Media Day at NCAA Tournament

Welcome to Will's World from Raleigh, N.C. We are here on the media day before tomorrow's first round games. Although it doesn't have the same feel as the Super Bowl media day, there are definitely a few nerves among the fans and Davidson's little media contingent. Tomorrow's a big day.

The morning press conference was pretty same-old, same-old as Jason Richards and Stephen Curry fielded most of the questions about the team and themselves. From the age-old VT questions to how great of a leader J-Rich is, we have all heard these before and the players gave the same answers. I will say that this press conference felt a bit tame at the beginning because most of the questions came from regional media like the Observer, the News and Record and the Salisbury Post. Unlike regionals in Dayton and Buffalo, most of the media here have covered Davidson all season and there weren't any new questions from reporters that didn't know anything about the team. As everyone got warmed up, you began to get a feel for each writer's story angle from their questions. There's an "academic NCAA team" story out there, a "Jason as leader" story, a "diversity of team and campus" story, a "Davidson wants to be where Gonzaga is" story, and possibly a "McKillop is still at Davidson--Why?" story.

After the press conference we all convened at the court to watch the Wildcats kick off the practice sessions. Each team has exactly 45 minutes on the court and the Wildcats went through some basic drills before ending in a mini-scrimmage. The players and coaches looked really loose on the court as they were flying around and engaging in lively banter.

The Charlotte news crews were patrolling the stands looking for Wildcat fans to interview for a nightly segment. Poor Trip Cherry...he was one of the only Davidson fans wearing a red t-shirt and everyone descended upon him. Although he makes for a great written interview, Cherry declined to be on TV and the camera crews were left to badger the ball kids in their khakis for a story.

Tomorrow has been declared Davidson Day by the town of Davidson as everyone has been told to wear red throughout the day. Excitement about the Wildcats and Zags is not limited to Mecklenburg county, however. The matchup has already been trumpeted by all of the national media as one of the best matchups of the first round. Even North Carolina's Roy Williams agrees.

"I would not call that a mid-major matchup," Williams said in his press conference this afternoon. "Those are two very exciting and high-powered teams. If I were a plain ol' basketball fan, I would make sure that I watched that game."

Thoughts from Raleigh

-I had the privilege of getting to see Friday's game from yet a new vantage point: the N.C. State student section. My roommate got tickets from an N.C. State friend and we were able to sneak in with his I.D. While I know that it was a holiday break game, I was mostly unimpressed with State's fans, especially their students. The crowd was pretty silent for most of the game and the N.C. State students in front of us never did figure out that we were Davidson fans. They projected their taunts after the game to the couple sitting in the row behind us. After Curry air-balled his first shot, they yelled "air ball" every time he touched the ball. When he broke the 20-point barrier, one student loudly exclaimed that maybe their strategy was not working. The line of the night came in our pre-game Bojangles tailgate when one of my senior friends said that "just because we're here doesn't mean we should act like idiots."

-The connections that have been forged through Davidson basketball are really quite amazing. I found an old friend that I hadn't seen in years in the arena concourse while the Davidsonian editor from my freshman year ended up sitting right behind me. This basketball team has been the emotional and physical rallying point of Davidson friendships for many years and I hope that it will continue that way.

-Boris Meno has been scrutinized to a T this year for his less-than-stellar performances. Many, including the FSN announcing crew, have already taken their shots at Boris for his 0-5 night from the three-point land. "That's not his shot," goes the outcry. While Meno's three-point percentage is significantly lower this year, most of that does not come from what plagued him on Friday. Against UCLA, Meno took shots off the elbow and in the corner which were not in his license. However, Meno is fully licensed and encouraged to shoot the open three from the top of the key. That shot opens the lane for backcuts and gets taller defenders out of rebounding position. Meno was simply long and off his touch. I was more disappointed in Meno's several missed opportunities right under the basket, when he didn't feel the defense to know when to go up, or when he let simple passes go through his hands. Those are mental mistakes that exams, brutal competition, and expectations have made more common.

-Stephen Curry "looks" like a ball-hog....or an NBA player. It is hard to criticize a guy that consistently scores 20+ and responds to hecklers chanting "air ball" by hitting go-ahead threes in the final minutes...so I won't. Everytime, he steps on the floor, Curry has to decide how to attack without being a ball-hog...how to lead without hurting his team. The line between freedom and responsibility is thinner than ever before. But I'm putting the "Curry" problem on the shoulders of the only man whose shoulders are big enough to handle it: Jason Richards. The fact of the matter is that Stephen Curry can score 30 points every night if he always has the ball in his hands. And yet, his scoring proficiency has not translated into success because it hasn't been supplemented by offensive production and threats elsewhere. Being the undisputed leader of this team, Richards has the responsibility of getting Steph his twenty, pulling down 10-15 for himself and finding those all-important baskets from everyone else that will ultimately put Davidson back in the wins column. I felt like Richards did an excellent job of that in the second half...but once again, it takes a full 40 minutes for Davidson to beat an ACC team.

-The saddest part of watching Davidson so far this year has been seeing what Thomas Sander has gone through. Sander is only averaging 3.5 field goals a game and is shooting 53% from the free throw line. He seems to have lost his defensive discipline at times this year as he has constantly been in foul trouble (he leads the team with 30 fouls and has fouled out twice). Last season, McKillop called Sander the General of the defense because he played relentlessly and was consistently disciplined, always drawing charges and forcing big men into bad shots. This year, he is jumping and reaching for blocks instead playing for the charge or the rebounding position. As we saw against N.C. State, this strategy is failing badly.