House and Rondo

Or, as Will Smith used to say, "He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper." Except that Eddie House isn't even the DJ...he's like the backup rapper. More on him in a second.

First, though, let's talk Rajon Rondo. As Ice Cube would say, Rondo "messed" around and got a triple double last night in Game 2 of the Bulls-Celtics series. But Rondo didn't do it (as Ice Cube claims to have done it) in a pick-up game in South Central L.A. (and who keeps statistics in pick-up games anyway?). He did it when his 2nd seeded Celtics had their backs against the wall and were staring down an 0-2 series deficit. I'm well aware of the Ben Gordon-Ray Allen duel: Gordon was monstrous with 42 and Allen had a huge second half and a clutch 3 with just over 2 seconds left. But I think they overshadowed one of the gutsiest performances I've ever seen. Rondo stuffed the stat sheet (to the tune of 19 points, 16 assists, and 12 rebounds) with a bum ankle. Believe me, I'm no fan of Boston, but that was a great showing.

Now for Eddie House. I don't understand Boston's fascination with this guy. And I just don't understand how he's in the league. To me, he is the sports equivalent of the backup rapper. You know, the guy that comes on stage with the rap star and continuously says "yeah, uh, come on, get ya hands up" and whatever else. If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch this live Eminem performance. I mean, what do the guys in the background add to that performance? Everyone in the crowd is probably like, "Who are those guys? We were expecting Eminem!"

That's what I think of when I see Eddie House. Everyone goes to the Garden wanting to see great athletes and they see this guy. I think of the backup rapper when I see him on the court throwing up off-balance 3's with no follow through, but I think it even more when I see him on the sidelines. Giving "advice" to the coaching staff, wearing his black cut off sleeved t-shirt (when the rest of the bench is in their green warmup jerseys), shouting, pointing, holding back his celebratory teammates, thinking he's in control, and generally just acting like a backup rapper. He doesn't belong there, has very little talent, thinks he's a lot more important than he really is, and if it weren't for this role he'd either be in jail or working at McDonald's.

But hey, he's in the NBA. And I'm not. So I guess I'll be his backup rapper. "Yeah, uh, come on, get ya hands up."

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