NBA Summer League takeaways: Warriors routed by Hansen Yang’s Blazers in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – Warriors center Marques Bolden was half a head shorter and at least 30 pounds lighter than the behemoth he lined up against on Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center. 

Bolden banged, and wrestled and grappled with the 7-foot-1, 250-pound Hansen Yang, but he was no match for the Chinese rookie who was cheered on by the majority of those in attendance. 

The Warriors were familiar with Yang’s game – they brought him in for a pre-draft workout – but neither Bolden, nor Isaiah Mobley or any other defender coach Lainn Wilson threw at the behemoth was able to defend with any effectiveness.

Yang threw dimes from the high post, spun and drove his way for layups and even buried a 3-pointer as he put up 10 points, four rebounds and five assists in a 106-73 Warriors loss. 

“We knew he had pretty good size and pretty good passing ability, so we really tried to stress for our guys, especially off the ball, that they had to be alert,” Wilson said. “We didn’t do the best job of respecting his passing ability.”

At one point, Warriors forward Jackson Rowe became so frustrated while defending him that the undersized post shoved Yang during a dead ball as Warriors teammates Brandin Podziemski, Quinten Post and others watched courtside.

Late in the fourth quarter, both Wilson and Mobley were whistled for technical fouls.

“I figured I’d try to stand for our guys,” Wilson said. “They were being pretty physical, and I don’t ever want a team to expect that they can just run us over.”

Yang’s greatest impact may have come on the defensive side of the ball, where he had three official blocks and several other layups deterred by his endless wingspan.

Golden State will face the Jazz next on Sunday night. 

Rookie spotlight

The best player for the Warriors was point guard Taran Armstrong, and he utilized his speed and sharp handle to create rare advantages on the break for the Warriors. 

At the morning’s shootaround, the pass-first point guard who spent last season in Santa Cruz and on the Warriors’ bench told the Bay Area News Group that he wanted to emphasize searching for his own shot. 

Armstrong made a strong first step toward achieving his goal by making 3 of 7 shots and scoring 10 points while totaling seven assists. 

Draft picks Alex Toohey and Will Richard, both selected late in the second round, had uneven Las Vegas debuts.

Richard made the Warriors’ first bucket of the game, the longest of long 2-pointers when he buried a shot with his foot on the line. 

The Florida product also displayed a willingness to run next to Armstrong on the wing and finish fast breaks. He finished with 12 points despite the high level of physicality. 

“You can be a lot more physical knowing that you have 10 fouls to give,” Richard said. “Guys are definitely going to use as many fouls as they can.”

Toohey’s shot showed it needed work by going just 2 of 9 for seven points. The No. 52 pick in the draft admitted after his Tuesday debut that he needed to get used to the speed of the NBA game, and Friday showed that the adjustment period might take more than just a few games. 

But in a game where the Warriors were often playing catchup with the run-n-gun Blazers, Toohey gave effort on defense. He used his 6-foot-8 frame to play the passing lanes and was rewarded with four steals. 

Other, rare, bright spots

All-California Classic selection Jackson Rowe was one of the few bright spots on an otherwise dismal night, scoring 12 and and grabbing three rebounds despite playing against a larger Blazer front line. Even if he was not rewarded with assists, Rowe tossed a number of quick, high-level passes as a playmaker in the short-roll game.  

Guard Jaden Shackelford and his quick-trigger shot scored nine and helped briefly cut the Blazers lead to single digits in the second quarter. He spent the past three seasons in the G-league, most recently with the Suns’ affiliate. 

Jules Bernard got to the rim and scored eight points. Gabe Madsen, a sharpshooter out of Utah, drilled two 3-pointers and scored eight during the fourth quarter.