Yang Hansen made some progress in the first month, but he still needs to continue to level up. He will go to the G League first to prove that shallow water cannot trap a real dragon.

In the second game when Yang Hansen returned to the Trail Blazers rotation, he faced the Bulls and scored 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist on 1 of 4 shots in 8 minutes. His performance was slightly lower than in the previous game.

Evaluate the performance of rookies in stages. One month before the season, Yang Hansen's performance can be summarized as follows:

He completed his first NBA experience in the first 5 appearances, exposed his weaknesses and fell silent; returned to the Development League after rebuilding his confidence, and his physical fitness and rhythm adaptation improved significantly; he returned to the rotation for 2 games and showed the highlights of daring to make moves in the low post and finishing with his non-dominant hand many times; common problems such as too slow speed, poor rebounding, and too small defensive range still exist.

Next, Yang Hansen is likely to return to the Mixed Team, a team affiliated with the Trail Blazers Development League, to continue leveling up, which can provide him with the playing time he needs. It will be normal to run back and forth between the two teams, the second team for leveling and the first team for testing. The goal is to form a spiral growth curve as soon as possible.

Yang Hansen must have the confidence that "shallow water cannot trap a real dragon." Of course, the most important thing is to show performance to prove that the Development League is only a springboard for him to gain a foothold in the NBA in the future.

Before the Development League established a partnership with Gatorade and was renamed the G-League in 2017, the Development League was known as the D-League. The "D" here represents development, but in the eyes of many people it is demotion, and some people understand it as D-level.

In the early days, many players would be extremely depressed when they heard the news that they were being demoted, viewing it as a Waterloo in the early stages of their careers. Langston Galloway said frankly: "At that time, when most people talked about the Development League, they looked down upon it. If you were sent down, either you didn't absorb information quickly enough, or you didn't perform well when you got the opportunity."

In other words, in the past, being sent down to the Development League felt like a punishment and a downgrade.

Times have long since changed. The Development League has become more formal. After the number of teams has steadily increased, there are now 31 participating teams. In addition to the affiliated teams of the 30 NBA teams, there is also the independent Mexico City Captains. Even teams that couldn't make the playoffs played at least 50 games last season. This is the experimental field for each team and a nursery for cultivating talents.

"Now, when you are delegated, the team is saying, 'We know you don't have playing time now, and we need you to go to the G League to get playing time and get meaningful game time,'" Galloway said, "This is the change. Where things have changed, people's views on the Development League continue to improve."

Turning over the "List of Players Who Have Been Delegated to the Development League", there is no shortage of players who later grew into big names, and there are many high-ranking picks. Billy Campbell, who once served as the basketball operations coordinator in the Development League, said: "You can only become better by playing on the court. Players who have no playing time in the NBA cannot polish their skills during the season. The Development League gives them this opportunity, and they can regain their confidence in their abilities and game."

Regarding "polishing skills" and "finding confidence", these two benefits are obvious in Yang Hansen. So whether it is Yang Hansen himself or the fans, there is no need to be resistant to playing in the Development League.

Among the many stars who have been sent to the Development League, Gobert may be the best role model for Yang Hansen. Their styles are different but their fates have many similarities:

Before the draft, Gobert was not optimistic. Many people thought that he was just a rough guy with slender limbs and pretty good athletic ability.

Gobert experienced a huge cultural shock from France to the United States and took a long time to adapt.

Gobert also experienced a language barrier after entering the NBA. At that time, he only knew a little basic English. At that time, he was thin, weak in confrontation, and would get into foul trouble, so he couldn't play in the Jazz at all. Gobert doesn't even understand the differences between the NBA and FIBA ​​regarding ball interference rules, and is often called for ball interference. Every time he made a mistake, Gobert could only say "It's my fault, tomorrow will be better" in simple English with a strong French accent.

When Gobert joined the Jazz, he threatened to "definitely not go to the Development League." However, in the eyes of his teammates, "Gobert's skills and experience cannot keep up." The cruel reality forced him to accept the arrangement of going to the Development League for leveling. Gobert felt very hurt by this arrangement, but fortunately he has strong self-motivation, studying videos in the hotel room, training hard in sweat at the training ground, and then taking every Development League game seriously.

"You can only build confidence through games," said former CBA foreign aid John Lucas III, who was once a teammate with Gobert. "You can identify yourself through games. The experience in the Development League may make Gobert even hungrier. You used to fly around the United States on a chartered plane, but now you have to take a bus to go to games, catch flights, and wait at the airport. Turning your luggage upside down and going through the security check, this kind of gap can ignite the fire in your heart and make you swear never to come back. And some people are willing to accept this life."

In 8 games in the Development League, Gobert averaged 13.9 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game with a 74.1% shooting rate, and controlled the number of fouls per game to 2.3. The experience of running back and forth between the two sides had a huge impact on Gobert's career. It helped him temper his iron will, and also helped him gain confidence and accumulate experience. He has truly understood the law of the jungle in the NBA. In an NBA where the jungle is strong and the jungle is strong, everything must be fought for by himself, and he must have the consciousness to give everything.

"No matter what I do, I try to live in the moment. I don't go to the Development League to mess around. I have to go all out to perform my best." Gobert said.

Gobert’s experience can bring a lot of inspiration to Yang Hansen. Yang Hansen's performance during this period generally proves that his ability is above that of ordinary players in the Development League, but there is still a long way to go before he can become a dominant player in the Development League and an NBA rotation player who can make positive contributions. Next, Yang Hansen can only continue to improve step by step and let the team see his progress in addition to offensive skills and self-confidence.

"You have to prove that you don't belong in that place (the Development League)," this is Gobert's experience, and it should also be Yang Hansen's message to himself.