DEL.ICIO.USNBA Draft: Atlanta Hawks
Is Hawks’ love of Hansbrough a good thing?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tyler Hansbrough has heard it all before.
Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com
Tyler Hansbrough (right) left a lasting impression on the Hawks during this week’s workout.
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About how his game won’t translate to the next level of basketball, how he’s not athletic enough to deal with the elite players and how he’ll struggle to dominate the way he did before.
That’s what they said about him in high school, before the North Carolina All-American went on to become the most prolific four-year college player since Tim Duncan, finishing with the one thing Duncan never could win at Wake Forest — an NCAA title.
Hansbrough’s critics are saying the same things about him now, with the NBA draft on tap Thursday.
They’re convinced he’ll struggle against taller and more athletic power forwards in the NBA and that he won’t be as effective drawing fouls and finishing around the rim as he was in college.
Good luck convincing Hansbrough that he should care what anyone else thinks. He doesn’t care.
“I think my game translates well,” Hansbrough said after his eye-opening Sunday morning workout for the Hawks. “A lot of people really don’t understand I’m a really good shooter and that I’m more athletic than what a lot of people say. People think I’m a tin solder out there and I can’t move. But I am flexible, and I can get up and down the floor really well.
“And I’m not 6-6; I’m a solid 6-9. There are so many misconceptions out there, and it’s only because I’ve been in college for four years and people get a chance to pick you apart. Hey, you either hate me or you love me. I get that. And it’s just the way it is.”
The Hawks, who own the 19th pick in Thursday’s draft, loved everything they saw out of Hansbrough during his workout.
In addition to showing the shooting touch, flexibility, athleticism and ability to get up and down the floor that Hansbrough talked about, they were blown away by his non-stop motor.
Even Hawks coach Mike Woodson, who is never easily impressed this time of year, admitted that Hansbrough’s energy was something to behold.
Hawks assistant coach Larry Drew ran the workout. But he wasn’t surprised by anything he saw.
He has spent the past year with a closer eye on the Tar Heels program because his son, Larry, is also on the team. So he has had a chance to evaluate Hansbrough’s game, as well as fellow projected first-rounders Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, in different settings.
“Tyler doesn’t have the prettiest game,” Drew said. “So you’re not going to fall in love with how it looks. But he just gets it done. He’s a winner and he does winning things. And those are the types of things that every coach, and I mean every coach at every level, wants a player on their team to have.”
Still, Hansbrough has had to ease fears on the workout circuit about all the perceived shortcomings in his game. He could have avoided it all by leaving school early.
But he never even took advantage of the early entry rule that allows players to declare for the draft, go through the pre-draft workout process and return to school, provided they do not sign with an agent.
“For me, I loved college, I loved going to school and I loved things off the court, too,” Hansbrough said. “A lot of people don’t have Coach [Roy] Williams or the teammates I had. So I can understand why they would leave early. For me, I loved it so much, I didn’t want to cut it short. But now it’s time to move up to the next level, and I’m ready for whatever comes my way.”
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