Paulus only got slammed after he was killed off the dribble non-stop for two games. Before that, it was all glowing reports. He even had a cream puff interview with Dan Patrick published in SI the week before the tourney. If they had survived the first weekend, it would have kept up.

Bringing up Vitale is probably the real cause of the hatred. He was the main driving force behind the Redick thing. Before that it was Battier. Battier would make a layup and Vitale would spooge his pants. Redick wasn't as bad, but Redick as a p_layer_ was more annoying than Battier (that's probably the real reason for p_layer_ hate...the grassroots "that p_layer_ is just fun to hate" factor).

I really haven't noticed a Redick type of hype for Hansbrough. Like I said, I never heard him mentioned until the p_layer_ of the year debate came up. Since the tourney started, it's been all Curry all the time.

Maybe it's there, but I am just not tuned in enough to hear it, and I was when Redick was playing.