Tyler Hansbrough went into the Draft Combine with the reputation of being shorter and less athletic than the top-ranked power forwards in the draft, Blake Griffin of Oklahoma and Jordan Hill of Arizona.
But after the combine, the bottom line is that Hansbrough is essentially the same height as the other two and athletically competitive, particularly with Hill. Not surprisingly, he is almost as strong as Griffin and a lot stronger than Hill.
Here are the numbers:
--In height, with sneakers, Hansbrough measured 6'9.5", a quarter inch shorter than Griffin, and three quarters of an inch shorter than Hill. (By comparison, Brook Lopez came in at 7'0.5" last year and Yi Jianlian at 7'0.25"--in an individual workout--two years ago.)
--In terms of wingspan, the three were separated by two and a quarter inches, with Hill at 7'1.5", Hansbrough at 6'11.5" and Griffin at 6'11.25" (Lopez measured out at 7'5.5" last year and Yi at 7'3.5".)
--Standing reach, Hill can touch 9'0", Hansbrough 8'10" and Griffin 8'9". (Lopez's standing reach is 9'5". No numbers available for Yi.)
--Body fat, Hill excels with only 6.0% of his 232 pounds. Griffin is at 8.2% of 248 pounds and Hansbrough at 8.5% of 234. (Lopez's body fat was measured at 6.3% of 256 pounds, Yi an extraordinary 3.4% of 246.)
Athletic numbers suggest significant differences between Griffin and the other two in leaping ability and between Griffin and Hansbrough on one hand and Hill on the other in lane agility. In the sprint, the three were virtually tied, with only three one-hundredths of a second separating them.
--In no-step vertical, Griffin has a 32.0" inch vertical leap, four and a half inches better than Hansbrough and three and a half inches better than Hill. In max vertical, a running start, the differences are less significant, with Griffin at 35.5", Hill at 35.0" and Hansbrough at 34.0". (Lopez was measured at 27.5" and 30.5". Only Yi's max vertical was measured...at 38.0")
--In lane agility, a drill where players move around the lane as fast as possible, Hill finished dead last at the combine, taking 12.23 seconds. The difference between Griffin and Hansbrough was small, with Griffin taking 10.95 seconds and Hansbrough 11.12. (Like Hill, Lopez finished dead last, at an even worse 12.77 seconds. Yi didn't compete.)
--Finally, the three-quarter court sprint, Hansbrough was the winner at 3.28 seconds, one one-hundredth of a second better than Griffin, and three one-hundredths of a second better than Hill. (Lopez ran it in 3.57 seconds, again dead last. Yi didn't compete.)
--One area where the three were widely separated was strength. There was a huge gap between Hill and his two competitors. Hill could raise the 185-pound bar 11 times, half Griffin's 22 . Hansbrough did 18 reps. (Lopez did only seven. Yi didn't compete.)
Last year's combine results hurt Lopez (and ultimately helped the Nets land him.) His numbers were so poor, he began to drop in mock drafts almost immediately. The same appears to be true for Hill. On the other side, Hansbrough's prospects began to rise after the combine.