Yang Hansen’s expectations for his rookie year: Can the next “Fire Dragon Center” come true?

In the first two games,

against the Warriors,

made 2 of 5 shots from the field, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 turnovers and 6 fouls in 22 minutes, with a plus-minus value of -1.

faced the Kings in 17 minutes, with 5-of-8 shots from the field, 16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls, with a plus-minus value of +9.

In the first game, he was "trained" very hard and embarrassed by the two dpoy-level veterans of the Warriors Horford and Dream Chasing.

In the second game, he transformed into "Teacher Yang" and hoisted up the substitute Eubanks.

In the first game, many people criticized him and told him to go back to the CBA. In the second game, many people also praised him for winning the Rookie of the Year award. In two years, he will take over as his teacher.

The former is not optimistic about Yang Hansen at all, while the latter is praised as a god descending to earth. In fact, neither is advisable, but in the two games combined,

averaged 20 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1.5 blocks, 3.5 turnovers and 5.5 fouls per game.

If he can produce such data in his rookie season, it will be very good.

For comparison,

In his rookie year in the 15-16 season, Jokic had 21.7 minutes, 10.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.6 blocks, 1.3 turnovers and 2.6 fouls.

In his rookie year in the 21-22 season, Shen Jing recorded 20.7 minutes, 9.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.9 blocks, 2.0 turnovers and 3.0 fouls.

The 2024 second-place pick of the Wizards, Sarr, who was once beaten by Yang Hansen in the U19 World Youth Championship, had 13.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.7 steals, 1.5 blocks, 1.7 turnovers and 2.2 fouls in 27.1 minutes last season.

Klingen, Yang Hansen's main competitor, averaged 19.8 minutes, 6.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.5 steals, 1.6 blocks, 1.1 turnovers and 2.8 fouls per game last season.

Furthermore, the growth of "Fire Dragon" centers is relatively slow. They generally have relatively mature basketball IQ and professional game experience before entering the NBA.

But what is lacking is the ability and physical strength to perform stably and withstand opponents in the NBA.

In fact, it can be seen from Yang Hansen's two games that he committed too many fouls (5.5 times per game). Although there are problems with referees "bullying" rookies and individuals not adapting to NBA confrontation and whistleblowing standards, the root cause is still problems with his own movement speed and body control.

For example, in the two balls below,

Picture 1, he was unable to interfere with Eubanks in a pure torso collision, and his opponent also used back-up steps to beat him hard.

Picture 2 forced him out of the "International Greetings" defense this time. He had already predicted that the Warriors were going to cut behind him.

But whether it was the instant force retreat after alertness or the interference from the take-off, it failed to achieve the intended goal, allowing the opponent to dunk easily.

In today's high-speed and wide-open NBA, Yang Hansen's defensive awareness and judgment and reaction are already at the CBA-dpoy level. The bottleneck that limits him now is his athletic ability.

It can be foreseen that in future development, Yang Hansen's defensive effect will be directly linked to his physical changes.

But as for the question of "whether it can stand" that fans are most concerned about, it can be said that the decisive factor is not defense, fouls or even playing time, but whether he can become a player with his own "label" as soon as possible.

First of all, standing firm does not mean that you will be the starter.

Take the past two first-round picks as an example.

Among the 2023 rookies, 6 have become absolute starters/core, including

Wenban, Miller, and the Amen brothers. 5 have become quasi-fixed starters but not stable, including second place Henderson, Podemski, and Lively. 6 have been traded or abandoned, including Schiffino, Whitmore, and Bafkin.

The "first batch yield rate" is 36.6%, and the "defective product rate" is 20%.

Among last year's rookies, only four are absolute starters/core, including Castle, Risashe, Sarr, and Buzelis. Four others, including Klingen, Will (Heat), Zach Eady, and Missy, are quasi-starters. Although it is still unclear which ones have been lost or abandoned,

there are only two types of people who can make a name for themselves and gain a firm foothold in their rookie season.

Either they are high-level talent picks like Sarr, Brandon Miller, and Risashe who were selected by weak teams. The team must let them get enough training even if they ignore the record for the time being.

Either they have immediate combat capabilities like Castle and Amen, which perfectly meet the needs of the head coach's tactical system and are already indispensable members of the team.

Or he is a super genius who is both, such as Bunyama.

So in this era (top rookies basically don’t play college basketball for too long, only one year), it is not easy to gain a foothold in the first two years of their career and become a stable starter for the team.

There is also Klingen in front of Yang Hansen, who is also a key investment target of the Blazers and has the distinguished experience of winning two consecutive NCAA championships with the University of Connecticut.

He is a more commonly used insider in this era. He is a solid pick-and-roll and blocker. He can grab boards and protect the frame, and then pass the pick-and-roll fed from the outside or cut the ball into the basket.

Every team in the current NBA needs such an insider. He is the "golden partner" of the outside pick-and-roll players. He contributes about double-doubles in each game, plus one or two blocks and countless screens and blocking positions. At least for now, he is still a more reliable starting candidate for the center of the Blazers.

Yang Hansen is completely different. Compared with Klingen's solid and steady approach, with obvious upper and lower limits, he provides a broader imagination..

Klingen's strength and muscles may not be replicated by Yang Hansen, but similarly, Klingen will never be able to make those goals that Yang Hansen scored in the last game.

On the basketball level, what the Trail Blazers value is the possibility of Yang Hansen, and the comprehensiveness of "fire dragon centers" like Jokic and Shen Jing who steadily contribute 20+10+5 per game.

In this era where every team in the league is playing with five outsiders and using small lineups whenever possible, when you have a giant who does not hinder the team's offense and defense, can control the ball, can shoot three-pointers like a striker, and has a crushing advantage in size, the difficulty of success is greatly reduced.

Jokic is already the real number one player in the league. It took the Rockets three years to go from being the weakest player in the Western Conference to second in the Western Conference after acquiring Shen Jing. The Kings, with Savoy, can return to the playoffs after 17 years.

The Fire Dragon center is not a redemption ticket for the championship, but in this era, it is the answer closest to success.

Even insiders like Embiid and Big Eyebrow who are not good at dominating the ball have become more and more involved in dominating the ball in recent years. This is the requirement of the times for big men.

In the new season, the Blazers have no record pressure in the hellish Western Conference competition. Yang Hansen only needs to contribute a game every week that can make the Blazers feel "We also have Jokic/Shen Jing", which is enough.