LAS VEGAS — In the corridor of Lobo legends, Darington Hobson might one day find his portrait comfortably positioned between former Lobos Danny Granger and J.R. Giddens.
Except Thursday he did something Giddens could not — get out of the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
The tunnel at the southeast end of the Thomas & Mack Center acted as a vacuum, the booming chant of “MVP” sucked in as Hobson exited in the opposite direction, a pearl-white towel draped over his shoulders, hands held up to the large contingent of Lobo fans who came in to support the UNM men’s basketball team.
On Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center, Hobson pumped in 28 points and snared 15 rebounds, his 13th double-double of the season, ensuring the Lobos of a 75-69 victory over ninth seeded Air Force.
“I thought he was dominant at both ends of the floor,” said Lobo head coach Steve Alford. “I thought he made his presence known defensively. He had a performance today that there’s maybe 10 performances like this in conference tournament history over the last 11 years in this league. That was a big-time performance by the Player of the Year.”
The Player of the Year, an honor bestowed upon Granger and Giddens, isn’t where the comparisons stop. By every stretch of the imagination, Granger and Giddens are Hobson’s patron saints, as Hobson is an applicable fused blend of the two former Lobo superstars.
He has Giddens’ look-at-me flair, which eyes can’t help but gravitate toward. As can’t be overstated, Hobson is the man of multiplicity and the most-talked-about player on the team. But his haughty attitude sometimes requires Alford’s intervention, a demon Giddens fought ferociously to curtail.
“I can see where the comparisons are coming from,” Hobson said.
What he admittedly can’t see is how he is reminiscent of Granger.
The enigmatic Hobson, the one who exalts his own greatness in front of the camera, also has a side which happens to go largely unreported. Talent aside, like Granger, Hobson’s perplexingly humble, uncomfortable to take credit for much of anything.
Lo and behold, after Hobson notched his 13th double-double, tying Granger for most double-doubles since 2004-05, he credited his teammates and the coaching staff.
“It’s just a blessing to be in the same category as him,” Hobson said. “He’s an NBA All-Star. He’s a great player. For me it’s just been
preparation. I think when my teammates are pushing me hard in practice, it usually carries over for the game. A lot of that is my teammates are making shots and setting me up.”
And it’s almost as if Hobson was preordained to come to New Mexico, an ex-star’s past dictating Hobson’s future.
To understand, you must acknowledge the elephant in the room. You must understand the analogous journeys Giddens and Hobson went on.
Giddens was a tempestuous journeyman, capable of all the high-wire acts of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey but equally equipped with a circus attitude.
During a bar brawl, Giddens was stabbed in the leg, foreshadowing his departure from Kansas. After some discussion, it was mutually agreed Giddens would be better off at New Mexico, hoping to leave his baggage at the claim gates inside the Albuquerque International Sunport. It didn’t happen.
When he got here, the disturbances didn’t dissipate and he was suspended by former coach Ritchie McKay for not being a good teammate in February 2007. It wasn’t until 2007-08, under Alford, did Giddens transform.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Similarly, under Alford, Hobson experienced his reincarnation, shedding a troublesome past after embarking down the long, winding road from perdition to jubilation.
Hobson, the well-traversed peddler, flaunted his skills at five different schools — Western High, Alief Hastings, Gulf Shores Academy, Calvary Baptist Christian and Decatur Christian — in as many years.
And all this before college — in the prep ranks. Invariably, the constant uprooting impacted Hobson’s grades, temporarily crippling his Division I dreams and forcing him to play two years at the College of Eastern Utah.
Over the course of his short stay at the University, Hobson has said going to junior college was the best thing that could’ve happened to him. It enabled him to mature, to grasp what college basketball is about.
And Alford said he had a firm understanding of the game on Thursday.
“When you get to Season 3, Season 4, you need the Player of the Year to elevate,” Alford said.
And Hobson, after a career of taking the stairs, rose like an elevator, leaping to the 10th floor, while his competition tailed off at the eighth.
