Lagos, Nigeria

Worthwhile reads

Mike Giglio ‘06 on the Cult of Curry:

Each morning over breakfast or inside cubicles, people boot up their computers and religiously check his box scores. In driveways late at night, they sit in cars to listen to his games live via satellite radio. Many who have never paid the NBA any mind at all fork over for expensive TV packages just to watch him. And they flock to away games to cheer for him, and him alone.

Simmons: I just thought Curry had a higher degree of difficulty: crazy coaching situation, crazy ownership/front-office situation, super-crazy roster. He played with Ellis and Corey Maggette (two of the ultimate me-first guys), and a rotating cast of promoted D-Leaguers and bench guys. He didn’t have a decent low-post player or rebounder; you knew things were bad when someone said the words, “We really miss Ronny Turiaf right now.” And yet, he got better every month and became the first rookie ever to average 17 points and two 3s per game and top 85 percent free throw shooting and 40 percent 3-point shooting (nobody even came close before). FanHouse: Curry was just a freshman, and was still annoyingly known as Dell's son. “Hold on to that,” he told me, to which I scoffed. “Seriously, it’ll be worth a lot someday.”

Team USA invite

For Stephen.

42, 9 and 8: a parting shot

Don Nelson: “If Stephen Curry isn’t the rookie of the year, there’s something wrong.” Mercury News: The last rookie with such a line was Oscar Robertson.

‘My momma won’t let me’

Marcus on Stephen:

But quietly, Curry experiences a tiny bit of reservation. The love he receives, the hype that follows him, comes with a price.

Curry doesn’t want to inconvenience his loved ones. He doesn’t want to upstage his teammates. He doesn’t want to come off as a glutton for glory.

“He doesn’t take anything for granted, and he doesn’t think he’s entitled to anything,” said Steve Rossiter, one of Curry’s closest teammates at Davidson. “That’s not who he is.”

Curry said his parents, his high school coach, his girlfriend -- whom he first met six years ago in their church youth group -- and a couple Davidson teammates serve as his escape. They allow him a welcome relief from life on the pedestal.

Curry said he’s confident he won’t fall off, nor does he want off his high place. In his mind, it’s his calling to be humble while exalted.

“It’s possible to keep that forever,” Curry said of his pristine image. “It can’t be just for show. It’s got to be who you are. I’ve thought about this. I think it’s just who I am, who I was made to be.”

The tourney, excellence, and us

McKillop: “There is a constant attempt in our society to diminish the value of excellence. Making the NCAA Tournament is a mark of excellence, and excellence should never be diminished.”

Northside San Francisco

Michael Murphy with a cover story:

On the evening of the first game of his professional career in the NBA as a Golden State Warrior, Stephen Curry’s 10-minute drive from his Lake Merritt apartment to the Oakland Coliseum was delayed by a traffic jam. It would be one of the few times all season the rookie would be stressed.

Read to the end where Murphy talks to John Kuykendall. Oh wait. No he didn’t. He just stole it from Staying Stephen.

Roundball Classic on Saturday

Droney’s in it.

Rookie of the Year?

Marcus Thompson tonight on Twitter: More ROY fodder @DIMEMag @StephenCurry30 just broke the record for most made treys in a season for an NBA rookie (159). Kawakami: Here’s how. Bleacher Report after the other night in Minnesota: Curry fell two rebounds and three steals short of accomplishing a very rare quadruple-double. Wizards coach Flip Saunders: “He’s going to be a very good player in this league for a long time.”

The week’s big recruiting news

Add another local kid to the list:

Hopewell High basketball player DeMon Brooks, the I-MECK 4A player of the year, has committed to Davidson and will sign next week.

Brooks is a 6-foot-8 center who averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds last season. In college, he’ll play with his high school teammate, Hopewell 6-6 senior guard Jordan Downing.

Telep in an e-mail: Undersized power forward. Worker. Big motor. Solid pickup.

Stephen’s mini movie

Reasons for optimism

Acorn on DavidsonCats.com:

1. The Butler Game. Let’s start at the beginning of the season. We knew this year wouldn’t be quite as good as the last two years, but Davidson played national runner-up and at-the-time-#10-ranked Butler pretty close at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The team led by ten in the first half. They came back from a ten-point deficit to take the lead with under ten minutes to go. Kuhlman (9 points, 6 assists) and Cohen (8 points) both had good first games, which leads me to ...

2. The Freshmen (Rising Sophomores). Nik Cochran, Jake Cohen, and JP Kuhlman all had great freshman seasons. Nik showed that he could come off the bench and provide great energy. He has shown a knack for getting into the lane and making things happen. There is some disagreement on Jake and JP -- but only over which one is better. Each one won a conference freshman of the year award. JP is a cool customer who is a capable ballhandler with a deadly shot. Jake has great length and great scoring ability -- he is also a good shot blocker. If JP
improves his defense and Jake puts on a few more pounds, they could each make multiple All-Conference teams.

3. No Bad Losses. The team played some excellent teams tough. I’ve already discussed the Butler game. They hung with Gonzaga in Seattle. And they should have beaten Cornell at Madison Square Garden. Sure, the Charleston tournament was a little rough. But in the conference season, Davidson didn’t lose any games to teams at the bottom of the conference. We didn’t see the kind of domination that we had become accustomed to, but the team played hard every night.

4. Recruiting. Coach McKillop and his staff have put together a strong recruiting class. De'Mon Brooks (6-7) was his conference’s player of the year. His teammate, Jordan Downing (6-5), provides length and scoring on the wing that the team didn’t have last year. Chris Czerapowicz led Sweden to the U18 European Championships last summer, and is one of the top-ranked players in his age cohort. Tom Droney (6-6) is a high-scoring guard with the ball handling ability of a point guard. These players should enhance the team’s ability to score in a variety of ways. And there is no reason to expect that recruiting will let up next year -- the prospects who have been identified as having interest in Davidson are of similar high quality.

5. Transitions. We’ve mentioned it several times on this board, but this was a year of big transitions. Stephen Curry left a year early somewhat unexpectedly. Matt Matheney left the coaching staff to coach Elon. Ben Allison injured his shoulder and Frank Ben-Eze was recovering from knee surgery. Aaron Bond decided to leave the team. That is a lot of disruption, both expected and unexpected.

6. The SoCon Seems to be Improving. Finally, the teams of the Southern Conference seem to be improving. App State, College of Charleston, Elon, Western Carolina, and Wofford all seem to be headed in the right direction. That may make things more challenging for Davidson, but raising the profile of the conference is important for getting multiple teams into the NCAA tournament (may be moot now) and for getting better seeds. It also helps with recruiting.

Says Eddie: While their loss wasn’t unscheduled, you could add to your “transitions” item the departures of the SoCon’s defensive player of the year (MPG), along with Davidson’s second leading scorer and top rebounder (Lovedale). This wasn’t, and couldn’t be, a seamless transition. It was a shock to the system at all levels.

JP in the Jacksonville paper

Alumni watch: Former Providence basketball standout JP Kuhlman enjoyed a brilliant rookie season for Davidson.

A film by Mark McGuire ‘96

Shugendô Now from Jean-Marc Abela on Vimeo.

Screening at Davidson a week from Monday, at 8 p.m., in the 900 Room. More.

Accolades in Utah

Warriors assistant Scott Roth: “He’s definitely a franchise-type of guy. He’s someone who will attract other players to come just by the way he is. He’s got the right approach to the game. He’s kind of a throw-back player, in that respect.” Tonight in Toronto: 29, 12 and 8, and a win.

Stephen in the NYT

Howard Beck from out in Oakland:

So in addition to trying to run the offense, please his eccentric coach and win games, Curry is charged with keeping hope alive in the Bay Area.

Seth, too: “I guess people didn’t learn the first time,” Davidson Coach Bob McKillop said.

He is alone

Just now on Kyle’s Twitter feed: Insider account of NABC meeting yesterday: coaches talking 96-team bracket. “Great idea. Anyone not in favor?” One man stood up: McKillop. More from Kyle.

The latest Buzzkill auction item

Bid on THIS. “I’m really excited about it,” Bryant said this afternoon when he called with the news. Buzzkill.

Seven hundred and thirty days later

Claire: There was a power in those moments that I never tried to understand, but just let it sweep me up, clear knowledge that nothing else in the world was important except for the life we share and how this expressed that.

Say yes

March 30, 2008:

Those were the words running through his head.

Say yes.

Say yes.

Say yes.

Mid-Major Freshman All-America

JP.

‘The Document’

So I’m reading Kyle’s latest and nodding.

... they should be functioning time capsules that help us remember when our memory fails us. They allow future generations piece together the meaning for themselves.

There is a feeling that binds George Mason 2006, Davidson 2008 and Butler 2010 together.

... to sell those ahead of us on the idea that this was a really powerful experience for a lot of people.

And then:

I didn’t really like Michael Kruse’s Taking The Shot: when I first read it, I felt it was too esoteric and short, padded with extraneous material and featuring more footnotes than a David Foster Wallace book. But when I was back home for a few days nursing my broken immune system after Vancouver, I went back and re-read it. I “got it” a little more, and I could better see what the author was attempting. There are stories of the other players, and of fans and students, of free buses to Detroit, about the construction of the team, and the old and wise coach’s philosophy. And there is the feeling, in black and white, when the shot didn’t go down, when Davidson couldn't do what Mason did two years earlier, what Butler has done now. It’s far from perfect, but it’s a blueprint and a way forward.

It’s a very fair point. I actually would add a few more fars: far, far, far from perfect. I would change a lot of things about it, if I could go back and try it again, but I can’t. That’s the way it goes. One night at the Brickhouse, not long after it came out, I told William I thought it was flawed but earnest. Fail with some grace and hope to learn from it for later. This is one reason I’m excited about The Davidson Project. More voices, more accessible, and a much, much wider frame: I think ultimately it will be a better version of what Kyle’s talking about here.

Did they make this for us?

Morrissey to McKillop

Bless you, Coach.

Billy Thom

The student assistant coach: “The most honest college tour I took was at Davidson. It was, 'This is what we are. If it’s for you, come on down.’”

Two years ago today

Claire in Detroit:

Our victory bellows take over, melding us into one hot sweaty bonetired (up for seventeen hours straight come from down South twenty-four hours ago I didn’t even think I’d be here wasn’t I in a Wendy’s in Ohio eight hours ago is it really the same freaking day of the week?) euphoric disbelieving jumble of jubilant kids, screaming into the depths of these thousands for our hometown boys, our friends, our classmates. Bob McKillop’s face appears on the big screen, stoneset like we’re not going to win by seventeen points, not going to go to the Elite Eight, not going to be the story of the year -- just a normal game. And yet the clock slides easily down, no pressurecooker countdown no heartstopping miracle -- bliss pressing from all sides all people all mouths.

Soltys on Cats.com: 1. We won. 2. I was there.

Last night against the Mavs

Marcus Thompson: Stephen Curry may have had worse lines as a pro, but this was his worst performance. He was incredibly careless with the ball when the team still had a chance to make the game competitive. This ugliness went beyond the well-intentioned but forced passes that account for many of his turnovers. Along with those, he made some plain lazy passes on the perimeter that were swiped and clearly telegraphed a few others. I don’t know whether he has hit the wall or is losing focus with all the losing, but hopefully this is a one-off bad night and not a sign of things to come.

The Davidson Project

A status update.

Butler

A year and a month ago at Belk Arena:

Things I liked about Butler: Those kids looked like college kids. They played defense. They won loose balls. They earned “slobber” points ...

Now: the Final Four in their own city.

(More) thoughts on the shot taken

Strange in a way to read in the current ESPN The Magazine a redux of the 16.8 seconds about which I wrote 40,000 words. My first thought, when I looked at the double-truck spread, and of course this is silly -- but my first thought was: But that’s OUR moment.

So you’ve got the comments from Kansas assistant Joe Dooley and you’ve got the comments from Stephen, and they’re short and simple and unavoidably revisionist just due to the passage of time if nothing else. And you’ve got the comments from McKillop in the part of the companion story about final possessions, which had additional comments from Stephen, which conspicuously had no comments from Jason. And anyway there are any number of things that could be said about it.

For now, though, I want to key in on just one part. Cue Stephen:

“I got a good ball fake in, and Rush really bit on it. But Jason’s defender [Sherron Collins] got a late break when Jason came back up the sideline, and he ended up in the perfect place at the perfect time to pick me up.”

Here’s what Steve Rodgers said on the resulting thread over on DavidsonCats.com:

The mistake JR made was coming towards the ball (Curry) when it looked like Curry might not get his shot off. It was instincitve, that’s what JR always did to get the ball back and restart the offense. When JR came towards Curry, Curry had pump fake his guy but JR’s man was now close enough to Curry to disrupt Curry’s shot. This left JR open but everyone, including JR would rather have had Curry take the shot.

That’s what I saw.

That’s what he saw because that’s what happened.

From the book:

Jason was in the right corner. He watched Stephen stop going to his left and turn and start heading to his right and toward Thomas' second screen near the top of the key.

Six seconds.

Jason watched Chalmers duck past Thomas and chase Stephen, and he watched Rush get up off the floor and start chasing Stephen, too.

Five seconds.

Jason decided he had to move, because he didn’t want this game to end with him just standing there, and if he stayed in the corner he would be doing nothing. He didn’t want to be watching.

He wanted to help.

You could stop there. Or ...

Jason started running toward Stephen.

Four seconds.

Stephen pump-faked and Rush jumped up and off to the side. Maybe here was a sliver of an opening for a shot. But Jason’s defender was running after Jason and left him now and bolted toward Stephen. He had his arms straight up.

The opening closed.

Do you want to end on help? Or do you want to end on closed? That moment within that moment always has been difficult to parse. I wrote it the way I wrote it because of what I knew and I knew what I knew because of the reporting I’d done. The reader as always can and should think whatever he or she wants to think.

In any event I like what Eddie wrote on the board:

I get the feeling JRich thinks we don’t complain about the missed shot because we're just being nice or something. That’s not true. We don’t complain about the missed shot because there isn’t a soul among us who thinks he is to “blame” for anything. What we remember, as we should, is that he’s a huge reason why we were there ...

It’s like William said so beautifully early in the week right after: ... in that moment, we had in our hearts and minds, proleptically I think the theologians would say, the joy of having it go in. Before it was not in, it was as good as in. For that fraction of a second, we had that experience, and it is enough. It is well worth the journey. At least for me it is, and I guess the ultimate point of this too-long post is that I hope it is also worth it for Jason. He took the shot. He gave us that moment. He trusted, and all we can do is be sure our reaction is worthy of that trust.

More with less

The other day in the St. Pete Times:

America’s teams, they’re often called, or Cinderellas wearing glass slippers, or overachieving underdogs within so much March Madness.

But all those sports entertainment cliches miss the more interesting, more instructive point: These teams are doing more with less.

That feels especially important right now.

AP: Davidson had a shot in the air to beat Kansas and reach the Final Four in 2008.

You having lunch with Stephen?

Help out Bryant and Buzzkill and break bread with No. 30. Auction.

Bilas on March

On upsets: “Davidson was not as good as a lot of people. They weren’t as good as Georgetown, but Georgetown lost to them.”

An interview with Stephen

On WarriorsWorld.net: ... when I went back to Charlotte for the first time to play, that kind of put it all into perspective, of how much I miss being at home and miss being a college student, but I’m definitely happy with that situation and I wouldn’t change it if I had the opportunity to.

Droney and Sewickley: state champs

After the win: “I was really excited to play even though I was really sick. I still had a little energy to get it going. I can’t thank my teammates enough for being supportive and playing great. … I woke up and I felt terrible. But I was going to play. We didn’t come this far not to play. Everyone stepped up and we won. I just tried to play as best as I could; play my best. … This is the best feeling in the world. I’ve never felt anything like this -- and it hasn’t totally hit me yet.” Beaver County advance. Tribune-Review gamer.

Droney’s (pre-Davidson) legacy

Beaver County Times:

Tom Droney has been so focused on winning a state championship that he’s never really thought about his legacy. But with one game left in his high school career, Droney’s reputation as one of the all-time greats from western Pennsylvania is etched permanently in stone.

State championship tomorrow. Reading Eagle. Post-Gazette.

Stephen on Rome

Basketball in March (and the other months too)

Brady in Kansas City: Self often breaks down games as simply as he can. Who made shots and who didn’t? In 2008, Davidson didn’t make the shot, and a week later, Kansas’ Mario Chalmers did. This time, Northern Iowa guard Ali Farokhmanesh made the shot that shocked the college basketball world. This fine line between winning and losing ...

The Continuum

Kyle:

Davidson’s continuum was broken this year -- the Wildcats finished 16-15 and lost in the Southern Conference’s first round to Elon. The program couldn’t replicate what happened after the 2005-06 season, when a giant outgoing class of seven seniors peaked with an NCAA appearance. The next year, Curry stepped in, and took the program to higher heights indeed.

It’s an interesting thing to think about. I kind of think it’s more like every season is new, every season is different, every season is hard.

Dime’s top 16 Madness Cinderellas

No. 1.

Lake Campus

29 points, and on to the state title game

Droney: Tom Droney fought through a foul to make a game-winning layup with 3.6 seconds left and then added on the free throw to give Sewickley Academy a victory over Lincoln Park, 50-47, Tuesday night in a PIAA Class A boys basketball semifinal.

Davidson 74, Georgetown 70

Claire

In her journal after Georgetown: They’re not dreams anymore.

Still don’t know how

Why was I tearing up?

Landry after Georgetown: ... I did not know if I could articulate my thoughts to anyone. Luckily, I was sitting next to my former teammate and roommate, Ali Ton, and when I saw the emotion on his face, I knew that he did not need an explanation. When I left my seat and went out into the hallways of the RBC Center and saw the students and fans cheering, high-fiving, chest-bumping, and singing the fight song, I again realized that no explanation was necessary. The Davidson people understood it: against long odds our team accomplished a near miracle.

Nothing easy

The Warriors are for sale

Says Stephen: “There’s going to be a lot of speculation, a lot of talk, but for the most part, until a decision is made we’re just going to go about our business. I don’t know what to be worried about yet.”

A game of C-E-N-S-U-S

Wow. This happened.

Easter Sunday in Raleigh

In the St. Pete Times:

The drive back from the games in Raleigh ended with a police escort into town past toilet-papered trees. The lights of the team bus swung toward Belk Arena and landed on 500 cheering fans. The first hug Richards got was from his history thesis adviser.

At the Brickhouse, with satellite trucks outside, the crowd hollered and yelled every time the Davidson highlights played on ESPN. Then came the clip of Curry in the postgame news conference. The people looked up at his face and the place went hush.

“You should’ve heard all the horns honking,” she told me, “here in this little town.”

Coaching moves

Katz: Seton Hall should try to woo someone like McCaffery or Davidson’s Bob McKillop, but the school is also smart enough to know that both coaches are in good situations. McKillop loves his life in the Davidson community north of Charlotte. Why would someone want to leave what makes sense for the craziness of the bottom of the Big East in the competitive New York metro area? Seton Hall?

Dear America

Two years ago today:

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?

Claire.

The Kid Reporter comes through

The Stephen and Davidson Google Alerts have been particularly active the last week or so, with all the predictable March talk of the next Stephen, the next Davidson, blah blah blah, and I’ve resisted the urge to post every or pretty much any lazy reference out there. So here comes this one, from Julia Desmond, Kid Reporter, very much worth the read.

“Curry’s skills were not just technical skills,” said Wildcats Coach Bob McKillop. “His skills were emotional skills that usually are reserved for people with significantly greater experience. He was able to play in a game, make a mistake, then go on to the next play. And that’s very rare in a game of basketball for young players, for high school players, and many college players.”

McKillop also had a rare accomplishment: a 100 percent graduation rate among his team. In 17 seasons under McKillop, every student-athlete graduated with a prestigious Davidson College degree. To him it is a simple assumption.

“Isn’t that point?” he said. “The players that come to Davidson College come to Davidson College to be educated.”

Curry originally did come to get his four years of education. He also made a name for himself in the world of college basketball. The NBA started noticing him, but was he ready to leave college?

“I loved college life and didn’t want to leave,” Curry told the Scholastic Kids Press Corps. “That’s why the decision took me so long.”

Curry is now a Golden State Warrior in the NBA. Has he had any regrets about his decision? “No,” Curry says, and that’s that.

But what about McKillop?

“I was torn by my personal desire to see Stephen graduate with the rest of his teammates and classmates and yet I knew that the opportunity with the NBA in that particular year would provide a once in a lifetime opportunity.” McKillop says. “So, I wanted what was best for Stephen.”

McKillop last spring: “There’s a personal sadness for me. We’re about finishing. We’re about completing.”

Last night in Memphis

The Grizzlies coach: “I saw Curry sucking air a little bit. I know he was tired as well as the rest of the team.” Struggling. Bryant was in town for the game. On Twitter: Definitely worth the drive to see the old roomie.

The (YouTube) legacy

SI’s Stewart Mandel on Missouri’s Kim English:

On Friday, however, English drained 4 of 7 three-pointers and scored 20 points, his highest total since Feb. 6. Prior to the tourney, English watched a YouTube mashup of former Davidson star Stephen Curry’s 2008 NCAA run.

“He was just always so poised on the court, he never showed emotion, and that led to straight up, straight down [shots],” said English. “It’s like he’s in a phone booth.”

A phone booth. Interesting.

On to the state semis

Droney: WPIAL champion Sewickley Academy came back to oust the Titans from the field, 66-44, Friday night at Indiana Area High School behind 23 points from all-state 6-foot-5 guard and Division I recruit Tom Droney. Post-Gazette.

Bryant and Stephen in Memphis

From Bryant’s Twitter.

The tale of Jimmer Fredette

The Topeka paper: This is not unlike the Stephen Curry phenomenon -- a player with a low national profile blows up in the NCAA Tournament, and suddenly everyone wants to know his story. Doyel.

The posters for the Project

By Alan Hyder ’99: Gonzaga, Georgetown, Wisconsin, Kansas.

‘This hook that he’s become’

Claire on why we watch:

This room -- okay, this cavern -- is brimming with people that I love. They gave my Davidson meaning, they’ve shared good days and bad days, unbelievable games and shitty games. So many together, uncommonly wonderfully so. The ’08 boys, Joe Pierce Nathan JB Chris, haven’t seen them all at once since their graduation, haven’t watched a game with them since 3/30/08, and tons before that. Pete, who, when I saw him, all I could think of was sitting in the Dearborn Doubletree cackling gleefully over countless newspaper articles. Morgan, Logan, Calucchia, dear faces a couple rows up, waving towels that the Currys gave out: TCC #30. Rachel, Grace, Laura, Sue. The Dails, connecting me to Davidson and Richmond, two families of mine. My professors. The Davidson athletics department. Wildcats. Michael and I had lunch when I got back this afternoon, and now I spot him right behind my section (and introduce him to Morgan -- WL -- at halftime, which is fun), I wave to David, Kate, and the Bakers in the upper bowl, I text Rob and Jessie over and over, I find Grace at the half. Michael Jordan has nothing on this family of mine, and our scattered cheers spill over into shared -- remembrance? sacredness? support? thanksgiving?

"Daaaaaav-iddddd-son!"

It drifts down from the nosebleeds, makes me laugh, another moment in another chapter in a good long story. Part of me wants to start it louder, hit the rafters, wants it to echo all through and knock the big million dollar franchises off their feet. But another part of me is content with keeping it soft, one voice speaking volumes. We know it. This is where we come from.

Read the whole thing. Claire references my question, that night at the Brickhouse, and of course kind of always: Why do we watch? And more than that: Why do we watch him, especially now, when he’s not wearing the name of our school on his chest anymore. He was a face of us. For many outsiders -- which is to say most people -- he was the face of us. For them, those outsiders, those most people, that hasn’t changed, and maybe it never will. Stephen Curry. Davidson. And I guess that’s fine. I mean I went to the game in Orlando earlier in the week before the game in Charlotte. Why did I go? Well I went to see him and talk to him because I figured I might have something to say to the people who might be interested in that. But also I was curious. I hadn’t seen him, or seen him play, live, with my own eyes, without a screen in between, for months and months. Why did I go that Saturday in Charlotte? Well I was in town and a lot of people were going. But I had the thought in my head in Orlando: What am I doing here? That thought was much, much louder in Charlotte: What am I doing here? Same thing when I heard that hundreds of alums in Atlanta came out the night before when he was down there: What had they gone to see, and why, and did they get it? Saturday, to me, for whatever it’s worth, probably nothing -- it felt a little uncomfortable. It felt a little ... disconnected. The space between us and him due to no fault of his own but the machinery that moves around the people who do what he now does where he now does it. It felt a little ... hero-worshippery. Clearly I overthink things, sometimes, this being a great case in point. I grant that. Claire’s answer, that night in Davidson, and in what she’s written about it here, is helpful and I think accurate: We’re there to see him, fine, I suppose, but more than that we’re there to see all the other people who are there to do the same.

Andy Katz to Pat Forde

On Twitter just a minute ago: Are you on the Gael bandwagon yet? This could be a Davidson like run to the Elite Eight if they win here. How people talk.

Spring in Davidson

What can’t be quantified

Not even by The Wall Street Journal:

For teams from smaller conferences that are facing the big guns, belief can be critical. Davidson coach Bob McKillop, whose 2008 team made a surprising run to the Elite Eight, notes that earlier that season the team got invaluable experience through competitive losses to North Carolina, Duke and UCLA. “It showed them that we could at least stay in the game for a significant amount of time,” he says.

Gonzaga coverage: Two years ago, as a No. 7 seed, they went to Raleigh, N.C., to discover the wonders of Stephen Curry 160 miles from his campus at Davidson.

More Mike Young

Heading into the tourney: “I don’t have a kid like Stephen Curry on the floor. If I could borrow him for the weekend from Golden State, I’d feel a lot better.”

Still playing

Droney: low-scoring slog on the way to on the way to the state quarterfinals. Beaver County Times.

Best case?

Austin Bell sent me an e-mail tonight on tournament eve reminding me what Pat Forde wrote about Davidson in his annual best case/worst case piece heading into the first round two years back.

Best Case: Stephen Curry goes thermonuclear shooting the ball, averages 30 ppg and leads the Wildcats to the regional finals, running their winning streak to 26 on the way. Davidson shoots Gonzaga out of the gym, somehow figures out how to guard Roy Hibbert in the second round, grinds past Wisconsin in the Sweet 16 and finally succumbs to Kansas in the Elite Eight. Nation appreciates the work of point guard Jason Richards, who leads the country in assists, and the Wildcats’ brute refusal to beat themselves. Bob McKillop’s hair is perfect.

I e-mailed Austin: Scary, right?

Austin e-mailed me: Extremely. I think it’s interesting to think about the fact that this is the “best case” like the shot couldn’t have gone down, you know?

I e-mailed Austin: That is interesting. Because if that shot had been -- what? -- a foot and a half to the right, March 2008 for Davidson would’ve become April 2008, and better than the best-case scenario.

‘Words that help me understand’

Claire:

After we hang up, I stand there. The frigid white sunlight shines through the dim blinds; my physical surroundings are completely disconnected from my tears, and the silence is so apathetic, so detatched, it's slightly laughable. What a picture I make, woman in transition. I feel 18/19/20/21/22 all at once, time-less and time-stopped and time-whooshing-by. I pick up the phone again, dial two numbers, leave two voicemails. Morgan. Michael. They were there, so much more within it than I am at this moment, and yet I need them to know that I was in it too. Two that I care so much about, two who are on different parts of the journey, student and alum -- and in a split second (that was actually two hours that was actually a season that was actually four years, how the hell did this happen?), I’ve left one part and crossed to the other.

Read the whole thing.

Two years ago now

The Post and Courier in a story on Wofford: Davidson’s run to the Elite Eight in 2008 earned the SoCon an extra $4.5 million.

Overlooked

Why coaches miss.

(More) on the NCAA tourney expansion debate

McKillop: “If it’s going to be an experience in which, sure, the Southern Conference regular season winner goes, but then the ninth-place finisher in the SEC or the ACC or the Big East goes with those additional 30-plus or 10-plus or 5-plus slots, I don’t think that’s fair to the mid-major and low-major programs.” Earlier.

And then there’s this

I watched the first half of last night’s game on ESPN while pretending to work out at the gym, but then I left, because I’m old, and then I was busy today with work, so I didn’t check what happened until tonight when I plugged Stephen into Google News.

Which popped up the following headline from The Big Lead: Kobe Survives the Stephen Curry Show.

Which linked to Marcus Thompson’s story, which started with these two sentences:

Warriors guard Stephen Curry had a question for Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant.

With Lakers guard Shannon Brown at the line, Curry asked Bryant if he was worried.

Curry. Asked Bryant. If he was worried. During a game, by the way, against the defending NBA champs, in which he had 29 points and nine assists and not one turnover. Just when I feel my interest sort of start to wane ... Rookie of the Year. Cornerstone.

Stuff on Stephen

Don Nelson to USA Today: “Everything I dreamed of what he’d be in three years, he’s doing now. The toughest position in the league is a rookie point guard.” Stephen’s bracket tips (with a Rossiter name-drop). Last night against the Lakers: 29 points, nine assists, zero turnovers.

On the NCAA tourney expansion debate

In the NYT:

But a small segment of coaches have said that bigger may not be better.

“It takes away from the special nature of it,” said Steve Donahue, who has coached Cornell to the N.C.A.A. tournament for three straight years. “It’s supposed to be an incredible award for a great, great season. If you expand it, it’s not that. Everyone thinks more is better. It’s not.”

Davidson Coach Bob McKillop went a step further.

“Isn’t this whole thing a window into society?” he said. “We’ve diminished so many other things. We’ve diminished test scores. We’ve diminished admission policies. We diminish so much for reasons that are not accentuating excellence and performance. It’s almost too inclusive.”

Probably not a coincidence that these comments come from two smart men who coach smart kids in programs that are more than just preprofessional way stations masquerading as institutions of higher education.

Really?

Marshall coach Donnie Jones in the Huntington paper: “I remember watching tape of Davidson and they were running plays, but there were no signals. I started watching their coach. He would pull up his right sock and they’d run a play. He’d pull up his other sock and they’d run a play.”

Says Doug Collins

The TNT analyst on Stephen: “This kid is a scoring machine. He absolutely has such a great feel to shoot the ball, he’s a very good ballhandler and an excellent passer.”

Look who’s blogging

Jip.

Vince on Stephen

An apology: I had this dude all wrong. Last June: here and here.

WPIAL wrap

Post-Gazette: Friday night, the Palumbo Center was filled to capacity. No doubt that T.J. McConnell and Sewickley Academy’s Tom Droney were responsible for some of that crowd. People do like to see individual stars. Video.

The Rossiters in the NYT

Pete:

“We know how much they care about us,” his son Steve said in a phone interview from Davidson. “But they really like coming to Davidson and Siena. They enjoy it as much as we do.”

From going to Steve’s Davidson games, the Rossiters befriended a local couple, Bob and Barbara Hoffman, whose house they stayed at on their visits. They met them at the Brick House, a restaurant where the crab cakes are tasty and the elder Rossiter enjoys a few Brick Lights.

“Now that my career is sadly over, I can join him with some Brick Lights and watch my brother play,” Steve Rossiter said.

Mike Young

On Stephen: “I’m glad he’s not in the league anymore.”

The Currys, the community and TCC

Reed Jackson on Cats.com:

About 20 minutes prior to the start, mama Curry arrived with garbage bags, scanned our section, and despite having only met a couple times, waived both mom and boys up. At which point she delivered a big hug to my surprised wife, and gave the boys two of the 30 Curry TCC towels. It was a moment that I think said a lot about moms and their common journey with their boys. Both what they hope for them, and what they hope they aspire to be as young men.

The TCC towels.

Last night after the game

Last night during the game

Last night before the game

John Gordy and Fred Hazel

Yeesh.

(This exists. So does this.)

The homecoming: 25 in a loss

AP:

... an electric evening as one of the city’s favored sons returned home.

Curry, the son of former Charlotte Hornets fan favorite Dell Curry, grew up attending NBA shootarounds and practices, starred in high school here, then did the unthinkable in leading tiny Davidson to within a missed 3-pointer of the 2008 Final Four.

“Pretty much everything I’ve done in my life has been within a 30-mile radius of Charlotte,” Curry said.

Curry arrived wearing a suit and hugged several Bobcats and arena employees as camera crews tagged along. His pregame availability was moved to the interview room to fit the crush of reporters, and he said he bought 105 tickets.

Read this too. Stephen: “I’m just happy to see so many familiar faces.” DavidsonNews.net: The crowd of 19,392 included numerous pockets of Davidson residents and fans decked out in red. Curry’s former Davidson College teammates were there, as were many family and friends from Charlotte. And Curry delivered, both in his performance and by recognizing his fans. He played all 48 minutes of the game. Sorensen: But Davidson never left him. Wildcats’ red and white is much more prevalent than the Bobcats’ colors. Chron: They gave a nine-second standing ovation when Curry was announced before the game. They erupted when he made his first shot. They even cheered his first touch, a routine accepting of an inbounds pass under his own basket. GSoM. Pictures from Tim.

Stephen in Charlotte

15 at the half.

Droney: WPIAL champ

Sewickley coach Win Palmer: “When Tyler got the ball, I said 'Please find Droney.’ I’m thinking to myself. 'Please find Droney.’ I didn't even know where Tom was. Just find him because he’s going to make the shot. It might be a 2-pointer, it might be a 3-pointer, but, if you find him, he’s going to make the shot. That’s Tom.” Beaver County Times.

Distributed here by Camp Curry

New feel for the SCT

Cremins: “This conference is as balanced as I’ve ever seen it. It's not a one-horse race. The last few years, it’s been Davidson, Davidson, Davidson.”

In his pregame presser

1. “Different feel when I landed at the airport last night. I knew where I was.”

2. “There’s a lot of adrenaline right now.”

3. “Six classes away.”

(Laurie Dennis of DavidsonNews.net.)

The Bobcats’ home schedule

This is Game No. 30. I’m just saying.

Tonight in Charlotte

Against the Bobcats:

After a modest start to his NBA career, Curry has been very hot the past two months. He recorded the first triple-double of his career in a February win over the L.A. Clippers, registering 36 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. Only five other NBA rookies have ever posted a 35-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist performance -- Michael Jordan, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor and Jason Kidd.

“I've got a lot of confidence right now,” Curry said. “Nothing has really changed with how I’m approaching the game, but I’m getting a whole lot of playing time due to all the injuries we’ve had.”

Warriors.com. AJC blog last night: On a semi-related note, as small as Davidson College is, every Davidson grad in the Atlanta area must have been at the game. He got a noticeable ovation at the beginning of the game. He played all 48 minutes, too. Stephen last night in Atlanta: “It’s going to be fun. Lot of family in town. Lot of Davidson fans are going to be there. My teammates from last year are going to be there. They’re going to be loud, and it’s going to be fun to play in that arena. I worked out there all summer, so it’s going to feel like home.” Corey Maggette last night in Atlanta: “Sitting down and watching him is unbelievable. There is something bright at the end of the tunnel. Even in the darkness, you notice the way Steph is playing. You see flashes of greatness. We’re watching an All-Star forming. No one expected him to be doing what he’s doing. I mean, we saw what he could do in college, but you never know if that is going to transition into the pros. He’s scoring and facilitating. He is a hell of a point guard.” DavidsonNews.net: Keeping track of No. 30. Worth the read: Frank Hughes on SI.com. Stephen talks with Kilgo.

RIP Bryan Adrian

Obit. Greensboro Sports: I remember Huckel real well and then in 1970 Bryan Adrian was one of the stars with the Maloy, Cook, and Kroll bunch. His camp. DavidsonCats.com.

Claire on Facebook

Her status update: Heartbroken for the Wildcats but grateful to the seniors for a great 4 (or 5) years and proud of the freshmen. Excited to see good friends and celebrate #30 with the Davidson family tonight!

Cats on Main

Three thoughts for now

1. Davidson lost 15 games this year, including this one, not only because of the loss of the kid who’ll play across town tomorrow night for the Golden State Warriors but also the loss of the coach who spent this afternoon coaching his ass off down on the other end of the court.

2. Speaking of No. 30: So no appearance for him to watch his former teammates and classmates and roommates here in the conference quarters. That’s too bad. Would’ve been a cool moment for the school. Would’ve been a cool moment for him.

3. Steve Rossiter, Bryant Barr, Will Archambault, Dan Nelms: Steve was a captain, Will was a 1,000-point scorer, Bryant hit those threes in Detroit. Steve and Bryant were on the court when Jason took the shot. That happened. They were a part of it.

SCT: Elon 66, Davidson 59

AP:

CHARLOTTE -- Chris Long scored 15 points, including four clutch free throws in the final minute, as Elon beat Davidson 66-59 on Friday in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament.

Longs free throws were apart of a 6-0 run to end the game after the Phoenix led 60-59 going into the final minute.

The victory moved Elon (9-22), the sixth seed in the SoCon North, into a Friday quarterfinal matchup against Western Carolina. The Phoenix’s win over Davidson avenged a 99-96 double overtime loss on Feb. 27 after the Wildcats hit two 3-pointers in the final 3 seconds.

Observer: Six days after stunning Elon by hitting two 3-pointers in the final three seconds to steal a double-overtime victory at Elon, the Wildcats couldn’t summon the same escape magic. Burlington: That’s what Elon did, never wavering despite the rippling drama and the weight of history during what became a 66-59 first-round upset victory in Davidson’s backyard at the Southern Conference Tournament for men’s basketball. Winston: Matt Matheny embraced Bob McKillop near midcourt at Bojangles Coliseum yesterday, just moments after the student topped the teacher in the opening game of the Southern Conference Tournament. DavidsonWildcats.com: Elon ended a 15-game losing streak against Davidson, including three games in the SoCon Tourney. McKillop: “This team has a lot of tournament experience, but it doesn't have a lot in the roles they're playing now.” Also in his presser: “Matt Matheny has done a fantastic job all year long, and that doesn’t surprise me.” Video: Matt after the game.

Let’s do that again

Last weekend in Elon: McKillop: “For a basketball aficionado, to see the different counters each team made, there was a lot of chess going on out there.” Matheny: “To be in a heavyweight bout like we were and make the plays that we made to keep extending it into overtime after overtime, we have come a long way. My feeling is we have not yet played our best game.” The Rossiter shot.

Basketball and family

Big Steve Rossiter: “It was a goal of both boys to play Division I basketball. So it’s something we’ve tried to share with them.”

Taking another shot

DeCourcy:

It’s amazing how quiet it is now that Davidson is Davidson again.

With Stephen Curry gone to the NBA, the Wildcats finished 16-14, 11-7 in the Southern Conference. So maybe they’re not really Davidson; even before Curry, this wouldn’t have been a vintage finish under Bob McKillop.

His teams have won the Southern’s automatic bid five times. The Wildcats begin their trek toward another NCAA appearance Friday against the Elon Phoenix, whom they defeated on the road in overtime in their final league game.

There’s no more Steph Curry, but Davidson still is one of college basketball’s best programs. The 2010 Southern Conference tournament is another chance to prove it.

Katz on the SCT: Nobody from the Southern Conference has a player like former Davidson guard Stephen Curry. But at least some of these teams have had the experience of beating a high-level opponent and will go into this tournament with confidence. If the semifinals in Charlotte are Western Carolina-Wofford and Charleston-Appalachian State, the league should have a highly competitive final two days. The Observer points out: Brendan McKillop’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.7 is the best in conference.

After this afternoon’s game in Charlotte

In Pittsburgh: Droney. In Atlanta: Stephen.

Here

Left St. Pete at 9 last night. Need coffee.

Jake: also SoCon Freshman of the Year

The writers’ pick. First time it’s different than the coaches’ choice: DavidsonWildcats.com.

And what’s he miss most about his hometown?

Pause. Smile.

“Chick-fil-A,” Stephen said last night in Orlando.

His itinerary for Saturday, then, before the Warriors face the Bobcats at 7: shootaround in the morning, tourney game at 2 if Davidson is involved, with a trip to his favorite fast-food spot in between. “No. 1 meal, order of nuggets on the side, honey mustard. And an Arnold Palmer.”

1. Pretty sure that’s a 16point8.blogspot.com exclusive.

2. Someone needs to get the Chick-fil-A folks on the line.

How good is Stephen Curry?

Says Slam’s Colin Powers: Real good. He’s not the product of a flukey system, a weak college conference, and the media hype machine. He’s not a kid getting by on his daddy’s name. Stephen Curry can play.

Plug in Davidson

Here.

The Stephen show: in town after all

Scott:

There is one tinge of irony to the weekend. Southern Conference organizers hoped that Curry would stay at Davidson for his senior year and become the star attraction at this weekend's tournament.

Instead, Curry went pro a year early. Yet he's going to end up being in Charlotte anyway.

“I found out this was going to be a possibility in the fall,” Curry said, “when the schedules all came out. My one trip to Charlotte all season comes at tournament time. It's pretty funny. It's going to be great for me, of course, but it's going to be great for a lot of people besides me, too. A weekend like this just shows how big basketball really is in Charlotte, and how well the city can showcase such a great sport so many of us love.”

Cremins: “Is it inconvenient? In a lot of ways, yes it is.” Iamarino: “I would have preferred if the Warriors to come to Charlotte on a different weekend. Guess I didn't have David Stern's ear on that one.” Stephen: “I'm putting the pressure on my Davidson boys. They better win Friday so I can see them in person Saturday.”

A history lesson for the new folks in Charlotte

Terry Holland, in this morning’s piece by Ron Green Jr., which certainly is worth the read: “The burgeoning number of ACC basketball games on television had a tremendous impact on game attendance, particularly for Davidson with its small alumni base. The television exposure began to give every ACC team a recruiting edge over even the best Southern Conference teams, like Davidson. So what Bob McKillop has done in an even tougher environment is the greatest coaching 'resurrection' since Lefty did it in the 1960s.”

And a funny juxtaposition from Larry Brown: “There was nothing about that job that wasn’t appealing. It was just some things that happened that didn’t quite work out.”

One of those sentences is necessarily untrue.

Try again?

Worth the read

I got this in an e-mail last summer, and I know there’s a copy in the basketball office on campus, but this is the first time I’ve seen it pop up for wider consumption -- Gary Garvin, Class of ’75, with a personal essay:

I want to do something similar, talk not just about the Davidson game but also about my journey there, up and back, and try to locate myself, and reach out for contexts, and maybe see what else I can find.

Stephen after the game in Orlando

On the Rossiter shot: “I’ve watched that video like 80 times. Probably the most miraculous finish I’ve ever seen -- especially because it was Steve who was the one who hit the 3. He shot put it with his feet all messed up.” The game here: Stephen wasn’t as good as he’s been and the Warriors were as bad as they sometimes are. Nelson on Stephen: “He epitomizes our team. We’re wore out.”

Get it at Buzzkill

Available along with a lot of other really cool auction items at the Bryant-led event on May 2.

Getting ready for Friday

Elon game notes: The Phoenix is 4-5 in its last nine games, losing the four games by an average of 5.0 ppg. ... Davidson is one of only two league teams that Elon has not beaten during its time in the Southern Conference -- the ‘Cats are 14-0 against Elon over the past seven seasons. ... Davidson and Elon have met four times in the SoCon Tournament, the last time in the 2008 championship game when No. 23 Davidson turned out a 65-49 victory. At that time, current Elon head coach Matt Matheny was the associate head coach for Davidson. SCT info. The Wildcats have won four SoCon Tourney titles in the Queen City, including three in a row from 1968-70: Davidson game notes.

WPIAL title game Friday

Former St. Pete Times intern Michael Sanserino with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Tom Droney scored 26 points to lead Sewickley Academy to a 62-49 victory against Cornell in a WPIAL Class A semifinal Tuesday night at North Hills. Beaver County Times.

Saturday in Charlotte?

Stephen a bit ago in the tunnel: “Can’t wait.”

Orlando

Fresh Sharpie on the back of Jack Murrah, 9, son of Ken Murrah, Class of ’83, who drove in for tonight’s game from Ponte Vedra Beach.

JP: SoCon Freshman of the Year

Back on Dec. 4 in Charleston: These two rookies. And: The Southern Conference Freshman of the Year is going to be a Davidson Wildcat. Today: Kuhlman joins current assistant coach Landry Kosmalski and Stephen Curry as the only Wildcats to claim the coaches’ Freshman of the Year accolade. With Jake, of course, on the all-rookie team, too: It’s the first time Davidson has had two players on the All-Freshman Team since 2003, when Ian Johnson and Brendan Winters earned the honor. Telep in August. JP in Jacksonville. JP Kuhlman from St Paul's Middle School ...: Florida Hoops.

To win 4 at the SCT?

Chattanooga Times Free Press: The College of Charleston came close last year only to run out of air against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the men's championship game in McKenzie Arena. Elon won three games the year before and lost in the fourth. Furman had the same fortune in 2002.

That’s Stephen, Michael and Oscar

San Francisco Chronicle: Curry, Jordan and Robertson are the only three rookies in league history to have more than one 30-point, 12-assist game.

This weekend in Charlotte

From Peter Wagner’s e-mail: Want to see other Davidson fans? Meet at Strike City! The official alumni headquarters for the weekend will be Strike City in the EpiCentre in Charlotte. Located right across the street from Bobcats/Time-Warner Arena, it’s the place to go before and after each of the games in Charlotte.

Another view

Again

All this, and also this, from Sherwood Strauss, on WarriorsWorld.net:

The transformation feels special.

Today’s Curry is a terror, an impossible question for defenses to answer. Pinpoint passes fly from all angles off the pick-and-roll. He can score from anywhere and can do so off-balance. Steph’s lack of speed should keep him from the rim but he’s developed a herky-jerk high dribble that confounds opponents.

Please hose me down if this is hyperbole: At this moment, No. 30 looks like an eventual combination of Reggie Miller and Steve Nash.

“What will he do next?”

From he’s pretty good to he’s better than we thought to oh my what have we here? -- it’s interesting watching people far away from Exit 30 who know nothing about Exit 30 having this conversation about No. 30.