UNC's Tyler Hansbrough: Psycho T or Psycho Hype?

Dusty on 04 1, 2009

Since I know there is a huge UNC fan base around the country, let me begin this article by saying that Tyler Hansbrough is a great COLLEGE basketball player. If you can’t appreciate his hustle and effort night in and night out then you’re probably a Duke fan, never played the game, or you’re just not very knowledgeable. Yet, what if Tyler Hansbrough didn’t go to UNC and wasn’t surrounded by superior athletes year in and year out? If this was the case, instead of being referred to as “Psycho T,” you would be hearing non-stop references to Brian Cardinal and Mark Madsen.

Don’t believe it? Look at who Hansbrough went up against this year and explain to me why players like Hasheem Thabeet or Terrance Williams from the Big East weren’t being considered for 1st team All-American? The ACC had no other dominant big men this year and if you go back as early as a year ago, he got absolutely embarrassed by the rotating front court of Kansas in last years NCAA Tournament. During Sunday’s game against Oklahoma he faced the Griffin brothers and went to the tune of 8 pts (2-4 fg) and 6 rebounds, whereas Blake went for 23 points (9-12 fg) and 16 rebounds.

Now I know it was just one game, but you heard it here first; Taylor Griffin, who didn’t play very well on Sunday either, will have just as good if not a better NBA career than Hansbrough. I will even go a step further and say that if you were to put UNC in the Big East this year, Hansbrough wouldn’t have even been a candidate for 1st team All-American. Going up against Thabeet, Samardo Samuels from Louisville, and Pitt’s DeJuan Blair on a consistent basis would completely change the persona of him being a low post superstar.

The college game is made for guys like Hansbrough, and his career numbers shouldn’t surprise anyone. Close to half of his points come from the FT line on calls he would never get in the Big East/Big 10 and he’s averaged around 25 + minutes. That’s a recipe for success for a big man in a conference known for guards and not bigs.

I think it would be safe to make the analogy of Tyler Hansbrough and the beer pong player at every party you’ve ever been to. You know, the guy who takes it way too seriously, but always seems to find himself playing against weak competition. Yet, when taken out of his element and forced to play good competition, he seems to always fade into obscurity. He’s also that guy who’s never missed a shot, and when he does clank iron, he got ‘robbed,’ or in the basketball world, fouled.

On a side note; the McDonalds All-American festivities began the other night, and is it basic protocol nowadays for any white guy who looks like a member of the church choir with decent athletic ability and a reliable jump shot to attend Duke University? Also, why is it that every time Duke signs this player he’s automatically compared to Christian Laettner, even when their skill set is nothing alike? I mean, in reality, regardless of Laettner’s big-shot legacy, do you really want to be compared to a guy who’s now doing Vitamin Water Commercials to pay the bills?