Portland Trail Blazers rookie Yang Hansen continues to focus on improvement during his first run at NBA Summer League.
After an impressive debut in a Friday win, Yang’s performance was closer to passable than impressive in a 96-86 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night in Las Vegas. The 7-foot-1 big man still showed the moments of passing brilliance and scored some nice buckets, including a highlight poster slam. But he also struggled more with turnovers, rebounding and tired legs. In 26 minutes, Yang finished with 10 points on 4-8 shooting, five rebounds, three assists and five turnovers.
For the second straight postgame interview, Yang came across humble and self-aware in his answers. Among other topics, he reflected on what he could’ve done better on the floor, giving extra focus to conditioning and rebounding. Some excerpts from the 10-minute interview are below (all answers are given in English via Yang’s interpreter).
Yang on how he thought he and the team played, particularly in contrast to the first game:
“Before the game, Coach told us today would be a really physical game, Memphis uses their body hard, and they told us we should be ready. … I have some conditioning problems and a rebound problem, and once I got tired, I gave the team some side effect, so I should do better.”
On how his teammates have helped him ingratiate to American lifestyle:
“[Caleb Love] and Big O, sometimes we just play jokes with each other, and we make a [training plan]. I teach them some Chinese, and they teach me some English.”
Editor’s Note: I think “Big O” is Blazers Summer League forward Olivier Nkamhoua.
On if any of his teammates are learning any Chinese:
“Some greetings. Like ‘hello,’ ‘good morning,’ blah-blah. I taught them one bad word, but I can’t say it now.”
On what the last 24 hours have been like with all the popularity he has gained:
“I think i’m not popular. I’m just a nobody from China. I need to chase all the NBA [accolades]. … First, I appreciate that, all the fans cheering for me. But I should do better and deserve the applause.”
On how he feels like he’s done with finishing at the rim, particularly dunking:
“I should jump higher.”
On how skills are different in the NBA versus the Chinese Basketball Association:
“The low post defense is different. They don’t use pure body contact. Sometimes they just move away and make me lose my balance, so I need to take care of that.”
On how he keeps a calm mind on the court, regardless of how he’s playing:
“I felt a little bit tired tonight. With some of the running, I couldn’t feel my leg anymore. When I couldn’t breathe, when I couldn’t feel my leg anymore, Coach subbed me out. When I sat on the bench, I rewinded the game, and I felt a little bit better, but once I went back [into the game] I lost some of my leg again, and then things didn’t go right. So I just need to prepare myself better.”
On if he did anything different against Memphis to avoid fouling more:
“On foul trouble, I didn’t do anything special, but I do need to take care of my turnovers and I need to grab more rebounds.”
On how his first NBA back-to-back felt:
“It’s a really big challenge for my conditioning. … I really need time to adapt to the new pace and new schedule. That’s the work I need to put on.”
On what he’ll do during Sunday’s off-day:
“Sleep good, good food, but no PS5.”
Yang and the Blazers have two off-days to eat and sleep good before they’re back in action against the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
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