Three fouls in three minutes, Yang Hansen’s survival environment is so harsh.

Following the trade deadline, the Trail Blazers sent Reece away and retained Lowe, so Yang Hansen will essentially end his rookie year as the team’s third center, making it even harder for him to rejoin the regular rotation.

Before today’s game, Yang Hansen’s last regular rotation appearance was on January 28 against the Wizards, where he posted 6 points and 5 rebounds, one of his better games this season. After that, he was limited to just a few minutes during garbage time.

With Lowe resting today, it was expected that Yang Hansen would get decent playing time. However, after Klingen left the game in the first quarter, the Trail Blazers went with a small lineup, and Yang Hansen didn’t see the court until over three minutes into the second quarter, where he then faced a nightmare three-minute stretch.

On defense, Yang Hansen was repeatedly beaten by Prosper, who had a career night hitting three consecutive three-pointers. Yang still couldn’t protect the paint effectively and could only attempt some weak blocks to disrupt the opponent. Prosper shot 7 of 8 from beyond the arc today, and even after Klingen came back, he remained a target.

Offensively, Yang Hansen’s screens were of decent quality, but due to being out of rhythm and a teammate’s mistake, he committed a turnover. Then, during a defensive transition, he jumped with both hands raised to contest the opponent and was called for a defensive foul at 1:56—his first foul of the game.

Yang Hansen’s defensive technique is clearly coached. He always keeps his hands visible, avoids pushing down or grabbing, and relies solely on his arm reach to contest shots. Yet, despite this, he is frequently called for fouls. Even while the opponent was shooting free throws, Yang was talking with the referees, but he didn’t expect even more outrageous calls to come his way.

More absurdly, his second offensive foul happened when Yang Hansen caught the ball, made a spin move going downhill, and while using his right hand to lay up and his left hand to protect the ball and maintain balance, he was called for an offensive foul. The referees likely judged that his left hand illegally extended his offensive space. This type of foul isn’t rare, but Yang only naturally extended his left hand without extra force, yet the referees still caught it.

Does this mean every time Yang Hansen goes for a layup, he has to hide his left hand underneath? Anyone who plays knows that after a spin move, the left hand must be extended to keep balance while the right hand finishes the layup. Calling an offensive foul on that would cause NBA scoring averages to drop significantly.

Immediately on the next play, Yang Hansen was called for another defensive foul. He stood within a legal contest area with both hands raised to contest the opponent, without pushing down. The opponent’s layup grazed Yang’s arm, leading to another free throw. The contact was very slight, and Yang was visibly frustrated after hearing the foul call again.

In just three minutes of playing time, Yang Hansen was called for three fouls, all of which were highly debatable. While there may be some justification, the standards applied to Yang are clearly different from everyone else’s. He doesn’t ask for favorable calls, just to be treated fairly. Already lacking trust from the coaching staff and struggling to get playing time, being called like this by referees is enough to break anyone’s spirit.

Yang Hansen only played a bit over three minutes in the entire game, and some who didn’t watch the match criticized his stats afterward. But if you look at how those three fouls happened, you wouldn’t think this game was entirely Yang Hansen’s fault.

At this stage, Yang Hansen is indeed not ready for regular rotation; his defensive limitations are significant, and he lacks consistent offensive tools. Take the offensive foul called on him today, for example— even if it hadn’t been called, he still missed the layup, which should have been an easy score.

It was expected that after trading Lowe in the second half of the season, the Trail Blazers would give Yang Hansen more opportunities to develop. However, with the Western Conference play-in picture now clear and teams like the Grizzlies, Mavericks, Jazz, Pelicans, and Kings locked into the bottom five spots, the Trail Blazers are sure to make a play-in appearance. With playoff hopes in sight, the team is unlikely to give Yang much more playing time.

Looking back to the start of the season, I anticipated that Yang Hansen’s rookie year wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t expect that halfway through the season, his environment would remain this brutal. The road ahead is long and tough.