Horry’s like a great pinch hitter who really doesn’t want to play every day, doesn’t want to go through the grind of all that running and sweating that it takes to be a great every-day player.

All he wants to do is hit with the game on the line.

Just look at what all of the Spurs’ great players were doing in crunch time.

Tony Parker was invisible in the fourth quarter. Manu Ginobili disappeared in the third quarter, put in a brief appearance in the fourth quarter.

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Duncan missed all those free throws, not to mention the put-back at the end of regulation.
After a while, no one really looked as if he wanted to shoot. No one but Horry.

You can’t be a great clutch shooter if you’re afraid to shoot, just like you can’t be a great clutch hitter if you don’t want to be at the plate or a great closer if you don’t want the ball in the ninth inning.

To make the shots, you can’t be afraid to miss them. As Gillette pointed out, Horry understands that no one remembers the shots you miss, especially if you’re a role player like Horry. If you miss, it’s only because you’re supposed to miss. A pretty good 3-point shooter still misses about six of 10 shots.

But if you aren’t afraid to shoot, you’re also going to make four of 10. If you’re a guy like Horry, who lives to take the shots people are going to remember, you may make even more than that when the pressure’s on.

He may be a lazy underachiever, but he’s not a fraud. The Spurs needed someone to step up Sunday, and Horry volunteered for duty. He scored 21 in the last 17 minutes, the final three being the game-winning points.

Give a big assist to Rasheed Wallace, who should have known better than to leave a shameless glory-hound all alone on the 3-point line.

But give the credit to Horry. He had the guts to take the shot and the skill to hit it. And in the process he added to his legend as perhaps the greatest bad player in the history of the game.