Tyler Hansbrough Tries Really Hard, Carolina Wins

By Will Brinson
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Squeeze the orange!!!
At this point, I might be willing to concede a National Championship for the Carolina Tar Heels. Not that I think they’re so much better than anyone else remaining in the field -- UCLA and Kansas can certainly beat them, and maybe Memphis too -- but if I’ll sign on the dotted line right now if you tell me that Tyler Hansbrough is going to leave and go flop in the NBA. Yes, both literally and figuratively.
Despite Jay Bilas hanging firmly onto his, um ... well, there’s no way to put it delicately, so let’s just say that Bilas was complimenting him every four or five seconds. At one point, after “Hanny” hit a ridiculously ill-advised shot from just in front of the three point line, Bilas used this line he’s been forcing down our throats all season: “His will ... exceeds his skill”, as if it’s some huge freaking revelation that Tyler Hansbrough tries hard. We get it, seriously, we do.
The other line he dropped? “It was pure mental will forcing the ball through the basket.” No, Jay, it was not. He actually used the physical tools available to him at the time, in addition to lots of practice hours, and shot the ball. The physics of how it was released and the arc it followed are what caused it to go into the orange rim, not some insane Jedi mind trick.
And this isn’t sour grapes, because Carolina is really freaking good. And Hansbrough, with 20 second half points, did use his physical basketball skills to assist them in winning. I get that. So does Rick Pitino. So does Roy Williams, who, by the way, should work on his public relations skills. Now, if you excuse me, I’m just going to “enjoy the crap out of” some sleep. ↵