Team reporter: Yang Hanson's journey to firmly establish himself in the NBA is still a long way off; the most controversial moment was when he got hit in the face.

On December 8th Beijing time, the Trail Blazers were soundly beaten 96-119 by the Grizzlies. Yang Hanson started for the first time in his career, logging 19 minutes with 2 of 5 shooting, 0 of 2 from beyond the arc, tallying 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists, along with 5 fouls and 2 turnovers, and a +2 plus-minus. Trail Blazers reporter Mike Richman discussed Yang’s performance on his postgame podcast; below is the related content from the podcast—

Yang Hanson made his NBA career debut as a starter, sharing the court with Grant, Kamara, Avdija, and two-way contract player Sissoko, who had secured a starting spot.

However, the Trail Blazers’ start was disastrous, falling behind by 20 points in the first quarter and committing 8 turnovers in that period alone. Yang struggled notably in his debut minutes, picking up two fouls within the first 4 minutes,while the Grizzlies specifically targeted him with tactics, as Zack Edey repeatedly received the ball in the low post for isolation plays. Yang’s defensive positioning and help defense awareness were clearly lacking.Fortunately, he gradually steadied himself in the second half and showed some improvement, but the rough start clearly indicates he is not yet ready to compete at the NBA level. Considering his youth and ongoing development, such a performance was expected.

In 19 minutes, Yang Hanson committed 5 fouls and contributed 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists,his first-half performance was far from NBA caliber. Although he improved in the second half, he still did not provide positive impact, demonstrating that he has a long way to go before truly establishing himself in the NBA.Another center, Duop Reath, had an average showing, hitting three three-pointers but showing major defensive weaknesses. Additionally, the team’s rebounding suffered badly when he was on the floor, being dominated by Edey.

It is an undeniable fact that Yang Hanson is not yet prepared for NBA competition; he may develop in the future but currently cannot offer positive contributions. Duop Reath also falls short of NBA center standards, and with Klingen and Williams out, the interior lineup is completely depleted, while the point guard position is also fully sidelined due to injuries.

The Trail Blazers’ roster depth clearly failed this test, but this is common for most teams in the league—not every team can maintain competitiveness like the Thunder, even when missing key players.

Regarding the referees’ calls, the most controversial was the play where Yang Hanson was hit in the face: after three slow-motion replays, I believe Edey was in a legal defensive position, and Yang turned into the opponent’s elbow. Even if a foul was called, it would have been a borderline call, since a more experienced player might have drawn a foul through the action.

The issue, however, was that after being struck in the face, Yang fell to the floor and did not get up, yet the referees did not stop the game—although the rules do not mandate an automatic timeout, the coach can call a timeout to halt play.Similar to when Carmelo Anthony was hit in the face years ago, the game continued for nearly a minute before a timeout was called. This particular sequence forced Splitter to use his final timeout, leaving the team without any timeouts for the last nine minutes, which was one of the reasons he later chose to concede the game early.