Chinese Basketball Association issued a statement in response: After finishing the NBA Summer League, Chinese men's basketball player Yang Hansen immediately reported to the Chinese men's basketball head coach Guo Shiqiang about his participation in the draft training camp and summer league in the United States, and applied to the national team and the Chinese Basketball Association. In order to better integrate into the new team and further improve his skills, he hopes to participate in the two short training camps held by the Portland Trail Blazers starting on August 11. The short training camp is based on the summer league and is designed for rookies and players who need to continue to improve.

      Since the Trail Blazers training camp that Yang Hansen attended overlaps with the FIBA Men's Asia Cup from August 5 to 17, after comprehensive evaluation and considering the long-term development of the athlete and Chinese basketball, the Chinese Basketball Association agreed that Yang Hansen would not participate in the national team training and competition for the 2025 Men's Basketball Asia Cup, and go all out to prepare for the new season. Yang Hansen has now returned to China to handle personal matters such as visas. The Association and the Chinese Men's Basketball Team will maintain active communication with Yang Hansen and related parties, hoping that Yang Hansen will better contribute to the Chinese men's basketball team and Chinese basketball in the world competition.

      Be grateful

      Vow to return to serve the country with a mature attitude

      Later, Yang Hansen himself responded on social media: The journey of the NBA Summer League is over. I have learned a lot and also seen my shortcomings. Every game and every confrontation is a valuable experience for me. Because of the conflict with the time of the pre-season training camp, I will not be able to join the national team in the upcoming Asian Cup. I would like to thank the Chinese Basketball Association and the national team for their understanding and support. Since I decided to pursue my dream in the United States, I have always felt that the power of the entire Chinese basketball is behind me. This time, I have the opportunity to focus on adapting to the rhythm of the NBA and improving my personal abilities. This is inseparable from everyone's open attitude. This tolerance for the growth of young players really touched me. Next, I will devote all my energy to preparing for the pre-season training camp and strive to make solid progress in the new season. Please rest assured that I will not live up to this trust. No matter which arena I am in, I will fight with the belief of winning glory for my country. During the Asian Cup, I will always pay attention to every game of the national team and cheer for my brothers. There is still a long way to go in the future. I will move forward step by step, strive to return to the national team with a more mature attitude as soon as possible, and go all out for Chinese basketball on the world stage! I would like to thank everyone who has paid attention to and helped me this summer. These will become my motivation to move forward and make me more determined and brave to overcome more challenges! The road has just begun!
     
  4. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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  5. Pinwheel1

    Pinwheel1 Well-Known Member

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    True, his defense needs to improve, but his shot blocking was better than I expected.
     
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  6. SharpesTriumph

    SharpesTriumph Well-Known Member

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    It's bizarre some of the people critiquing Yang summer league - as though the expectation was he might come here and dominate like Yao.

    The concern was that he might be a total bust or years away from playing backup NBA minutes. Instead he looked very good out on the floor and totally shut down any of those fears. He has a ton of enticing potential. Yeah he obviously has major things to improve with his game. Any summer league player would have those issues even Edgecomb if he had spent the last 5 years playing in China. I don't see how anyone can consider Yang summer league anything but a massive success.

    Doesn't mean he will be a great rookie - but it means he is an intriguing prospect and certainly not the massive reach and horrible pick that many labeled him to be on draft night.
     
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  7. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    Someone commented in that thread that it's hard for draft experts to let go of their evaluation.

    Vecenie had him in the second round. I don't think he's going to come out after one SL and be like.... I WAS WRONG!

    I like Sam but there's a reason why he's not employed by a team. He was dead wrong about Scoot too.
     
  8. riverman

    riverman Writing Team

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    I love how the critics choose summer league to evaluate the rim defense when it's more like a 3 pt contest in reality. Bigs aren't showcased in SL but Yang still made his presence known. Two games they played him at the top of the key but for one game they played him in the paint and he got 8/8 in 19 minutes...the kid can rebound if he's not boxing out so his teammates can grab rebounds...when they asked him to, he did. He was also in the top group of shot blockers as well.
     
  9. blazerfan11

    blazerfan11 Well-Known Member

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    He did a great job of blocking his man out, usually the other guy had a 0% chance of getting the rebound. Something that some people have complained about (boxing out) regarding other players in the past, now someone is doing it well which means he's usually giving up the rebound to a teammate.
    Yang is a team player, he's no Stat-Bo. Some people need to watch the game instead of drawing conclusions from the box score.
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2025 at 2:25 PM
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  10. HailBlazers

    HailBlazers RipCity

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  11. SharpesTriumph

    SharpesTriumph Well-Known Member

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    Damn easy to forget how young these kids are. Someone like Clingan is so huge out on the floor battling 30-40 year old men. But in a casual environment he looks more like a high school kid.
     
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