Tyler Hansbourgh

I know I saw that a while back and it almost made me throw up too.

Regardless of whether Hansbrough pans out or not they're entirely two different players offensively. Scola has a vast array of spin moves, pumps, fakes and other crafty ways of scoring. His footwork is great too no matter how many traveling calls he gets whistled for.

Hansbrough, on the other hand, has one move. He catches the ball in the middle of traffic, spins around & throws up a contested fling type shot that for some reason usually goes in. Mind you, that shot usually goes in at the college level but if you "bring that weak stuff" in the pro's expect your shot to get tossed into the 5th row.

 

Call me crazy, but I think Hansborough will be a solid pro. This guy is relentless. I think he'll be more of a Mark Madson type player than Scola, more physical, less finesse.

 

He knows he won't make it as a pro, which is why he opted for another year in college. If he doesn't develop a floor game or a solid mid-range jumper, forget it. That said, I admire his tenacity and energy on the floor.

 

I don't think that is why he didn't declare for the draft - he's just a good kid. He said from the moment he signed he was there for all four years and wanted to join a frat, etc.. aka experience the college life. He's just a kid, and in no hurry to make the leap.

 

A lot of kids say that and believe it when they start college. But when the NBA beckons, there is a change of heart and most viable players leave when they can. The NBA did not beckon Tyler Hansbrough. Would he have stayed anyway? Maybe.

 

I agree and disagree. I assure you, Tyler is not "one of those kids" who say stuff just for the attention. His family is well off and there is no need for him to make the jump -- plus, he just doesn't want to. I've been saying he'll stay all four years since he first came to Carolina.

I don't think it's fair to say "the NBA did not beckon Tyler" - the kid was the national player of the year. But did he declare? No. Did he not hire an agent and just test the water? No. He has always been in it for the full four years -- you just don't find kids like him now days.

 

Wasn't he considered a possible lottery pick after his freshmen year? And also in 2006.

 

As a Duke student, I have to hate Hansbrough....he sucks really, very overrated

 

Hansborough won't be successful for a number of reasons.

1. He's 6"8 if not shorter. While that height is enough to allow him to thrive in college, he'll quickly find it an impediment in the NBA. I'm not being biased either; remember Shelden Williams? He had the all-time blocks and rebounds record for Duke and he was 6"8.5. But he also had a mammoth wingspan, 7"4.25. Hansborough's wingspan will not be that long, and the wake-up call he will receive from the jump will be that much harsher.

2. More than any other player last year, he got a huge percentage of his offensive output at the free throw line. 34.5% of all his points came at the line. By comparison, Kobe Bryant got 26.8% of his from the line. Lebron James 24.4%. Yao Ming 28.5%. Now college: Michael Beasley 24.9%, Chris Douglas-Roberts 22.2%, Brook Lopez 29.3%.

Call it what you want, a combination of his style of play plus bad NCAA officiating plus a tinge (JUST A TINGE) of UNC favoritism, and what you have is a someone going to the charity stripe at historic rates. For some people--I'm thinking reckless abandon superstar slashers like Iverson or Wade--a high free throw rate would translate well to the NBA. For a power forward of Hansborough's ilk, however, it doesn't look good. He is going to be graduating to bigger, stronger, faster, longer competition that will take his shuffle-and-dump move and block his shot into the second row. And there won't be any sort of home court or UNC bias to give him the benefit of the doubt when he falls to the ground. Unless Utah drafts him. His only hope of maintaining that free throw rate is to score so few points that it becomes easy to get over 30% of them from the line.

3. Jay Bilas won't say it, but I will. What is the track record of white forwards in the past decade? Let's see...Josh McRoberts, Nick Fazekas (on whom the book is still out, stats fans!!!), Adam Morrison, Shavlik Randolph... but it's not really about race, it's about athleticism. All the people who say he can be an energy guy off the bench don't realize that Paul Millsapp, Jason Maxiell, Brandon Bass, and Carl Landry are all among the most athletic players in the league and use that to overcome their lack of height. There have also been plenty of guys who were supposed to be polished in college that got dusted off in the NBA. Wayne Simien anyone? Lonnie Baxter? Sean May? I suppose he still has time, but things have not started off well.

If Hansborough wants to break the mold and become an NBA rotation player, he will have to work on his jumping, blocking, and rebounding. Those are the statistical metrics that can show whether or not a forward can make it in the NBA, and right now his are not there yet.

 

Scola, Collison, David Lee, Gasol, Dirk, Krstic, Songaila, Kaman, Illgauskas, Bogut, Brad Miller....the white guys can succeed too. Sure, they're not as abundant as the black ones but for every white guy bust there's a success story. In contrast, due to those numbers there's also probably 3-4 bust stories for every black guy success story too.

It's all relative, but when you're comparing shaky picks like Hansbrough the expectations for him are never going to be high in the first place. Fazekas/McRoberts: two second-rounders. Did Randolph even get drafted? Sure, everybody had a sneaking suspicion guys like Morrison & Redick would be busts --- I was terrified we would take one of them.

This draft will be much favorable for the headliner white guys. Kevin Love can flat out ball and Joe Alexander has about as much upside as i've ever seen out of a white player. Throw in the Euro's/Hispanics (not sure if they count, but still) and you have plenty to look forward to.

 

That's an extremely unintelligent analysis. Making sweeping generalizations about a race leads nowhere. You seem to focus with laser-like precision on a certain ethnicity of players then deflect it by saying it's not really about race but, rather, about "athleticism". Hmm. Interesting. Curiously, would you extrapolate the same type of generalizations in other societal situations onto other ethnicities? If you would then you would at least be consistent in your approach. Wrong, but consistent. If you wouldn't -- and cite apples/oranges -- then that reeks of intellectual dishonesty. Either way, leave race out of it. Draft busts come in every color.

 

Those African ballplayers are sure succeeding at a high rate....For every Emeka Okafor there's 4 DJ Mbenga's & Malick Badiane's.

I'll go ahead and profile, it seems the big time NCAA white bigs with all the exposure dont do near as well in the NBA. Guys like Chris Birdman Andersen & Linas Kleiza sneak in and find their niche, while Adam Morrison & Nick Fazekas seem to struggle.

Part of it is because they hype up and raise expectations for white players too much. Adam Morrison is hyped as the Larry Bird, Redick as the next John Stockton (?). But when Marvin Williams gets drafted its "I just hope he helps our team next year".

Only Tim Duncan gets that exception, and to an extent Matt Leinart. Everyone else is about the dough and draft position, so Tyler Hansbrough went back cuz he didnt have what it takes...

 

Take the moral high ground if you like, but don't tell me that the people doing the player evaluations have not taken into account the returns on players who not only played like their current prospects but looked like them too.

David Lee and Nick Collison are good exceptions that give hope to players like Hansborough, but I think we can tell already by his projected draft position this summer that scouts already have taken into account the points I made above.

After all, the question is not whether Hansborough will be a bust because he is white, but rather whether or not he will be a bust at all. Show me I'm wrong on that one.

 

hansborough is going to be a terrible nba player, the best chance he has is to be the next mark madsen

 

Dude, Mark Madsen has been a solid rotational player and has had an enduring career. Most people would call Madsen a successful NBA player, and don't forget about his rings with the Lakers. If Hansborough can have a career like Madsen, I think he'd be pretty happy. It's all about expectations with Hansborough. One should accept the fact that he won't be a 30-min. guy that''ll give a team 15 and 7.

 

So I just checked Madsen's career stats, apparently the several Minnesota games I watched a few years back unrealistically inflated Madsen's role on the team. Oops. But the guy still has two rings.

 

I just don't see him being that good of a pro and if he goes lottery he has some serious bust potential. If he can prove me wrong then more power to him.