I will be out of town for the next few days as we travel up to see Clemson take on Kentucky in the Music City Bowl. I will be attending Saturday's game against Western Michigan so there will be no previews or in-game notes this time. Look for some recap and thoughts on Sunday night.
On this Christmas Day eve, the Davidson Wildcats got a little love for their efforts in the ASU Sleep America Classic as they moved up to #9 on the Mid Major Top 25 poll. The poll is run by CollegeInsider.com, and is voted on by respective mid-major coaches. Fellow Southern Conference team, Appalachian State, made their first poll appearance of the season at #24 after defeating Vanderbilt and UVA in the San Juan Shootout.
Click here to see the rest of the Top 25.
The Wildcats are shooting over 50% here in the first part of the first half. That is really good news when thinking about fatigue and opportunities and so forth. Unfortunately, ASU has also hit a few shots of late. Like to see Coach going to the bench so early, although we need to do better with rebounding. It's also good to see Max scoring a little bit early.
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Arizona State is dominating Davidson on the boards (18-6), and foul trouble has Curry, Sander and Boris in a little bit of a pickle. Once again, it's good to see Barr and Gosselin getting some points on the offensive end.
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Jason Richards just made a big-time drive and teardrop to help build the Cats' nine-point lead. After a Gosselin block in the interior, Archambault found himself open for another three-pointer. I have a feeling that Arizona State is not going to be able to score very quickly, although they are getting a lot of second-chance points. This lead has been built, by the way, with Curry on the bench with two fouls.
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Arizona State hit two free throws to end the half as Archambault picked up a foul with the buzzer expiring. Quick half-time stats show Sander leading all Davidson scorers with 12 points, followed by Richards with 9. Meno and Curry have as many combined fouls as they do points (4). Although our assist/turnover ratio is a cool 3.00 (9:3), the Wildcats are getting outrebounded by a margin of 23-7. ASU has 10 offensive rebounds so far. Davidson is shooting 52% from the field while ASU is only shooting 37%. ASU has been to the line five more times than Davidson, hitting 10-11.
The Wildcats certainly need to find Boris and Andrew for a few points inside, and have to make up the rebounding margin by not letting the Sun Devils get second chances. It will also be interesting to see how aggressively Stephen Curry plays after fouling out last night and having two quick fouls in the first half.
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Boris Meno starts the second half out strong with a turn-around jumper and a dunk. Curry gets the sixth point and Herb Sendek has had enough.
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16:44 to play, and Curry gets his fourth foul. We need to get back to the east coast when they let Stephen play his style of defense. Sander picked up his third foul. This is going to be a long hard 16 minutes.
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We have outscored them by 10 in the second half and have outrebounded the Sun Devils. Jason Richards has really stepped up with Curry on the bench. He now has 14 points.
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Sander now has 4 fouls and Lovedale finally gets his first points of the game. Both teams are now in the bonus with 10:47 to play. With an 18 point lead, I feel pretty confident right now. The Sun Devils don't seem to be able to score quickly at all. We can't slow down the game by fouling.
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I like our defensive strategy right now. Our 1-3-1 zone with the bigs really has ASU worried about every pass they make. Richards now has 19 points. And Archambault gets a steal and a basket. This is looking good.
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Arizona State making a little bit of a run. One interesting stat right now is points off turnovers: 19 for Davidson, and 7 for ASU.
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Check that. Make it a terrifying run. 10-0 run after a 3-pointer, turnover and an offensive rebound. Thankfully they can't shoot free throws.
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Richards is having a big game with 21 points, but after an ASU 3-pointer, they have some confidence. It's about time to see some Sander and Curry. And here they come. This one is going to come down to it.
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Jason Richards hits a big-time three pointer. I propose a marketing plan to call us "Dagga Nation!"
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Sun Devils refuse to give in. Meno fouls out after a turnover and Sendek's full court press is reaking havoc. I should not have said anything about having this thing in hand. What a game so far. Davidson has really choked at the free throw line at the end of this one. That's not usual for us.
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What a huge win for Davidson. That 16-0 team from two years ago won most of their games after giving up a lead and holding on at the end. If we would have shot a little better from the FT line (14-23), things wouldn't have been so dicey.
Incredible game for Richards who finished with 25 points, 3 assists. Stephen Curry and Thomas Sander both got double figures with 10 and 14 respectively. Otherwise, there weren't too many good statlines as far as rebounding, FT shooting and fouls. But you have to win the ugly games. This was a big win for the program and it's time for Christmas.
Countdown is under two hours now for the championship game of the Sleep America Classic between the Davidson Wildcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils. ASU is coached by Herb Sendek who instituted a Princeton-style offense while at N.C. State. In the past few seasons, some of Davidson's toughest games have been against teams that have slowed down the offensive flow of the game and limited the Wildcats to fewer shot attempts. Davidson will either have to go crazy on the offensive boards, create transition points off of turnovers, or raise their shooting percentage. They won't be scoring anywhere near 80 points in this game if they shoot under 40% from the field.
The Wildcats showed some fatigue during last night's game as there were stretches in the first and second halves when they allowed Ohio to work their way back into the game through turnovers and missed rebounding opportunities. Davidson can't afford to be sloppy against a team that slows the game down and limits opportunities to score. It will be interesting to see how fatigue affects this one.
Look for increased minutes from Steve Rossiter, Bryant Barr, Andrew Lovedale and Will Archambault as the Wildcats try to use their depth to counteract fatigue and (if we get the same whistle-happy refs as yesterday) foul trouble. While Coach McKillop might try some pressure defense to create turnovers in the passing lanes, don't be surprised to see the Wildcats briefly come out in zone looks after timeouts. They have been very effective in messing with set plays and keeping the offenses off guard.
Final Prediction: Davidson 70 Arizona State 62
OK, so I caved. I'm young and have no reason to get up before noon tomorrow. So here we go, we'll have up-to-date comments during the game tonight.
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It seems that we have Dick Snyder on for the halftime show. Let's hope I can stay awake til 1 AM. Kilgo has also talked about some travel problems with getting the team flown out to Arizona. I'd be interested to know if Ohio ran into the same bad weather.
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Only on Davidson Basketball radio do we get to hear Alien Ant Farm introduce John Kilgo from a commercial break. Pretty sweet. It feels really cool to think that most everyone on the east coast is sleeping right now, while we have a nice little group of Davidson diehards on the internet here.
In the pre-game interview, Coach McKillop talked about the offensive prowess of Ohio. He also mentioned the need for Davidson to use a little zone tonight. I'm hoping that we utilize it a little bit in the first half. For the first time in many years, we have a group of guys that are long enough to make passing very difficult when we are in a zone. It also makes scouting a little more difficult when SoCon squads have to put in a zone offense in their short weeks of practice.
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Things seem to be going pretty well for the Wildcats right now. We have been strong on the rebounds and defensive pressure as Ohio has missed quite a few shots. Big man Leon Williams already has two fouls for the Bobcats and is now on the bench. We have turned the ball over 4 times so far, but without seeing the action, it is kind of hard to know how they happened.
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Ohio seems to be having a lot of trouble inside against our big guys. With the junior Leon Williams with 2 fouls, and 6-9 freshman von Kempen now with 3 fouls, let's look to see Sander get some looks on the blocks. We have already hit 4 three-pointers, but I would like to see us continue to attack the paint. Curry leads all scorers with 6 points. Coach seems to be rotating Steph and Jason at point. That's an interesting arrangement, especially this early in the game. Bobcats just picked up their seventh team foul.
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With 7:54 left in the first half, you have to love the depth that this team is displaying. Steph has become a pretty solid backup PG, which was a point of weakness earlier in the season. Barr has hit a three for Davidson, Lovedale, "the Big Cat" (I guess it's better than Anthony Lovedale) has been very strong inside and Archambault continues to provide speed on the wings. Ohio is in some major foul trouble right now with van Kempen and Williams both having 3 fouls inside. I am a little surprised that Sander hasn't been seen more on the offensive side of the court so far. These refs aren't scared to blow their whistles tonight. Double bonus already for Davidson.
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Davis has been very good for Ohio so far. He has 13 points right now. Turnovers are really hurting us right now as the Bobcats are being able to get some transition points and keep their size disadvantage minimized. They seem to be doubling down inside, and Davidson needs to continue to work their inside-out game. Barr got open on the last possession and hit a three off of an inside feed. Over 17 total fouls in the first half.
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Pretty good first half for the Cats. They always go through a stretch of offensive inefficiency, but the Bobcats couldn't get closer than 5 points. It is always important to be able to hold off runs when you aren't getting points on offense. This team looks to be headed towards another 80+ point performance tonight. Although Kilgo might not completely testify to it, I think that these players are really playing loose right now, which is something that we struggled with last year. Playing loose allows you to be a little more aggressive on defense and relaxes the offense to a point where they are not pressing to create baskets.
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Good to see that we're attacking the paint so far in the second half. Although our 14 turnovers are beginning to get on my nerves. Ohio is finding some scoring on the inside right now too. The Bobcats can score quickly. Kilgo hasn't mentioned it yet, but I wonder if we utilized any zone tonight. McKillop might put it in right after this timeout.
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HAHA! I called it. The Wildcats come out in the 1-3-1 zone, before switching back to man.
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"Curry's in a hurry!" Wow, there are some real Kilgo moments tonight. Like to see Archambault get a nice basket inside and seeing Curry run transition.
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The offense seems to be slowing up just a little bit in the last few minutes. Ohio refuses to relent in the frontcourt and the three-pointers are not falling like they might for Davidson. However, our depth still seems to be causing them problems.
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Curry just picked up his fourth foul with 10.5 minutes to play. This might not be so good. We'll see how this affects our offensive flow. Meno and Sander might be getting some more looks inside. Gosselin just committed our 16th team turnover. Momentum is definitely in the favor of the Bobcats. We need to do more than just hold on. We need to be keeping the pressure on.
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Both teams are really starting to feel some major foul trouble. Ohio has hit some big time shots, and have pulled this thing close. In these last few minutes of the game, Davidson needs to be careful about fatigue. Ohio has a lot of momentum and have been beating Davidson to the glass on the offensive end. The Wildcats need to take some pride in their defense.
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With Curry on the bench, Sander steps up big. With two three-pointers and some big rebounds on the defensive glass, he's going to have lead this team in the next five minutes.
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Curry comes back in to hit a big three. Then subsequently fouls out. A little over 3 minutes to play, and Davidson will need to look to its big juniors to carry this team for 3:18 more. But after a Meno turnover, Ohio pulled the game to within five under 2:30 to play.
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Sander hits a clutch basket with under a minute to play. Williams fouls out and this game looks to be in hand. You gotta love the play of Sander and Richards late in this game. Boris finished with a double-double on 17 points and 16 rebounds. Juniors stepped up big tonight.
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Big win tonight. I'm going to bed. Whew. It's a great night to be a Wildcat.
As fun as it was to provide blog updates during Monday's win over Chattanooga, I won't be doing that tonight due to the 11 p.m. start on the east coast. For those that are up at that hour on the internet, you can just as easily tune in to John Kilgo. Although, I can't guarantee you that he will provide cursory bits of information to your liking. "Grant to Winters. Winters to McKillop. McKillop to Grant. Johnson Scores!"
Although it won't remain there too long, Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats are the front page article on ESPN.com's Men's Basketball page. The article, written by Midmajority.com's Kyle Whelliston, is a testament to the success and integrity of the program. Although I'd wish that Curry's arrival at Davidson wouldn't always have to be constructed as a result of Virginia Tech's mistake, I will take the press.
See here for story.
Coming off of an impressive 12 point victory at Chattanooga on Monday, the Davidson Wildcats will travel out to Tempe, AZ to play in the Arizona State Sleep America Classic. Their first round matchup on Thursday comes against a top mid-major program in the form of the Ohio Bobcats. The Bobcats are currently ranked 27th on the Mid-Major Top 25 poll (yes, 27th). Their last NCAA tournament appearance came in 2004-2005, when they lost their first-round matchup to fourth-seeded Florida by a mere 5 points.
This year's team enters this game at 6-2 and, like the Davidson Wildcats, have five players averaging in double digits for points scored. They are led by 6-6 senior forward Sonny Troutman who has been averaging 16 points and four assists per game. They have been shooting lights-out on their home floor, including a 60.4% shooting performance in their most recent win over St. Josephs.
Ohio has very good depth with eight players averaging over 20 minutes played per game. This team also knows how to draw the fouls, as they have gotten to the free throw line nearly 100 more times than their opponents this season. The Bobcats only have one top scorer over 6 feet 6 inches which would imply some sort of height advantage for Davidson. The 6-8 junior starter Leon Williams looks to be the Bobcats' main threat in the paint with 13.3 ppg and 7.5 rpg.
In order for the Wildcats to be successful in this one, they must learn from several of the things that Chattanooga did to them. The Mocs upset nearly all of our post offense by doubling down and applying pressure to our perimeter passing game. Instead of being patient and finding the open man, our bigs routinely dribbled to the sideline and gave up position, and sometimes possession. We have to do a better job of feeling the pressure, anticipating where it's coming from and executing our inside-outside offense. We cannot be content with passing the ball on the perimeter and jacking treys the entire game.
I also think that Davidson needs to be more ready to switch to a zone defense. The Mocs exposed our man defense by making simple screens and executing the entry passes. Ohio doesn't seem to shoot nearly as many three-pointers as Davidson or even Chattanooga, so we should force them to make skip passes and to shoot one-timers (no opportunity for rebounds).
Both teams will be traveling a good distance for this one, so expect a little bit of offensive sluggishness in the first half.
Prediction: Davidson 85 Ohio 78
Call it an immature act of showmanship, but I sometimes like to look at message boards the morning after Davidson beats a team. Overall, the fans over at Chattanooga Mocs were pretty gracious. There was a little bit of McKillop hating and ref hating, but that is very understandable. If you watched the game, I think that you would say that the refs were not very accurate overall. Thomas' last two fouls were obviously not on him, and the Mocs got away with some huge pressure pushes early on in the contest. What's even more unfortunate was that the refs seemed to be making up for those calls late in the game by allowing Davidson to literally barrel roll anyone that lept into the air. There were some horrible no-calls that should have gone the Mocs' way.
I spent the last two summers coaching basketball camp, and have a feel for what it is to be referee. It is never easy to know that you missed a call and have everyone tell you about it. It is easy to start second guessing yourself and to try to find a way to make up for your mistake. I did this once or twice and found that it made matters much worse. I'm a firm believer in not attempting to call things fairly, but rather trying to be accurate throughout the game. If you miss a bad call, that should not make you call another bad call to even things out. You only begin to start cheating both sets of players out of playing the game they love.
So refs out there. No matter what coaches and fans might yell at you, call what you see in front of you. Don't make things up, and don't ignore what you see in order to make the game even. To do that is to violate the honor code of all referees and make the game about your performance, instead of the players and coaches.
When analyzing a big win like this one, it is always helpful to look at the pre-game points of emphasis and rate Davidson's performance in those areas. Regardless of the opponent, Coach McKillop always stresses the need to rebound and take care of the basketball.
Quantitatively, Davidson won the game in all aspects of the stat sheet. They outrebounded the Mocs 44-42, and the team assist/turnover ratio of nearly 1.5:1 completely outdid Chattanooga's 1:1 performance.
The Cats benefitted from a scoring outburst from Max Paulhus Gosselin who put in 22 points on 9-15 shooting, including 4-5 from behind the arc. They were led by the unflappable freshman Stephen Curry who finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists. The second half also saw Jason Richards heat up, as he hit 3 second half treys along with 8-9 FT shooting to end with 19 points.
But, this victory cannot be summed up in quantitative measurement. The Wildcats mostly played without one of their captains in Thomas Sander, and went for a stretch without either Sander or Meno in the game because of foul trouble. They withstood several offensive runs by the home team and continued to mature in their "trial by fire." It is not often that the term is associated with a winning team, but I would contend that these wins are just as torturous and educational for these young players. McKillop has let his young guys take some lumps and they are maturing quickly as a result.
On the ride back to North Carolina, this group needs to think a little bit about some places for improvement:
They need to be a little more aware with offensive time management and game situation. Veteran teams don't fire first-look three-pointers with a single digit lead in the final minutes of a road game.
They are going to need work on communicating on defense and calling out screens. This is usually a plus for the Wildcats, but sometimes the Mocs would get ridiculously open as Davidson players were caught out of position.
Finally, although Thomas and Boris were both in foul trouble a lot, Davidson needs to not abandon the inside game. When a team can score from the perimeter and from the block, they are very difficult to stop. If a few of those second half threes hadn't fallen, we could have been in trouble.
Overall, though, you always take a conference win on the road. Davidson has already vanquished two North division opponents early in the season and we will be very happy about those victories come February.
The Wildcats have started the game strong. Chattanooga's pressing D had the offense a little on their heels for a bit, but some big blocks by Boris on the defensive end have led to some run-out baskets.
Sander just picked up his second foul. Gosselin hit his second 3.
There doesn't seem to be much of a crowd there tonight. That will help us some.
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Max now has 16 points for us. Hogewood is baffled. We aren't getting as many post looks as I would like. The Mocs are doubling down on every entry pass and our last few possessions has seen us give up on the post. The Mocs are hitting some outside shots to keep this one close. This is going to be a good one.
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With 7 minutes to play, Chattanooga has cut the lead to four after retaking it. They pulled back off of some key open looks on offense created by simple screens. Davidson just switched to a 3-2 zone with Boris, Steve and Stephen at the top. Mays can really shoot from the outside, and the Mocs have hit some big free throws. Curry now has a quiet 10 on a couple threes and some putbacks. Davidson is really missing Sander right now. His two fouls have kept us from establishing any type of post offense.
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With under 4 minutes to play in the first half, this is a pretty ugly game. Neither team is doing much on offense. Curry is now 3-8 from the field, and Boris seems to have no offensive touch whatsoever. Archambault also had a quiet few minutes. Davidson needs to start creating some easy baskets out of transition or offensive rebounds. The halfcourt isn't working right now.
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Keddric Mays leads all Mocs' scorers with 16 points, including 5 three-pointers. Compared to their paltry numbers, coming into this game Chattanooga has been shooting very well from the line.
For Davidson, I think that problems begin and end with Thomas Sander. He hasn't been in for so long. Certainly the 16 points from Max and 12 from Curry help out, but the Wildcats are jacking threes like nobody's business, and their percentages are not too good. Boris missed two front ends of 1-in-1's and Andrew's been caught out of position a few times.
I think that Coach might go back to the zone a little bit in the second half and force Chattanooga to get open without screening. Davidson has not switched on defense well at all, and they need to force the Mocs to make a few more difficult passes. Hopefully the Chattanooga bigs will cool off from the line and Davidson will get a few more easy looks. They need to let the offense come to them.
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Sander is back. In the last several possessions, he has assisted on two three-pointers and scored one of his own. After coming out with a third foul and a turnover, McKillop pulled him over on the sideline, told him to "catch and see," and put him back in. The offense is motoring again. With Sander anchoring it, Curry gets better looks and so does Meno. Doaks has three fouls for Chattanooga.
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Just walked back to the TV to watch Sander pick up his 4th foul and Meno pick up his third. Damn.
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The bad news: Boris and Thomas are on the bench with four fouls. The good news: Stephen Curry is heating up. The Wildcats have slowed them down with a 1-3-1 zone and some strong play from Max, Andrew, J-Rich, Stephen and Steve have built a 10 point lead. This is the last update until the end of the game.
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Game Over: Big victory for the Wildcats. They held on well in the last part of the second half after Sander fouled out. Max had a career day and Stephen continued to hit outside shots like nobody's business. Look for a new entry later on when the stats are published.
The Davidson Wildcats play at Chattanooga tonight at 7 in one of the season's best early conference matchups. The Wildcats are 2-15 all-time in Chattanooga and the Mocs still want revenge for last year's 80-55 drubbing the SoCon championship game.
The Mocs return two key starters in Keddric Mays and Ricky Hood to a team that somehow stumbled into last year's championship game. Mays leads the team with 15 points a game on 31 minutes. Hood recently made some big shots down the stretch as the Mocs pulled off an impressive four-point victory over mid-major great Oral Roberts.
In the conference, the Mocs only game was a close loss on the road to a peculiar College of Charleston team that doesn't seem to have established an identity yet this season.
With the return of Will Archambault from injury, the Cats should have an advantage in overall personnel. Sander, Meno, and Lovedale have become one of the best frontcourt trios in the conference and the Mocs really don't have any one up front with the power to stop them. They will try to push the floor a little bit with their fast guards and forwards and hope to keep Davidson off balance.
On any given year, that strategy would be very effective. But this Davidson team is most unlike any Wildcat team that the SoCon has seen in many years. You combine toughness and great shooting with speed and aggressiveness in the passing lanes and this team defies pigeonholing. They are just really good.
That being said, however, the Wildcats have always struggled in big games over the Christmas Break. They have been all alone on campus all week and it can be daunting to go up to an enemy court without having been around your friends and with having small fan support when you get there. Hopefully, this group can leave that behind them and pull out a victory. Chattanooga certainly will not hand it to them.
Prediction: Davidson 72 Chattanooga 68
I will be away from a computer until Monday and will not be posting anything over the weekend.
In the meantime, check out some of the following links:
ASU gets big help inside
Davidson Profile
Curry wins player of the month
I will see you guys on Monday. Have a good weekend.
The Davidson Wildcats have only lost 1 conference home game in regulation to a current SoCon member since February of 2002.
Although it doesn't seem to have any technical advantages as far as crowd placement, Davidson has placed very well on their home court throughout the course of their history. When you put a good team with a relatively supportive fanbase you get a pretty strong result. Although, in some ways, it does surprise me a little that Belk would be such a homecourt advantage. I guess other teams just don't travel here as well.
Through 10 games this season, the Wildcats have hit 98 team three-pointers. Last year’s team, who had the top 2 three-point shooters in Davidson history, did not surpass that mark until January of that season.
This year has marked a few more license distributing as Coach has really let some young guys take shots from the outside. Notice that I didn't include our 3 point shooting percentage in this stat.
In all-time records, Davidson is only 2-15 playing at Chattanooga, and 13-30 all time, while they are 4-1 at Kresse Arena and 41-9 all-time. And yet, since the College’s inception into the Southern Conference, both Chattanooga and the College have only won one Tournament championship since the late 90’s.
The College of Charleston has sported some very competitive teams in the last decade and yet Davidson has always seemed to have their number. Compare that to Chattanooga and you really have a reversal of fortunes. The Wildcats don't travel very well to the roundhouse, where basket perspectives are off and visiting fans are placed in the rafters. Let's hope we can change that misfortune on the 18th.
Despite their recent program success, Davidson has beaten Duke nearly as many times as they have beaten Clemson (17, 18).
OK, so I'm just trying to say that Clemson hasn't always been "mediocre" at basketball. And Duke used to be pretty bad.
Although Davidson is only averaging 2 points more per game this season than last season, they have 5 players averaging in double figures, compared to only three last year.
It's no surprise that the Wildcats are opening up the offense this season with all kinds of players shooting outside shots, getting transition points, and finding openings in the lane. This isn't the shutdown Brendan/Ian show anymore. Every player has to be guarded on the perimeter. Nearly all of our bigs can take a one-on-one to the basket. And Stephen is drawing double teams off the dribble. Don't ask me how I'd defend this bunch.
This season the Wildcats have averaged only 34.4 points in the first half, compared to an impressive 44.8 points in the second half. They have outrebounded their opponents by an average of 9 boards a game, including an average of 5 more offensive boards per game.
I'm not quite sure why, but this team has had some incredible second-half surges this season. Although we have had some depth problems at times, Coach is not scared to go to his bench for quality minutes. This whole team is getting some great experience right now, and they are all quick enough to keep up with a high-pace gameplan for 40 minutes.
Feel free to post corrections and additions to this list in the comments section.
It isn't often that complaining really changes much in professional sports. It seems like we have stumbled upon an exception. In a stunning move today, NBA commissioner David Stern decided to revert back to the old leather ball. Throughout the season so far, NBA players have been complaining about the new composite "outdoor" ball, and it seems that Stern has finally listened. The change will take place on January 1st.
Well here was my week; I'll let you review it.
-The Southern Sports Awards invaded Davidson for two days. Last minute columns were written, interviews were held, and beers were drunk by Chipper Jones. When it was all over, I got a couple of cool pictures and the 2nd Annual SSA's officially became the last ever SSA's. See post.
-Every once in a while, I tune into the NBA just to see what is going on. I've never really followed the league but I appreciate basketball. I was shocked to find that the team I loved growing up, the Orlando Magic, had the best record in the Eastern Conference. That was quite shocking. I'm going to make an attempt to follow this team a little bit this season, especially with the story of Grant Hill and his remarkably frustrating career. He has an incredible heart. If only he hadn't gone to Duke.
In other NBA news, AI is leaving Philly. I remember when he was really spectacular back in those NBA Finals a while ago. Wow, I am getting really old.
-I finished tied in the Davidsonian Pick'ems competition with my section co-editor. We were square going into this week and only picked two different games. I had a huge win on Vince Young's OT scramble, while she picked up the tying point as New Orleans clobbered Dallas in Irving. I really haven't gotten any satisfaction from this year's NFL season. My fantasy team finished 10th (although I would have been fifth place if it ranked on cumulative points). The Panthers wasted the league's best wide receiver and defensive end on a team that can't score three TD's a game or hold down Jason Campbell or Jeff Garcia. Pathetic. For the rest of this season, I'm gonna pull for the Saints, if only because of that U2 song.
-Davidson laid the smack-down on Charlotte in both men's and women's basketball. Both teams are really pumped and everything seems to be going right. Every year that the Carolina Panthers have a chance to make the playoffs, but have the Saints spoil it on the last game of the season and finish 7-9, the Davidson Wildcats will go undefeated in the conference. Just throwing it out there. Let's hope that doesn't also mean losing to the Spartans in the second round of the SoCon tournament.
-I had a conversation with a friend about how Sylvester Stallone could possibly survive the filming of Rocky VI. We then had a very public demonstration of what it was to punch in slow motion, and then speed it up. It's movie magic!
My roommate and I invested in several Panther banners at the beginning of this season. I am proud to say that we won't take them down now (although I kind of want to). This team started off slow without a running game to fit into their running gameplan. Then they got injuries on the defense. Then Jak starts losing games and everyone's confidence. Then, Chris Weinke throws for 400 yards and we still lose by two TD's.
"F them,"* says my roommate.
*Emphasis detracted
OK, so I thought I should post this. Biggest crowd since '89 against Duke. Photo credit by Don Barr.
While I could easily talk for a while about "fan conduct" and what not (apparently there were a couple of students who took it upon themselves to go up to the Charlotte student section), I'm going to take a break from that until January and stick to the nitty-gritty.
One of the biggest keys to this double-digit win over Charlotte were the daggers that we jabbed in their hearts at the very beginning. Stephen, Max, and Thomas hit threes. Max and Curry both get a fastbreak basket, and before they know it, they are down 21-9. And they were only shooting a little bit under 50% at that point. When you feel like you are out there playing your game and then you are down by 12 to a team that you don't feel is any better than you are, you are really challenged.
Overall, I thought the coaching was absolutely excellent from two standpoints. The Wildcats came into the game without their fireball 6th man, Will Archambault. But McKillop instilled a lot of confidence in his team during this week, and he gave Max his shooting "license" back. After Gosselin had scored eight big points early, everyone knew that he would no longer be an offensive liability at the 3 spot.
I also give credit to the in-game defensive coaching, as our team defense was really threatening with zone switches and the "bigs" in the lineup (Andrew, Boris, Thomas, Max and J). Charlotte was a little thrown off, and their half-court O really suffered. If you would have told me that Goldwire and Alexander would have combined for as many threes as Stephen, Jason, Boris and Thomas, I would have wondered how we could have beaten them by double digits.
Give credit to the hustle on this team and the willingness to get on the floor. We had several possessions that were reignited by Wildcats not quitting on long rebounds and loose balls. It is so demorializing when you get outhustled by someone, especially when you initially had position on them.
There had been a little bit of banter over on Davidsoncats about whether this team is better than last year's SoCon championship group. I think that it is becoming harder to say that this year's team isn't completely better (no disrespect b/c I loved those guys). But look at the matchups.
Last year's frontcourt of Ian, Thomas and Boris. Obviously Ian was incredible with his post shots and outside looks, but his rebounding wasn't as spectacular as consistent. Thomas is developing his touch inside as well as finding three-point range now. He and Boris have already combined to hit 16 three-pointers this season. Throw in Andrew's rebounding prowess and Steve's solid depth, and you have a much improved frontcourt.
In the backcourt, you look to replace a Matty Matt's three-point shooting prowess and we can already look at Barr or Archambault, both of whom are taking the outside shots and really forcing the defense out on top of them. You then open up the middle for Curry and J-rich, something that Brendan and Kenny weren't always privileged to, and our guards start knocking down some big baskets. We are much quicker in transition, and Richards could very well be on his way to challenging Grant's assist records with his 72 assists on the season so far.
You look at these guys out there and you see all of them smiling and you see that hop in their step, and you can't help but think that this team is really ready to go slay some giants. They had chances against Michigan and should've beaten Missouri. I can't wait to see what the SoCon holds, especially with spring signing period in the middle of that. If we get a signature from JJ then there's no telling where this program can go.
Huge game against Charlotte tonight. There is plenty of coverage over on Davidsoncats.com. Both fans are really ready for this one. Unfortunately for the Davidson contingent, the Wildcats will be without a key element tonight. Davidson will have to step up to make up for his absence.
More on this after the game.
One thing to watch tonight will be the fans in Belk Arena. Davidson has had more turnout during the last few home games than they have had in a while. With a bunch of junk already going down online and 1,000 Charlotte fans expected, this could be the type of athletic event that Davidson has not witnessed in quite a while. Expect a full report late tonight/early tomorrow.
Do not forget to check out the Southern Sports Awards on TV.
I apologize for the recent printing of several articles that I wrote. I wanted to publish something, and it was all I had time for at the moment. Now back to a little more relaxed style.
As many of you know, the Southern Sports Awards filmed their second annual awards show at Davidson College on Wednesday night. As a reporter, I was able to take a few pictures with some of the celebrities and interview a few people. You can find those pictures through that link.
Overall, I think that the awards were great exposure for the college with Bob McKillop presenting the Best Coach award, preceded by a clip on Davidson basketball coaches of the past. You can't help but think that anyone who watches the show (see their website for showtimes) will come away impressed with that small college in North Carolina that they'd only vaguely heard of.
Otherwise, I will admit that the show was a little underwhelming. First off, do we really need an awards show for sports in the south? Using that initial bit of doubt, we run to the awards show itself where nearly every award winner was based off of who could make it to the taping. Of course, all of the NASCAR contingency lived only a few miles down the road from Davidson, and so they won some pretty outrageous victories, over the likes of George Mason, Reggie Bush, and the Carolina Hurricanes.
I can't wait to see the actual show to see if they dubbed in applause for the NASCAR victories. Nobody in the Hall was clapping. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not prejudiced here (although I am not a NASCAR fan), but I did find the overwhelming NASCAR presence very sketchy.
The highlights of the show have to be split up into two categories: that which will be on TV, and the behind-the-scenes.
ON TV: Julius Peppers. He was definitely the elephant in the Duke Performance Hall (even over Evander Holyfield). Throughout the show, people were constantly walking up to his seat to get an autograph. When he won the Fan Favorite award, the entire place erupted, only to have Julius give the worst speech I had ever heard. It's ok though.
I also have to give it up to Bob McKillop. He was so composed on camera even with the entire student section chanting his name as he walked to the podium. I really don't know how he is still at this school.
OFF-CAMERA: The three hosts: James Carville, Finesse Mitchell and Jon Reep were very funny, especially when they messed up. They made the show so much better when students started getting worn down.
I know that I heard about it, but I now have proof that Billy Packer is the biggest deuche-bag alive. He took every chance he had to make a crack on Davidson and even flicked off the crowd at one point. I swear that James Carville was about to beat him up on stage. If it weren't for the "Davidson Gentleman" attitude, our group of students would have booed him out of the county.
Overall, I think that the awards show was a nice event, but it probably won't be going on to 20th and 30th anniversaries. The Edge Marketing company has talked about returning it to Davidson next year, but if the obvious lack of market and "settling" for NASCAR stars is all that they can do, this show will be finished in the near future.
Back in the fall of 1968, the United States was going through some of the most tumultuous and significant events of this century. In the spring and summer, dual assassinations had taken the lives of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. It would be less than a year before the first man landed on the moon. Throughout the country, the cultural tumult over draft-dodging, racial toleration, and gender equality continued to preoccupy a generation. Even small Davidson, NC counted itself as being part of the national picture of the 1960’s. However, down here, the name of the game wasn’t necessarily civil rights or foreign policy. It was college basketball.
In the history of Davidson basketball, the 1960’s played out like an Oscar-winning movie script. Lefty Driesell arrived on campus at the beginning of the decade, and when he left nine years later, the school’s basketball program was transformed forever. Davidson reached the NCAA tournament three times in those years, they finished the season in the Top 25 six times, and three players in that decade were named All-Americans.
Davidson finished the 1967-1968 season with a heart-breaking four-point loss to North Carolina in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. Armed with a returning frontcourt of Mike Maloy, Jerry Kroll and Doug Cook, Driesell knew that 1969 could be the year to challenge UCLA for the national championship. Driesell and his staff never expected less than perfection, and his drive influenced the players and the community.
Even the thought of speculating about a national championship in Davidson seems mind-boggling in the current context. In 2005-2006, Davidson sported one of its best teams of the Bob McKillop era which included four players who finished in the all-time leaderboards in points, three-pointers and assists. Yet, after winning the Southern Conference championship game by a recordt ying 25 points over Chattanooga, Davidson was only given a million to one chance to win the NCAA tournament.
In 1969, Davidson was not a surprise team. In the Charlotte Observer’s season preview, Davidson and North Carolina were heralded as the East Coast challengers to UCLA. Davidson’s Mike Maloy was on the cover of the December issue of Sports Illustrated along with Mike Casey and Charlie Scott. Throughout the season, Davidson played 10 of its home games in Charlotte Coliseum because the smaller Johnston Gym would not hold the large crowds.
“When we stepped on the court, winning was the expected outcome 100 percent of the time,” said forward Jerry Kroll ’70. ’“Each of us expected the highest level of intensity and performance from each other and we counted on and trusted each other to
deliver, regardless of the opponent.”
During that season, Davidson handily defeated schools like Maryland, South Carolina, Texas, Michigan, Duke and Wake Forest. Their average scoring margin of 16.5 points per game ranked sixth in the nation by the end of the season. Davidson won road games in such locales as Madison Square Garden, Ann Arbor, Michigan and Morgantown, West Virginia. By season’s end, Mike Maloy was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year. Maloy averaged 24.6 points per game, while Kroll had 16.0 ppg and Cook had 14.6 ppg. At point guard, Dave Moser averaged 8.3 ppg and led the team with 155 assists.
Despite its size, the small college town did its best to support one of the nation’s top basketball programs. Games were always sold out and fan support equaled the intensity of Coach Driesell and his players.
“There were students who, having hitch-hiked in some cases, showed up in New York and Chicago to see us play,” said Kroll. “The atmosphere was powerful…it was electric.”
Armed with the confidence of an undefeated conference season, a hometown audience, and the charge that only one conference team made it to the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats rolled through the Southern Conference tournament being held in Charlotte, NC. In the championship game, the ’Cats defeated East Carolina by a margin of 26 points. For the third time in four years, Davidson earned a bid to the NCAA tournament to take on Villanova.
Not only did that game mark the final time that Lefty Driesell coached a Davidson team in Charlotte, it was also the final college game as an East Carolina Pirate for an ECU guard named Bob McKillop. As McKillop watched the talented Wildcats celebrate in mid-court, he knew that there was something special about that program: “They owned the town,” remembered McKillop.
A 14-point win over the Villanova Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament’s first round allowed Davidson to advance to the East Regionals in College Park, MD where they faced St. Johns. The Johnnies had pulled out a 75-74 overtime win over Davidson earlier in the season, and the Wildcats wanted revenge.
The Wildcats led the game at halftime and pulled away in the second half due to the suffocating defense of Mike O’Neill who held the prolific St. Johns’ scorer, John Warren, to only four second half points. Maloy added a career-high 35 points to give the Wildcats a 10-point win and a place in the Eastern Regional championship game against North Carolina.
“The Davidson dressing room was quiet and confident,” wrote the Charlotte Observer’s Mel Derrick on March 14, 1969. “The mood was one belonging to a team that honestly thinks it can win a national championship.”
On March 15, Davidson took on the University of North Carolina in what was arguably the most important game in the history of Davidson basketball. The Tar Heels had beaten Davidson in the same Regional Championship game the year before by four points. The game featured two of the nation’s best players in Mike Maloy and Charlie Scott. It also featured two young coaches in Lefty Driesell and Dean Smith who would go on to epitomize the standard of basketball excellence in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
At the time, it was a battle for revenge, it was a battle for the Final Four, and it was a battle for bragging rights in the state of North Carolina. The writers of a blockbuster movie could not have written a more compelling script.
The game featured numerous lead changes and many foul calls as the teams fought back and forth. With under a minute remaining, the score was tied and, as it was before the invention of the shot clock, Davidson was determined to hold for the final shot. But a North Carolina defender found himself in the right place at the right time after Kroll reversed his dribble in the middle of the court. The ensuing charging call gave the Tar Heels the ball and Coach Smith called a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout with under a minute to play, everyone in the fieldhouse knew that UNC wanted Scott to take the final shot. After receiving the inbound, Scott was able to go to his right and find himself open at the top of the key. Scott sunk the shot, and all the hopes of Davidson fans everywhere.
Davidson finished the season with a record of 27-3 and the Associated Press ranked them third in the country in their final poll.
Since 1969, Davidson has not won a game in the NCAA tournament, despite winning another five conference tournament championships. The storybook years of the Driesell era when Davidson and North Carolina battled for state bragging rights are long gone.
To a new generation of basketball fans, those teams seem rather exceptional and compelling, but rarely realistic. Instead, the past success of Davidson basketball has begun to take on a mythic feeling that hides the true beauty of how important those successes were. Although Davidson remains a school of 1,600 students, many still believe that national prominence is not just a dream.
“Success starts at the top, from the administration down to the coaching to the players and fans,” said former point guard Dave Moser ’69. “I really believe that we can compete with some of the best teams in the country.”
In the same way that Lefty Driesell transformed a program of mediocrity into one with national title aspirations, Bob McKillop continues to push the Davidson basketball program to new heights. In the last five years, McKillop has put together three postseason teams that have helped raise Davidson’s national recognition level.
Davidson continues to believe in success on a national level, and will never forget the heights they have reached in the past.
-published in the Davidsonian, December 6, 2006-
On Wednesday night, the Southern sports culture and all of its fanfare will descend upon Davidson College. The Lincoln Financial Southern Sports Awards are hosting the annual taping of their awards show in the Duke Family Performance Hall. For Davidson College, the event represents an incredible opportunity for regional and national exposure. For the athletes and performers, it represents the opportunity to gather with their peers and celebrate their achievements.
This year will represent only second ever presentation of the Southern Sports Awards and it aims to begin creating a niche in the end-of-year awards schedule. Last year, the show was held in Atlanta, GA on the week after Thanksgiving. While the presentation went off without a hitch, the producers came away realizing that they wanted more of an energetic audience.
“We really aimed to create a collegiate feel in this year’s show,” said co-executive producer Ken Neal. “We hope that students will wear their Davidson gear and be excited throughout the show.”
Neal represents one of the main reasons that this year’s show is being held at Davidson College. A Davidson grad from 1987, Neal owns his own sports production company in Charlotte and pushed the small liberal arts college as a prime venue.
For Davidson, the show will be an incredible opportunity to showcase not only the academic but athletic prowess of one of the nation’s smallest Division I schools.
One video piece will feature some of the famous Davidson men’s basketball coaches of the past including current George Mason coach Jim Larranaga, former UNC coach Matt Doherty, former Maryland coach Lefty Driesell, and even NBA coach Larry Brown. The Southern Coach of the Year award will which will be presented by current Davidson coach Bob McKillop.
There will also be several commercial lead-ins that will feature the Davidson campus and students.
Aiming to capture the full aura of Southern Sports, the show will feature a traditions section to pay homage to the South’s passionate and crazy fans, tailgating, mascots, and stadium traditions.
This year’s show will be co-hosted by political pundit and avid Southern sports fan, James Carville. He will be joined by Southern comedian Jon Reep, who gained national press for his famous line in Dodge truck commercials: “that thing got a hemi?”
Although not all of the presenters and award winners will be revealed before the show, Neal did say that fans could expect a fair share of star power. Along with local NASCAR personalities, Davidson students can expect to see former boxer Evander Holyfield, former SNL star Finesse Mitchell, musical performers Chris Doughtry, Monica, Rodney Atkins, and Bubba Sparxx, and a couple of Carolina Panther players.
“If you come to the show expecting star power and quality musical performances, you will not leave disappointed,” said Neal. “However, I think that students will be most impressed by the visual setup of the show. It should be unlike anything they have ever seen done on campus.”
Despite the looming presence of exams and final projects, the Davidson community has already shown that it is willing to support such a high-profile endeavor. Several weeks ago, students camped out in the freezing night just to get tickets to the live taping. Many people were astonished that tickets went so quickly and opted to attend one of the two run-through sessions on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon. The Union Board received over 350 faculty and staff requests for an alotted 60 tickets.
“I have been really impressed with the support of the community for this event,” said Neal. “If we had a 2,000 seat venue in the Union, we could have easily sold it out.”
Although the anticipation for the event has greatly increased in the last few days to the construction in the Union and the rumors of attending stars, Davidson students have been encouraged to appreciate their proximity to the event and not harass the presenters and nominees.
“We really have very little in place to keep the student body away from the body of celebrities for this event. We are trusting that Davidson students will act maturely and ensure the success of the event.”
The awards show will be shown in its entirety on various Southern cities over the next two Saturdays. Charlotte, NC will air the show December 9, 2006 at 8 p.m. on WJZY.
I apologize for the lack of posts. We are entering into the week of hell here at Davidson. As far as basketball goes, here are some quick thoughts for the next week and a half:
-College of Charleston lost last night against Charleston Southern. The SoCon South race is officially wide open.
-Elon comes in tonight without their star player in LeVonn Jordan. Expect a strong Wildcat showing and a comfortable victory.
-Ugg, I hate exams. I will be back soon, I promise.
