Mailman delivers for Bobby Hansen

Cool! I think Bobby earned a lot of players respect. Magic said he was the toughest defender he played against.

People often think of Hansen as a shooter, but he usually drew the other teams best player on defense. One of my favorite Hawkeye quotes of all time came after the Iowa/Louisville game in the 1980 Final Four. When asked about guarding Darrel "Dr Dunkenstein" Griffith Hanson said, "I've guarded other guys who could jump, but they all came down."
 
What I liked about Bobby was he was the teams midrange shooter and very good at it too. It seems like today teams consist of three point bombers or King Kongs under the boards.

That’s what made Garza so unique. He was a handful under the basket and yet could step out and hit the three pointer. Even his midrange shooting improved a lot his senior year.

Hansen has a deep understanding of all aspects of the game. I don’t know if he ever gave coaching a try as I’ve never heard or read any where that he was a coach or an assistant coach.
 
What I liked about Bobby was he was the teams midrange shooter and very good at it too. It seems like today teams consist of three point bombers or King Kongs under the boards.

That’s what made Garza so unique. He was a handful under the basket and yet could step out and hit the three pointer. Even his midrange shooting improved a lot his senior year.

Hansen has a deep understanding of all aspects of the game. I don’t know if he ever gave coaching a try as I’ve never heard or read any where that he was a coach or an assistant coach.

Great court vision. He also could square up and shoot about anywhere. Could drive right perpendicular to the basket and pull up and shoot above the ft line over shorter guards.
 
Before going to IC for his freshman year, just after graduation from HS

I watched Bobby and Mark Gannon play in an All-Star/AAU tournament in DM at an
outdoor basketball court just North of Downtown DM

The DM/Iowa team won the tournament easily. The Championship game was a Rout over
the Michigan representative. Hanson and Gannon made Mincemeat of all competition

It was a dunk fest that humbled the competition
 
I believe also in the Louisville game, he was TRIPLE teamed with the clock running out. Panic? Call a time-out? Look for a teammate? Hell no, he rose up and shot the ball, making the shot of course!
 
Great court vision. He also could square up and shoot about anywhere. Could drive right perpendicular to the basket and pull up and shoot above the ft line over shorter guards.
He was sort of a less athletic version of Kevin Gamble. But he was a better defensive player than Gamble, who would have had a much longer NBA career had he played better defense.

Another decent modern day comp would have been Sam Dekker.
 
Bobby Hanson was the ultimate teammate. The story of him in the 92 finals is great. Jordan regretted not getting the ball in 1991 so he made it his goal to get it for him as his appreciation for a championship. You can see in this video at 10:38, when everyone else is celebrating, Bobby runs over to Paxson as he throws the ball in the air and you see Hanson go running after it. Then Jordan is holding the ball.


 

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