If at first he doesn't succeed he'll Ty, Ty, Ty again
Freeman: Whole lotta Love | Parrish: No comparison
Poor Mike Freeman. He has been suckered, and he doesn't even know it. But then, suckers never do.
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| Hansbrough has worked to become one of the most dominant college players ever. (Getty Images) |
I picked someone else.
And never will I make that mistake again.
All things being equal, UCLA center Kevin Love probably should be a better pro than North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough. Love's younger. He's bigger. He has more skill. Better shooter. Better passer. All things being equal, it's a no-brainer. Love will be the better pro.
But all things aren't equal. When it comes to work ethic, Hansbrough has no equal. Not that Kevin Love is lazy. He's not. But he's not a cyborg like Tyler Hansbrough, who has become one of the most dominant players in college basketball history -- that's a major statement, but it is not up for debate -- through relentless effort.
It takes a leap of faith to assume his relentless effort will translate at the next level as well as it translated to this one, but today I'll make that leap.
Four years ago I did not.
And that's where I made my mistake.
Four years ago I saw Hansbrough for the first time. It was the 2004 Nike All-Star summer camp, and Hansbrough was considered the No. 1 prospect in his class. Me? Unimpressed. His effort level was off-the-charts, as you might expect, but this was high school. If Hansbrough's desire made him stand out, well, that would change at North Carolina when everyone else was giving it the old college try.
This is what I wrote in July 2004:
"The 6-foot-9 power forward from Poplar Bluff, Mo., has ascended to the class of 2005's No. 1 ranking. He's a nice player and all that, but ... what? If he's the best player in the class of 2005, the class of 2005 is even worse than people say. Luckily for everyone else, Hansbrough isn't the class' best player. Or the best power forward."
So who was the best power forward? Unfortunately, I had the answer. I'm going to save his name for a second. Build the suspense. Trust me, it's worth it.
This is what I wrote in July 2004:
"(This guy) rarely gets compared to Hansbrough, presumably because Hansbrough is so much better. Well, here's a dissenting opinion. Asked to make the difficult choice between the two, I'd take (this guy) over Hansbrough -- and then wonder when you were going to present me with a difficult choice."
(This guy) was Josh McRoberts.
Which makes me an idiot.
Not that Kevin Love is another Josh McRoberts. Clearly he's not, although I have my doubts about Love in the NBA. He's a slow 270 pounds, which means he's not going to score in transition. In the paint he plays below the rim and struggles to score, as they say in NBA circles, against length. He ought to be very good on the pick-and-roll -- great passer, great shooter -- but that will make him an NBA role player.
Hansbrough isn't going to be an NBA role player. His size and skill set would suggest otherwise, but Hansbrough has never been defined by his size or skill.
This school of thought has been ruined by the spittle of TV broadcasters who have said it too often, but it's true: Nobody works as hard as Hansbrough. I can't think of a single basketball comparison who does Hansbrough justice, so I'll give you one from football: Zach Thomas. Despite his mediocre measurables for a linebacker, Thomas' off-the-charts desire made him a college All-American and an NFL star.
Don't like the Thomas comparison? OK, maybe I can come up with a basketball analogy. Try this: Dennis Rodman.
Hansbrough doesn't have Rodman's spring, but like Rodman he'll track down rebounds simply because he wants them so damn badly. Rodman excelled because the NBA is full of super-sized sloths, and he outworked them all. So it will be for Hansbrough.
Here's another comparison: Carlos Boozer. I saw that sucker play for three years at Duke, and I still cannot believe he has become a 20-and-10 pro. But if Boozer can do it, so can Hansbrough. His shooting range isn't good enough? Give that gym rat a year or two. By his third season in the pros, Hansbrough will be knocking down the occasional 3-pointer.
Antawn Jamison came out of North Carolina as an even less-skilled power forward, and now he's drilling 3-pointers like lay-ups. Hansbrough won't ever do that, but he'll follow the same formula that worked for Boozer and Jamison: decent size plus good character plus lots of effort equals NBA stardom.
That same formula would work for Kevin Love. Maybe it will. But if you're asking me to make the difficult choice between Love and the terminator basketball savant that is Tyler Hansbrough, I'll take Hansbrough -- and then wonder when you were going to present me with a difficult choice.
