Hansen Yang’s first NBA career start! Chinese fans have waited 5,354 days for this moment.

As predicted yesterday, Hansen Yang would receive increased chances with the Trail Blazers.

Just after that, the Trail Blazers’ two main centers, Klingen with a calf injury and Lowe sidelined due to illness/knee management, were both out, leaving a total void in the inside rotation.

Hansen got his first-ever NBA start, playing 19 minutes and 13 seconds, shooting 2 for 5, missing both three-point attempts, and scoring 4 points with 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

This is not only a milestone in his career but also marks the return of a Chinese player starting in the NBA after 5,354 days.

The last starter was Yi Jianlian, who started for the Wizards against the Cavaliers on April 1, 2011.

It’s been 14 years in a flash.

How should we evaluate Hansen Yang’s starting performance?

That depends on what expectations you have for this player.

If you expect him to consistently start in the NBA right now, honestly, he’s not capable yet.

However, if the goal is to earn around 10 minutes as a substitute, there is still a chance.

For today’s game, let’s look at it in two halves.

Within the first 4 minutes, he picked up two fouls due to screens and defensive lapses, accumulating 4 fouls before halftime and had to leave the game; during this time, he missed two three-point attempts and was repeatedly scored on by Eddie in isolation.

Maybe it was the fatigue from travel, or the nervousness and shyness of a debut.

In any case, the overall impression could be described as a “disaster.”

Fortunately, his second-half performance was positive, showing adaptation and adjustment skills.

He scored twice in one-on-one plays under the basket against Eddie, once with a powerful dunk and once with a left-handed hook.

Besides offensive highlights, people should also notice his improvements in other areas.

For example, positioning and anticipation.

Moreover, playing on the road, the officiating environment today was quite unfavorable for the Trail Blazers.

In the fourth quarter, when Hansen was battling Zach Edey under the basket, he was hit in the face and fell in pain, hitting the back of his head on the floor, but the referees neither called a foul nor stopped the game.

Spletter immediately rushed to the referee...

But these are experiences all rookies face when entering the NBA; being “bullied” is normal, so we won’t elaborate further.

More importantly, let’s talk about areas where Hansen Yang needs improvement.

You’ll notice he still carries many “bad habits” from his previous league.

Slow defensive positioning leading to offensive fouls, excessive help defense causing unnecessary contact. His slower lateral movement was exploited by the Grizzlies, resulting in multiple mismatches after pick-and-rolls.

If the team wants to develop you and the coach wants to use you, two things must be done:

First, defense and rebounding.

Second, foul control.

As for making three-pointers, that’s actually secondary (he’s made only 1 of 16 attempts in the first 13 games).

Discipline in fouls and defensive anticipation are the key areas for improvement now..

Understand that the referees here won’t give him any favors.

In the CBA, he was a protected star, but moves that went uncalled there are fouls here.

Overall, his starting performance can be rated around 5.5 to 6 out of 10.

For a player who was benched for multiple games and sent to the G League, starting is already a blessing.

Currently, the entire Trail Blazers team is struggling, with many injuries and obvious fatigue.

They are on a losing streak, and the blame shouldn’t be placed on a rookie; after he left in the fourth quarter, the team actually performed worse.

If Hansen Yang learns to play effectively without the ball, his playing time will increase.

Hansen’s issues are not the team’s issues, and the team’s problems won’t be solved in the short term regardless of his performance.

Therefore, for him, the most important thing is to focus on doing his job well.