March 6, 2007
Tyler Hansbrough interview session
Do you have a mask yet?
"They made some small changes. I have the mask. I'm going to wear it at
practice today to see how it feels. I'm not too crazy about the mask. It's
one of those things where they strongly recommend me wearing it, but at the
same time I have no problem taking it off. The only problem is they say if I
get hit, my nose could get adjusted and would be changed. I'm not too
worried about that."
On if he will choose to wear the mask regularly:
"I think it's going to be my option because if it messes me up too much I
won't wear it. What it felt like in the doctor's office, it felt fine. I
could see everything. I think I'll be able to play with it. I am probably
going to play with it right now unless something happens."
On the condition of his teeth:
"It's my upper tooth. I haven't heard anything back from the CT scan, but
the X-ray showed that it wasn't a fracture, that my tooth is fine. I can
just wiggle it around a little bit."
On when the hit to his tooth occurred:
"Yeah, that was a different instance. I can't really remember where it was.
I think it caught somebody's elbow in the game, my tooth, and that was
pretty much it. It hurt. I think that's why I had the mouth guard on, if
anybody noticed that."
On his reactions after watching the play on TV:
"Well, I mean my first thoughts, in the game, I was upset. Watching it on
TV, I can't really comment on him. I read where he said it wasn't any
intentional thing or anything like that. It was a hard hit. It did hurt. At
the same time, because my feelings as a player who got hit, I understand
that if I hit somebody like that, I don't ever intend to hurt anybody, and I
don't think he intended it to be like that. If people look at it and say he
did it intentionally, I think that'd be wrong because as a player you don't
always want to do that and hurt somebody, but I don't think he did it
intentionally."
On if he's ever been hit harder:
"No I've been hit harder. Are we talking about on the court or off? [Laughs]
Probably on the court."
On Tyler wanting to take a picture of the blood on his jersey and if it
turned out how he wanted:
"Yeah it was. I wish I hadn't smiled. It would have made it a little
meaner."
On if he has been hit harder off the court:
"Yeah, I mean I was with two brothers that were pretty physical so yeah I've
been hit a little harder than that."
On how he feels going into the ACC Tournament with all the talk surrounding
the play:
"I just want to put that behind, but he mask is going to carry over so I'm
going to be thinking about it a little bit. Going into the tournament I just
want to continue to get better as a team, and as a player I want to do
individually what I can do to help this team win the ACC tournament, take
each game, approach it game by game."
On how he feels about his aggressive play causing opposing players to be
more aggressive with him:
"Yeah I do notice that. I have taken some bumps and things like that this
year. I think that was my hardest bump up. Besides that I think I'm used to
it."
On if he thinks the aggression towards him has increased since last year:
"Yeah I think I'm drawing some more physical attention this year, but I
think I'm handling it well."
On what it's like to be out there with such physical play:
"Some games are different. I was talking to my mom and I said it being on my
face at least it doesn't mess me up running, limping or anything like that.
I can still run really fast and jump as high as I want. That's the good
thing about it. The injuries that kind of linger are the ones on your knees
and things like that. I'm sure it's just little bumps and bruises at time
that do wear on your body."
On how his teammates think the mask will add to his persona on the court:
"I don't want to wear the mask. If that's what they say, then yeah I guess
it could. It's just not me. The mask kind of makes me look like I'm dressing
up for Halloween or something."
On if there is still any discomfort in his nose:
"I have rolled over a couple of times and bumped it, but it's not that bad.
The only thing that I notice is out of my right nostril, I kind of have
breathing problems, which isn't that bad at all. If I get bumped, I'm sure
it's going to hurt pretty bad, but besides that, little bumps just hurt for
a minute then go away."
On if the breathing problems might affect his play:
"I doubt it. I pretty much breathe through my mouth anyways."
On questioning his aggression from now on:
"I think I'll be aggressive. I don't think I'll worry about getting bumped
or anything like that. I'm just going to go out there and play, and pretty
much try to play the game that I play. If I get bumped so be it. We'll see
what happens, but I think I'll be fine."
On his feelings about the upcoming tournament play:
"Well I think the Tournament's kind of different, because you're not really
on anybody's home court. I think that a lot of these teams that may be on
the edge trying to get into the (NCAA) Tournament. That's where you see
teams really start; their intensity level brings it up. I think we have to
match that with our situation, trying to get a better seed and things like
that. I think we'll go in there and I think it's a good tournament and you
always get the best of teams in a short period of days."
On the importance of winning the ACC Tournament after not winning in almost
a decade:
"I think it's really extremely important for this team, with the talent we
have, the things we want to do. I think it will help us establish a better
seed."
On if he has heard from anyone at Duke:
"No, I haven't heard from anybody over there. I don't know if they did it
publicly or not. They didn't think it was intentional so I don't really
expect much."
On if it matters if anyone makes contact from Duke:
"I mean it doesn't really matter to me, to be honest with you. I'd just
accept it, but I don't think it'd change."
On if Wayne Ellington talked to him about Gerald Henderson:
"No. I know they're close. I know he's probably getting asked about it a lot
too, and I'm getting asked. I really hadn't spoken to Wayne about it. All in
all I'm kind of tired of hearing about it. Everywhere I go everybody wants
to know about it. I haven't really asked him about it."
On Brandan Wright winning ACC Rookie of the Year:
"It's great. It's an accomplishment. He's done a real good job. I think he
brings a lot of things to the table for this team such as his athleticism
and things that really help this team that we need."
On being unaminously selected to the All-ACC first team for the second year
in a row:
"It is important to me. I think it's a great accomplishment, but I don't
want anything to stop there. As a team I still want to do a lot of things."
