I hate J.J. Redick. Well, hate is such a strong word. But if I were picking a team of five non-Virginia ACC players I did not like, he would certainly be on it, along with N.C. State's Julius Hodge, Duke's Sheldon Williams, UNC's Rashad McCants and Maryland's John Gilchrist. Redick, however, is the odd man out, as the other four guys make it quite easy to hate them.
A heavy trash talker, Hodge is a dirty player who once threw an elbow to the back of an opponent's head. Williams was accused of rape while still in high school yet somehow still got into Duke. He gets away with anything he wants down low, pushing and shoving seemingly at will. McCants is a lifelong prima donna, someone who compared playing for coach Roy Williams to being in prison. Gilchrist is also an avid trash talker, someone who wears his emotions on his sleeve and got away with several shoves to the chest of Virginia star Sean Singletary last week.
That brings us back to Redick. Granted, no one likes Duke, but Redick seems to take the brunt of the taunting and teasing from opposing fans.
He was ridiculed for his back acne before he started wearing a shirt that covered it. He was taunted for being part of an inquiry on marijuana use. Maryland fans made derogatory remarks about his younger and older sisters. His phone number has been divulged to students around the ACC, forcing him to change it several times to halt the unending ringing.
No other player has to deal with the kind of stuff Redick does. The question is why, and the answer has little to do with the fact that he is an avid poet who read his "work" in an ESPN segment.
Redick is hated largely because, physically, he is nothing special. First, he's short, at least compared to other players. Second, he's white, which stands out in a world of predominantly African-American college athletes. Only five other white players start in the ACC and just two of them -- Redick and N.C. State's Engin Atsur -- are under 6'7".
If not for his celebrity, Redick could be mistaken for a normal guy around Duke. No one could know he starred on the hardwood, while a similar case would be hard-pressed for most ACC basketball players.
People, myself included, seem largely jealous of Redick's abilities. He has the everyday appeal. So we ask, why him and not me? Why did he get this great shooting touch? Why is he the best shooter in the game?
Perhaps because he is a relentless worker. He never really gets credit, but his game has come miles from where it was three years ago. He came in as a pudgy freshman with a sweet stroke. Now he still has the stroke, but he shed the baby fat, plays relentless defense, developed an ability to handle the ball and honed an endless array of pump fakes that make him the most dangerous scorer in the nation because he can beat you from anywhere. Redick has to be guarded everywhere inside of 30 feet from the basket. His newfound ability to penetrate and get to the line is, in itself, an amazing weapon.
Defenses have to know where he is at all times or they will get lit up. He can get hot and take over a game, as he did Sunday when he made six of 10 three-pointers and scored 38 against Wake. He's the best foul shooter in NCAA history at 94.3 percent (385-of-411). He shoots 42 percent from deep -- better than many guards shoot from the floor.
For me, every time I see the ball drop through the net, I wonder what would have happened if Redick had stayed in state and come here. Redick at one point had interest in Virginia -- he visited here unofficially -- though it is doubtful he would have ended up here. Rumor has it that he came to Virginia but was not treated like a blue-chip star and then went to Duke, where the red carpet was rolled out for him.
An intelligent kid, Redick made the right choice. But what if Gillen had rolled out the red carpet too? Certainly J.J. would not have progressed under Pete Gillen as he did under Coach K, but one can only guess how different things could be.
Waking up from my daydream, Redick is actually a coach's fantasy. He doesn't talk trash or make ridiculous throat-slashing gestures. He may smile and nod his head as he retreats down the court, but he's not in anyone's face about it. He just goes about his business.
Thinking about it, maybe I do not actually hate Redick. I respect him as a player and as a leader -- not yet as a poet -- but also as the man who should win ACC Player of the Year for what he means to his basketball team.
I hate him because he stands for Duke, and I can't stand Duke. He always hits the big shots, and that makes him easy to hate. The bottom line is that everyone would love him if he played for their school, but he doesn't. He plays for the Yankees of college hoops and, as such, he gets a bad rep.
In fact, I wish only one thing on him: that he goes pro so he does not torture Virginia again next year.
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