When the whistle sounded in the game between the Guangzhou men's basketball team and the Qingdao men's basketball team, it marked that the Guangzhou men's basketball team once again completed the feat of going down. Fans cheered for Guo Shiqiang and his team, while the Qingdao men's basketball team fell silent. But behind this game, there is an even more striking focus: Yang Hansen.
Hansen Yang, hailed as a CBA supernova, and his team didn't shine as expected in the playoffs this season. At the same time, his performance has also become the focus of heated discussions among fans and media people. As the core of the interior line, Yang Hansen's stats are not impressive, averaging 8 points, 13.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game, which is obviously unsatisfactory for a player who is about to enter the NBA.
In fact, even before the playoffs began, ESPN's draft expert Jonathan had already questioned Young's abilities. He believes that Yang Hansen has obvious shortcomings in speed, explosiveness and projection, which makes him unsuitable for entering the NBA. Although the remarks caused discontent among some fans and media people, Jonathan's views seem to have been validated in this playoff game.
So, what exactly is the problem? Perhaps we can find the answer by comparing Janhansen with another young player, Sarr.
In the last U19 World Cup, Yang Hansen played quite well against France's future star Saar. He managed to suppress his opponent with an all-round performance, including 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. However, just one season later, the trajectory of the two has changed dramatically.
Yang chose to stay in the CBA and continue his career. Sarr, on the other hand, opted for the more challenging NBL league, where he showed amazing talent and performances. Against the Ignite, Sarr had 17 points and 7 rebounds and 26 points and 10 rebounds in two games, while also contributing 12 blocks. Such a performance not only attracted the attention of NBA teams, but also made people look forward to his future.
The level of competition and intensity of the NBL league is a huge challenge for young players. However, it was in such an environment that Sal showed his all-round talent and potential. He is no longer a simple interior player, but a well-rounded talent who can play from the No. 5 position to the No. 1 position. That's why Sal finished in the top five in this year's draft rankings and reached the top spot several times.
In contrast, Yang Hansen's performance in the CBA, although stable, lacked challenges and breakthroughs. Although the slow-paced, low-confrontation CBA league is no problem for him for the time being, such an environment obviously cannot help him better adapt to the rhythm and confrontation of the NBA.
The story of Yang Hansen and Sal gives us a glimpse of the rising stars and future challenges of Chinese basketball. Although Yang Hansen has a good performance in the CBA, he needs to put in more effort if he wants to establish himself in the NBA at a higher level. Saar, on the other hand, uses his choices and performances to provide us with an example worth learning from.
For Chinese basketball, in order to cultivate more excellent players like Sarr, it is necessary to provide more opportunities and challenges for young players. Only in this way can we achieve better results on the international basketball stage and lay a solid foundation for the future development of Chinese basketball.