Season in Review: Tyler Hansbrough

(In Agent Smith’s creepy voice from the Matrix movies) “Mr. Hansbrough, we’ll miss you.” But it’s so true though. I will greatly miss Tyler Hansbrough. I don’t live in the Chapel Hill area (I don’t even live in North Carolina), but over the last four years, I have not missed many televised games. Some of the games I have missed include the 40 point game against Georgia Tech, the 2007 ACC Championship game, and the Sweet 16 game in 2007 against USC (probably that was a good thing because I would have been pacing and yelling). There may be a few more, but those ones stick out. Other than that, I think I have seen most, I would say 90%, of the nationally televised games (thank you ESPN 360 and ESPNU!), so next year, when I don’t see #50 out there facing his basket on the opening tip ready to pounce on the ball, it’s going to be really sad. I think when people think of North Carolina basketball, Tyler Hansbrough will be at the top of the list.

Hansbrough’s freshman year, during the ACC-Big 10 Challenge, the rematch of the 05 championship game, was the first game I was able to watch, but I was only able to watch part of it because I was working. We were close to winning, but ultimately fell short. I had a friend who was an Illinois fan who was watching the game. Afterwards he told me “Dude, your white guy is going to be really good.” Well after four years, I would have to say he was just a bit off. He was outstandingly amazing!

This past year, when I saw the headline flash: “Tyler Hansbrough out indefinitely with stress reaction in leg,” I couldn’t believe it. All these records that were supposed to be broken this year would not be broken. The championship run was in jeopardy. His draft stock was ruined. But the UNC medical staff, (which I think do a great job) did the right thing and held him out. Without him this season, this year would have been a lot different.

Things I didn’t like:
1. Missing some games. Yes, it was the right choice, similar to Lawson, but his records would be even greater. It would have just added to the legend. Did you know that Hansbrough has more points and rebounds at UNC than he did in high school? That is impressive considering he would have been the main head honcho, whereas at UNC, he was just the head honcho. It also would have been nice to say that our best player never missed a game or a practice, but what can you do.

2. Some inconsistent games. This year Hansbrough didn’t have as many high scoring games. He also had more single-digit point games than any other season before. His rebounds were down as well. I know all of these have different reasons, not that Hansbrough stopped trying. Ed Davis and Wayne Ellington increased their rebounds. Danny Green, Deon Thompson, and Ty Lawson all increased their scoring. The officials were watching the cheerleaders and not the game. These all were different factors and some of the reason was that defenses were gearing up for him. It’s cool; he’s still the best scorer and rebounder in UNC history.

Things I liked:
1. Coming back. This season was awesome because of the history behind it: North Carolina and ACC scoring record, rebounding record, free throw record, the 4 time All American. I’m sure there were a bunch of other ones, but those stick out. If he hadn’t come back, we as fans would have been left with the “what if” questions. That would be terrible to think about.

2. The attitude. The work effort was there all year, even though he could have taken some plays off at any time because he’s Psycho-T. But he gave it all year. When Lawson and Ellington were on fire at the end of the season, he didn’t try and do the same thing. He played in the team concept and was fine being the second or third option. There could have been a lot of problems if he hadn’t.

3. The shooting. Were you sick of hearing commentators talking about how surprised they were that Hansbrough was taking threes? I know I was because he has expanded his range every year. It’s not like they were fluky. With the extended range, I’m guessing that helped his free throw confidence, which resulted in a higher percentage. Also, he added the turn-around jumper and the fade away a bit too. He has the complete package as far as an offensive player.

Tyler Hansbrough is just the best. There’s no other way to put it. He is the best player in North Carolina history and a record setter. I love the above picture of him because it just symbolizes his career - a winner. If I ever met him, I would just hug him and say thank you and I’m sure he would know what for. He truly is a special player and was sooooooo much fun to watch. Thank you Mr. Hansbrough!