TORONTO - With the pressure of last nights season opener behind him and the swarm of media beginning to thin out after practice Thursday afternoon, DeMar DeRozan took some time to rank the Raptors most comedic players. First up on his list, after explicably giving himself the top spot, was the jovial Amir Johnson. Okay, no surprise there. Yall know Amir like we know him, said DeRozan. Hes funny as [expletive]. [If] you hang around with Amir all day, youre going to have the time of your life. He dont try to be that funny, but hes that funny. The next name he mentioned would raise a few eyebrows. Tyler Hansbrough. Hes another one thats funny as [expletive], DeRozan boasted, to our surprise. Hes a comedian. It dont seem like he is. Hes top three funniest dudes on the team, by far. Seriously. Trust me. A lot of people dont get to see his full personality, but Tyler is just… Tyler. Who is Tyler? After a full year spent in Toronto, hes still a bit of a mystery, at least to those who dont see him behind the closed doors of the locker room. On the floor, he brought his trademark energy and physicality, but often tried to do too much, searching for an identity and misinterpreting his role. Off it, he seemed quiet, introverted. Before and after games, he would mostly keep to himself. But there appears to be more to Hansbrough than meets the eye, evident in his mindful and reflective conversation with TSN.ca and The Globe and Mail on Thursday. The 28-year-old forward has been something of a revelation this fall, overlooked in a Raptors training camp filled with feel-good stories. In addition to extending his range beyond the three-point line, Hansbrough came back to work with a new, more easygoing mindset. It has not gone unnoticed in the gym. Theres just so many focus things that Tyler is doing now that are very noticeable to the coaching staff and I think its off the charts, said coach Dwane Casey, who has been raving about Hansbrough, a player quickly rising in his rotational hierarchy. Hes more comfortable, hes opened up a little bit, hes relaxed. Hes more familiar with what were doing. Hansbrough signed with the Raptors in the summer of 2013, expecting to play a prominent role off Caseys bench. He was logging nearly 20 minutes per game in November before an early-season trade welcomed Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes to Toronto, relegating Hansbrough to situational duty and mop-up minutes for the duration of the year. His role going into this season, the final on his contract, looked to be just as cloudy. For me personally, obviously, everyone wants to play, he said. So I think thats something that drove me to work as hard as I did in the off-season. The former Tar Heels star and the 2009 13th-overall pick says he put in more work this summer than ever before. Thanks in part to his experience on the bench last season and the advice of Torontos coaches, he was beginning to realize that his previously one-dimensional skill set - and reluctance to accept it - would eventually make him obsolete in an evolving NBA. So he vowed to evolve along with it. I think the league is getting smaller and smaller and teams like to be able to spread the court, he recognized. A lot of teams are having a big and four players around him just to be able to spread the floor. I think to be in the league, eventually all power forwards are going to have to be able to shoot. So, he enlisted the help of a shooting coach, reworked his mechanics and shot threes. A lot of them. Daily. He would focus primarily on launching them from the corners, understood to be one of the most efficient shots in basketball. Im about as confident as you can be in the corner, he said. So yeah, definitely, if Im left open Ill definitely shoot it. Hansbrough, 0-for-12 from long distance in his first five seasons, made two of his four attempts during exhibition. More than being able to make them, Casey has credited him for knowing when to take them. His newfound restraint and acceptance of a complimentary role is the biggest reason hes back in the coachs good graces. I think a lot of it is he didnt understand last year, more so, Casey said. He felt like that was the way he could contribute. No fault to him, I think most new guys feel like they have to score to contribute but, I think hes figured out now - if I screen, if I rebound, if I defend, thats helping the team and thats going to help me get more time. Everybody wants to go and improve as a basketball player, but you have to know what you need to do to be on the court to help the team, said Hansbrough, who averaged 8.9 points and 4.7 rebounds in four seasons with the Pacers before coming to Toronto. So talking with the coaching staff, theres some things that we went over that I can improve on. Definitely my shot, but I spent more time on kind of studying and seeing the things I can do when Im on the court. In Wednesdays season opener, Hansbrough was the first player off Caseys bench, called upon early after Jonas Valanciunas picked up two quick fouls. Of Torontos reserves, only Patterson logged more than his 20 minutes. As promised, he proved that less is more. He attempted just two shots, making both and harnessed his effort on the defensive end, where whe battled All-Stars, Paul Millsap and Al Horford. While Patterson will likely be the first big off the pine on most nights, Hansbrough should continue to play a role, acting as the back-up centre in smaller lineups, assuming he maintains his recent progress. Thats all hes looking for - a chance to play, a chance to contribute to a winning team. Its taken some time to come to terms with the reality - hes not going to replicate the record-breaking numbers he put up at the collegiate level, not in the NBA. Instead, hes had to adapt. He was willing to do so this summer, more than ever. It was definitely changing some things up, but I think the big thing is really being open to change, he admitted. Not having a hard mind about doing things differently and accepting you need to improve on some things. Mentally, the adjustment has been more challenging than most players, certainly most people, could identify with. Hansbrough was a special player at North Carolina. A national champion, ACC Player of the Year, three-time consensus All-American. He often relied on brute force to make an impact in Indiana. Hes always been a physical player, sometimes to a downfall, he pointed out. His career hasnt exactly unfolded the way he might have expected it to, but he doesnt sound like a man with regrets. He probably wouldnt have imagined that hed be taking a step back in order to take a step forward heading into his sixth year in the league, but hes proud of the changes hes made to his game. I wish I would have made them sooner, he said. Everybody has big aspirations. But Im glad to be here, where I am right now. I love my teammates. I really couldnt be in a better situation. I feel like we just keep improving and improving. Im on a great team with a lot of guys I like, so thats pretty special, especially in the NBA. 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