A Letter from Wildcat Fans

Dear America,

It was, up until now, a hopeful but hypothetical conversation. We’ve had it over beers in bars. We’ve had it on cell phones from Boston to San Francisco, from New York to Atlanta, from Charlotte to Tampa. We’ve had it in the fall and in the winter, and in the spring and summer, too. We’ve had it for years.

What if?

What if we won in the tournament?

It’s SUCH a good story, we said to each other –- little school, big dreams, cute town, smart kids. People, we kept saying, WANT to tell this story. They just needed a reason. They needed us to win.

This tournament is a series of finite 40-minute windows of opportunity. Seize one and you earn another. Win and you get another two days of news cycle. Win and you get to tell your story.

You have to understand something about us and our school. I don’t know if it’s Southern gentility or Presbyterian humility, but we’ve always been institutionally reluctant to say, Hey, look, look at us. It’s just not what we’ve done and so it’s not what we do.

But we want so badly for people to know.

So we’ve looked to Bob McKillop and his basketball team.

He went 4-24 in his first season at Davidson. That was 19 years ago. He has taken us from the Southern Conference tournament to the NIT to the NCAAs and now to a win in the NCAAs. He built this. He didn’t leave us when he could have. He has raised his family in a house across the street from campus. His oldest son played for him. His youngest son plays for him now. His daughter went to Davidson and is engaged to a Davidson man. He tears up when he talks about this.

His team went to the NIT in ’94.

His team lost in the conference finals in ’96 after going undefeated in league play.

Another NIT.

In ’98, a conference tournament title, a trip to the NCAAs. It seems so, so long ago, but not really, and we were giddy. That felt like this feels. Really it did.

Finally.

There were trips back, in ’02, in ’06, in ’07. Close, close, close. But never that win.

Now THIS.

Make no mistake: We beat a good team today. This was not about the bounces or the breaks. No. We beat a really good team that played really well because WE played really well.

Because we got a ballsy gutsy late three from Max.

Because we got 13 rebounds from Andrew.

Because we got two huge buckets late from Rossiter.

Because we got nine assists and 15 points from Jason.

And also, of course, because we got 40 from Steph. Not just any 40. An 8-for-10-from-three 40. A 14-for-22 40. A five-steals 40. A first-round-record-setting-40. A forever 40. But this whole thing is less about how it happened and more about what it means.

After the game, Joey Beeler, the men’s basketball media relations guy, was looking frazzled. His life just got crazy. He said his phone started going off right as the buzzer sounded.

The story. Let it be told.

We are one of the smallest schools in Division I.

We are 1,700 students in Davidson, N.C., just north of Charlotte, that’s it, all undergrad.

We are NOT Davidson University.

We are ranked ninth in the U.S. News and World Report and 23rd in the AP poll.

We keep in touch with our professors after we graduate.

We watch basketball games on grainy Web video from wherever we live.

A couple weeks ago, at the Southern Conference tournament championship game, there was a man with a sign, and the sign said:

YOU

MAKE

US

PROUD

And they do, and in a way that’s much, much more intimate than most other Division I programs, and certainly most other programs that are playing this weekend for a spot in the Sweet 16.

This program, our program, is now big enough to matter but still small enough to touch.

After the game on Friday, in the locker room, there were the lights, the mics, the pens and the pads, the bigness, and there was Steph, surrounded by a scrum three- and four-deep, saying what he said, tired, happy, as always the faintest of facial hair on his chin and his upper lip.

We see in the peach-fuzzed face of this pretty kid from Charlotte the potential of what happened today. The hypothetical is no longer hypothetical. He helped make our conversation real.

Sincerely,
Michael Kruse
Davidson College Class of 2000

Davidson 65 Elon 49

Davidson marched into its third straight conference title game with a convincing 30-point blowout of UNC-Greensboro in yesterday's semifinal. Elon comes to the final by virtue of a tough win over a soul-less College of Charleston squad and an upset of UT-Chattanooga in the quarterfinals.

The Wildcats pulled rankings in both the AP and Coaches Poll this afternoon, making it the first time in decades that they have been ranked in consecutive weeks. Davidson sports the country's longest winning streak at 21 straight games and the Wildcats were projected as a 7 seed in Joe Lunardi's recent ESPN.com Bracketology.

During yesterday's game, Stephen Curry scored his 1500th career point yesterday and will likely pass Ian Johnson for 10th all-time on the Davidson scoring list after just two years. His 134 three-pointers this season puts him right outside the Top 10 for most threes in one season in NCAA history, the record set at 158 by Darrin Fitzgerald in 1987. Curry is currently third in the nation for three-pointers per game (4.3).

Davidson's Jason Richards continues to lead the country in assists with 7.9 per game.

Keep it here for up-to-the-minute coverage of tonight's championship game, including an exclusive blog entry from Michael Kruse.
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Davidson fans outnumber the maroon of Elon about 4-to-1 but Elon is outcheering the red and black in the warmups. Davidson fans sound more like a deep roaring wave that's far away while Elon sounds more like a siren right in your ear (the large numbers of girls in their section probably has something to do with that).

Davidson players have a smiling confidence in shootaround while Elon is much more stoic.

I just grabbed a Coke from the press fridge (yes, there still some left) and Pat Forde is absolutely huge. Kevin Cary says that he wouldn't be surprised if Forde ended up writing about Elon in this one. They really do have a great story and sentiment going into this one. I did tell myself before the tournament that Elon was the only team I didn't want to face. Well, here we go boys.
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Wildcat fans now loud
Know the boys will make us proud
Bring home the prize now!
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17:50 D 2 E 0
Max Paulhus Gosselin opens the scoring with a nice runner in the paint. The ball was just out of bounds in front of us and Kevin Cary mouthed Hi Mom to the baseline camera. Elon's defense is very good.
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15:57 D 4 E 2
But Davidson's defense might be better. The Cats know they won't score as much tonight but they are limiting Elon's chances with some great rebounding. Curry is going to have to get his points in the paint until the three pointer comes back to him (Remember that he was 1-10 going into the final minutes of that road game).
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11:58 D 10 E 6
I apologize for the delay, my computer is unbearably slow right now. Curry getting going in the lane and Archambault hit a nice jumper on the baseline. During one double team on Curry, Valentine yelled out "that's enough." Elon is only shooting 2-12 from the field right now.
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7:41 D 20 E 14
Sander with two big shots in the paint as Elon overpursues defensively. TJ Douglas made my "I wish I had him in a Davidson uni team." Ya'll are seeing why. Richards on the bench with a charge foul. This is so hard to type when the cursor won't keep up with you. Curry doing a great job of directing things.
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7:24 D 20 E 14
"This is Davidson's pace right now," says KC. Yeah it is, I just wish that my computer could keep up. Wildcats 2-7 from three (7-12 from two) and Curry is still off in terms of percentage. He finally hit one so there's no worry that he will stop shooting. But Elon better not get in a gun-slinging fest with Davidson. They will lose.
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5:00 D 23 E 18
Elon only now has as many twos as threes (3)...now four twos. Davidson has defended the paint very well so far. But Elon can shoot threes fine. Wildcats running and gunning as Sander was inches from a full court alley oop. And Elon finds an answer for the Richards drive. How are these guys a seven seed?
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3:55 D 26 E 20
Elon chants air ball every time Jason touches it now...Richards says that's ok, I will just feed it to Sander for a three-point play. Sander really aggressive with his dribble tonight. He gets called for a charge and that's two fouls...Davidson fans a little red in the face with that one. Really could have gone either way. Elon's shooting is now out of the 20% range and they are making this tough.
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2:26 D 28 E 22
And the five second inbound call rears it ugly head for Elon. We hadn't seen as many of those in the first two rounds, but Davidson's in-bound defense is back tonight. Lovedale eating some little Phoenix birds on the offensive boards. Arrr. Elon playing strong and emotional and mostly in control by all accounts. Valentine's making a living calling offensive fouls on both teams.
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55 ssc D 28 E 22
Elon slowing it down and dirtying it up now, which is more their pace. Richards not having his best game offensively (0-4, several TOs). Elon has five steals and Davidson only has 1 (really? not sure about that official stats people).
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Half D 30 E 22
Wildcats before-the-half play works like a charm as Elon keys on Curry and Lovedale comes wide open under the basket. Richards with his fifth assist of the game. 25 more to the Davidson record.

Curry has 12 points in the first half and Sander has seven. Lovedale, Meno and Sander all have three boards. TJ Douglas disappeared after his first three shots which is good for the Wildcats. He could be a giant-killer down the stretch with that height and pure release.
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18:02 D 34 E 23
Set to go in the second half. They just handed us the ballots for All Tournament team. Any suggestions for my votes. I can be bought.

Constantine picks up his third foul early here and Ola (Ola Ola Ola Ola) is back in the game.

That was a crazy weird posession for Davidson. Curry didn't touch the ball...Thomas forced a shot that hit the backboard and Max beat the shot clock with an ugly floater off the front of the rim.

But Lovedale finishes the fast break after a steal and hits a free throw for the slap. This is judgment time for Elon. But Thomas just picked up number three...Drama.
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16:55 D 36 E 26
Sander stays in the game...and puts back a Steph miss for two. Powerful, very powerful.

And there's a rogue whistler in the building who is making a sound that is unhuman. Curry is offfffffff.
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15:55 D 39 E 26
Well, not for long. Curry from DEEEEP. He's got 3 threes and 15 points.

And yes, anonymous, Biggers is in the building.
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12:51 D 45 E 34
Max shows some length and a half going for that high Jason pass as he cut down the baseline. Max reeled it in and put it in for two. Richards with seven assists. Elon is getting looks closer to the basket too. But Davidson just keeps coming. Archambault to Richards.

"Here it comes..." says KC.

Not yet, Elon with a bucket, steal, another bucket and a timeout. Hold on, Kevin.
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12:50 D 45 E 34
Elon's really not going to go home until the turn the lights off in this place, and I think that this Chris Long kid might keep playing in the dark. Hats off to them for answering the Davidson run. They have shown for the third time that they are the only team in the Southern Conference that have any clue what it takes to beat Davidson. Not saying that they will at all, but they have a clue on how to do it.
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11:00 D 45 E 34
Sander picks up his fourth foul and his nine points and five rebounds go to the bench. The call was a good one as Sander hit the guy's head on the rebound. Wildcats can't buy a jump shot right now (5 or 6 missed in a row). This is the formula for Elon. This is the only way to do it. Let's see Curry do something off the dribble.

Nervous?
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8:30 D 45 E 39
Curry driving to shut Elon up. They are loud and excited now. McKillop with a timeout. Davidson hasn't scored in at least four minutes. Wildcats are 4-17 from three. They are hunting it now and forgetting everything that they learned in this whole stretch. Go inside. Don't fall in love with the three.
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6:31 D 49 E 39
Curry does it and you had to feel it was coming even if I doubted a little. Curry came off the screen and daggered it home falling backwards to the floor. Huge three-pointer for his 20th point of the game. Richards continues to struggle.

The Wildcats are so close now...they can't fall short of perfection. Not here, not tonight.
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5:24 D 51 E 41
Boris Meno called for a pretty bad foul at the end of the shot clock as he reached from behind and squarely held the ball back on the shot. But he is wide open on the other end and the clock keeps ticking on Elon.
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4:22 D 51 E 46
The Phoenix are going with a double team/trap outside the perimeter and Richards draws a foul. But Douglas again! He has fifteen points on 5-8 shooting from the perimeter. He is a great shooter.

Sander back in the game and we are at five poitts again.
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2:21 D 58 E 46
Meno, Meno, Meno. I'm telling you that he loves this building. And then Lovedale with a lay-in. Twos, twos and more twos...

Stephen Curry grabs a championship round defensive board right there...skying between two big forwards and .....

BAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!

An excited hush fell over the place as Barr caught it and then it just collapsed with a wall of sound as it swooshed for three.
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2:05 D 58 E 46
Haha Jason Richards. He goes 1-8 from the field with too many turnovers and still has 11 assists. 11!

Wildcats going nuts with Sweet Caroline in a way that they haven't done since Duke. The emotion is back.

They continue the refrain into the ensuing Elon inbound and the Phoenix are called for five seconds. Davidson's students were so busy singing that they were a little slow on their reaction to the call. It takes a Max fist pump back to the huddle for them to realize it and go nuts again.
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56 sec D 62 E 49
There's the keep away and there's the requisite "dunk Davidson back into the NCAA Tournament." This time Thomas takes the honors from Boris.
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Final D 65 E 49

Curry with a three from the top of the key and...well...that's the message he's sending to everyone in the NCAA Tournament. Watch out! Here comes Davidson!

Jason Richards, Thomas Sander and Boris Meno become the second class ever to go for three in a row and the first class to get to the postseason every year in their Wildcat careers.

Kruse Thoughts From SoCon (Day 2)

SUNDAY IN CHARLESTON

*** Collective wisdom had it that Greensboro was the group that was going to knock off Davidson if that was going to happen this weekend. There was that much-discussed 20-point first-half lead in the game at Greensboro, the game in Belk was quite competitive throughout, and when those tournament pairings came out the eye couldn't help but go immediately to that likely semifinal rematch.

A thread on DavidsonCats.com indicated that at least one Wildcat fan was "terrified" going into this one.

Um.

Okay.

Here's the thing, though: For a good chunk of the first half Sunday, Greensboro had made I would say two or three contested threes that were out of the ordinary, and Steph and Bryant Barr had missed I would say two or three relatively uncontested threes that were also out of the ordinary. And the good guys were still up by 14 at the break.

In the second half, when those shots stopped going down with that frequency, and when the Wildcats just kept doing what the Wildcats do ...

Well.

Y'all saw it.

The boys are making hard look easy.

*** I'm not really a stats man – you can use numbers, I think, to say just about anything – but then again most of the time box scores don't look like … THIS.

Check it.

Points in the paint: Davidson 44, UNCG 8.

Second-chance points: Davidson 21, UNCG 3.

Points off turnovers: Davidson 13, UNCG … ZERO.

*** Kyle Hines is one of six men in the history of college basketball to have over the course of a career gotten 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 300 blocks. The other five? Davidson Robinson, Alonzo Mourning, Tim Duncan, Pervis Ellison, Derrick Coleman. It's a hilarious list, but a total testament, really, to Hines, a nice, (not) 6-foot-5, under-recruited kid from Jersey. He came into Sunday evening with 80 straight games with 10 or more points. In what turned out to be the last game of his career, that streak went to 81, but barely. Put him down for 10. And the Wildcats made those 10 a HARD 10. While we're on the topic of Hines, it looked, during Civi time, with like a minute or two left, just for a sliver of a slice of a moment, like Dan Nelms was going to finish his head of steam down the lane by (gulp) dunking on Hines. Not that it was going to happen, ever, but it could have, maybe, perhaps, which would have been, you know, kind of an unlikely and ignominious end to an otherwise stellar collegiate career.

*** Okay. Right about now I feel a real need to throw this out there: The Wildcats don't get to take that 63-point aggregate margin of victory into the championship game. Pretty sure the score is going to be 0-0 Monday night at 9 when the cameras click on.

*** Steph sure has a way of making crazy shots par for the course. Said Derek Smith on press row: "Cue the circus music." For the most part, though, his 26 points were quiet. There are many, many things to love about Steph, but this is what I love the most: He is as big as he needs to be. He ups the ante when the ante needs to be upped – the 41 in Greensboro, of course, being the most conspicuous case in point. He had, what, 19 on Saturday, and then 26 against Greensboro, and it's just a flat-out fact, no ifs, ands or buts, that full-on Steph hasn't had to show up so far this weekend. You get the feeling he's saving some of that A game for when it's more necessary to roll it out.

A quiet 26.

Davidson basketball.

I love that.

*** Know what else I love? Rossiter's minutes. He had seven boards Sunday. Seemed like more. Seems like he's getting 'em all when he's out there. Kid's going to be good. Shoot. Kid IS good.

*** That McKillop running layup near the end? Looked kind of like Jason Richards. Didn't it? DIDN'T IT?

*** Need three. That's two.

Kruse Thoughts From SoCon

SATURDAY IN CHARLESTON***

One-man team?

Two-man team?

Evidence, ahem, indicating otherwise:

Max. First possession of the game. Wide the heck open on the baseline, surprise, surprise. J is good.

Lovedale at about 9:40 or so. Turnaround jumper in the lane.

About 30 seconds later? Bryant Barr for three.

Should I keep going?

Thought so.

Rossiter at about the five-minute mark. O board. Good and earned. Up strong, to the line, make make.

Boris not even a minute later. One dribble and strong. Finish with a hit. Free throw good.

Then Barr again.

All before the half.

That said, driving layups from Jason and those patented off-glass runners of his, and Steph being Steph and spotting up from the wings and taking it into the lane and finishing just because he can -- well, that's nice, too. And it'll come in real handy in games that don't end up, say, 82-49.

*** To all that, though, I feel like I should say this: Dear Max. Don't take this the wrong way, seriously, because I love your game, baby, love your grit -- but there's a reason you're open. NINE shots? Could do without those 18-footers. Be the top prong on the D end. Be a pest. Be ferocious. Make us all tired just watching you. Do what you do.

*** Does anybody else out there hear a very particular noise inside their head when Steph gets the ball and sets up and lets loose with a top of the key three in transition? Sounds kind of like a whistle, or a high-pitched whine, or a ... oh? Just me?

*** About the second half I have three words and only three words: Civi to Nelms.

*** The coaches of the SoCon have been trying to fatten up the 'Cats with spoken love letters over these last few weeks, saying nice things, too nice, what with Cremins rolling out the whole "Duke of the Southern Conference" thing. Here's Houston Fancher: "They're head and shoulders better than anybody in our league." Mike Young declared the Davidson men "the big red machine." Young kept it up after the game: "I'm glad we don't have to play them anymore. That was our third time. That's enough for me." Two things: 1. All well and good. 2. Hope the guys aren't hearing any of it.

*** McKillop-speak: Thrilled. Consistency. Full 40 minutes. Same old same old. McKillop was asked one question in the presser. That's it. What, really, was there to say?*** Need three. That's one.

*** I'm thirsty. To King Street ...

Business as Usual

CHARLESTON, S.C. –- So I was walking down George Street in this pretty little city, about an hour and a half before tip, headed toward Kresse Arena, right behind two campus cops.

"I don't even know who we're playing," the first cop said.

"Davidson," the second cop said.

"Oh shit," the first cop said.

What can you say? The man had a point.

The Wildcats here on Saturday were in their road reds for the sixth time in seven games, AND were playing their fourth game in a week, AND were going up against a Charleston team coming off two straight bad losses that

should've been desperate, AND got only three assists from Jason Richards, AND got "only" 16 points from Steph Curry, AND had very few fans in a small, sold-out gym, AND played a pretty awful second half.

And they won by 12.

And it wasn't even close.

At no point in any of the 40 minutes of play were the Wildcats going to lose the game, not once, not ever. Y'all saw it on TV. Never ever.

This was supposed to be loud and crazy and sweaty and tight. The signs on the doors to the gym a good hour before the start said Sold Out.

And if you were from Davidson, you had to have some juice to the nth to get into this one – your name had to be Hobby, or Dell, or McKillop, or Matheny, it seemed, all hunched behind the Wildcat bench. Everybody else in the place was dressed in maroon.

But it was 12-4, then 15-4, then 18-4, then 23-9, then 32-16. That was pretty much how it was going to be. Nice comfy working margin, thanks very much.

Ho-hum. Don't mind us. We're just passing through.

At least in the first half, balls that were up for grabs kind of weren't, not really, because the Davidson boys were getting just about all of them. Fierce. There was a 4-5 league team out there, and there was a 10-0 league team out there, and it was the 10-0 team that was playing like it NEEDED to win.

One-man team?

People say that, right?

Well, here: Sander with a top of the key three, channeling a little Landry, Sander on the block, Sander at the rim for a tip off the offensive glass.

Here: Lovedale with a baseline J, Lovedale with a 17-footer, Lovedale with that little tiptoe dribble under the basket and into a nifty reverse.

Here: a two from Max.

Here: a three from Barr.

And … okay, Steph being Steph, too, here and there, including one deep three that came at about two minutes before half, one of those where he gets just the teeniest, tiniest, slimmest bit of light … and up and in it goes. A disgusted, disbelieving Charleston fan dressed in a black suit sitting in the front row looked like he might chuck his 20-ounce Sprite.

The second half, meanwhile, is probably better left alone for the most part. It was unsightly.

The Wildcats outrebounded Charleston 26-15 in the first half … and basically flip-flopped the figure in the second. The Wildcats shot 6-for-12 from three in the first … and 0-for-6 in the second. There were missed free throws. There were missed three throws from Steph (!). There were WOUNDED free throws from Boris. Those loose balls that belonged to Davidson in the first … not in the second. They looked tired.

At about 8 minutes to go, their facial expressions said, basically:

Are we done yet?

Haven't we done what we needed to do to show that we're the better team?

Can we go home now? Finally?

But the lead, almost always, was 15, 18, 12.

Steph was bothered at times by the lanky stick of a kid named Wiggins. Wiggins had help too. Charleston threw two guys at Steph about every time he touched the ball. Seems like a smart thing to do with Davidson. Limit Curry. Or try. Make somebody else beat you.

Hokey-doke.

Lovedale for 10 and 7.

Red-cheeked Sander for 21 and 5.

"That guy's ALWAYS open," one fan moaned in the middle of the second half.

That's called math. Two white jerseys on one red jersey = one red jersey wide open. It's like the campus cop said.

The sellout crowd was … were they there? In the cramped, sweaty gym with a low ceiling and wooden bleachers, those folks cheered, like, twice – once at the beginning of the second half when the Cougar crowd-surfed, and then with two and change to go when Charleston hit a jumper and was down by 11 and there seemed, for a brief, fleeting moment, and only that, that there MIGHT have been a CHANCE.

But no.

Kevin Cary, the Observer's conscientious tracker of the 'Cats, pointed out on press row that Davidson has trailed in the second half of just one conference game so far this year – that, of course, being the scrape up at Elon.

To which Steph said after this latest win: "We haven't really done anything yet."

McKillop said he was happy with the post play. He said he wasn't so happy with the so-so second half. Still, though, the boys got back on the bus and went home, a job well done down here.

A win is a win is a win, and in the league now that's 11 and 0, 21 in a row, 35 of 36, etc., etc., etc.

Michael Kruse, class of 2000, is a staff writer for the St. Petersburg Times.

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.

The Story of their Friendship and Love for DC BBall

I come to you this Christmas Day eve with the story of two men. Their story has already been told to many by their friends, and CSTV's Josh Herwitt. Now Michael Kruse has gotten into the act. Bro Krift and Tripp Cherry are just two normal people. But when it comes to Davidson basketball, nothing can keep them from what they love so dearly. In yet another stirring article on why Davidson basketball is so stirring, so transforming...so real, Kruse has immortalized Cherry and Krift for their undying loyalty to each other and to the basketball program that Bob McKillop has built over the last 19 years.

"In the department of Davidson fandom, there's a funny but not altogether untrue test: The merely casually interested are separated from the truly totally committed by weeknight trips to spots on the map of the South like Statesboro, Ga., and Johnston City, Tenn.

Bro and Tripp passed the test.

[...]

This is a story about being a fan. This is a story about being a friend. But mostly, this is a story about the sort of stuff that makes people do things like drive 25 straight hours to watch 40 minutes of college basketball.

The good stuff.

The stuff that matters."

Still having fun?

Last week, Michael Kruse asked if we were still having fun.

Yesterday, I watched Davidson take on college basketball's most storied program, and I had seen the Wildcats answer some very important questions. In the first half, they moved the ball, shot it well, found inside looks and attacked loose balls. But then something happened...they started turning it over, making bad fouls in transition and taking bad shots. I thought we had answered our questions. But ultimately, it was just another "coulda" loss to a Top 10 on national television.

Are we still having fun?

The other day, Stephen Curry was walking around campus with a reporter from the Los Angeles Times. They walked into the Lula Bell Houston Laundry where Steph explained how the whole process worked. To many outsiders, Davidson's free laundry services seems like just another weird quirk to add to this already quirky school. As Steph demonstrated where he would usually drop off his dirty clothes, Carol Belk walked up to him and gave him a big hug and a word of encouragement. The reporter quickly noted this and started spinning a story in her head for how Curry is loved and embraced in such a small community. What this, and so many other stories, don't mention is that all of us here at Davidson receive our own embrace. It's not just Stephen Curry that people know. Everyone knows everyone, and we all support each other through that. Davidson is a really special community with special people to keep it that way.

Are we still having fun?

As Davidson jumped out to its 18 point lead yesterday over UCLA, I received numerous calls on my cell phone from rabid Davidson fans watching around the country. As I periodically check my stats for this blog and see the numbers of Google searches that merely say "davidson basketball," I continue to be amazed at the growing popularity of this team. As my Dad can no longer wear his Davidson shirt around Charleston without having some random stranger ask him something about our basketball team, I know that we have something special. As national reporters continue to call for interviews with a team that is now 3-5, I know that Davidson's name has become associated with the big time.

Are we still having fun?

Not long ago, I read a post on Davidson's message board that said that there is no difference between this year and any other year of Davidson basketball. I completely disagree. From one standpoint, I could argue that this year is better because of the attendance numbers, media attention, marketing clout, etc.

But I would also argue that this year is unlike any other year in Davidson basketball because we're on the verge of replacing fun with a drive for professional success. Davidson fans seem to need that NCAA tournament victory like their lives depended on it. Back in high school, I felt like my life depended on my high school football team winning the first round of the playoffs my senior year. I never played in a game where I had less fun. And of course, we were upset on a last second TD.

There was a time in the past when Davidson players stopped having fun. They were 10-5 in the Southern Conference and did not look like a team with seven seniors. But then Coach McKillop wobbled into practice completely wrapped up in duct tape. "You aren't playing loose!" he yelled as one of his assistants unwrapped one layer. "You are playing not to lose!" he screamed as they took off another layer. "You aren't having any fun!" he exclaimed as he ripped through the final shreds of tape, grabbed a ball and nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key. That year, Davidson went on to sweep the tourney and win the automatic bid.

Are we still having fun?

Over the course of the next two days, I have to write my last ever article for the Davidsonian. I am going to take the time to recount how much fun I have had in the last four years. Fun in winning, fun in losing. Fun in being a part of something exciting, competitive, but ultimately noble. Davidson athletics are noble, and that is a part of what makes them fun.

Are you still having fun? I hope so...because I am.

Kruse Thoughts on Davidson/Duke

The St. Petersburg Times' Michael Kruse attended Saturday's game against Duke in Charlotte. Kruse is a friend of Will's World and a common alum of The Davidsonian and The Wildcat Report. Here are his thoughts from Saturday:

I stood in the back of K’s presser Saturday afternoon and listened to him say what he said and thought to myself: I’ve heard this before.

“They’re really good.”

Heard it.

“They’re an NCAA team.”

Heard it.

“They’re a very, very good basketball team, coached by one of the best coaches in the country, no doubt about it.”

Heard it.

But something I HADN’T heard post-Duke, not working for the Davidsonian, not working for the ACC Basketball Handbook or ACCToday.com or Basketball America, not watching or reading from afar as nothing more than an interested alum, not EVER:

“Davidson could’ve won.”

So Carolina and Duke have come and gone. I would argue Carolina was a coulda SHOULDA. Duke was just a coulda.

From the haphazard notes I was keeping during the game: shotmaking … Boris miss, miss … Sander miss … Sander missed layup … charge on Steph at 14:00ish … uh oh … Lovedale missed runner … charge at 8:39 Steph … then Paulus 3 … Scheyer 2 … 22-17 … TO McK at 8:02 … good TO.

And so on.

Now I see all the predictable gripes about the refs on this board, but the fact of the matter is this, too: Steph scored 20, yes, but also turned the ball over eight times. Jason was great for the most part but also missed six of his eight free throws. Boris missed a dunk.

That halftime score of 43-32 Duke? It was appropriate.

The most striking thing to me about the Carolina and Duke games, and I watched Carolina on TV, and Duke in person, obviously, was that we played … the way we play. We didn’t play freakishly, flukishly great, or anything close to it. We just played. We played normal.

And yet No. 1 Carolina needed a pro move from a future pro to finish it.

And No. 7 Duke needed a joke of a shot from Paulus. That THING he threw in on the baseline, he makes that once out of 10 times, maybe twice. It was ridiculous live. It was totally preposterous later that night on the highlights on TV.

But my question for all of you here, and ultimately, I suppose, the point of this post, is, well: IS THIS GOOD ENOUGH?

Let me put it another way:

Still having fun?

I started really thinking about this after talking with Kyle Whelliston at halftime. He said he was there to do another something on Davidson. The two possibilities heading into Saturday’s game: (1) Davidson as “conquering hero,” to use his term, or (2) “What’s the matter with Davidson?”

See the end of Sorensen’s column Sunday?

“Here’s the best thing about Davidson.

“There was a time when almost beating the Blue Devils and Tar Heels would have excited the team and its fans. That was long ago.”

Kinda makes me happy to read that. Also kinda makes me sad.

This IS exciting. This SHOULD BE exciting. We lost by a combined 10 points, on a neutral floor, to two of the best teams in the country. What’s the MATTER with Davidson?

Don’t get me wrong. I want them to win, get over that hump, whatever. I want McKillop to win one of these games because I think he’s an awesome ambassador for my alma mater, and because we’re lucky to have him, and because all three of his children decided to go to Davidson, and because I think that’s maybe the coolest thing about the man and his relationship with the institution. I want Matheny to win one of these because he went to Davidson, and because he’s been at Davidson, and because he’s STAYED at Davidson, and because that’s worth a lot, because it’s stuff like that that makes a place what it is.

But I don’t want them to win for me. They owe me nothing.

Maybe that’s splitting hairs. I don’t know.

One last thing, though: Last Thursday night, I went to a Davidson alumni event in Tampa. Tom Ross was there. These things are always the same, a little cheesy, totally formulaic, but at the same time I’m always glad when I go, because while you’re eating shrimp and drinking wine and meeting doctors and lawyers and watching that parade of blue blazers and khakis, you listen to the president give his little status update, about how smart and accomplished this year’s freshmen are, and how good Chambers looks now, and somehow it’s exactly what I want to hear, because it makes me think about things that make me feel good.

I was born outside Los Angeles. I grew up outside Boston. Since I graduated, seven years ago, I’ve lived in Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Durham, Wellesley, Mass., Warwick, N.Y., Spring Hill, Fla., Tampa and Land O’Lakes, Fla.

Which, bear with me, is my way of explaining why I got in my car Friday night to drive 569 miles to go see the Wildcats play, win or lose, past the palm trees, away from Florida’s loose, sandy soil, up toward all that rich red dirt.

New Look, New Links

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday filled with fun and family (and hopefully some reprieve from Wednesday night's setback). I will be traveling to Boone on Monday, but will not be live blogging from either that game or next week's Duke game. I apologize. In the meantime, I thought I would update the site to give it a new feel. You can find labels down the right side that will point you to articles that have the appropriate material. I plan to use more labels in the future (and I might even go back in and relabel a few of the older articles).

I also encourage you to "digg" stories that you find interesting. Just click the button at the end of the post and then paste the URL into the box. If you have never heard of Digg, it's a user-generated news source that allows readers to upload articles, read other people's articles, and then "digg" the ones they like best. The more diggs something gets, the more popular it becomes and the easier it becomes for people to see on the front page. I see it as a great opportunity to get the news of Davidson basketball to more people around the internet.

Here are some new blogs and articles that I found:

This is a blog run by an Appalachian State fan up in Boone. Run through Wordpress, it's got many more features than we have over here at Blogger and it seems to be the final word on everything Appalachian State. I've been really impressed with the several posts that I have seen over there.

Be sure to check out the news from UNC-Greensboro's big man himself, Kyle Hines. His blog is apparently very popular among UNCG fans and college basketball fans around the country. Kyle claims that his "blog has become a weekly topic in some of my classes and even a bedtime story for a few little kids." That's great stuff, Kyle.

Finally, we have an article from the Charlotte Magazine titled, "Lefty, Bob and the Kid." Written by former Davidson history major and Davidsonian editor Michael Kruse, this is the definitive story of anticipation and regional insight for the 2007-08 Davidson basketball season. Kruse tracks the course of Davidson basketball's involvement with the Charlotte community since 1960 and shows how the program is at a tipping point once again. As a feature writer for the St. Petersburg Times, Kruse always incorporates descriptive imagery and parallelism into his storytelling. When he was a student at Davidson, he took a year off after his junior year and traveled around with the men's basketball team writing a book about the Wildcat program. Although Kruse was never able to finish the book, he came into close contact with the character and heartbeat of everything that makes Davidson special. That intimate knowledge truly shines forth in this article.