Battles with Tyler Hansbrough are "great lessons" for Andrew Nicholson, Jacque Vaughn says

You could say that Orlando Magic power forward Andrew Nicholson wasn't having the best of nights seeing that the rookie fouled out with 1:43 remaining in the fourth quarter of Orlando's win against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. In fact, he matched Stanley Roberts' record of six fouls in one quarter as well - a not-so-remarkable accomplishment either.

The unexpected turn of events started around the first quarter: Nicholson winced and covered his face right after Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough appeared to poke Nicholson in the eye. Magic coach Jacque Vaughn immediately pulled Nicholson out of the game. But the two forwards didn't meet again until the fourth quarter; that's where the trouble continued.

Officials charged Nicholson and Hansbrough for double-fouls, not once, but twice. Hansbrough drew five fouls in Wednesday's game, all from Nicholson. The St. Bonaventure product's other foul came against Pacers center Ian Mahinmi earlier in the fourth.

I asked Vaughn to elaborate what exactly happened in the scuffle between Nicholson and Hansbrough, whose nickname in college was Psycho T, at the near end of regulation:

"He is learning about the NBA, great lessons." Vaughn said. "I can't teach those lessons in practice. He's learning how to deal playing versus an extremely physical guy, he's learning how to fight adversity, he's learning how to play with referees on the floor, how to play with poise and so those are lessons that hopefully he learned tonight and will make him a better ball player. I can't teach those in practice, I can't simulate that."