Indiana Pacers' Tyler Hansbrough continues brilliant run in March
Tyler Hansbrough, or ‘Psycho T’ as he is more commonly known in basketball circles, has recently been playing some top notch basketball for the Indiana Pacers; in fact it could be called the best of his short NBA career. Compared to his numbers during the
first half of the season, Hansbrough has been a completely different player in the month of March.
This transformation has been made possible largely due to the motivational efforts of Indiana’s new interim coach Frank Vogel, under whom Hansbrough has been taking the floor with confidence. Hansbrough has been allowed more time on the court by Vogel, and
his numbers are a good reflection of that new-found drive to prove himself to his coach. Hansbrough is averaging 19.3 points on 49.6 percent shooting while also grabbing 7.5 rebounds so far during this month.
While playing under former head coach Jim O’Brien, Hansbrough was averaging only nine minutes per game, and understandably his performances suffered as well. However, Vogel has great confidence in Hansbrough and has allowed him more game time, to which the
second-year forward has responded with the best month of the season.
He featured in Indiana’s back-to-back wins over the New York Knicks, posting career-high scoring numbers in both games. Hansbrough had 29 points and eight boards in the win at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, which he followed up with another 30-point performance
when the Knicks visited Conseco Fieldhouse on Tuesday.
Hansbrough praised the Pacers interim coach. He said, “He’s (Vogel) definitely given us a lot of confidence. He lets us know what’s going on and to be honest with you, he’s a much better communicator. We can say things that we think and we should work on,
vice versa.”
Coming into the game against the Celtics on Wednesday, Hansbrough had a streak of five-straight games where he had scored more than 20 points. He shot an impressive 64.8 percent from the floor during this streak.
The Celtics ended Psycho T’s impressive five-game streak, but not before he managed to register a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Hansbrough has been vocal and very appreciative of the efforts of new interim coach Frank Vogel, and the impact he has had. Meanwhile, he also has been very critical of the practices of previous head coach Jim O’Brien.
To a question about how he felt about the recent surge in his performance, Hansbrough replied by saying, “It feels great, especially after so many people doubted me and I had a coach that didn’t believe in me.”
O’Brien’s lack of trust in Hansbrough’s ability to start games for Indiana, and make an impact on both ends of the floor came to the forefront in December. Hansbrough powered the Pacers over the Denver Nuggets with a 20-point and nine rebound performance.
Rather than putting Hansbrough in the starting line-up for the next games, O’Brien sat him out. Hansbrough averaged six minutes of playing time in the next three games, while sitting out the third game completely.
The sole reason for the Pacers being where they are in the Eastern playoff brackets is Tyler Hansbrough’s recent playing form.
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