One more thought about Tyler Hansbrough
The discussion about how athletic he is can best be defined by this paragraph:
The position you play in the NBA can best be defined by who you can guard. If you can defend point guards, you’re probably a point guard. If you can defend centers, you can call yourself a center. Well, can Hansbrough defend NBA power forwards?
I don’t see any way he can come close. Just think about him trying to go 17 feet away from the basket trying to play LaMarcus Aldridge. Folks, there’s no way. The quick, lean, mobile power forwards would eat him alive.
That’s what I mean about his athleticism.
NBA, Trail Blazers | Dwight Jaynes | June 19, 2009
Ya, but at the same time (for the sake of playing devil’s advocate), Aldridge has a hard time playing against PF’s that like to mix it up, ala Luis Scola. And it’s not like Hansbrough would be taking the lion’s share of minutes at PF either. The way Aldridge plays, Hansbrough would only play maybe 10 or 15 (tops) minutes a night. I think we’d be ok having a kid go in there and knock people around a little bit.
Dwight, basketball IQ and grit has to fit somewhere equation doesn’t it?
Nope, Graham. Not if they don’t have enough talent.
sod — But Hansbrough couldn’t guard Scola, either. I can’t think of a decent power forward he could guard.
Dwight –
I think you are right on,the NBA is all about match-up’s particularly in the playoffs…and I don’t see Hansbrough matching up with Aldridge, Scola, Odom, Boozer etc…
He may be ok as a back-up, but does Pritchard seem like the kind of GM who targets career back-up’s in the draft?
I don’t think so….If your going to move up, move up for a player who could be a valuable NBA starter..
AS for who that is…I have no idea…I think Stephen Curry is potentially one…not sure about any others
I can guard Dwight Jaynes. So that makes my position “Blogger”.
Give me Frye over T.H. any day of the week skill wise, but if it’s gonna’ cost 3 mil for Frye and 1 mil for T.H., go with T.H. or some other el cheapo rookie. None of them are gonna’ play significant minutes. Unless one thinks KP couldn’t make good use of the extra cap space.
Like a lot of people who post on this site, I have been a basketball fan for over almost three decades. I respect everyone’s opinions, that’s the fun of being a fan.
But after tracking college stars who went onto the NBA, I do not think that Tyler Hansborough will be an impact player in the NBA. In previous days, posters have tried to make this a racial issue, insinuating that lack of quickness is often a blanket term used for white players.
The NBA game is much quicker than NCAA Division I and a lack of NBA quickness is something you can hide at the NCAA Division I level. And it has nothing to do with race.
The best white point guard I’ve ever seen is John Stockon, who wasn’t the quickest guy around, but was quick enough to be an NBA Hall of Famer. That quickness, in addition to his outstanding anticipation, led him to be in the Top 10 in steals in the league for several seasons.
Obviously it’s hard to project who will be a star and who won’t while they’re still in college. We have to wait until they’re in the NBA and see how well they do.
Danny Manning was the #1 pick in the 1988 draft and while he was a good player, never became the star a lot of people thought he would be. He was so versatile, but it turned out that he was good at several things but not really good at anything. That, plus the fact that he was a finesse player who lacked killer instinct, led to a mediocre NBA killer. Joe Smith was the #1 pick in 1995 who never became a star. Remember Christian Laettner? College player of the year, but it turns out out he was a bit of a headcase who bounced from team to team.
There are always two things I get leery of come NBA draft time:
1) The college point guard who scores a lot and is not really a distributor. Time has proven tha that if you can score but not run an offense, that usually isn’t the best combo. Think about two of the best point guards in our time, John Stockon and Steven Nash, guys who were pass-first, shoot second. And if your distributor can ALSO score, like Stockon, Nash, Chris Paul, Jason Kidd, then you’ve got a star.
2) The too-short, not quick enough 6-9 or lower power forward. Hansbrough is in this category. In college, some of the power forwards are 6-7 or 6-8, but in the NBA many of them are 6-10 or taller, and quicker than they are in college. Hansbrough will be shot over and run around all night.
I think Kevin Love is a little better than Hansbrough. Love is a better rebounder than Hansbrough, but remember, Love is not a NBA star, just a decent player.
I understand that Hansbrough works hard, is intense, goes 100%, and was a winner at the highest level in college. But I’ve seen guys like him before, and almost none of them become impact NBA players.
There are many guys who try hard in the NBA, but there is a talent difference and that separates the impact players from those who aren’t. I think Psycho T has the work ethic and intensity but his physical limitations will do him in.
A fairly good white power forward is Dirk Nowitzki, but his game is facing the basket and shooting threes and he plays passable defense (passable in Dallas anyway) to get him by. Hansbrough is not that versatile offensively.
There is no coincidence that the the two players who were vying for College Player of the Year honors were Blake Griffin and Tyler Hansbrough. And while Griffin is certain to go to LA with the #1 pick, there is a reason that Hansbrough is projected to fall into the twenties.
Blake Griffin is a powerful 6-10 inside player who ran the floor on fast breaks. He is also an intense player who battled in the paint for points and rebounds and I also saw some good passing from him in the NCAA Tournament.
But while I was watching Tyler Hansbrough during the tournament at a sports bar with my friend, I posed the question, “Do you think he could guard LaMarcus Aldridge?” And we both thought no.
Psycho T is an outstanding college player who will play in the league for several years but not be an impact player. Even one of the Blazer coaches in Wednesday’s Oregonian story said that he probably won’t start in this league. I won’t bet the house on it because I’ve been wrong before, but that’s my opinion.
Hate to play devil’s advocate again, but…Christian Laettner’s career averages aren’t that bad. True, he was a better college player than NBA player, but is that enough to condemn someone? For his career, Laettner averaged 12.8 points, 2.6 assts, 1.06 blocks, 6.7 rebs, shot 82% FT%, and 48% from the floor. Granted, a lot of those were starters’ minutes, and he did have some injury plagued seasons, but I think Laettner is a bad comparison for Hansbrough.
All that said, I’m not trying to propagate the idea that we should trade up for Hansbrough, but if he’s there at 24 (and we aren’t looking to deal that pick), I think we’d be crazy not to take him. Personally I just think we tend to jump the gun a bit on judging a prospect according to what the media says.
At the same time though, I’d be just as happy getting Pendergraph in the second round. I really like him and I think he’ll be better defensively as he’s just a little bit longer and quicker.
Sorry but Physcho T is a nbdl or euro player at best. It is what it is.
Sod,
Not trying to condemn Laettner. He was a decent player, but for the #3 pick in the 1992 draft, only made one All-Star team in his career, 1996-97, as a reserve.
That being said, there are many, many Top 5 draft picks that are busts, so that doesn’t make him stand along. It’s just a numbers game. Ironically, if you look up Laettner in google, it says that the #1,#2, and #3 picks in the 1992 draft (Shaq, Alonzo Mourning, and Laettner) all spent one season together, on the 2004-05 Miami Heat.
But the point being, Laettner was rated much higher than Hansbrough coming out of college, Laettner was picked #3 and Hansbrough is not expected to go in the lottery. So in a way, Hansbrough is expected to do less than even Laettner did.
I do agree, though with your assessment of Pendergraph. He DOES have the athleticism the NBA needs and when I saw him this year, he is really hard nosed and really knows how to play the game. I think he will surprise people and I hear the NBA scouts think he’s underrated.
actually, the all-time-NBA-underperforming college player of the year: Ed O’Bannon.
Hansbrough could easily guard Aldridge.. He has shown time and time again he can guard the so called ” quicker , bigger , more athletic guys “.. Heck against FSU he was able to guard Douglas on switches with little problem.
Hansbrough has the strength to keep guys off the blocks and away from easy buckets and as shown by his lane workouts he can move his feet to stay in position.
It isnt Hansbrough that needs to watch out for NBA players but the NBA players that need to watch out for Hansbrough. Its been awhile since he has seen one on one coverage and ” Psycho T ” is hungry.
Sly,
If Hansbrough is the College Player of the Year and is expected to fall into the late first round, what does that tell you?
Also, even Monty Williams admits in Wednesday’s Oregonian article that Hansbrough will probably never start in the league.
All the articles and writeups about him this week talk about how he’ll bring toughness and energy off the bench.
If NBA guys need to watch out for him, why does no one think he’s a starter in this league?
Just askin’ and with all due respect.