I must admit I had no idea who Ryan Hollins was when he showed up on the ESPN Jalen and Jacoby show. He was filling in for Jalen Rose, who was "indisposed". Of course he was. Dear Rosebud was on another network (Turner) schmoozing it up with Paul Pierce and Chauncey Billups, Probably for more do-re-mi, (moonlighting) while collecting his ESPN paycheck as well. Nice work if you can get it.
So I looked him up. Turns out, Hollins used to play a little roundball himself. Heavy on the "little". Good enough out of high school to get to UCLA, where he'd put up yawnish stats, and good enough to be drafted at the tail end by an NBA team. He bounced around from team to team, pretty much the last guy on the bench, surprising given he's 7 feet tall, and finally wound up playing overseas for Bologna, or was that Pastrami? Pepperoni United? I dunno, but I think it was in Italy somewhere. Let's just say the good Mr. Hollins didn't exactly become a household name due to his basketball skills.
So there he was, front and center, filling in for Jalen.
And Hollins (who mysteriously enough could pass for an older version of Klay Thompson) was in full-blown James Harden worship. When I say older version of KT, I'm referring to the edition we might see if KT the elder had somehow stumbled into a meth house and partaken of the goods. Those overly blinky eyes, twitches, faltering speech, and dazed grin somehow seem to fit a certain "profile".
Of course, James Harden himself could easily be confused with a younger version of Grady from the Sanford and Son TV series of old.
Nonetheless, Hollins attempted to explain why the Houston Rockets came back to win Game 4 in the NBA's Western Conference final against the Golden State Warriors -- at GS. Breaking their long home court winning streak.
It was all Harden's doing, quoth Hollins. See King James (the Houston guy, not the Lebron Buckeye dude) play some defense (for a change).
See James make a couple steals.
See James run up and down the court (hustle).
See James inspire his teammates by his overall effort.
See James single-handedly propel the Rockets to an improbable win.
All hail His Highness, James Harden, rambled Hollins.
To all of which I have an immediate three word response.
Shut up, fool.
Harden didn't win that game. The Warriors choked it away.
My evidence? When you've got three of the best shooters on the planet (namely Steph Curry, the afore-mentioned Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant), and they go 2 for 15, including 0 for 6 behind the 3-point line in the fourth quarter, thereby totally blowing what was a 10 point lead at home, some dude on the other team had nothing to do with it.
Even given the Warriors' epic late-game collapse, the Rockets barely, BARELY held on to win by 3 points.
The Dubs couldn't throw it in the ocean in the fourth quarter, and it cost them -- big time. It might wind up being the difference in the series, and a potential championship.
Because now instead of having a commanding 3-1 lead, with the Rockets likely to fold, the series is 2-2, with Houston regaining home court advantage, and all the confidence/momentum.
The moral of the story?
Congrats to Ryan Hollins for picking up another pay check as a fill-in on one the many ESPN yappy shows.
But please spare us the misguided hero-worship when it comes to your boy James Harden.
Because even a nit-wit like yours truly has eyes, a semi-functional brain, and can tell the difference between a heroic effort on one side, and a total choke job on the other.
It wasn't about HIM.
It was about THEM.
A difference.
BIG one.
But this is what happens in a world dominated by political correctness. Only praise is allowed. One mustn't ever be critical of any sports person or any team, at any time, lest the -- horrors -- word police come crashing down on your objective head.
I have a word for that too, but I'm pretty sure my editor wouldn't approve. He's been vewy -- shhh -- kwiet of late, which is a good thing in my Elmer Fuddish world.
Let's just say it rhymes with "fullwit".
Greeat post thankyou
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