Crowd Shot

OK, so I thought I should post this. Biggest crowd since '89 against Duke. Photo credit by Don Barr.

Win over Charlotte

While I could easily talk for a while about "fan conduct" and what not (apparently there were a couple of students who took it upon themselves to go up to the Charlotte student section), I'm going to take a break from that until January and stick to the nitty-gritty.

One of the biggest keys to this double-digit win over Charlotte were the daggers that we jabbed in their hearts at the very beginning. Stephen, Max, and Thomas hit threes. Max and Curry both get a fastbreak basket, and before they know it, they are down 21-9. And they were only shooting a little bit under 50% at that point. When you feel like you are out there playing your game and then you are down by 12 to a team that you don't feel is any better than you are, you are really challenged.

Overall, I thought the coaching was absolutely excellent from two standpoints. The Wildcats came into the game without their fireball 6th man, Will Archambault. But McKillop instilled a lot of confidence in his team during this week, and he gave Max his shooting "license" back. After Gosselin had scored eight big points early, everyone knew that he would no longer be an offensive liability at the 3 spot.

I also give credit to the in-game defensive coaching, as our team defense was really threatening with zone switches and the "bigs" in the lineup (Andrew, Boris, Thomas, Max and J). Charlotte was a little thrown off, and their half-court O really suffered. If you would have told me that Goldwire and Alexander would have combined for as many threes as Stephen, Jason, Boris and Thomas, I would have wondered how we could have beaten them by double digits.

Give credit to the hustle on this team and the willingness to get on the floor. We had several possessions that were reignited by Wildcats not quitting on long rebounds and loose balls. It is so demorializing when you get outhustled by someone, especially when you initially had position on them.

There had been a little bit of banter over on Davidsoncats about whether this team is better than last year's SoCon championship group. I think that it is becoming harder to say that this year's team isn't completely better (no disrespect b/c I loved those guys). But look at the matchups.

Last year's frontcourt of Ian, Thomas and Boris. Obviously Ian was incredible with his post shots and outside looks, but his rebounding wasn't as spectacular as consistent. Thomas is developing his touch inside as well as finding three-point range now. He and Boris have already combined to hit 16 three-pointers this season. Throw in Andrew's rebounding prowess and Steve's solid depth, and you have a much improved frontcourt.

In the backcourt, you look to replace a Matty Matt's three-point shooting prowess and we can already look at Barr or Archambault, both of whom are taking the outside shots and really forcing the defense out on top of them. You then open up the middle for Curry and J-rich, something that Brendan and Kenny weren't always privileged to, and our guards start knocking down some big baskets. We are much quicker in transition, and Richards could very well be on his way to challenging Grant's assist records with his 72 assists on the season so far.

You look at these guys out there and you see all of them smiling and you see that hop in their step, and you can't help but think that this team is really ready to go slay some giants. They had chances against Michigan and should've beaten Missouri. I can't wait to see what the SoCon holds, especially with spring signing period in the middle of that. If we get a signature from JJ then there's no telling where this program can go.

Ready for Charlotte

Huge game against Charlotte tonight. There is plenty of coverage over on Davidsoncats.com. Both fans are really ready for this one. Unfortunately for the Davidson contingent, the Wildcats will be without a key element tonight. Davidson will have to step up to make up for his absence.

More on this after the game.

One thing to watch tonight will be the fans in Belk Arena. Davidson has had more turnout during the last few home games than they have had in a while. With a bunch of junk already going down online and 1,000 Charlotte fans expected, this could be the type of athletic event that Davidson has not witnessed in quite a while. Expect a full report late tonight/early tomorrow.

Do not forget to check out the Southern Sports Awards on TV.

Sports Awards Breakdown

I apologize for the recent printing of several articles that I wrote. I wanted to publish something, and it was all I had time for at the moment. Now back to a little more relaxed style.

As many of you know, the Southern Sports Awards filmed their second annual awards show at Davidson College on Wednesday night. As a reporter, I was able to take a few pictures with some of the celebrities and interview a few people. You can find those pictures through that link.

Overall, I think that the awards were great exposure for the college with Bob McKillop presenting the Best Coach award, preceded by a clip on Davidson basketball coaches of the past. You can't help but think that anyone who watches the show (see their website for showtimes) will come away impressed with that small college in North Carolina that they'd only vaguely heard of.

Otherwise, I will admit that the show was a little underwhelming. First off, do we really need an awards show for sports in the south? Using that initial bit of doubt, we run to the awards show itself where nearly every award winner was based off of who could make it to the taping. Of course, all of the NASCAR contingency lived only a few miles down the road from Davidson, and so they won some pretty outrageous victories, over the likes of George Mason, Reggie Bush, and the Carolina Hurricanes.

I can't wait to see the actual show to see if they dubbed in applause for the NASCAR victories. Nobody in the Hall was clapping. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not prejudiced here (although I am not a NASCAR fan), but I did find the overwhelming NASCAR presence very sketchy.

The highlights of the show have to be split up into two categories: that which will be on TV, and the behind-the-scenes.

ON TV: Julius Peppers. He was definitely the elephant in the Duke Performance Hall (even over Evander Holyfield). Throughout the show, people were constantly walking up to his seat to get an autograph. When he won the Fan Favorite award, the entire place erupted, only to have Julius give the worst speech I had ever heard. It's ok though.

I also have to give it up to Bob McKillop. He was so composed on camera even with the entire student section chanting his name as he walked to the podium. I really don't know how he is still at this school.

OFF-CAMERA: The three hosts: James Carville, Finesse Mitchell and Jon Reep were very funny, especially when they messed up. They made the show so much better when students started getting worn down.

I know that I heard about it, but I now have proof that Billy Packer is the biggest deuche-bag alive. He took every chance he had to make a crack on Davidson and even flicked off the crowd at one point. I swear that James Carville was about to beat him up on stage. If it weren't for the "Davidson Gentleman" attitude, our group of students would have booed him out of the county.

Overall, I think that the awards show was a nice event, but it probably won't be going on to 20th and 30th anniversaries. The Edge Marketing company has talked about returning it to Davidson next year, but if the obvious lack of market and "settling" for NASCAR stars is all that they can do, this show will be finished in the near future.

An Elite Season

Back in the fall of 1968, the United States was going through some of the most tumultuous and significant events of this century. In the spring and summer, dual assassinations had taken the lives of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. It would be less than a year before the first man landed on the moon. Throughout the country, the cultural tumult over draft-dodging, racial toleration, and gender equality continued to preoccupy a generation. Even small Davidson, NC counted itself as being part of the national picture of the 1960’s. However, down here, the name of the game wasn’t necessarily civil rights or foreign policy. It was college basketball.

In the history of Davidson basketball, the 1960’s played out like an Oscar-winning movie script. Lefty Driesell arrived on campus at the beginning of the decade, and when he left nine years later, the school’s basketball program was transformed forever. Davidson reached the NCAA tournament three times in those years, they finished the season in the Top 25 six times, and three players in that decade were named All-Americans.

Davidson finished the 1967-1968 season with a heart-breaking four-point loss to North Carolina in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. Armed with a returning frontcourt of Mike Maloy, Jerry Kroll and Doug Cook, Driesell knew that 1969 could be the year to challenge UCLA for the national championship. Driesell and his staff never expected less than perfection, and his drive influenced the players and the community.

Even the thought of speculating about a national championship in Davidson seems mind-boggling in the current context. In 2005-2006, Davidson sported one of its best teams of the Bob McKillop era which included four players who finished in the all-time leaderboards in points, three-pointers and assists. Yet, after winning the Southern Conference championship game by a recordt ying 25 points over Chattanooga, Davidson was only given a million to one chance to win the NCAA tournament.

In 1969, Davidson was not a surprise team. In the Charlotte Observer’s season preview, Davidson and North Carolina were heralded as the East Coast challengers to UCLA. Davidson’s Mike Maloy was on the cover of the December issue of Sports Illustrated along with Mike Casey and Charlie Scott. Throughout the season, Davidson played 10 of its home games in Charlotte Coliseum because the smaller Johnston Gym would not hold the large crowds.

“When we stepped on the court, winning was the expected outcome 100 percent of the time,” said forward Jerry Kroll ’70. ’“Each of us expected the highest level of intensity and performance from each other and we counted on and trusted each other to
deliver, regardless of the opponent.”

During that season, Davidson handily defeated schools like Maryland, South Carolina, Texas, Michigan, Duke and Wake Forest. Their average scoring margin of 16.5 points per game ranked sixth in the nation by the end of the season. Davidson won road games in such locales as Madison Square Garden, Ann Arbor, Michigan and Morgantown, West Virginia. By season’s end, Mike Maloy was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year. Maloy averaged 24.6 points per game, while Kroll had 16.0 ppg and Cook had 14.6 ppg. At point guard, Dave Moser averaged 8.3 ppg and led the team with 155 assists.

Despite its size, the small college town did its best to support one of the nation’s top basketball programs. Games were always sold out and fan support equaled the intensity of Coach Driesell and his players.

“There were students who, having hitch-hiked in some cases, showed up in New York and Chicago to see us play,” said Kroll. “The atmosphere was powerful…it was electric.”

Armed with the confidence of an undefeated conference season, a hometown audience, and the charge that only one conference team made it to the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats rolled through the Southern Conference tournament being held in Charlotte, NC. In the championship game, the ’Cats defeated East Carolina by a margin of 26 points. For the third time in four years, Davidson earned a bid to the NCAA tournament to take on Villanova.

Not only did that game mark the final time that Lefty Driesell coached a Davidson team in Charlotte, it was also the final college game as an East Carolina Pirate for an ECU guard named Bob McKillop. As McKillop watched the talented Wildcats celebrate in mid-court, he knew that there was something special about that program: “They owned the town,” remembered McKillop.

A 14-point win over the Villanova Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament’s first round allowed Davidson to advance to the East Regionals in College Park, MD where they faced St. Johns. The Johnnies had pulled out a 75-74 overtime win over Davidson earlier in the season, and the Wildcats wanted revenge.

The Wildcats led the game at halftime and pulled away in the second half due to the suffocating defense of Mike O’Neill who held the prolific St. Johns’ scorer, John Warren, to only four second half points. Maloy added a career-high 35 points to give the Wildcats a 10-point win and a place in the Eastern Regional championship game against North Carolina.

“The Davidson dressing room was quiet and confident,” wrote the Charlotte Observer’s Mel Derrick on March 14, 1969. “The mood was one belonging to a team that honestly thinks it can win a national championship.”

On March 15, Davidson took on the University of North Carolina in what was arguably the most important game in the history of Davidson basketball. The Tar Heels had beaten Davidson in the same Regional Championship game the year before by four points. The game featured two of the nation’s best players in Mike Maloy and Charlie Scott. It also featured two young coaches in Lefty Driesell and Dean Smith who would go on to epitomize the standard of basketball excellence in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

At the time, it was a battle for revenge, it was a battle for the Final Four, and it was a battle for bragging rights in the state of North Carolina. The writers of a blockbuster movie could not have written a more compelling script.

The game featured numerous lead changes and many foul calls as the teams fought back and forth. With under a minute remaining, the score was tied and, as it was before the invention of the shot clock, Davidson was determined to hold for the final shot. But a North Carolina defender found himself in the right place at the right time after Kroll reversed his dribble in the middle of the court. The ensuing charging call gave the Tar Heels the ball and Coach Smith called a timeout.

Coming out of the timeout with under a minute to play, everyone in the fieldhouse knew that UNC wanted Scott to take the final shot. After receiving the inbound, Scott was able to go to his right and find himself open at the top of the key. Scott sunk the shot, and all the hopes of Davidson fans everywhere.

Davidson finished the season with a record of 27-3 and the Associated Press ranked them third in the country in their final poll.

Since 1969, Davidson has not won a game in the NCAA tournament, despite winning another five conference tournament championships. The storybook years of the Driesell era when Davidson and North Carolina battled for state bragging rights are long gone.

To a new generation of basketball fans, those teams seem rather exceptional and compelling, but rarely realistic. Instead, the past success of Davidson basketball has begun to take on a mythic feeling that hides the true beauty of how important those successes were. Although Davidson remains a school of 1,600 students, many still believe that national prominence is not just a dream.

“Success starts at the top, from the administration down to the coaching to the players and fans,” said former point guard Dave Moser ’69. “I really believe that we can compete with some of the best teams in the country.”

In the same way that Lefty Driesell transformed a program of mediocrity into one with national title aspirations, Bob McKillop continues to push the Davidson basketball program to new heights. In the last five years, McKillop has put together three postseason teams that have helped raise Davidson’s national recognition level.

Davidson continues to believe in success on a national level, and will never forget the heights they have reached in the past.

Southern Sports Awards

-published in the Davidsonian, December 6, 2006-

On Wednesday night, the Southern sports culture and all of its fanfare will descend upon Davidson College. The Lincoln Financial Southern Sports Awards are hosting the annual taping of their awards show in the Duke Family Performance Hall. For Davidson College, the event represents an incredible opportunity for regional and national exposure. For the athletes and performers, it represents the opportunity to gather with their peers and celebrate their achievements.
This year will represent only second ever presentation of the Southern Sports Awards and it aims to begin creating a niche in the end-of-year awards schedule. Last year, the show was held in Atlanta, GA on the week after Thanksgiving. While the presentation went off without a hitch, the producers came away realizing that they wanted more of an energetic audience.
“We really aimed to create a collegiate feel in this year’s show,” said co-executive producer Ken Neal. “We hope that students will wear their Davidson gear and be excited throughout the show.”
Neal represents one of the main reasons that this year’s show is being held at Davidson College. A Davidson grad from 1987, Neal owns his own sports production company in Charlotte and pushed the small liberal arts college as a prime venue.
For Davidson, the show will be an incredible opportunity to showcase not only the academic but athletic prowess of one of the nation’s smallest Division I schools.
One video piece will feature some of the famous Davidson men’s basketball coaches of the past including current George Mason coach Jim Larranaga, former UNC coach Matt Doherty, former Maryland coach Lefty Driesell, and even NBA coach Larry Brown. The Southern Coach of the Year award will which will be presented by current Davidson coach Bob McKillop.
There will also be several commercial lead-ins that will feature the Davidson campus and students.
Aiming to capture the full aura of Southern Sports, the show will feature a traditions section to pay homage to the South’s passionate and crazy fans, tailgating, mascots, and stadium traditions.
This year’s show will be co-hosted by political pundit and avid Southern sports fan, James Carville. He will be joined by Southern comedian Jon Reep, who gained national press for his famous line in Dodge truck commercials: “that thing got a hemi?”
Although not all of the presenters and award winners will be revealed before the show, Neal did say that fans could expect a fair share of star power. Along with local NASCAR personalities, Davidson students can expect to see former boxer Evander Holyfield, former SNL star Finesse Mitchell, musical performers Chris Doughtry, Monica, Rodney Atkins, and Bubba Sparxx, and a couple of Carolina Panther players.
“If you come to the show expecting star power and quality musical performances, you will not leave disappointed,” said Neal. “However, I think that students will be most impressed by the visual setup of the show. It should be unlike anything they have ever seen done on campus.”
Despite the looming presence of exams and final projects, the Davidson community has already shown that it is willing to support such a high-profile endeavor. Several weeks ago, students camped out in the freezing night just to get tickets to the live taping. Many people were astonished that tickets went so quickly and opted to attend one of the two run-through sessions on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon. The Union Board received over 350 faculty and staff requests for an alotted 60 tickets.
“I have been really impressed with the support of the community for this event,” said Neal. “If we had a 2,000 seat venue in the Union, we could have easily sold it out.”
Although the anticipation for the event has greatly increased in the last few days to the construction in the Union and the rumors of attending stars, Davidson students have been encouraged to appreciate their proximity to the event and not harass the presenters and nominees.
“We really have very little in place to keep the student body away from the body of celebrities for this event. We are trusting that Davidson students will act maturely and ensure the success of the event.”
The awards show will be shown in its entirety on various Southern cities over the next two Saturdays. Charlotte, NC will air the show December 9, 2006 at 8 p.m. on WJZY.

Dorm Ping Pong

This is what we do late at night, instead of studying.

I hate exams

I apologize for the lack of posts. We are entering into the week of hell here at Davidson. As far as basketball goes, here are some quick thoughts for the next week and a half:

-College of Charleston lost last night against Charleston Southern. The SoCon South race is officially wide open.

-Elon comes in tonight without their star player in LeVonn Jordan. Expect a strong Wildcat showing and a comfortable victory.

-Ugg, I hate exams. I will be back soon, I promise.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

It has been a long Thanksgiving break for me, with so many sports stories swirling around and so little time to work on my end-of-semester papers. Sigh. But I have decided on this Monday morning to at least provide some cursory comments on the events of the last week.

-College Football obviously needs a playoff system. Everyone agrees on it now right? We all know that USC and Michigan should have a chance to play each other for the chance to play Ohio St. What I haven't heard anyone talk about is how/why it is going to happen. Cases have been made about how the bowls can host the games and money still goes in. No one can ignore college basketball's success with March Madness. I want to know who is holding this up.

-Davidson basketball confounds fans. After getting trounced by Duke at Cameron, no two Davidson fans has the same feeling from this game. I have heard that we were killed inside, and that we held our own. We played together for most of the game, and yet we had no chemistry. What I do know is that Jason Richards needs some help. We really have no adequate back-up at the point and there are many teams in the SoCon that are going to give us ballhandling fits. We will only emerge into a conference contender if we can effectively get into our half-court offense.

-With their offensive line not as good as it could be, the Carolina Panthers are fading back into the rest of the pack. The Panthers have been streaky all season as they have demolished good teams and been beaten by lesser teams. The common denominator for this season, however, is that Jake Delhomme is nothing special. The Panthers have shown that they have some great elements with Smith, Johnson, Williams, Peppers, Lucas...but they cannot rely on Jake anymore. In the Panthers' five losses, three of them came as direct results of late-game Delhomme turnovers. The only times that Weinke has gotten any substantial playing time in the last few years, he has led the Panthers to late-game victory drives. If Parcells can do it with Romo, why can't we do it with Weinke?

-For all of last week, Post and Courier beat writer David Caraviello wrote tomes on the character and insight of Bobby Cremins. After finding fault with his big inside presence Josh Jackson, Cremmins sat the forward so he could think about his attitude. According to Caraviello, Cremmins doesn't worry all that much about schemes and plays, rather he spends his energy worrying about the character of his team. At the outset, I think it is great that these CofC players realize that they won't play if they don't get their head in the game, but somehow all of Charleston is trying to convince themselves that Cremmins really does know what he's doing out there. They are trying to forget how he always only played 6 players throughout the season and how his players never really seemed to do more than what seemed natural for them. Apparently, it's all about brawn, speed and athleticism without a plan. Somehow I don't think that even Cremmins is going to get this bunch back into the SoCon title game.

Up Next: at #9 Duke

Last year, Davidson brought one of its most experienced team in several years up to Durham, NC to play Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Wildcats were utterly defeated. Why then, with a team that has averaged 20.7 turnovers per game, am I interested in previewing Davidson's chances against this Duke team? Well, why not? They are going to lose anyway right? Or are they?

This year's Duke team does not have a starter with more experience than junior DeMarcus Nelson. That inexperience was exposed last Tuesday as Marquette got hot in the second half and the Dukies panicked. For years, Coach K has lived off of momentum, but he might not always a crew to generate it. For four years, J.J. Redick was instant momentum as he could seemingly hit three-pointers from anywhere on the court. In last year's matchup, Shelden Williams thwarted any hopes of Davidson establishing an inside game as he reached double digits in blocks.

This year, however, the Dukie playmakers are wrong and unproven. It also seems that they know that they are beatable. For Davidson, there is never a good time to play Duke, but I will take this opportunity as it is. The Wildcats have a group of players that admittedly aren't experienced to enough to handle Bob McKillop's intricate system. As a result, they set new school records for three-point attempts against D-III schools. This team, turns the ball over a lot and shoots too early on possessions. But they are also very explosive. They overcame double digit deficits against Eastern Michigan, Michigan and Missouri, although they dropped the last two. With freshmen like Stephen Curry and Will Archambault having the potential to score 20+ on three-pointers alone, this group can upset anyone.

The Wildcats have nothing to lose in this game, whereas the Dukies have an identity to reestablish. The Blue Devils will not take it easy on Davidson early on, but Coach McKillop likes it like that. He knows that his legendary coaching counterpart in blue respects the Wildcats way too much to take it easy on them.

If Davidson is to win, the Wildcats will have to shoot like they did against UIC, rally like they did against EMU and protect the ball like they didn't do against Missouri. Most importantly, they have to adopt the moniker on Steve Rossiter's shoulder and play "with the heart of a lion."

Updates and Changes

-Make sure to mark your calendars for January 10. The men's basketball game against Furman has been moved to that date. The schedule has been updated on the Davidson website. That game will be held in the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, SC.

-On a day when the Men's basketball team was vying for their third straight victory over Big 12 foe Missouri, the Davidson Women's basketball team came within 6 points of upsetting the no. 9 ranked Bulldogs of Georgia. The Wildcats had four women score in double figures including 12 from Danielle Hemerka and newcomer Julia Paquette. The Wildcats shot 6-12 from 3 land in the second half to build and sustain a six-point lead. But the Bulldogs hung around and made a surge at the end to clip the Wildcats and maintain their ranking. Like the men, the women turned ball over too many times (18) and the Bulldogs scored 12 points on the fast break. Look for this women's team to continue turning heads this season. They are really good.

-The Men's swimming team beat the College of Charleston in the Davidson Invitational over the weekend while the Women's team came in third place in front of the University of North Florida. Merritt Peale continued to lead the Men's attack while Alanna Ream set a new meet record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:07.71.

-Prediction for the BCS national championship game: Ohio State over USC, 28-21.

Missouri breakdown

Here are some grades from the Davidson-Missouri game.

Davidson Frontcourt: B-
These guys had really been anchoring the Cats' strong play so far this season, but they were unable to be effective against the Missouri defensive schemes. Sander did not score in the first half and he, Boris and Andrew combined for only 24 points against 10 turnovers. The Wildcats also gave up 30 points in the paint, and the big men became thorns in our side against the press. On the bright side, Boris did not get into any foul trouble and the Wildcats were able to outrebound the Tigers 40-29. I think that from here on out, either Boris or Thomas is going to have to have a big game for the Cats to win. It's kind of like the Ian Johnson effect, except with two people.

Davidson Backcourt: C+
The theme for this group continues to be turnovers and inconsistency. Despite the 17 points put up by freshman newcomer Will Archambault, this group was unable to make sure that Davidson broke the press on a consistent basis. They weren't distributing the ball as well as they could have (11:18 assist/turnover ratio for the guards) and Jason Richards' foul trouble plagued the team's flow in the second half. This team really needs a natural backup point guard as only Curry and Gosselin are backing up Richards. Look for some future opponents to be taking advantage of this weakness.

Intangibles: B+
It's easy to look for moral victories when you're playing against big schools, but I would say that the Wildcats really did not deserve to win this game. They were not playing their best basketball and they don't have the experience and talent to win close games on the road yet. Coach McKillop is famous for saying that he'd always rather win a game, but I think that this loss will continue to be an important motivator throughout the season. It meant that you were good enough to play close despite mistakes, but that you're going to have to eliminate those mistakes in the games that really matter.

Final Thoughts:
This team really has a depth problem right now. It is kind of a new idea for someone like me, who's only watched for the past two years, where you always had a guy like Eric Blancett to come off the bench, but there really isn't anyone like that right now. We are playing 7 guys and that is it. This team could get into some major foul trouble against more physical teams and that can really hurt you down the stretch. Coach McKillop is going to need to develop players like Rossiter, Barr and Civi into playable backups. He also might think about giving Falconi some minutes.

Official Missouri Preview

In the third meeting between Davidson and Missouri in the last three years, the Tigers will look to oust the fiesty Wildcats who have pulled off two consecutive "upsets." Each loss to Davidson during the past two seasons have the set the tones for mediocre Missouri seasons that have routinely underachieved with great raw talent.

Although it would seem that all of these Missouri Tigers will be itching for revenge against Davidson on Sunday, there aren't that many players on this team that have actually gone through those losses. The Tigers will be looking for help from a talented group of transfers and freshman in order to set a new course under new head coach Mike Anderson. To this day, many fans still blame the firing of former coach Quinn Snyder on the back-to-back losses to some "po-dunk small-time NC school."

Frontcourt: In the frontcourt, Missouri will have a small height advantage behind the 6-9 Lyons and 6-9 Grimes, but they will also have some trouble fitting into coach Anderson's new fast-paced offense. Last year, the Davidson interior torched this same group of Missouri players as the Davidson frontcourt outscored Missouri 47-10. This year, Sander and Meno have more than made up for the loss of Johnson as the rebounding numbers are up (+20 rebounding over UIC this week), and so are the trash put-back points. Now that Sander is hitting the three-pointer and stretching the defense, this Missouri group will have a hard time containing Davidson's big men in the half court.

Backcourt: Missouri will miss the early departure of Thomas Gardner who scored 30 points in the Tigers losing effort in Davidson last year. Although they return Horton at the point, the Tigers are will still be trying to their rhythm in their new hurry up schemes. The depth is young and the experience may become an issue if this team gets down. However, on paper, Missouri will probaly have the speed and athleticism to get out in front on the fast break. For Davidson, this might be the game where their bubble finally bursts. The Cats have been riding the hot play of freshman Stephen Curry who has put up 90 points in his first four games, including 32 against Michigan and 23 in the second half against UIC. Curry has a propensity for playing outside of himself so far, and if he starts turning the ball over and missing shots, Davidson will have to look for Jason Richards to spend more time at the point creating shots. The Tigers should also look out for freshman Will Archambault who has been a force off the bench. His three-point range seems to be infinite at this point.

Keys to the game: For Missouri, this game is about revenge and pride. They know that they have been embarrassed in the last two seasons by a team playing in a mid-major conference. If the Tigers can get their crowd behind them they might be able to create a big-league early off of quick scoring and transition baskets. They will have to play smart however, because the Wildcats have just come off a 100-89 win over a team in UIC that also thought that they could outrun the Cats. Davidson needs to continue to find a happy medium between playing loose and playing within the system. If the Wildcats cut down on turnovers, score easy baskets inside and hit a few three-pointers, they could make it interesting.

A Niche

As some of you may or may not know, keeping up an active blog is very tiring and can frankly be a lot of work.

If you look at some of the blogs with the highest impacts and hit counts, almost all of them are blogs that have no nearly no original content (take www.deadspin.com, arguably one of the biggest sports blogs in the country). These blogs make their living on finding the crazy and dirty of the sports world and giving us more of it every twenty minutes.

On the other hand, you also have blogs like Mark Clayton's and Ricky Dimon's (www.clayandricksports.com) that publish exposes on different subjects and require a little more dedication from their readers. Moreover, they claim to represent the point-of-view of young, passionate sports fans for whom ESPN doesn't write and who are most completely represented by two college students playing Beer Pong on their "About Us" page.

I hope to continue to blaze a trail for sports fans, especially those in the Davidson community, who want to have a little more than the AP story, a little less of the YouTube videos of athletes picking their nose, and something that continues to transform and inspire us about the world of sports.

After seeing the crowds of students during last night's Davidson/UIC game and hearing people talk about Davidson basketball today, I am reconvinced that this whole sports stuff is more than just the lust of the crowds for competition, fighting and victory. Humans have a particular knack for orienting themselves in terms of teams and seeing things in the duality of win/lose.

Throughout this winter, while Davidson basketball will drive most of my commentary, and I want to use my newfound motivation to talk about such things as race and sports (I am actually taking a class on it next semester), business in sports, and the psychology of success.

As always, please leave me any comments if you have thoughts and look for some pre-game thoughts before Sunday's Missouri game.

I'm Baaack

I'm baaaackk! The Davidsonian and all of these darn classes have really been taking my time. But that's no excuse, I'm back in business and it's time to start talking basketball. I'm hoping that I can start making this thing a little more Deadspinish and a little less articlish. The Davidsonian will have a website next semester, so you can read articles there.

Before we get to Davidson basketball, we look at the rest of the country and we see the common trend of November: scared giants and hopeful mid-majors picking up their game on the road. In the past, it really wasn't a big deal if Duke or North Carolina lost to a nobody because their NCAA seed wouldn't reflect it and the nobody would go .500 in their po-dunk conference anyway.

However, I think that we are seeing the continual flow of the mid-majors at the start of this season. I see no ebb in sight. On the night, Oral Roberts picked up a huge win over #3 Kansas on the road, while Winthrop almost stunned #2 UNC after leading at half.

Winthrop and Oral Roberts are joining the teams like Creighton, SIU and George Mason that refuse to see themselves as cinderellas and are coming to play against the boys. Notice I didn't say big boys, because as we are continually seeing they really aren't that big anymore. Especially when great coaches like Gregg Marshall, Jim Larranaga, and Bob McKillop are out there.

But on to the good stuff, Davidson beat UIC 100-89 tonight behind the, dare-I-say, "flat" play of Stephen Curry who scored 27 points. Curry missed some very good shots in the first half and made some poor decisions with the ball throughout the game. And yet he still led this team to victory. If he continues to mature and strengthen, Curry could very well be the best player in Davidson history.

But enough about Curry, we have four years to develop that subject. I was most impressed with Thomas Sander and Boris Meno who continue to improve within McKillop's system. They have both taken lessons from Ian and started to perfect their short hooks and tip-ins, and they both have an excellent knack for rebounds. The great rebounder always does the fundamentals well, but he also has an intuitive sense about shots and these guys really seem to have that.

Finally, I'm impressed with William Archambault. He has really evolved into a dynamic small forward who can play above the rim, hit the outside shot, and play defense.

Although we definitely have some trouble with holding onto the ball, and we need some more PT and consistency from Richards, I love the way that our underclassmen are contributing while learning. In my few years here at Davidson, the "system" of Bob McKillop has handicapped the underclassmen and not allowed them to play while learning. Now we are getting contributions from players who are improving and learning at the same time.

This team is also going to cause some matchup problems in a way that we haven't in the past. Not only are we building an inside-outside offense with outside shooters and power players in the paint, but now we have the ability to run-out on teams that aren't as quick as UIC. The Flames shot the lights out tonight and yet they couldn't beat us because of our +20 rebounding margin.

The crowd was excellent tonight and I really think that we are building on our support base. The Davidson Basketball Blog is getting some great hits as well as www.davidsoncats.com. I'm excited to see what this year can bring and hope that this will be the year when we begin to separate ourselves from the rest of the SoCon. We want to be Gonzaga, Memphis, SIU, Winthrop, .....etc. Davidson belongs in that list. We have been there in the past and we deserve to be there again.