Don't be blinded by the white; Hansbrough, Love nothing alike

Freeman: Whole lotta Love | Doyel: Ty, Ty, Ty again

Tyler Hansbrough and Kevin Love will both be at the Final Four this weekend.

Now let's make that the last time their names are in the same sentence unless they happen to match up in Monday night's title game.

Deal?

Of course, it's not a deal. Who am I kidding?

These two guys are big -- and white -- but that's about it for comparisons. (Getty Images)

Hansbrough and Love will be described and debated and compared the rest of the week because -- might as well go ahead and put it out there -- they are great basketball players who both happen to be white. And, sadly, there is nothing we love to compare more than great white basketball players because when it comes to this sport we still very much think in colors.

Adam Morrison was white. So he was the next Larry Bird. Even though he didn't play like Larry Bird at all. It's like we recognized Morrison was a tall, thin, white scorer and then racked our brains for another tall, thin, white scorer. Naturally, Bird came to mind.

But Adam Morrison was never going to be the next Larry Bird any more than I was going to be the next Larry Bird, and everybody paying attention to basketball instead of skin color recognized this pretty clearly -- except the Charlotte Bobcats, of course.

In some ways it's unfair -- unfair to Hansbrough and to Love.

Because when people aren't ripping them while comparing them to each other -- Hansbrough can't pass like Love; Love can't run like Hansbrough -- they're diminishing them by doubting what kind of players they will be at the next level, as if that has anything to do with this level.

Some think neither will be successful in the NBA while others think only Love will be successful, and there are obvious reasons to be skeptical of both. I won't deny that. But either way, just once I'd love to hear two radio guys compare the NBA potential of Kevin Love (white forward from UCLA) and Darrell Arthur (black forward from Kansas) or Tyler Hansbrough (white center from North Carolina) and Joey Dorsey (black center from Memphis) because wouldn't that be just as sensible?

All four players are in the Final Four, after all.

But when it comes to comparisons, we like to keep it simple. Which is to say we enjoy comparing great big white guys to other great big white guys, and never mind that Hansbrough and Love aren't all that similar.

One (I'll call him Hansbrough) is in excellent shape, borderline crazy and noticeably intense. The other (I'll call him Love) is a little out of shape, sane as can be and noticeably cool.