Must… Resist… Urge…

Posted by Adam Hart June 12, 2009 at 4:35 pm

You know what I see when I watch Tyler Hansbrough play? A solid role player on a winning team, because he’ll get drafted in the 20’s or second round. He paints a different self-portrait.

Traditionally, I would begin by writing something smart alecky, proceeding to hammer away at Hansbrough. Maybe I’m growing a heart. We’ll treat this fairly.

Here is my scouting report on Hansbrough, who dominated in college while at UNC:

The Good:

• Manages to succeed despite a lack of ideal height, scooping in awkward looking shots.  Hey, points are points.
• Gets to the free throw line often, putting the opposition in foul trouble and scoring points without time running off the clock.
• Undisputed hard worker.
• A winner.

The Bad:

• Will likely have awkward looking shots stuffed by top-notch shot blockers in the NBA.
• Does he get the fine china treatment from NBA refs?
• Moves like a cyborg.
• Got away with taking 5 steps in the post in NCAA. Will probably get 7 in the pros. …Wait, that’s a positive for him.
• Has ridden the hype machine since his freshman year as a Tar Heel.

I don’t think it’s unfair to say that Hansbrough’s game is best suited for the NCAA, and that he will struggle to be a dominant force in the NBA. But that doesn’t mean he can’t contribute for a winning team, a la Big Baby Davis and Leon Powe. Both are undersized and were drafted in the second round, but have made the most of their opportunities on a playoff team.

Hansbrough seems to think he can be more. Or at least that’s what I take it as when he says he could be drafted above the No. 12 pick. Because prospective role players shouldn’t be taken that high — at least not on purpose.

Will Brinson of Sports Radio Interviews shares some quotes from a recent interview given by Hansbrough. It’s enlightening:

“A lot of people have doubted me and things like that, which is great — it seems like I’m proving a lot of people wrong. Still at the same time, I do it because the NBA has always been a dream of mine and, like I said, I’m not going out there and doing anything that I haven’t done before, a lot of people just don’t see some of the skills I have or they don’t think I’m as athletic as I am. Which I am.”

No. I think you’re as athletic as you are. Which is the problem.

More from the Hansbrough interview:

“These are probably a bunch of guys who just sit in their basements and probably just write out mock drafts and do this or do that. They haven’t followed me for four years and they haven’t seen exactly what I’ve done or they wouldn’t be saying that stuff.”

The first part is true. But that’s beside the point. Because not only have we followed you these four years at UNC. We’ve been force-fed stories about Psycho-T’s heroism on the court. You’re like the Kobe Bryant of NCAA basketball. Minus any Colorado-related improprieties.

Of course, any criticism in this post changes if the Celtics draft him. Then it becomes a cause for global concern. What will happen when Psycho-T collides in practice with the intensity of Kevin Garnett? Armageddon.  It’d be like Kim Jong Il orchestrated the addition of Hansbrough to the Celtics roster. If this puppet film is accurate (terrible, terrible language, racist accents and puppet gore included in this clip from Team America: World Police), it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suspect.