Everyone Hates Psycho T

I read an article this morning by Rick Reilly on ESPN.com about UNC's Tyler Hansbrough. Basically, the article feels like a jab at fans who think that Hansbrough is a whiner and a wimp. Now I despise UNC as much as any Hokie basketball fan, but you have to give "Psycho T" his props. He's an undersized power forward who is usually playing the 5 for the best team in the nation. He is listed as 6'9" and 250 lbs on UNC's official basketball site, but I think that he's really around 6'8" and 240 lbs. He gets fouled more than any other player in the college ranks, and therefore gets to the free throw line more than any other college player. Now, I would definitely agree with anyone who says that he is the beneficiary of some questionable foul calls, but that is only because he has earned that status. When you are an All-American, you will get those calls. Whether it's fair or not is another issue, but you shouldn't be surprised that it happens. Regardless, this guy has a way of playing fiercely yet under control while under the rim.

So why am I writing a post about a player that VT will only see once (possibly twice if we play them in the ACC tournament)? Because every comment I see about Tyler Hansbrough on ESPN message boards is about how the guy is going to suck as a professional basketball player. "He'll be a role player coming off the bench at best" is a frequent sentiment. Let me be in the minority here and go the complete opposite way. I think he's going to be an excellent pro player because he plays the way Chuck Barkley used to play. He can shoot it up to 18 feet with deadly accuracy, he's a fantastic free throw shooter (over 80%), and he gets himself to the foul line. Oh, and he's also a great offensive and defensive rebounder. This guy is not the next Luke Walton, as most ACC fans are thinking. He plays hard every second, pisses off opposing players, and I would be ecstatic if the Cleveland Cavaliers (my NBA faves) could pick him up in the draft. But I think he is more likely to go to a middling team like Indiana or Toronto in the middle part of the first round. At any rate, I will boo the crap out of Psycho T when he shows up in Blacksburg, but I am not going to be one of the idiots who chants "overrated" or one of the morons who babbles on about how Hansbrough sucks. It's pretty obvious that he doesn't, and I don't think an intelligent fan should bother trying to argue otherwise.