I think Psycho T will be the David Lee of this draft. The issue with him is that many scouts believe that he has reached his ceiling and tapped all the potential already. Remember that a lot of teams pick players with large upside and potential. Look at Jrue Holiday as a prime example.

Tyler is what he is, a hardnosed, all hustle, physical power forward and I think he'd do alright in the NBA. I still think he's a late teen pick, and he'll be able to pretty much plug into the teams rotations from day 1.

In the future and when you look back you'll wonder why he went so late.

I think the guy will be useless in the NBA. An Undersized Power forward that will be a role player at best but even then he averaged 1 assist per game in college so he wont be very useful. What can he offer a team?

KJ, as usual, you have no idea.... thankyou for perpetuating your display of ignorance.... undersized? pfft... he is 6' 9" and 105kg... how big do you want your rookie PF.

TR is right, i'm not saying he is the next Karl Malone, I am saying this guy is exactly what championship teams want.... he will spill his own blood hustling for the loose ball or the rebound that softer less committed players don't go after. Just a no bull shit player who plays hard every time he hits the court, and works just as hard in the gym.

Firstly, ESP get your self a box of tissues and have a cry!

This is the negatives about him that I have just read and thought before even reading it:

"The negatives against "Psycho-T" are well-documented: not quick enough, tall enough or athletic enough to handle the PF position in the pros."

So I guess the NBA experts are also ignorant and have no idea for suggesting his not big enough like I did. Here is some more of the same story

"Shorter than most teams want for an NBA a power forward, but isn't a great fit at small forward, as he does not possess great lateral agility and does not have the long wing span or leaping ability to alter shots & His slimmed-down frame helps him run the court, but he lacks the timed speed needed to be out in front on the fast breaks & When operating beneath the rim, he has had problems scoring vs. the more athletic and longer forwards"

Too small to play power forward, too slow to play small forward. Yes sounds like he is going to do well in the NBA. All the championship teams would love to chuck him into their starting 5 as you mentioned!

As you and others say he brings great hustle and work ethic. That's great but you need more. If he will be too small to post up he will need an outside shot but he even struggles with that.

To me he is a poor man's John Wallace. John Wallace did exceptionally well in college but struggled in the pro's due to his size.

If Hansbrough ends up doing good in the NBA ill be happy to say I was wrong about him.

I think he is going to be the NBA's Dusty Rychart. Undersized and out of position, still contributes valuable minutes, but not worthy of a high draft pick.

105KG's isn't big for a 6 ft 9 PF. I'm surprised at that.

do the words "christian laettner" ring a bell?

Lattener was taller and had a better perimeter game.

The stuff Hansborough got at ollege level he wont at NABA level.

Wont be able to score cause he wont be able to overpower anybody. Lee would have 10Kgs+ on him and is a better athlete.

Bust. Wont get off the bench.

the comparison is that they have both had stellar collage careers that won't translate into a star nba career. Laettner made the NCAA finals every year in college and yet is only really remembered as the guy who went to the Olympics with the Dream Team instead of Shaq

I think Hansbrough can succeed in the NBA as a PF (don't know why anyone would consider him for SF). He won't be a dominant player, but could prove to be a valuable bench player or marginal starter on a weaker team. I think he will definitely be a value pick in the 2nd half of the first round.

The main reason I think he will be okay at PF is that his measurements were very similar to Griffin's at the Combine. (6'9 and 234 lbs) So his size is fine - just needs to put on 10-15 lbs to avoid getting pushed around by bigger guys.

Also, much smaller guys like Powe and Davis for the Celtics have shown that you can get your shot off as an undersized player if you are smart about how you use your body and the rim (neither guy is more than 6'7).

The one physical area that he falls short in compared to top PF prospects like Griffin is his standing vertical, which according to scouts is probably why he tends to get blocked at the rim at times.

I also read some positive stuff today about his workout in Atlanta. Could be Atlanta trying to push him up in the draft, so someone else falls to them, of course, but here you go:

On 10-point scale, Tyler Hansbrough's Sunday morning workout for the Hawks at Philips Arena ranks at the very top of anything conducted in the past five days. It wasn't any one thing in particular that had the Hawks' coaches buzzing. It was everything. Hansbrough's energy, effort and obviously better-than-advertised shooting and athleticism caught more than a few folks in attendance by surprise. "He kicked the meter up. It was off the Richter Scale," said Hawks assistant coach Larry Drew, who ran the team's workouts all week...

"If this kid is still there at 19, the Hawks better not hesitate," another Eastern Conference executive told me Sunday afternoon. "The kid's a dream for coaches in our league, because he's going to come in and crank things up automatically. He's just wired differently than most of these other guys."

- Atlanta Journal Constitution Blog

I saw a doco on him a year or two ago, his commitment to perfection and physical training is similar to MJ / Kobe, working out in the gym every morning at 5.30am etc.

he played mean last year in the ncaa tournament but thats against guys his size and smaller so I'm not sure how he'll fare but I'm pretty happy to sit back and wait and watch, he'll get a spot somewhere

KJ.... Question for you, Why is 105kg undersized at 6'9", David Lee is only 108Kg with two extra years of NBA weight training under his belt? Not all NBA players have to be Shaq heavy weights at 140Kg

Did you even see a UNC game this year so as to comment with your own personal opinion?

I find it funny how everyone immediately assumes that Christian Laettner was a bust.

The guy averaged around 18 & 8 over the first 8 years of his career, shot close to 50% and over 80% from the foul line, numbers he replicated on some decent Atlanta playoff teams in the mid 90's.

If you look at the entire 92 draft, the only players picked after him who had a good career was Latrell Sprewell at 24, and possible Robert Horry at 11.

Guys like Gugliotta, Jim Jackson, Laphonso Ellis, Clarence Weatherspoon were injury prone or good for a handful of seasons.

ESP - Well it is questionable if David Lee even plays PF for them with Al Harrington in the team.

Out of all the starting power forwards I would say 85% to 90% weigh more then him. 50% would be taller then him and weigh more then him. Others that are around his size are extremely athletic compared to him.

It is just a fact that he is undersized in the NBA.

I watched most of his NCAA finals games and highlights of him playing throughout the year. There is no doubt he was a great player in College but the NBA will be a different story. His strength advantage in College has been eroded.

How does he compare to David Lee?

David Lee is way more athletic compared to Hansbrough, he is also ambidextrous which gives him a huge advantage around the rim.

Hansbrough is an average athlete, has an average jumper and his strength in college (outmuscling and outhusling his opponents) tends to not translate well against bigger and better athletes. If Hansbrough had a killer jump shot or some decent post moves I think he could be a decent pro.

Right now the only reason this guy is even considered a lottery pick is because the 2009 draft is absolutely terrible.

BTW Griffin is one of the most brilliant athletic bigmen to come out of college in years. He is 10x better than anyone else. Its clearly a 1 man draft - especially now that NBA GM's are finding out first hand that Ricky Rubio isnt as good as first advertised.

Good spirited thoughts / debate, I look forward to reflecting on this thread in twelve months.

If I knew any of you, I would wager a few bucks that his stats will be in the top 5 for rookies this season.

Yeah it will be interesting to see how he goes.

ESP I would take you up on that Wager :P

I was just watching the Knicks vs Pacers game and remembered this old thread.

You lost the bet ESP, pay up ;)

Top 5 Rookies of 2009/10

He has done better then John Wallace (I said he wouldn't). He has been a role player but has played well in his 4 seasons but nothing special as most of us thought.