Comments About Tyler Hansbrough Do Him A Disservice

One of the popular compliments to make about former North Carolina college basketball star Tyler Hansbrough (drafted by the NBA’s Indiana Pacers) echoes in the ears of people who love and follow basketball: He plays so hard. Hansbrough does play hard and he brings a high level of intensity to the basketball court. Hey, we all saw it so often when he was at the college level playing for the Tar Heels in one of the best college basketball conferences in the nation.

That being said, two things about the Tyler-Hansbrough-Plays-So-Hard compliment:

1. It almost implies that other guys do not play hard. A lot of guys play hard, but you aren’t drafted in the NBA just because you play hard.
2. It takes away from what I believe is a strong skill set Hansbrough possesses and takes away from his athleticism (better than a lot of people give him credit for).

Hansbrough has so many people talking about how hard he plays that they ignore the fact that he is both NBA athletic and NBA skilled. I believe Tyler Hansbrough is going to be a solid NBA player for a lot of years.

Pistons President Joe Dumars: Go Big Or Go Home

It’s not exactly a well-kept secret, but Detroit Pistons President Joe Dumars told Detroit Free Presswriter Vince Ellis that he is looking at the front court for some help. According to the article, the trading of young big man Amir Johnson has not impacted that draft philosophy. The Pistons are looking to strengthen the front court. While this is not a particularly deep draft (withlots of obvious high-end players), the Pistons think they can get a quality player with the 15th pick of the first round.

From Ellis’ Free Press article:

So with that in mind it appears that the Pistons’ first-round pick will come from one of these five candidates: Louisville forward Earl Clark, Gonzaga forward Austin Daye, Louisville small forward Terrence Williams, Wake Forest power forward James Johnson and Ohio State center B.J. Mullens.

We’ll see what happens, but the Pistons need to become younger and more athletic and dynamic up front. We’ll see how the trading of Amir and this draft help begin to shape the Pistons in the future. The Pistons need youth, but the also need athleticism and toughness up front.