Hansbrough A Good Pro ?

Last week, Colin Cowherd of ESPN offered the opinion that Tyler Hansbrough’s NBA career will … shall we say …  lack luster.  I’m being polite, but Colin made it sound as if TH will be lucky to even be drafted by the end of round 2 and that he’d be amazed if TH’s career even begins approaching that of Christian Laettner, the former Duke stud.   Now, Laettner is certainly not a Hall of Famer, but he had a pretty respectable NBA career … 13 ppg and 7 rpg is nothing to sneeze at.   But Laettner’s NBA career certainly pales in comparison to his college career, and I think that was the point Cowherd was really trying to make … that TH has reached the peak of his fame and we really won’t hear much about him point forward.

I tend to think Hansbrough will have an 8-10 year NBA career as a role player coming of the bench for 15 mins a game … all the while hustling his butt off and being a PIA to opponents as he has been in college …  Throwing his body around to grag loose balls and nose in for rebounds.   He possesses neither great hops, nor an excellent perimeter shooting touch, but I bet he can set picks and bang with the best of them.    He probably lacks the overall athleticism and savvy of a Shane Battier and isn’t tall enought to play center, but there’s a place in the NBA for 6’10” guys that hustle every play, every game.

I suppose I agree with Cowherd’s prediction now that I’ve thought about it.    What do our experts on the bench think??