Men's Basketball Feature: Glaring at the Spotlight
March 4, 2011 | Men's Basketball
March 4, 2011
Saturday Game Preview: BU vs. New Hampshire
By Scott Weighart, Special to GoTerriers.com
BOSTON - When a quarterback wins the Super Bowl, you expect him to announce that he's going to Disney World.
When people win the lottery, you know that they're going to say that they can't believe it.
So when John Holland, the lone member of his class and star of the BU men's basketball team, received glowing recognition on Senior Night, you probably would guess that he would say that it was a great night.
His actual response? "I hated it."
The Bronx native may be one of the greatest players in Terrier history. He doesn't mind getting showered with boos by a hostile crowd. But the one thing he can't stand is being the center of attention. "I've just never liked being in the spotlight, per se," Holland says. "I just try and go low key."
If his goal has been to avoid attention, though, you'd have to say that Holland's BU career has been an utter failure. The 6'5 forward is now the all-time BU leader in minutes played, and he is second in a curious troika of categories: points, steals, and three-pointers. Only the legendary Tunji Awojobi has scored more points in his Terrier career, though Holland set the single-season record last year. He should end up sixth all-time in career rebounds as well.
Hard for Holland to avoid getting noticed with all of that going for him. "I think I've been fortunate, blessed even, to not have been injured and to play on a consistent basis," he says. "But I don't really think about it much. Maybe in a few years or later in my life I'll look back at it and really appreciate it more than I do now. Right now I'm just focusing on the next game and grateful that there is a next game that I can have."
Although Holland's stats are impressive, they actually fail to do justice to what a complete player he is. In addition to the box score numbers, coach Patrick Chambers and his staff track myriad data on all sorts of little feats: diving for balls; drawing charges; making quick outlet passes; catching the ball in the paint, contesting shots, you name it. Chambers calls these "attitude club statistics," and the BU players are given hard hats with their total number on it.
So in addition to leading the team in minutes, scoring, three-point shots made, free throw percentage, and steals--as well as running a close second in rebounds to teammate Patrick Hazel--Holland has the highest number of attitude club points as well. "When you produce like John Holland does, you don't need to do that stuff," Chambers says. "But he does. He's the best on the team. So what's that tell you? He's bought in, and he wants to be the best."
Fittingly, the ways in which he scores points are also a reflection of his incredibly rounded game. "He can beat you off the bounce; he can shoot threes," Chambers says. "He's got a great midrange game, and this year I put him in the post since forward Jake [O'Brien] has gotten hurt. We put him in every position possible. He's a great scorer who's becoming a really good jump shooter as well. He also gets to the foul line a ton, which helps us. Offensive rebounds? He does a little bit of everything.
"You're thinking `How the heck did this kid get 20?' Well, he had a couple of layups, a couple jump shots, a couple of threes, a couple of offensive rebounds, he made a couple free throws. And you look up and he has 20... And then there are those days when he scores in bunches and just dominates, when he's the best player on the floor. When he realizes that, look out."
The only way that Holland has not stood during a stellar four-year career is as a vocal leader. Although he's the only senior, he's not the captain. However, Chambers has seen Holland grow tremendously in his willingness to step up and be heard this season. The turning may have been a wretched 60-48 loss to New Hampshire.
"We got punked," Chambers recalls. "We were physically and mentally beat. We had a couple of tough practices, and we had a few individual meetings."
At some point, Holland decided he needed to be heard. "He finally spoke to the team, got in front of them, and said, `Hey, I care about you guys. I love you guys. I think we can do something special here.'"
Chambers feels that it was no coincidence that the team proceeded to go undefeated in eight February games, culminating in a stirring 66-64 overtime win in front a tough crowd at Vermont on Sunday. "People just want to know that you care--especially when you're the best player. I think that was the defining moment for him to get in front of 13 guys and be able to express his emotions. I thought it was very courageous, and he stepped outside his comfort zone."
It was just another example of how Holland has come into his own this season as a person and a player. "He has grown into a man," Chambers says. "His approach to practice has totally changed. His approach to film has totally changed; and there's a willingness to say `I need to get better. I'm pretty good, yeah, I've scored all these points, I've got 700 rebounds... but I can still get better.' To me that's a coach's dream. When individuals reach plateaus and break records, sometimes they get complacent. You say, `I've made it; I've arrived. It's over.' But it's never over. You've got to work even harder because you've got a bulls eye on your back.
"Last year he averaged 20 points per game--this year 19 point whatever. And everybody knows they have to key on John, and he knows that. But he still finds ways to get 20 and to get seven or eight rebounds every game."
In terms of his mental approach to the game, Holland reminds me of one of those "Deep Thoughts" that Jack Handey used to say years ago on Saturday Night Live: "If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let 'em go, because man, they're gone."
Somehow that adage describes Holland's concept of trying to play with a "clear head" and not overthink. In basketball, you make shots, you miss shots. You make a bad turnover; you notch a steal. Whatever happens, the key is to let it go and move on.
Holland has come a long way to make it as a top D-I player. He started playing hoops with his father--a former Iona player--at the age of six but didn't play organized ball until sixth grade. "I was always passionate about baseball and basketball," Holland says. "But baseball was always my first sport up until my junior year of high school, when I really started to focus on basketball."
If you've ever driven through the Bronx on the way to Yankee Stadium, you've seen where he's from: Co-op City, the monstrous complex of towers right along the East River. "I live on the 27th floor if you can imagine that," Holland says. "I love Co-op City; I love where I'm from. It was a great place to grow up in, a great community. All of my friends were always around. I don't know what it's like to live in a house, but I imagine it's not as easy to just go downstairs to go see ten of your friends."
For now he's swapped life in the tower for some dizzy heights as a Terrier legend. "I love BU and everything I've experienced here, everything it's taught me," Holland says. "I'm really appreciative for the opportunity. When I came here as a freshman, I didn't know what to expect. I was young and just trying to get experience. It's worked out nice. But I still haven't accomplished the goal I had coming in here of going to the tournament. That's on my mind, but you have to take it one day at a time and try to get better every day."
Reflecting on Holland's legacy, Chambers is quick to remind us that the final chapter is yet to be written. "I'm hopeful that it will be that he was the ultimate team player who gave it up for this program for four years," Chambers says. "He was an Iron Man, and his statistics go on and on. He's put us on his map. But his legacy is TBD--to be determined."
We'll learn more about that legacy over what Terrier fans hope will be several more weekends. Reaching the NCAA tournament would be a great ending to this story.
If it happens, though, we'll have to remember to go easy on him when it comes to praising him during the celebration. Although he shines in the glare of the spotlight, he can't help glaring at that spotlight.
