Roundball Rant: Eric Snow, Hansbrough, and 1991 UNLV vs. Arkansas
By Matthew Maurer
I recently watched NBA TV’s “NBA Game Time” hosted by Marc Fein and former
Eric Snow with wife DeShawn
NBA ball player Eric Snow. Somebody please press the play button in Snow’s brain because he's stuck on pause. He's dull, monotone, and has the personality of a comatose snail. My hyperactive son filled up on cookies and Kool-Aid begs me for a nap whenever he sees Snow on the tube. This guy doesn’t give you any kind of insider perspective like Steve Smith and Gary Payton. Nor does he talk with any passion and zest like Chris Webber. Listening to Snow is the equivalent of Ben Stein in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off..."Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?” I think Snow's wife, DeShawn, is part of the problem. She's got a reality gig on Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta and let’s just say this woman is special like having a hole in head. Every five minutes she talks about how elite she and her family are (no lie). Dealing with that 24/7 probably leaves Snow with very little left in the tank for the job. Maybe DeShawn brainwashed Snow into thinking he's so extremely elite that all he has to do is show up at the studio, look good in his tailor-made suit and viewers will be satisfied. Who knows. But to Snow’s credit he is capable of saying intelligent things and always remains professional and classy, however, in the field he's chosen he needs a quick study course on how to engage viewers. (If DeShawn reads this she'll probably say I'm jealous of her elite-ness.)
Tyler Hansbrough may just be the most under appreciated player in the history of college basketball. But maybe it’s partly his own fault. He doesn’t have that jerk swagger with the "yeah I know I’m a star" grin, and athletically he lacks that one real play that defines him as a SportsCenter highlight. For Hansbrough his high point is battling through a barrage of bodies while keeping his balance for the and-one foul. And he’s white. I know, I know, race supposedly has nothing to do with basketball but in the minds of scouts and media I'm not so sure. How many times have you heard a white player complimented on his sheer "will" and how "he out works everyone"? People in the media, please, for the love of all that is right with the game stop using these tired clichés. If I was to take a drink every time an announcer or color commentator said these worn out words I'd have to be treated for alcohol poisoning. To further compound the issues some of the geniuses in the scouting world feel that Hansbrough doesn’t have first round talent. What games are you guys watching? Rafael Araujo, Kris Humphries, Julius Hodge and Shelden Williams are all draft busts that went in the top 20 of the first round, yet certain scouts project Hansbrough in the 20-25 range. How is this when the players mentioned did less? These scouts are lucky they live in the sports world where accountability is a non-factor or else they'd be in the unemployment line.
I have some old school games that I had the opportunity to watch over the holiday. 1991 UNLV versus Arkansas. Man, what a game. We're talking about nine NBA draft picks with seven of them in the first round! Arkansas was armed with Todd Day,Oliver Miller, Isaiah Morris, and Lee Mayberry. Mighty UNLV had Larry
Anderson Hunt
Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, Elmore Spencer, George Ackles and Anderson Hunt. Hunt was such a special player. I know this guy’s name is synonymous with why you shouldn’t leave school early, but his story is more complicated than that. Anderson Hunt is in the rare company of players who were probably ahead of their time. Later that season he declared for the 1991 NBA draft as a junior and left with most of his teammates. As the story goes he went undrafted and was later cut by the Washington Bullets (Wizards) and Boston Celtics. Many league execs said later on that Hunt wasn’t drafted due to his height, which is true. He was 6-1 to 6-2, but how much of this had to do with the league environment? If you look at the league’s shooting guards at that time most starters were in the 6-5 to 6-7 range. Today it's a different story. Ben Gordon, Allen Iverson, Eric Gordon, Eddie House and Shannon Brown to name a few all drop below what would have been the shooting guard standard in the NBA of the early nineties. Hunt's great defense, sweet shooting stroke and athleticism would have been huge assets in today’s market. Even vaunted NBA scout Ryan Blake said in an ESPN story that Hunt’s only problem at the time wasn’t talent, but height. He was “a 6-2 shooting guard that needed to play point in the NBA," said Blake. "Kenny Anderson came out that year. [Execs] are going to take guys that have more of an upside, that can come in and help that position (point guard) right away. It all came down to that."
Getting back to the game, final score was 112-105, UNLV.
