Event With the 16th pick, Blazers have selected Hansen Yang (4 Viewers)

[wizenheimer]

A reminder that Jermaine O'Neal looked like ass on the court his rookie season, too. And Yang has had good stretches of NBA ball. Sure they're like two minutes long but still.

Jermaine was 18 coming out of high school. Yang is 20 coming out of a 96 game career in the CBA. Pretty different situations

I'm not really sure who would be a useful comp for Yang. Meyers maybe

 

[Rastapopoulos]

We also don't have the plethora of picks coming every draft after to replace underperformers.

And why do OKC have that? Because they're well-run. They were fucked by Paul George asking out and they made lemonade.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Im still team Yang but he has to improve his mobility.

An example of this is Zach Edey. After a year went from a poor defender to a passable defender with improved lateral mobility.

Right now, and I’m not throwing shade, Yang’s mobility = 30yo Arydas Sabonis

 

[julius]

formatting?

I was just pointing out other Chinese 7 footers besides Yao...and how they were different than Yang

No, when I responded, I pushed delete and all the sudden my quote was part of yours. So I had to edit it and figure it out. That's the formatting I was saying was stupid.

 

[julius]

Well obviously. People don't even think that about Wemby because so many factors can't be controlled (injury etc)

However, equally nobody was asking "will this guy stick in the NBA?" So Jokic isn't really a useful comparison for Yang.

People who have short attention spans, a weird desire to bitch about everything and the patience of a toddler say stupid shit like that.

 

[blazerkor]

Im still team Yang but he has to improve his mobility.

An example of this is Zach Edey. After a year went from a poor defender to a passable defender with improved lateral mobility.

Right now, and I’m not throwing shade, Yang’s mobility = 30yo Arydas Sabonis

Exactly but with none of the amazing bbiq Sabas had on D.

 

[julius]

Im still team Yang but he has to improve his mobility.

An example of this is Zach Edey. After a year went from a poor defender to a passable defender with improved lateral mobility.

Right now, and I’m not throwing shade, Yang’s mobility = 30yo Arydas Sabonis

Edey had the luxury of A: speaking the language and B: spending 4 years in college.

Give Yang some time. If he's still playing like he has the yips in 2-3 years, then the experiment was bad.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Edey had the luxury of A: speaking the language and B: spending 4 years in college.

Give Yang some time. If he's still playing like he has the yips in 2-3 years, then the experiment was bad.

It's not the way he's playing so much as the way he moves. Honestly Sabonis Sr. was more defensively mobile when he came over and he had no achilles tendons by that point.

I've given up on Yang. Now, if he turns out to be good it'll be a lovely surprise, like the Lakers finding Austin Reaves or something. But if I found out some other team offered something good - like, ooh, a Cedric Coward - for him and Cronin turned them down, I'll be mad all over again.

The thing is, even on the cynical view that they just want him because he brings a billion Chinese eyeballs, he has to be playable. The brains behind those eyeballs are going to start hating the Blazers if they think he deserves time but he doesn't get it. Best to move him to a team like Brooklyn or Washington that can just throw shit out there because they're trying to lose.

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

Edey had the luxury of A: speaking the language and B: spending 4 years in college.

Give Yang some time. If he's still playing like he has the yips in 2-3 years, then the experiment was bad.

Yang as a second round pick is fine. As a first round pick experiment and considering the opportunity cost, it is a huge failure IMO.

I could be wrong eventually but I have little hope.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

People who have short attention spans, a weird desire to bitch about everything and the patience of a toddler say stupid shit like that.

?? Not even sure what the "that" is here.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Yang as a second round pick is fine. As a first round pick experiment and considering the opportunity cost, it is a huge failure IMO.

We all should be rooting for New Orleans to go on a huge winning streak, because if their pick ends up top 3 we're going to be SO angry.

 

[wizenheimer]

No, when I responded, I pushed delete and all the sudden my quote was part of yours. So I had to edit it and figure it out. That's the formatting I was saying was stupid.

Sly's fault

 

[1 Eye Jack]

Edey had the luxury of A: speaking the language and B: spending 4 years in college.

Give Yang some time. If he's still playing like he has the yips in 2-3 years, then the experiment was bad.

Lot of people wanted to give up Deni last year after his slow start. Got to give these guys time to develop. Sharpe is taking a lot of crap this year and some deserved but he’s 22 with no college experience I figured he might take a little more time but all the tools are there. Have same feeling about Yan, really high BbBIQ.

 

[Everything Beagle]

Jermaine was 18 coming out of high school. Yang is 20 coming out of a 96 game career in the CBA. Pretty different situations

I'm not really sure who would be a useful comp for Yang. Meyers maybe

You’re right, it isnt the same. Yang doesn’t really speak English much. He's like 6,000 miles from home. He has his own issues, and age ain’t the biggest advantage.

 

[julius]

It's not the way he's playing so much as the way he moves. Honestly Sabonis Sr. was more defensively mobile when he came over and he had no achilles tendons by that point.

I've given up on Yang. Now, if he turns out to be good it'll be a lovely surprise, like the Lakers finding Austin Reaves or something. But if I found out some other team offered something good - like, ooh, a Cedric Coward - for him and Cronin turned them down, I'll be mad all over again.

The thing is, even on the cynical view that they just want him because he brings a billion Chinese eyeballs, he has to be playable. The brains behind those eyeballs are going to start hating the Blazers if they think he deserves time but he doesn't get it. Best to move him to a team like Brooklyn or Washington that can just throw shit out there because they're trying to lose.

He's had a total of 100 minutes of play, and a lot of that is where they really aren't running plays.

It's absolutely asinine to give up on a player after that short of a time.

 

[riverman]

Yang is like Sharpe was as a rookie. Talented but raw and not up to speed. Most coaches say bigs take 5 years to develop in the NBA but there are exceptions. Yang might take 3 years but he has talent. He need to bulk up and develop some lateral speed and study Zach Randolph film in the paint or learn to jump. Clingan still has room to develop and he's starting in year 2. I'd say next year Yang will be our backup 5. This year he'll see garbage time. They'll work with him and by next season he might be able to speak some english.

 

[wizenheimer]

He's had a total of 100 minutes of play, and a lot of that is where they really aren't running plays.

It's absolutely asinine to give up on a player after that short of a time.

do you really think anybody is "giving up" on Yang. I mean, wouldn't you have needed some high expectations for him first? For me, I fully expected him to be a project C; maybe a year or two away from being a year away. I fully expected him to be slow and lost on defense; I expected limited mobility, poor reactions, and a floor bound game. So far, he's met my expectations. That's not me giving up on him. Maybe he'll improve enough over the next couple of seasons to not be the liability he is now. I'm really not expecting that but it's possible he can. He's big so he has that going for him

 

[Everything Beagle]

I’ll admit i had stars in my eyes about him; he had a real good summer league but that might have been more about me overestimating the level of talent in summer league these days. He’s a project but not a hopeless one. He’ll get there.

 

[kjironman1]

Yang is like Sharpe was as a rookie. Talented but raw and not up to speed. Most coaches say bigs take 5 years to develop in the NBA but there are exceptions. Yang might take 3 years but he has talent. He need to bulk up and develop some lateral speed and study Zach Randolph film in the paint or learn to jump. Clingan still has room to develop and he's starting in year 2. I'd say next year Yang will be our backup 5. This year he'll see garbage time. They'll work with him and by next season he might be able to speak some english.

I usually try to agree with the possible positives on a player but he’s bad man. Really bad. I just don’t see it. He got a chance because he’s tall. The “Talented” but raw part? Not sure where you see that. He’s just plain bad. He’d get lit up at 24 hour fitness.
Only reason he’s on a court is he is tall. That’s it.

 

[Cugel]

He needs to be in better shape for sure and cut that fucking hair helmet off too. POR and Joe and the fans will just have to accept this is who he is. The pick was incredibly risky and it probably won’t ever pan out. I still think the pick was made to attract international attention to the org and it worked.

The good thing is he wants to play the game the right way. Once he is in combat shape the clock starts

 

[julius]

It's not the way he's playing so much as the way he moves. Honestly Sabonis Sr. was more defensively mobile when he came over and he had no achilles tendons by that point.

I've given up on Yang. Now, if he turns out to be good it'll be a lovely surprise, like the Lakers finding Austin Reaves or something. But if I found out some other team offered something good - like, ooh, a Cedric Coward - for him and Cronin turned them down, I'll be mad all over again.

The thing is, even on the cynical view that they just want him because he brings a billion Chinese eyeballs, he has to be playable. The brains behind those eyeballs are going to start hating the Blazers if they think he deserves time but he doesn't get it. Best to move him to a team like Brooklyn or Washington that can just throw shit out there because they're trying to lose.

Yes I do think people have given up on him @wizenheimer...since you know, I was *directly* quoting Rasta saying just that.

 

[wizenheimer]

Yes I do think people have given up on him @wizenheimer...since you know, I was *directly* quoting Rasta saying just that.

lol...ok....fair point

there was such a tsunami of unmitigated & insane Yang hype last summer, that sure, some people probably got sucked into the vortex. Most of those people that voiced their high expectations for Yang haven't given up. They have just become subdued and are saying things like "you've got to give him 2 or 3 years" before reaching conclusions. Reminds me of that RealGM joke: "if you like 2nd year Meyers Leonard, just wait till you see 7th year Meyers Leonard; the wait will have been worth it!!"

some conclusions right now seem valid though. Like, he's really really slow and immobile. Glacial reaction time. He'll very likely increase his processing speed, but never increase his foot-speed in any noticeable fashion. The much stated notion that he's suited as a high post hub for the offense was loopy projection. Right now, his realistic ceiling is as a 7-10 minute, break-glass-in-emergency backup big against teams who have slow, plodding, C's. Fewer and fewer team have those

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

270 lbs….

Getting down to 250-255ish should be in the plans

 

[Kell]

A 20 year old who barely speaks the language and has a lot of room for improvement. There was a future 1st obtained in the trade that brought him here.

He looks to me like he has a chance if he works his ass off, will it take a few years? Most likely yes.

Will he be in the league after his rookie contract? Possibly not or maybe so. I hope so.

Should we have drafted this guy or that guy (insert rookie who is balling out) maybe but yang was the pick so revisionist history is pointless.

Give the kid some time

 

[THE HCP]

Jermaine was 18 coming out of high school. Yang is 20 coming out of a 96 game career in the CBA. Pretty different situations

I'm not really sure who would be a useful comp for Yang. Meyers maybe

Thing about that situation that people forget was that Jermaine was DESTROYING all the Portland bigs daily in practice. It didn’t matter, coach didn’t like playing young guys. Wish we had kept JO!

 

[THE HCP]

270 lbs….

Getting down to 250-255ish should be in the plans

YOU RANG FAMS!!?? Working on it!

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Thing about that situation that people forget was that Jermaine was DESTROYING all the Portland bigs daily in practice. It didn’t matter, coach didn’t like playing young guys. Wish we had kept JO!

What YOU'RE forgetting is that he DID get a chance when we had injuries and whiffed.

 

[riverman]

I usually try to agree with the possible positives on a player but he’s bad man. Really bad. I just don’t see it. He got a chance because he’s tall. The “Talented” but raw part? Not sure where you see that. He’s just plain bad. He’d get lit up at 24 hour fitness.
Only reason he’s on a court is he is tall. That’s it.

Like a lot of folks I thought he might be plug and play but he's not. I think he'll get there though from his work ethic. I see his talent...just see him overthinking most of the time and not playing with instinct or feel yet.