Sports Radio Interviews

Tyler Hansbrough Is Adjusting to Life in the NBA

Tyler Hansbrough had a brilliant college basketball career.  He is the ACC’s all-time leading scorer, he was named to the All Conference team four years in a row, he was Player of the Year in the ACC in 2008 and he has already had his jersey retired.  Psycho T will go down as one of the greatest players to ever play at North Carolina and may even go down as one of the greatest players to play in college basketball.  Despite his accolades, many people doubt whether he can make it in the NBA.  I for one, do not doubt that.  I think he will have a solid NBA career.  I’ve heard all the naysayers saying he’s too slow, he’s a ‘tweener, he’s too small, his shot is goofy and the list goes on and on.  Hansbrough has always been doubted and he’s always been able to prove people wrong.  He is an extremely hard worker, he improved a particular aspect of his game each season at Carolina and I expect him to carve out a nice little role for himself with the Indiana Pacers.  I don’t ever think he will be superstar in the conversation of Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal or even Dwight Howard, but I think he will have a solid NBA career, if he can stay healthy. 

After dealing with a shin injury that has bothered him for a little while now, Hansbrough made his debut last Friday night and he didn’t do anything spectacular but had a solid game as he tallied 13 points and 5 rebounds in just 14 minutes of action

Tyler Hansbrough joined 1070 the Fan in Indianapolis with Dan Dakich to talk about his time at North Carolina,

On whether he thought he would enter the NBA after his junior season at North Carolina:

“No, I was pretty confident that I was going to end up at Carolina to be honest with you.  I don’t think I was really prepared enough to go the NBA yet.”

On the criticism that he took at North Carolina:

“I don’t think it ever got to a point where it really bothered me.  I always kind of just laughed at it.  There were some ridiculous sayings.  I’m not going to put anybody on the spot.  There were some reporters that just talking about ‘I’m overrated and things like that.’  I just made me laugh.  Sometimes they’d say ludicrous comments here and there.  Something that just made me laugh, but I also think it pushed me and made me a little bit better.  It’s part of the reason why I am the player today that I am.”

On making his NBA debut:

“I was really excited.  I was a little nervous coming out here to the big stage.  It’s something that I’ve always dreamed about.  When I got out there, I just tried getting into the flow of things.  I didn’t try to do anything crazy.  To be honest with you, I just wanted to come out there and get into the game.  I wasn’t really concerned about scoring points or things like that, just let it come to me.” 

On the injury that he is dealing with:

“It felt fine.  I think it handled it well.  Continue to listen to the trainers and see what they say and go from there.” 

Listen to Tyler Hansbrough on 1070 the Fan with Dan Dakich

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