"Ballhog" is a loose definition

There’s a common adage in life that the more things change, the more they
stay the same.

Since leaving the industry after 18 years in December 2014, I have not been
to a high school basketball game as a reporter or spectator. That is not to suggest
I wouldn’t like to do so but after helping my former employer (Napa Valley Register)
cover high school football after work in the fall, I like getting my Friday night’s with
my family back. I could attend mid-week games but given my long day of physical
work coupled with a near Jon Gruden-like wakeup call, I have to value rest at some
point. That is another story for another day.  

For starters, every team has a leading scorer. It did, however, amaze me how the
term “ball hog” became loosely attached to that player — and I saw it on virtually
every team I covered throughout my career.

That player gets labeled as being selfish or not a team player.

I can give you an extreme example. I will leave names out to protect the innocent
but one team I covered had a prolific scorer who was labelled a ballhog. One of
the youngter’s teammates had a grandfather that was in not so many words, a
loudmouth schmuck, know-it-all. So the coach let him record stats in the scorebook.
He would normally ask to see my stats and how much they matched up with his.
The scoring stats were on point. It was the rebounding, steals and assist stats of
his grandson along with the field goal attempts of the aforementioned prolific scorer
not named “my grandson.”

This grandfather had an agenda not only for his grandson but against the prolific
scorer. Said grandfather routinely recorded double the amount of rebounds, steals
and assists for his grandson. The running joke became, “grandfather must give a
rebound and steal for every finger his grandson grabs the ball.” Also, “if grandson
was the first of four passes leading to a basket, it was an assist.” Mind you, I thought
nothing but great things of grandson. He was a fine young man and a diligent
student-athlete.

The one stat I will never forget was the one he recorded for the prolific scorer, who
incidentally had his father as the head coach. That added yet another layer to said
grandfather having a redass for that family. In a 32 minute high school basketball
game, he recorded 76 field goal attempts for the prolific scorer. Process that for a
moment. There are NBA teams don’t take 76 shots in a 48 minute game. So I guess
that pass into the post counted as a shot?

Is the “ballhog” label warranted at times? Perhaps so, but like anything, there can be
two sides to every story. First, there’s the person and/or parent giving that player the
label out of a jealousy complex.

I had the privilege of covering former Vallejo High star DeMarcus Nelson, who
transferred to Sheldon (sacramento) before starring at Duke University. Though not
on Nelson’s level, in my 10 years on the Upvalley beat in Northern California, I had
the chance to witness prolific scorers like John Adams, Cole Ballentine, Alec Fetzer
on the boys side for St. Helena High. For the girls, Maddy Densberger and Holle
DePina were high-point scorers. For Calistoga, I had the pleasure of witnessing
Donnie McMahon for the boys and Julia Hoff for the girls.

Nelson averaged about 25 points per game but also normed double figures in
rebounds, as well as about eight assists and four steals per game. Yet, some
numbskulls who followed the Apaches (parents or otherwise) in that time labeled
Nelson as selfish.

When a guard averages double-figure rebounds and has assists totals among the
top 15 in the section, where does the “selfish” part enter the equation?

For starters, every basketball player alive — star player or otherwise — needs better
shot selection sometimes. It doesn't matter if it’s grade school, high school, college,
NBA or the 50-and-over city league.

On the other hand, sometimes that player’s teammates are just as guilty as the player
himself or herself for being a ball hog.

Why, you ask? We laud players at any sport for being aggressive.

If anything, we often preach that it’s better to have a player be overaggressive than
one that’s too timid.

In addition, if you are a teammate of this star player that is labeled as a selfish ball
hog, you can’t have it both ways.

Meaning, you can’t ask that player to bail you out when the going gets tough but
then pass up an open shot when you’ve got it.

If you pass up an open shot that you are fully capable of making and that teammate
of yours jacks up an off-balance 15-foot fadeaway jumper with two defenders draped
all over him or her, then you are to blame.

The other side of the argument is that the star player must believe in his or her
supporting cast.

I’m all for teamwork, but the supporting cast of that star player must give reason
for the lead horse to believe in them. And yes, that’s taking an open shot you are
fully capable of making.

If you miss, so what.