Tyler Hansbrough Makes Pacers Debut

ORLANDO -- The last time Tyler Hansbrough played a game, there were 70,000 people in attendance and a national television audience watching the NCAA Championship.

This was a little different.

Hansbrough, the Atlantic Coast Conference all-time leading scorer from UNC, made his professional debut Monday for the Indiana Pacers at the Orlando Pro Summer League.

There were 300 people in the gym when the Pacers beat a Nets/Sixers combo team. He played in a reserve role – he said for the first time since his freshman year of high school.

"It was a change. There weren't a lot of people in the stands yelling at me, telling me how bad I was,'' Hansbrough played. "I had kind of gotten used to that. It always motivated me.''

Hansbrough, the No. 13 pick in the draft last month, started slowly Monday with four fouls and three points in the first half, but he finished with 17 points and five rebounds. He hit six of his 13 shots.

He played with the same intensity, the same fundamentally-sound skills that prompted Pacers general manager Larry Bird to select him earlier in the draft than some expected. Bird was in attendance, across from the team bench, giving him some tips during the game.

"That's big to have Larry Bird supporting you. If you're going to listen to anyone, you listen to a legend,'' Hanbrough said. "If you can't listen to him, you don't belong on the basketball court.''

As great as Hansbrough was in college, there are those who wonder if his skills will translate into the NBA. Sixers forward/center Marreese Speights and Hansbrough tangled once around the basket and exchanged a few unpleasentries.

"I guess that's how they approach the rookies, but I'm not going to back down. I'm just going to learn this game,'' Hansbrough said. "And I don't really care what people say. I could score 30 points in an NBA game and they still would question me. The only people I'm concerned about pleasing are my coaches.''

Hansbrough comes into the NBA this season with an impressive college resume. He is the only player in ACC history to earn first-team All-America honors all four years. He scored 2,872 career points. As junior, he was the NCAA Player of the Year. As a senior, he helped lead the Tar Heels to a national championship.

He earned his reputation as one of the hardest working hustlers in college basketball. Hansbrough believes it will translate into the NBA game.

"It's like starting over,'' he said. "And that's fine. People will try and test me every day. I know that. It will take time, but I know what I can do. I'll be fine.''