Retired Players I Loved To Watch #3 (KVH)

Keith Van Horn

Haha, yeah, I know. He sucked. But I think that was the point.

I remember him always looking so frazzled and over-matched on the court. He never seemed comfortable with his frame -- which, at 6'10" 240 lbs. and an endless wingspan, was actually tailor-made for basketball -- or his skill set, so he always came across as really clumsy, awkward, and gangly.

For SF, he was too unathletic and slow-footed; too anchored to the floor and slow to react. Coupled with poor ball-handling skills, he could never blow by anyone on the perimeter or take advantage of an ISO. He lacked fluidity and seamlessness.

For PF, he was too weak and soft and timid. He looked like a waif out there. He wasn't strong enough to push anyone off the low block or hold his ground when boxing out for rebounds. He was tall enough, just not wide enough. He had no upper body strength to speak of. Opposing power forwards bullied and pushed him around routinely.

Basically, he was a 'tweener. He had no position. And since you knew inevitably, invariably, he was gonna mess up -- traveling, dribbling the ball off his foot, someone swatting his shot, getting dunked on -- it was so much fun to watch him play. You were in a state of constant euphoric anticipation.

About the only thing he could do was shoot, which he could actually do really well -- he had unlimited range, a smooth follow-through, and pin-point accuracy. But even that didn't serve him too well, because his shooting motion was so robotic, his wind up so slow, that it was hard to get shots off against opposing defenses. Even at his height with his long arms, he struggled to shoot over defenders.

It's a wonder he was ever able to average 21/8.



But in his defense, he was actually really good in college when he played at Utah, along with Andre Miller, Michael Doleac, and Hanno Mottola. I had high expectations for him. He seemed like a well-rounded player that could do a little bit of everything. And, after all, he was the 2nd player chosen after Tim Duncan in the 1997 NBA draft.

Keith Van Horn's career statistics