Dishonor Roll: Hansbrough Haters

Admittedly, when it comes to NCAA basketball, I bleed Tar Heel blue, which means people are sure to call "homer" on this post.

Let them boo and hiss; Tyler Hansbrough is going to be a pretty damn good NBA player and all the doubters need to look beyond the color of his skin and see that.

What? Did I say something wrong? That is why so many people are down on him heading into tonight's NBA Draft right? Because he's white...


No one will come right out and say it; they'll use phrases like "limited upside" and "grittiness," talk about his "determination" and how "hardworking" he is as a player. Players who are far less accomplished in the collegiate ranks will earn praises for what they might develop into and the athleticism they bring to the table, despite having done nothing remotely close to what Hansbrough has done over his four years at North Carolina.

Leadership, integrity and an easily identified passion for the game seemingly don't translate to being highly-regarded the same way that being the second or third best player on your team does, like Arizona's Jordan Hill or Wake Forest's James Johnson.

Experts will point to the difficult transition to the NBA game for fellow "Great White Hopes" Adam Morrisson and JJ Redick, two NCAA poster boys who have fallen on hard-ish times as members of The Association. The problem, of course, is that the comparision is far from apt. Just because all three are white doesn't mean the other two are the best measures of Tyler Hansbrough's ability going forward.

Why not line Hansbrough up next to fellow Tar Heel alum Antawn Jamison? Both are 6'9" and both dominated in the paint and on the glass while extending their game beyond the key each year they put on the UNC uniform. Wouldn't that be a more viable comparison?

After all, both won Naismith and Wooden Awards, and had outstanding career averages, Jamison going for 19 and 10 to Hansbrough's 20 and 9. Much like Jamison, Hansbrough's jersey will soon swing from the rafters at The Dean Dome, right next to the National Championship banner he helped win this past season.

Or what about another fellow Tar Heel, Sean May? Like Hansbrough, May helped hang a National Championship banner in the rafters leading into his draft year. Unlike Hansbrough, May couldn't operate a lick outside of the key and played on a pair of balky knees. The result? 13th overall and the bulk of his career riding the pine in Charlotte, injured or out of shape.

But wait - Hansbrough's white, so we have to compare him to white players only, right?

Ike Diogu was a Top 10 pick. Sheldon Williams went Top 5, though admittedly it was the Atlanta Hawks who took him, so we all know it was a little crazy, but still. Dammit, Drew Gooden went 3rd overall. Drew Gooden!

The difference? Skin color. That's all it really is. Guys like Hansbrough get labeled as hard-working and playing above their true potential because he's white and can't jump out of the gym, while far less accomplished and decorated players who didn't perform nearly as well in college are viewed as projects and seen for what they might be able to do in the future.

Experts project Hansbrough as an "energy guy off the bench" and someone who will give a team "good minutes in reserve." I project him to make a lot of teams wish they had reconsidered their "projects" and guys with "outstanding upside" when they could have taken the kid who won everything in college.

But what can you do? JJ Redick was considered too small and a defensive liability coming out of college, despite an ultra-fast release and storied career at Duke. Stephen Curry? He's going to be a star, even though he's an inch shorter and played against far lesser competition...

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How Is The NBA Age Limit to Blame Here?

I read an opinion piece today written by Washington Wizards center Brendan Haywood about this whole OJ Mayo / USC situation that has led to SC coach Tim Floyd resigning.

For those without prior knowledge, it goes like this: Mayo was a high school superstar who went to USC because of the NBA age limit stipulation. Reports indicate that Floyd, or someone connected with the program, paid Mayo to become a Trojan, which is a serious no-no.

As far as I remember, OJ Mayo and his people looking to put dollars in their pockets for him to play anywhere isn't the NBA's doing. People will argue that he could have been making bank in The Association if not for the Age Limit, but he's there now and making his money, so was one year really too long to wait?

I can't fathom how people who are opposed to the NBA age limit view the situation, like going to college is such a horrible thing. You can't equate Memphis disregarding invalid SAT scores for guys like Derrick Rose and Robert Dozier as the NBA's responsibility. David Stern didn't tell Calipari to accept them into his program...

Do I understand that some of these kids - and they are kids - have the talent to move to the NBA right away? Absolutely, but the truth is that for every LeBron James that comes along, there are five Korleone Youngs, a prep star who played as many NBA minutes as I have after coming straight to the pros out of high school.

You can't even point at Kobe Bryant or Tracy McGrady as examples of prep-to-pros success either, because while they are stars now, they each struggled early in their career, both to earn minutes and handle the NBA game. You can't tell me that both wouldn't have been better served spending a year or two in college honing their skills than riding the pine in Los Angeles and Toronto respectively. And if you want to try, call Jermaine O'Neal and ask him how the splinters in Portland felt.

To me, this whole situation and the opposition to the NBA Age Limit speaks more about the condition of our society than anything else. Opponents want to lament Brandon Jennings "being forced" to go play in Italy instead of being able to go straight to the NBA, except that Jennings could have played at Arizona had he passed his SATs one of the three times he took them.

The whole thing breaks down to people's sense of entitlement; that these kids - and they are kids - are entitled to make millions whenever they feel their ready. If you're that good, the NBA will be their 365 days later. Could an injury happen during that one year? Sure, but so far, we haven't seen it. For every kid who gets hurt and misses his chance at millions, I'll show you five who became better players by spending that one year in college.

Furthermore, everyone thinks they're NBA-ready. Every year, you hear about three or four kids from high school who have NBA bodies and could make the leap to the pros if not for the Age Limit. But come the following season, how many of them actually become instant stars? How many of them really are NBA-ready? Not very many.

They don't have the strength to battle grown men for rebounds or the endurance to make it through the grind of an NBA season. And don't get me started on defense. Most of these kids were offensive stars in high school, dominating far weaker competition and paying little mind on the defensive end of the court. The NBA is so drastically different from that life, but no one wants to acknowledge that.

What made the piece even more frustrating to me is that Haywood himself benefited greatly from his time at North Carolina, where he played for four years after being name Mr. Basketball in the basketball-rich state of North Carolina during his senior year of high school.

To me it makes no sense. The NBA didn't make OJ Mayo ask for a reported $1,000,000 to play at USC and waiting one or two years to chase your dream isn't that great a request. If you want the dream that bad, you'll do what you have to do, even if it means going to college.

And really, college ain't that bad. Ask Asher Roth - that dude loves college!

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The Rundown: Premier Post-Seasons

As of late, the normally normal folks on ESPN's sports talk shows have been saying some pretty stupid things, leading to some very frustrated rants here on iBlog.

Two days ago it was Kornheiser calling Barry Melrose the "face of hockey," while yesterday saw Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times call the NBA Playoffs the "best postseason of them all."

What?

How many times has Hayden Panettiere licked your trophy, Plaschke?

Top 5 Sports Post-Seasons

5. NCAA March Madness
I know some of you are going to call me out on this one, but follow me for a minute. The first week is the best four day stretch of one sport in the history of sports. Those opening two rounds are awesome, but then the lull kicks in. We have to wait for games. Things get over-analyzed. Jay Bilas says way too much. By the time the whole thing ends it's already April.

4. NFL Playoffs
While there is a week between games, there is always a week between games, so that part is cool. Truthfully, this one lands here simply on the strength of the Super Bowl which is still arguably the single best sporting event around and has been living up to that hype pretty well recently.

3. NBA Playoffs
Having games to watch every night is nice, but here's the thing with hoops and do remember that I am a big basketball fan: half of the time only the final two minutes matter, while the other half of the time it's a blowout. Now, I love watching LeBron do his thing no matter what the point differential, but watching the Lakers clobber the Rockets last night was pointless. The game was done by halftime.

2. MLB World Series
Yes, baseball often comes down to the final couple innings too, but at least it doesn't take forty minutes to play two innings. And when it does, it's because something noteworthy is happening, not a string of timeouts. Besides, baseball trumps basketball on the final out versus final shot battle. The last out always leads to insanity, while the final shot can often be meaningless.

1. NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs
Anyone who doesn't recognize the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the best post-season in all of sports is both a liar and quite possibly suffering from brain damage. What is more entertaining than triple overtime? Besides quadruple overtime, nothing. Every game is a back and forth where neither team gives an inch. Yeah, the regular season is too long, but the playoffs make all of that waiting around worth it.

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