2008 SoCon Awards

The Southern Conference office announced the 2008 SCSMA All-Conference teams yesterday, with Davidson's Stephen Curry, Bob McKillop and The Citadel's Cameron Wells taking home top honors. On a day before the coaches ballots will be released, I thought I would provide you with my SCSMA ballot and several other awards that I think should be included next year. (Note that I do not include an All-Freshman team, but rather put them into the mix with everyone else).

Player of the Year: Stephen Curry
Coach of the Year: Bob McKillop
Freshman of the Year: Cameron Wells, The Citadel

1st Team
Stephen Curry, Davidson
Jason Richards, Davidson
Kyle Hines, UNC-Greensboro
Donte Minter, Appalachian State
Nicchaeus Doaks, UTC

2nd Team
Louis Graham, Georgia Southern
Brandon Giles, Western Carolina
Cameron Wells, The Citadel
Andrew Goudelock, College of Charleston
Stephen McDowell, UTC

3rd Team
Drew Gibson, Wofford
Jermaine Johnson, College of Charleston
Ola Atoyebi, Elon
Donald Sims, Appalachian State
Thomas Sander, Davidson

All Defensive Team
Max Paulhus Gosselin, Davidson
Stephen Curry, Davidson
Kyle Hines, UNC-Greensboro
Jason Richards, Davidson
Nicchaeus Doaks, UTC

All-Choke Team ("We're playing Davidson?!? Twice?!?")
Louis Graham, GSU - 7 points, 9 TO's, 9 fouls
Tony White, Jr., College of Charleston - 6-16 FG, 8 TO's
Jeremy Clayton, ASU - 4 points, 7 TO's
Stephen McDowell, UTC - 4-19 3PT FGs
Eric Wilson, WCU - 8 fouls, 7 points, 8 TO's

The "Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home" Team
Nick Aldridge, WCU
Tyler Whatley, Wofford
Michael Porrini, WCU
Josh Jackson, College of Charleston
Bobby Cremins, College of Charleston (just wait, it's coming)

The "Man I Wish He Was Wearing A Davidson Uniform" Team (for good performance against Davidson, combined with admirable skill sets and character)
Kyle Hines, UNC-Greensboro
T.J. Douglas, Elon/Montell Watson, Elon
Cameron Wells, The Citadel
Andrew Goudelock, College of Charleston
Shane Nichols, Wofford

2008 Dontaye Draper Award (for excellence in a four-year career that was not enough to carry his team to a championship)
Kyle Hines, UNC-Greensboro

Top Moments of 2008 Conference Season
10. When GSU cheerleaders threw megaphones on court after Davidson run
9. Max Paulhus Gosselin recording career-high 7 steals, including several in-bounds stops, on national television at Belk Arena
8. Wildcats winning big in front of packed crowd on 100th anniversary weekend
7. Every time that Davidson made it to 15 points before the other team scored
6. Every time that Stephen Curry outscored the other team in one half
5. Stephen Curry giving Boris Meno a hug on the bench before every tip-off in 2008
4. Stephen Curry for two...assist from Kyle Hines' back
3. Stephen Curry's mid-air switch to go in front of Elon in final minute
2. Max Paulhus Gosselin steal and Jason Richards' three-point play with cut eyebrow to cap 20-point comeback win at Greensboro
1. Going 20-0 in conference play for the first time ever

Exclusive Chat with Kyle Whelliston

The following is the transcript of a recent email interview that Will's World had with ESPN.com's Mid-Major Expert, Kyle Whelliston. Whelliston attended Davidson's BracketBusters victory and wrote an excellent article about Wildcat point guard Jason Richards.

What impressed you the most about Jason Richards' performance on Friday night?

Definitely his poise. It's easy to forget that he has about as much experience starting games as Stephen Curry does as a sophomore. When Steph went to the bench in the first half with two fouls, he took complete control of the game and looked like a four-year starter at point.

Is this year's Davidson team comparable to last year's Winthrop team? What similarities and differences do you see?

Not really, that team was all about forwards, I think Davidson 2007's guard play is better. Last year's Winthrop team had more talented size than this Davidson team has. They had a 6-10 guy named Craig Bradshaw who was fast enough to quarterback the press and created all sorts of matchup problems when he stepped out to the perimeter.

Where does Max Paulhus Gosselin rank among defensive forwards in the mid-major ranks? In all of college basketball?

I can't say, because we haven't created stats yet to properly measure the accomplishments of a guy like Max. It seems like he's a part of every play when he's out on the floor. All I know is that every time I cover a Davidson game, I write his name down at least seven or eight times for doing something good, but then I look at the box score and he's scored three or four points.

I saw on your marathon chat that someone asked you about Steve Rossiter. After another look at him on Friday, how do you assess his contributions to this team, this year?

He's never going to be a superstar, but there will always be matchups he can exploit, like in the N.C. Central game and the first game with Wofford. I hope he develops into a good role player in his final two years.

How do you think mid-major schools will fare in the NCAA tournament this year compared to last season?

One thing we saw a lot of last year was regular season champions going to the NIT instead of winning the autobid via the league tourney, unlike in 2006. As a result, there weren't a lot of low-seed upsets. Winning both the regular-season title and tourney championship is a good measure of a team's upset chances, and the volume of upsets will likely hinge on the number of double champions.

Davidson is now just outside the AP Top 25 poll. If they are ranked going into the conference tournament and falter, do you think they will still miss out on an at-large bid?

Yes. A 3-6 record in nonconference shouldn't get you in as an at-large, no matter who was on the schedule. Remember that they were 4-7 in 2005, and the perfect regular season couldn't get them in.

Davidson 75 UNCG 66

As should be obvious by now, I didn't do a live blog for Tuesday night's ESPN2 matchup between Davidson and UNC-Greensboro. I was drafted into service for ESPN's stat coordination team and had to sit on the other press row next to the statting/blogging Lauren Biggers and UNCG's assistant coaches. Here are some late night thoughts from Davidson's 18th conference win this season.

-After listening to the chatter all night on the headphones about Davidson and Stephen Curry, I am convinced that all a committee member needs to do to give the Wildcats an at-large is watch a little part of one game here in Feb/March. All of the uninitiated were thoroughly impressed with their first look at Curry and Davidson. They tried to get some features on Hines and his statistical accomplishments up on the screen, but then Davidson would go off and do something great again.

-Curry scored 30 tonight and everyone felt like he could have scored more. Curry had several bunnies rim out, but his most spectacular plays came on some of his interior passes to find open forwards after the defense shifted to help. If Davidson's frontcourt can convert on the chances they get, Davidson could be unstoppable. Curry is so dangerous if you don't guard him heavily and the rest of the Wildcats become dangerous when you do.

-Davidson's 46 points in the paint are largely due to the Wildcats being patient and allowing the Spartan defense to rotate too far as they found open players on the backside. Some of the passes to set up easy layups were absolutely pristine. Despite several uncharacteristically sloppy plays, Jason Richards finished with a strong stat-line of eight points, eight assists, and four steals.

-Max Paulhus Gosselin played like a man possessed tonight...he took a normally pestering defense to another level by actually picking off passes and converting them into scoring opportunities. Gosselin finished with 7 steals and should be credited with several more forced turnovers (including a five second call). Max's classmate, Andrew Lovedale, once again poured in a very quiet 14 points off some rangy pull-up jumpers. Lovedale led the defensive charge against Kyle Hines with three individual blocks.

-Stephen "I'm-going-to-throw-this-off-your-back-to-show-how-much-I-deserve-POY" Curry's crazy inbounds play where he threw the ball off of Kyle Hines' back and then caught it for an easy layup, made ESPN's Top 10 plays for SportsCenter and College GameNight's Gym Gems. Guest color analyst Doug Gottlieb was left speechless.

-TV Ted Valentine (on the left in this picture) made an appearance in Belk Arena tonight to...well...be on TV. Valentine did his normal gesturing and marching down the court after a pair of controversial charge calls. But mostly, he was pretty quiet. You don't often watch a game reffed by Valentine and forget that he is a ref. The best moment of the night came during a timeout when he was standing right in front of me and the football players were shouting various things at him. He slowly turned to them and raised his finger to his lips to shush the crowd. The students were very proud that they got such a reaction out of the TV Teddy himself.

-The blog's good friend Will Brinson was back in action tonight, this time live-blogging for AOL's Fanzone. I got to talk to him a little at halftime and I can promise you that all of his blogged Davidson praise is no front...he really likes watching this team play. I'd have to agree with his assertion that Davidson and Greensboro are probably the best two teams in the conference. Hines is certainly the best player not wearing a Davidson uniform and I personally think that Dement is the best coach not named McKillop. Greensboro was unfocused at times tonight but they did outrebound the Cats and had 10 second chance points to Davidson's two. Davidson will probably have to go through the Spartans again in the SoCon semifinals to get to a Chatt/GSU/App State final matchup. It's too bad that Davidson will have to face them so early.

-I noticed tonight that Davidson might be the only team in the conference that doesn't have a SoCon logo on their uniform, the SoCon arena floor logo blends into the baseline color scheme (thanks Bobc63). Don't even think twice about leaving this conference anytime soon (Mr. Cary made some "observations" about those who have)...but Davidson certainly doesn't appear to have much respect for its organizing body in its signage.

Thoughts from Greensboro

-The stars were aligned for Davidson to lose tonight. Greensboro had been underperforming...Davidson had been blowing people out...Sander was on the bench. The Spartans scorched the nets shooting 9-12 from three in the first half. Their intensity and home crowd helped ignite a first half blitz that found Greensboro sitting right below their average offensive output of the last week: at halftime. But Davidson won by five. Their defiance of the basketball gods tonight was extraordinary to say the least.

-Boris and Andrew played very gutsy basketball against the league's reigning POY. Rossiter also played very physical all night long. However, it seemed like the close quarters and frenetic pace of the game led the forwards to start dropping the ball again as they had earlier in the season. Several good offensive looks turned into turnovers while defensive rebounds turned into loose balls and second chance opportunities. That being said, Lovedale's late game free throws and d rebound combined with Meno's three-point play helped put Davidson over the top after they had caught the Spartans.

-The heart of this team literally came spilling out on the court tonight. Richards' eyebrow was split open in an ugly way, bleeding all over everything...yet he came back to make the game-winning drive and free throw. Max Paulhus Gosselin recovered from endless "air ball" jeering to make the game-saving steal leading to Richards' drive. Andrew Lovedale overcame foul trouble to bring down the rebound with a scream after Greensboro's late attempt to tie the game. Thomas Sander did not let his sidelining keep him from supporting the team...he was the first one on the court at every timeout and was never quiet on the sidelines even when the Wildcats trailed big. And then, of course, there was Stephen Curry.

-After the game, Max Paulhus Gosselin was asked: "So, do you think that Stephen Curry is an All-American." Gosselin answered honestly. "I actually only care about Davidson basketball, so I don't really watch other teams or sports on ESPN. I don't know who else is really good. But yeah, Steph is an All-American in my book."

-Although Curry recalled that he thought the turning point of the game came in the end of the first half when the Wildcats cut the lead to 15, I would argue that Davidson knew they were coming back much later, when they were trailing by more than 10 in the second half. Curry and Gosselin double-teamed a Spartan and forced a loose ball out of bounds. Although the official rewarded Greensboro the ball, Curry turned to Max with a big smile and winked at him. 2 seconds later, Curry had stolen the inbounds pass and gone the length of the court for a layup.

-Curry only hit 1 three in the first half. Some might say that could have had something to do with his shorts. He broke the drawstring in warmups and was forced to don an XL pair which he tied tightly and rolled down a few times, exposing the white waistband. It was a good look for Curry, maybe he should do it more often.

-I had the privilege of sitting next to a fellow blogger who was writing about UNC-Greensboro. Will Brinson is a regular contributor to AOL's Fanzone and did his own live blog over here.

-The more I think about it, the more that I really don't mind Kyle Hines winning last year's SoCon Player of the Year honor. He truly is a remarkable player at this level, especially for his height. He had several incredible hustle plays that put Greensboro ahead late after the Wildcats caught them, while his first-half dunks and blocks were things of beauty. I say that I don't mind because I know that this year's real POY was outmatching Hines throughout the entire second half. Curry's constant toughness and "next play" attitude were put on display at Fleming. The country's fifth-leading scorer led his team to another win because of his knack for hunting the mid-range shot. At a time when all college players either shoot threes or layups, Curry has perfected the mid-range two which makes him such a unique basketball player. He was absolutely phenomenal.

-Davidson's attitude in the second half was definitely one of a team finally kicking it into overdrive. The several hundred fans in attendance got into a shouting match with Spartan supporters while Davidson was not unwilling to show a ton of emotion on the court. This was probably the first time that I have seen Davidson win a game and have the team run out to celebrate in a very long time. It felt like a game one more time.

-We almost got lost driving back to Davidson as the snow covered all of the street signs in Greensboro and our directions weren't retraceable because of one-way streets. Wildcat blogger Lauren Biggers escaped with ticket office guru April Albritton while Davidson's SID and myself were stuck going around in circles. We finally found the highway and a Wendy's. The only times I have traveled to away games with our SID department, I have come home in the snow. Maybe I can make it snow in Charleston in March if I keep this up.

Davidson rips Cougars...again

Here are some quick post-game thoughts after Davidson's 81-56 win over the College of Charleston.

-I got several comments over the last few days for calling out Davidson's fans during Wednesday's Elon game. They showed up in force today and did their best to create energy in what was yet another beatdown in Belk Arena. I sat in the student section for the first time in over a year, and definitely felt the strain of creating energy when possessions become less and less urgent as Davidson's lead increases and the Cougars continue to jack up bad shots (they shot 19-50 and turned the ball over 18 times).

-Stephen Curry left the game early with two fouls and Davidson's offense slowed a bit without him anchoring the wing. It was frustrating to see capable scorers continually pass up good shots. On several instances, Jason Richards was forced to jack a bad shot with an expiring shot clock just because the team could not find a satisfactory look.

-Thomas Sander continues to get beaten up like none other. While I am not denying that he is a physical player and that comes with the territory, Sander puts himself into suicidal positions sometimes as he continually gets run over by 240 pound forwards while trying to take a charge (they gave him two tonight). His defense is very effective, but it often leaves him battered and bruised. He came out of the game and did not return after being hammered on a fast break.

-My favorite moment of the game came in the second half when Max Paulhus Gosselin let loose a three-pointer in front of Davidson's bench and Coach McKillop leaped 10 feet into the air as if his team had just won the national championship (in fact, I think he would have been more sedate if Davidson won the national title). Pens and paper came flying out of his pockets and he quickly tried to recompose himself by picking up his things. He was so proud of Max.

-Because of foul trouble and Sander being beat up, Dan Nelms made it into the game at the 11 minute mark. Unfortunately, Nelms was not very productive on the offensive end and he seemed to have trouble securing rebounds despite his height. He will be called upon to provide some important minutes next year, so he will need to be a little quicker and stronger.

Thoughts and quotes from Belk Arena (vs. Wofford)

-Too many turnovers tonight for Davidson. Richards and Curry both had four and the Wildcats coughed up the ball four more times than did Wofford.

-"We had the right people shooting the right shots. Barr had some big rebounds. We are really coming together right now." Max Paulhus Gosselin

-Davidson's free throw shooting is a virus that they can't seem to get over. Davidson was 10-17 from the line and didn't seem comfortable there all night. At one point late in the game, Wofford fouled Max Paulhus Gosselin to stop the clock and MPG visibly cursed at the prospect of needing to go to the line. He missed the front end of the one-and-one.

-Davidson needs to continue to have confidence attacking the paint with entry passes. Their frontcourt can do anything against anyone in the Conference. They proved that tonight when they opened the game up with big layups inside.

"I am delighted with our second half performance. We have to learn how to come back from a deficit. We set the tone at the beginning of the half and that was delighting." -Coach Bob McKillop

-Everyone was up in arms about Kevin Cary missing tonight's game. The Charlotte Observer sent a replacement writer that almost looked as young as me (he was certainly wearing my wardrobe). No one knew who he was and I felt a little awkward as everyone talked about the Charlotte Observer as if they didn't have a representative there.

-Tonight was only second time that Curry has scored more than 30 points at home. He now has over 200 three-pointers for his career.

"This was a good situation for us. It was different to have to play a close game, but we have to learn different ways to win. Our inside-out game was excellent in the second half." Stephen Curry

"It was great to see Steph [Curry] elevate us at times when I put him at the point. He made some pinpoint passes, that were also singles. That was great to see." -Coach Bob McKillop

Kruse Thoughts

Michael Kruse is a staff writer for the St. Petersburg Times and friend of Will's World. A graduate of Davidson and former editor of the Davidsonian, Kruse was in town to enjoy the 100th anniversary festivities and kindly wrote up an article for the blog.

Good, rich weekend for the Wildcats, was it not?

So much to just fill you up: old friends and familiar faces, the 100th anniversary festivities, beers at the Brick House, a big, dominant win over the "other" best team in the league, and the much-anticipated panel discussion with greats like Lefty, Snyder, Gerdy and others. But my favorite thing about the whole weekend was that the panel discussion wasn't my favorite thing about the whole weekend.

Not because it wasn't interesting.

It was.

A little TOO interesting at times, actually, thanks to Gerdy, the program's all-time leading scorer who grew up, of course, to write books with titles like Sports: The All-American Addiction.

"I'm very proud of Davidson that we've readjusted our expectations," he said at one point.

(Uh oh.)

"I've never been more proud of the program than over the last 10 years," he said, with Lefty and Jerry Kroll sitting a few feet to his right.

(Uh oh.)

And then this: "The bottom line," he said. "The basketball program is not essential to the mission of the college."

(Yikes.)

It's maybe a worthwhile if tired debate, the Division I vs. Division III thing at Davidson, and all that goes with it, but it's best had almost in an intellectual vacuum in a coffee shop somewhere.

Thing is, I don't disagree with a bunch of the stuff Gerdy likes to talk about, and you can make the argument that what McKillop has done over the last, say, 15 years, in some ways, and at this point in College Sports, Inc., has been even harder than what Lefty did in his nine years in the '60s. And that's no knock at all on what Lefty did here. What he did that decade at Davidson adds up to absolutely one of the most amazing stories in the history of the college hoops.

But on a panel on a weekend celebrating 100 years of Wildcat basketball? Not totally the time and place to have snippets of that conversation, or to raise the kinds of issues that beg a back-and-forth on the complicated, pretty much impossible comparison between the program's two most successful eras. Too many things have changed. Everyone here knows what they are.

Lefty on the panel?

Lefty was Lefty. Gravelly voice, folksy showman, big man, big presence. People can't not listen and watch. There's just something about him. Anyway, he told some of his stories from the '60s, some of which might actually have been true.

"Lefty," Kilgo told him at the end, "I want to, in deference to you, to give you the last word."

But here was the best part of the weekend.

Lefty's word wasn't the last word.

The vibrant present took over from there.

Practice like you play, play like you practice, and the 27-point win over Chattanooga rolled out like a natural extension of the workout I watched Friday afternoon. So much purpose and precision within all that sweat and heavy breathing.

"We're gonna kick their ass," first-rate, first-row fan Jim Richards said before tip.

And so we did.

McKillop's teams, when they're right, they play with such a level-headed fury.

Jason did his thing, all angles, intellect and body control.

Max was Max. That kid, and I don't know that I fully understood this before, at least not to such an extent, but sitting press row at Belk for the whole game for the first time in years and years made me appreciate his play more than ever. He plays, defense in particular, with an utter ferocity. You can practically hear his exertion.

Steph was awesome, of course, he of the light that's as green as green can be. You always know he's going good, though, when you notice, just as much as the threes, the floaters, the runners, the pull-ups, the crafty little dribble drives that turn into layups that lead to him piling up all those twos like he does all those threes.

No wonder middle-aged men in the stands at Belk wear those No. 30 jerseys. The part of me that's a sensible adult thinks that's kind of ridiculous, but I've got to be honest here: The proud, almost primal part of me kind of digs the hell out of it.

Steph aside, though, the tenor of Saturday's game was established just as much by the whole team's sticky fingers and active hands. Thomas Sander had SIX steals. All of it was a 40-minute reminder that being in the right place at the right time doesn't have to be an accident, and shouldn't be.

After the game, in the little press get-together, Thomas said this succinct thing about Steph: "Seeing him feel like he can do anything makes us feel like we can do anything."

Steph, asked about his 37 points, said this: "We played our best game of the year."

The kid said we.

Davidson records 17th straight conference victory, 73-51 over Furman

The Davidson Wildcats hit their first eight of nine shots to open up a 24-13 lead over the Furman Paladins Wednesday night before cruising to a 73-51 victory. The win puts Bob McKillop's Wildcats at a perfect 7-0 in the conference. It is the second consecutive season that Davidson has opened the league slate with seven victories.

Stephen Curry once again led all scorers with 14 points. However, Curry was off of his game on this night, hitting only 1-8 three-pointers and turning the ball over four times. He made up for his poor offensive performance by playing very aggressive defense, blocking one shot and collecting a team-high seven rebounds.

Boris Meno and Will Archambault turned in solid performances off the bench. Each scored in double figures in less than 20 minutes of play. Archambault attacked the basket off the dribble on several possessions and showed his ability to score from different looks. Andrew Lovedale started his fifth consecutive game and put together another solid performance with eight points and five rebounds.

Although Davidson got off to another quick start, they hit a slump halfway through the first period. Several costly turnovers by Davidson's guards found Jason Richards sitting on the bench and Furman trying to pull within single digits. Although Richards started with a couple of big three-pointers, he played most of the game out of sync. He played through the trash time at the end to finish with eight assists and 11 points. The nation's leading assist man now has over 500 assists for his career.

Davidson's defense played well for the night, forcing 16 turnovers and holding Furman to 4-19 shooting from three-point land. Six different players were credited with steals while the Wildcats challenged many Paladin shots around the rim.

Thomas Sander continued to provide a strong presence inside, pounding the Paladin forwards on every possession. The physical strain seemed to get to him a little in the second half though. He was visibly tired on the free throw line, missing two freebies off the front rim and going 1-4 from the FT line on the night.

The Furman student contingent tried to get in the Wildcats' heads all night by referring to players' siblings and past history.

"We have all learned to tune that stuff out pretty well," said Sander afterwards. "But that's probably the first time that people have brought up my sister."

As Davidson was leaving the Timmons Arena, the players were greeted by the first falling snow of the season. Native Canadian Max Paulhus Gosselin was grinning from ear to ear.

"It feels just like home."

The Legend Grows

The following account was written by intrepid assistant Davidson SID Lauren Biggers. I have preserved the language and the grammar in order to give the most accurate rendition of her original thoughts (the run-on sentences being a metaphor for the little things piling up for victory).

When I decided to make the trip up to Elon, it was mostly because it was a Wednesday night, and my other option was actually cooking a meal and a trip to the gym. Tivo was handling the North Carolina game, which wasn’t compelling enough to force me to stay inside anyways, no disrespect to UNC Asheville intended. I also forgot about the ridiculous 9 p.m. tip time. Nonetheless, a commitment is a commitment, and I’d never been to Elon. Plus, I’ve been angling for a posting on Will’s World for a while, and what better night than tonight. All this to say I was excited about writing a column about the Wildcats. It was supposed to be fun.

But this, what was happening, this was anything but fun. Knowing my intentions to write something about the game rather than sit and watch, and finding said intentions humorous, Joey Beeler, men’s basketball SID, asked about my angle. Have to wait and see, I told him. These things have to unfold, after all, and that takes time.

A few minutes into the first half I had figured out the story. The backcourt superhero duo of Jason Richards and Stephen (not pronounced Steven) Curry had forgotten to get off the bus, but it didn’t matter because the rest of the team was doing the little things. Back-to-back steals by Max Paulhus Gosselin, a favorite on the court and off, and Steph were converted into easy layups. Will hit another key three. Another steal for Max turns into a smart dish for Jason that ends in an Andrew Lovedale basket on the break. And yet, the little things weren’t adding up to a big lead. In fact, there was a little deficit instead. And worse, a staggering line, Curry just 0-3 in the first half and without a three, threatening to snap a streak of insane proportions.

And things weren’t getting any better. If you were watching the game from the Davidson end of press row, it seemed like the Wildcats were down 50, but when you looked up at the scoreboard you felt relieved it was just two. Two points with 10 minutes to play. Panic, with this team anyways, didn’t set in. Every loose ball was chased into the stands, every board crashed for a rebound, but the rim seemed no bigger than the needle of an eye. Nothing was falling. Sure, the atmosphere was a bit more intense than the ‘Cats were used to lately, as Elon benefited from a Jan-term student presence, but Davidson had played Duke and North Carolina to the wire in front of much larger, much louder crowds. These were battle-tested, road-weary Wildcats.

Cut to late in the second half. SteF-en picked up his fourth foul with under five minutes to play. Bad news for most teams. Terrible news for the Wildcats, trailing by one. Doesn’t matter, I said to esteemed Davidson SID Marc Gignac. He’s 1-10 anyways. Never wavering, Marc said, He’ll hit the game-winner though.

And then it happened. The most impressive 30 seconds of basketball I’ve been within six inches of. Ask Davidson broadcaster John Kilgo how close press row is to the court. You are practically in the game, proven by a loose ball during shoot around combined with a Coke that made for difficult circumstances for the seasoned play-by-play man.

Down by one, Jason grabs a rebound on the defensive end, and is off, pushing the ball up the court and dishing to Steph before you can say..."this is familiar, we’ve seen this before."

“Well, he kinda reached from behind,” Curry said of his defender at the opposite end, in a postgame interview. He wasn't taking me very seriously for some reason. “And I saw the lane to the basket.”

Mistake number one, don’t grant Curry a lane. That must be in the scouting report somewhere. But the basket, like so many for the ‘Cats this night in this gym, didn’t fall. Still doing the little things, Thomas Sander, the lone double-doubler of the night for the ‘Cats, grabbed his 13th and arguably most important rebound, and sailed a quick pass to Steph, who connected on his first three of the game to tie the score at 57 and preserve his streak for Beeler’s game notes.

After a Phoenix timeout, Richards, who finished with 10 assists, comes up with another huge steal, finding Steph on the wing on the break yet again. After a couple moves to shake a defender, Dell’s eldest launches a jumper that clanks out. But there is Max, the night’s unsung hero turning in his third straight lockdown effort on defense, for the rebound that requires a belly flop onto the court. Steph takes the pass, gets off the ground, just inside the line, switches hands in mid air – I was there, it happened -- and nails a left-handed shot that makes the Davidson bench go wild and the Elon crowd go silent.

“Every shot I take, I think it’s going in,” Steph says, still entertaining my post-game press conference despite dubbing me “intimidating” and not meaning it at all. “And when they don’t have a hand up, I’m gonna shoot it. You gotta have confidence to shoot it no matter what your stats are. I knew it went in.”

I didn’t want to write a Stephen Curry story. Everyone is doing it. But he outscored the Phoenix 8-0 at the end of a nail biter and forced my hand. I wanted to write about the little things. Like the final 40 seconds of this-is-what-we-were-waiting-for-defense that forced the Phoenix into four, count ‘em, four missed potential game-winning shots.

But tonight, Davidson’s big thing won the game. And as the crowd emptied the building, I overheard one student say to another, "that shot was sick." I like to think it was the same kid I overheard earlier say, "I thought he was good?" We’ll never know for sure, but Gignac concluded and I concurred: the legend grows.

Thoughts from Saturday's games against WCU

-Davidson women's basketball team is inching closer and closer to joining the elite squads of the Southern Conference. Although Western was playing without their star forward, sharpshooter Lauren Powell put forth another fantastic performance (7-12 FG). Davidson led the Catamounts throughout most of the first half and did not let WCU pull away when they went on a second half run. If Halbersleben's last second shot would have fallen, the Cats would have had five more minutes to pull out a victory and get a huge conference victory against a top team.

-Although she only played limited minutes, Katie Hamilton showed why she was such a dominant SoCon player for her first few years. She plays with great balance and patience, taking good shots when they are there and setting up her teammates perfectly. The Wildcat offense had more flow when she was in the game.

-Davidson guards Kelly Gassie and Alex Thompson were thrown off a little bit by Western's second half press. The Wildcats struggled to score throughout most of the half and a lot of that had to do with the Catamount press throwing off their offensive timing and making them race against the shot clock on every possession.

-Mercedes Robinson is easily the most consistent and talented scorer on Davidson's squad (at least until Hamilton gets back to full strength). Robinson rarely misses close shots and she has an uncanny ability to control the ball in traffic and get off an accurate shot. While I used to think that she was one of those quiet scorers who made double figures without you noticing, I now believe that she is just flat out one of the top players in this program in recent years.

-In the Belk Arena nightcap, Western Carolina laid down the plan for how to beat Davidson in conference play: don't let Davidson beat you from outside, bump the Wildcats to keep them off-rhythm, shoot a high percentage from the field. Unfortunately for Western, the referees decided to call the game close and Davidson set a new season high with 31 free throw attempts.

-Boris Meno had a really nice performance as he came off the bench for the second night in a row. Meno scored nine points and three boards, including an impressive thunder jam on a fastbreak. The forward from Paris seemed to be more intent on limiting his turnovers and converting touches into points or opportunities for his teammates. With Sander reemerging as a potent force inside (he had nine points and 10 boards tonight), Meno has the opportunity to shore up a veteran frontcourt that was exposed in non-conference play.

-For the second straight game, Max Paulhus Gosselin had a huge game full of energy and offensive production. The junior forward scored nine points including an impressive steal and slam with a foul. He had several defensive plays where his presence altered shots threw the Catamounts out of rhythm. I was really happy to see coach put MPG and Will Archambault in the game together at the two and three. As both players have regained some effectiveness with their offensive production, they become less of a confidence liability on both ends of the court.

-Stephen Curry is so good that he can suffer through the worst shooting game that he has had all season and still contribute 19 points. He and Richards combined for a problematic 10 turnovers and 3-18 shooting night from the perimeter. Yet both players got their points elsewhere integrated the rest of the team into the gameplan.

WMU upsets 25th-ranked Wildcats

Photo by Tim Cowie

A national ranking. A stirring story in the Charlotte Magazine. The optimism could not have been as ripe as it was at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

But everything quickly came crashing back down to earth as the Davidson Wildcats fell to Western Michigan, 83-76. Davidson trailed from the very beginning as the Broncos shot a blazing 12-22 from the three-point line. Derrick Drews hit five of those threes to finish with a team-high 18 points.

Stephen Curry proved to be a non-factor for many key moments of the game as he was hampered by foul trouble. Davidson was whistled for 24 total fouls, but the most important one came in the final minutes. With the Wildcats mounting a late comeback on the shoulders of Curry and Richards, Stephen was whistled for a foul away from the ball at the top of the key. It was the end of a series of dubious fouls on Curry, the first of which came on a charge after Curry made a steal in the first half. Curry finished the game with 25 points on 9-16 shooting (5-11 from three land).

Throughout the game, the refs continually disrupted play with ticky-tack fouls away from the basket, and at one point Davidson had five second half fouls before Western Michigan was whistled for one.

Davidson's player of the game was definitely Jason Richards, who finished with a personal season-best 23 points. He played a full 40 minutes and also tallied eight assists on the contest. Throughout the game, Richards seemed to be the only Wildcat with his head screwed on straight. He stayed home on defense and continually attacked the Broncos at the heart of their defense.

Davidson was largely beaten because of their inability to stop WMU's penetration. The Broncos beat Davidson off the dribble and were able to kick out for open threes or take it to the hoop for the finish. On offense, the Wildcats were plagued by several shooting droughts and the lack of any offensive potency from players outside of Curry or Richards.

The 25th ranked Wildcats should be given credit, however, for not quitting despite being outshot for most of the game. With 5:14 remaining, Davidson found themselves down by nine points at 67-58. But Stephen Curry connected on a layup, Jason Richards hit a pair of free throws and a three, and then Curry converted on a jumper in a transition opportunity off a steal. Thirty seconds later, Curry hit a three pointer to cut the game to 71-70.

But then David Kool answered for WMU to extend the lead to 74-70 and Curry then fouled out on the next defensive possession. Davidson was unable to hit threes in the final minute despite several opportunities.

Markedly absent from the final stat sheet was Will Archambault. Despite being second on the team last year in three-pointers behind Stephen Curry, Archambault has done relatively little so far this season as he was held scoreless tonight. His counterpart at the three position, Max Paulhus Gosselin, finished 1-5 from the field, but did come up with several big stops and rebounds.

This loss will be a tough pill to swallow for Wildcat fans who were just getting used to being the nation's small-school wonder. Western Michigan seemed to win because of dubious officiating and spectacular shots. But I'm sure that many of Davidson's opponents have whined about the same thing over the last few seasons. This is only the second Davidson loss to a non-BCS school since February of 2006.

During the game broadcast, John Kilgo used every opportunity he could to mention Davidson's national ranking. It might be his last opportunity to do that in quite a while.

The Wildcat Latest

It has been a busy and exciting few weeks for Wildcat fans. Here is a recap of some of the important news items to keep an eye on:

Davidson rounds out schedule

The Wildcat coaching staff officially announced their planned participation in the 2007 John Wooden Classic in Anaheim, CA. Davidson will take on the UCLA Bruins on December 8. UCLA is coming off back-to-back Final Four appearances and most preseason experts see them going for three in a row with the addition of big man Kevin Love and the return of the speedy Darren Collison.

UCLA will round out an already tough non-conference schedule that includes pre-season championship favorite UNC, a Top 15 Duke Blue Devil team, an improved N.C. State squad coming off of an ACC championship game appearance, a game at rival UNC-Charlotte where the Wildcats have never won, a return game at Western Michigan and an ESPN BracketBuster game in February. Davidson will not face one D-I non-conference opponent in the friendly confines of Belk Arena.

In other scheduling notes, the Southern Conference has moved its tournament up one day as the championship game will now be held on a Monday night (March 10). That day will be the first day back to classes for Davidson students completing their spring break. The move was made to increase TV ratings and in-city attendance for a tournament that will now largely be played on the weekend.

National Representation

Both Stephen Curry and Max Paulhus Gosselin were recently selected to represent their countries in International play this summer. Curry joins the USA U19 team competing in the world championships in Novi Sad, Serbia. Curry made an impact early on as he scored 16 points in a win over China's senior team that included recent draft pick Yi Jianlian. The U.S. went on to win in the Global Games played in the U.S. and are currently competing in Novi Sad. Curry scored 9 points in USA's blowout win over Mali on the first day of competition (July 12).

Paulhus Gosselin was selected to Canada's national development team which will compete in the FISU games from August 7th to 18th in Bangkok, Thailand. He is currently working out in Davidson with several other teammates.

Gignac Takes Over

The Davidson athletic department recently completed their search for a new Sports Information Director, hiring Marc Gignac from Canisius College. Gignac spent six years as Director of Athletic Communications at Canisius. A Jesuit school in western New York, the Griffins compete in the MAAC.

Gignac has several ties to the Charlotte area as he graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and took his first job with the AAA Charlotte Knights. Gignac will be responsible for Davidson's new athletic website set to launch in the Fall of 2007. He will also be integral in launching the Wildcats' new media distribution plan which tentatively includes having every Wildcat home game televised live on Davidson's website with archived games available for purchase.

Gignac will replace the departed Rick Bender who has taken a job in Birmingham, AL. Bender has been a Wildcat institution for the last 17 years: first as a Wildcat baseball player, then a baseball assistant coach, and finally as an employee in the Sports Information office.

'Cats beat Furman 71-63; Extend streak to 10

Driving down to Greenville, SC on a Saturday afternoon last January, I was surrounded by a large group of quaint older Presbyterians in red sweaters, working mothers and their elementary school 'Cat fans wearing vintage Wildcat jerseys and three or four college students who made up the core of the traveling fanbase. That day we had high expectations for a Wildcat victory. Davidson had never lost a game in Furman, and the Wildcats were looking to extend their nation's best 27 game conference winning streak.

I will never forget the feeling of climbing back onto that bus nearly 2.5 hours later. These Wildcats weren't supposed to lose. They obviously had the best team in the conference and yet Furman beat them. I couldn't even tell you why we lost; somehow the scoreboard just kept putting a higher number under "FU." At the end of the day, that's how I felt too.

When the Davidson Wildcats traveled back down to Greenville yesterday afternoon, they had no intention of walking away with such a bad taste in their mouths. For only the sixth time this season, the Wildcats trailed at halftime by 1 point. By the end of the game, the lead would change 18 times and no team led by more than 10 points.

By most outward appearances this game looked to be favoring the Paladins nearly all night long. The Wildcats, becoming better known as a team that likes to continually push the floor, were continually thrown out of their rhythm through inadvertent official timeouts due to incompetent shot clock and scoreboard workers. Furman finished the game having hit 43% of its three-pointers, while Davidson only managed a paltry 28%. Furman also forced a +3 turnover margin in their favor and held the Wildcats to only three players scoring more than 9 points.

However, the numbers can only tell so much. In the last ten minutes, the Wildcats were able to maintain near a 6-8 point lead, and several key baskets by Thomas Sander led the Paladins to fouling in order to keep the ballgame close. Although the Wildcats played terrific team defense all night long, the ice cold end-of-game foul shooting has always been Davidson's key to success.

For the game, Davidson was led by Thomas "Big Cincinnati" Sander who had 25 points, nine rebounds, and three steals. Jason Richards contributed another double-digit performance with 18 points and eight assists, despite six turnovers. On a reputedly "off night" Stephen Curry only managed 15 points and 3 rebounds on 4-11 shooting. Max Paulhus-Gosselin also made good contributions with his eight points and nine rebounds including six offensive ones to continue to Wildcat possessions. As Coach McKillop said in the post-game interview,

"those offensive rebounds are like bolts of lightning to opposing defenses. They come down and strike you in the heart."

The Wildcats will have to look forward to two more "trap" games as they travel to Wofford on Saturday and then host the Citadel on Tuesday. Although the Terriers have not found the winning formula in the SoCon thus far, they have always played the Wildcats tough in that Spartanburg doghouse. Davidson also cannot look past another group of dogs in the Citadel, a team that is 2-1 in their last three conference games including a tough fight to the finish against the College of Charleston last Tuesday. All this will lead up to the biggest SoCon game on the schedule when the Appalachian State Mountaineers travel to Davidson on January 20th for a North-South showdown.

**Photo by Bart Boatwright**