Tyler Hansbrough’s agitator style has made him Pacer Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of Bulls fans.
But after a playful initial response, Joakim Noah said Hansbrough’s physical defense is all part of the game.
“Hansbrough’s a dirty guy? Do you mean dirty, as in he doesn’t take showers?” Noah said.
No. Dirty, as in taking cheap shots.
“I don’t think so,” Noah said. “That’s just the way the game’s played right now. Nothing easy to the basket. When you have a little point guard going in there every time the way Derrick is going in there, you don’t want to be on the highlights reel. So you have to give a hard fouI. It’s just the way of the game.
“It’s frustrating, because you never want Derrick getting hit like that. But it’s the name of the game right now.”
Meanwhile, Carlos Boozer wanted nothing to do with Psycho T’s chatter about X-rated trash talking.
“I’m not going to repeat anything; you’d have to use a lot of bleeps and then there wouldn’t be much to say,” Hansbrough said. “You try to limit [the backtalk], but sometimes you get frustrated and slip up and say something you shouldn’t have.”
Boozer’s response?
“I’m not commenting on that,” he said, his game face already on at the Bulls’ Thursday morning shootaround.
He did indicate it’s not a Duke-North Carolina thing: “I have no problem with where he went to school at.”