Comments on: Roy Still Mulling Hansbrough’s Availability

By: C. Michael

C. Michael — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:30:32 +0000

For the poll, I vote, “Game 1 yes, games 2 and 3 to be determined.” I think the only way to play this is game by game as there is is no way to determine, a priori, how he will respond after each game.

By: C. Michael

C. Michael — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:22:11 +0000

I though this quote from Roy was telling:

Question: He looked so upset to be sitting out of games – have you ever had a player so visibly upset at having to sit?

Roy Williams: “Probably not. And a lot of his is because he’s felt so good for so long. If we had played for a national championship, I think everyone would have agreed that he could have played eight or nine days earlier, but it’s just that we want to be really conservative with him and we thought that was for the best.”

By: rathskellar68

rathskellar68 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:09:14 +0000

The guy lives to play basketball, and life is too unpredictable to try to calibrate playing time too finely. He could aggravate the injury or get a fracture in ten seconds if he twists the wrong way. On the other hand, he could go 30 minutes with no problem. There is just no way to tell.

It’s all a matter of probabilities, and ones that cannot even be estimated with any great confidence. That being the case, each suggestion here has merit, but also has the defects of it prudence-laden virtues.

He’s rusty. He says he’s fine. Let him play 15-20 minutes tonight, about the same tomorrow night, and whatever is needed in the championship game (assuming we’re in it).

After that, I’d go back to business as usual. As I said once before, we’ll all be holding our breath the entire season, but my money is on Tyler. With his youth, unmatched strength and overall superb health, Roy should let him take the chances — chances that cannot be avoided in any event.

By: Tar Heel Fan

Tar Heel Fan — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:04:00 +0000

That is not going to happen because the havoc it plays with the offensive chemistry was well as the guys on the floor not knowing if he is in and what they need to do complicates matters. And what determines “when you need him?” UNC down by 10 in the first half? Late game situations? If he is simply being inserted because the team is struggling I am not sure that is a boost since the team needs to work through having him back and at peak form versus the rustiness we saw Friday. If Roy knew for sure the injury was completely healed, then Roy puts him back in and they get the readjusting over with in 2-3 games. Because it is still a mystery things get dicey lineup wise.

By: JBowling

JBowling — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:50:32 +0000

That’s how I feel YJGH. Make him available each game, but only play him when necessary.

By: YouJustGotHeeled

YouJustGotHeeled — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:51:56 +0000

I think Hansbrough should sit beside Roy until someone gets in foul trouble or we need a spark. All this is reminding me of Sean May and his stress fracture. When we finally had him at full strength in ’05, we won a championship.

By: JBowling

JBowling — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:50:35 +0000

I say very limited minutes in all 3 games. Of course the problem there is the fact that knowing his minutes are going to be marginal, does he try to do everything while he is out there? If I were Roy, I would tell my team that this year’s success is going to have a lot to do with how well Tyler is able to play down the stretch. He will only be able to be fully productive if we can manage to play our best basketball right now and afford him the time to do what he needs to recuperate. We know that he will reward our hard effort now with his hard effort later.

By: C. Michael

C. Michael — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:13:48 +0000

I’d play him tonight, then hold him out tomorrow. Playing back-to-back, against upper-echelon competition is no better, IMO. The most important thing that can come out of these 3 games is keeping Tyler healthy and getting him back into the groove. Winning the tourney is secondary.