Chad Ford is Seeing the Light

My view on Tyler Hansbrough has been well stated on this site. Lately, others have been coming to grips with the fact that Psycho T is a legitimate talent with skills to go with his work ethic.

In Chad Ford’s latest Mock Draft, both Tar Heels he has projected in the first round made some moves. Tyler Hansbrough from 20 to 11, and Ty Lawson from 22 to 23.

His analysis for the #11 pick is as follows:

“Analysis: Rod Thorn has said he needs a moose, but it won’t be easy to find one here. The Nets have needs at both forward positions but the three best candidates, DeJuan Blair, Earl Clark and James Johnson, all have issues. Blair’s medical reports have created major red flags about his knees. Johnson is carrying around some baggage from Wake Forest. And Clark isn’t the physical player they’re really looking for.

That has caused two new players to emerge on their list — Tyler Hansbrough and Terrence Williams. Williams has his own set of issues that teams are sorting through which gives Hansbrough a legit shot at going this high. He isn’t going to be a dominant player in the league, but he’s been productive, is as tough as nails and has measured better, in size and athletically, than people predicted.”

Some weeks ago, Ford claimed that Chicago taking Hansbrough at #16 was probably too high, now it seems that it’s becoming acceptable to consider Hansbrough a Top 15 player.  With two recent articles analyzing the impact of the high school Class of 2005 on this 2009 Draft, it seems like there is no reason not to consider Hansbrough in the Top 15, if not Top 10.

If nothing else, this further proves Hansbrough’s grittiness, and the fact that no matter the situation, he’ll do whatever he can to climb to the top. The team that eventually drafts him will enjoy finding this out firsthand.