Share
Basketball is now a far different game for Tyler Hansbrough.
Except for rare occasions like Sunday - when he was loudly cheered by many in the crowd at Time Warner Cable Arena even when he fouled somebody - Hansbrough is no longer the focal point of much of anything.
He is a rookie power forward for the Indiana Pacers, who lost 104-88 to the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday.
Hansbrough still wears No.50, his number at North Carolina where he set the school's all-time scoring record and won an NCAA title his senior season.
But his uniform Sunday was an unfamiliar golden hue, and Hansbrough came off the bench.
Sunday marked his first time as an NBA player in Charlotte. The No.13 pick in the 2009 NBA draft, he scored eight points and had six rebounds and five fouls in 21 minutes. They were respectable numbers - coming very close to his season averages - but nothing close to the sort he routinely put up as a Tar Heel.
"He's got a long way to go," Indiana coach Jim O'Brien said of Hansbrough after the game.
A slew of Carolina blue royalty witnessed Hansbrough's effort, including North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who made the trip west from Chapel Hill and sat in the front row.
If you had wanted to put together an all-time Tar Heels team strictly based on the men inside the Bobcats' arena, you could have started Michael Jordan, Phil Ford, Sam Perkins, Raymond Felton and Hansbrough and had two basketball hall of famers - Williams and Bobcats coach Larry Brown - to coach them.
Hansbrough has been slowed considerably by shin problems, which still limit his play. He has also had to adjust to the NBA's faster, larger game.
"The athleticism is a big difference from college," Hansbrough said. "The majority of the guys are bigger. There are 7-foot guys who can move."
At 6-9, 250, Hansbrough still battles. He will sport several floor burns from Sunday's fourth quarter, in which he forced two jump balls and drew a charge with a well-executed flop - all with the Pacers down by 20.
Said Brown of Hansbrough: "He's going to be great. Anybody that plays as hard as he does every possession is going to be successful in our league. He does what he does best. He pursues the ball. He runs on the break. He does all the little effort things that you can't teach."
Great? That's too strong of a word.
But barring injury, Hansbrough will be a solid NBA player for a decade. He gets to the free-throw line a lot and the legendary intensity remains.
"His progress has been delayed considerably because of the stress reaction in his shin," said O'Brien, noting Hansbrough missed a lot of practice time from July until late October. "It's awfully difficult for a rookie to be thrown into the mix in the season. That being said, he's had some very productive games. And he's had some games where he didn't seem comfortable out there."
When Hansbrough isn't comfortable, O'Brien said, he can tell because Hansbrough isn't pursuing rebounds with his usual fervor.
When Hansbrough is, he plays just like he did in college but without the hoopla, the uniform or the double-teams.
As for the college-to-NBA transition, Hansbrough is confident that he can figure it out.
"Hustle plays and things like that carry over," Hansbrough said. "When does hard work not carry over?"
