7th-best game of the decade

Davidson-Georgetown: “I forget what timeout it was, but we were down 16 and Coach is asking us if we’re having fun,” Davidson guard Jason Richards would later tell reporters. “We got to smiling a little bit ... and this kid started getting on fire again, like he did the other day, and when that happens it’s tough to stop him.”

Gary Parrish

On CBSSports.com:

I wrote a column last April explaining how I was less concerned about Stephen Curry’s future than Davidson's because history suggests programs typically return to their rightful place when a transcendent player departs. I cited what happened when Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble left Loyola-Marymount, what happened when Doug Christie left Pepperdine, what happened when Keith “Mister” Jennings left East Tennessee State, etc. The point was that though North Carolina, Kansas and other power-league programs can endure losses and simply reload, it’s much more difficult to maintain success outside of the BCS for pretty much everybody except Gonzaga, Memphis and Xavier.

Which is why I’m not surprised Davidson is 0-4.

I mean, I’m a little surprised, I guess.

But the moment Curry announced he was turning pro is the moment Bob McKillop’s rebuilding job began, and rebuilding jobs at places like Davidson take time, way longer than just one offseason. Remember, before Curry enrolled, Davidson was the type of program that made the NCAA tournament once every four or five years, and when the Wildcats did it, they did it with little-to-no national recognition. So even though McKillop is tremendous and one of the gems of college basketball, it’ll be tough for him to get Davidson back to where it spent the past three seasons, i.e., as a borderline Top 25 team serving as the darling of college hoops.

I look forward to following the effort.

I hope it happens.

But right now, Davidson just needs a win.

Links and a thought from 35,000 feet

The links?

Andy:

... the Wildcats, who are playing their first game without Stephen Curry in four seasons.

Gary:

... now that Stephen Curry is with Golden State.

Jeff:

Not exactly an easy start to the Life Without Stephen Era for Davidson coach Bob McKillop.

The thought? I know it’s hard to avoid, and I know it can’t be ignored, and I wouldn’t want it to be -- but I do hope that this game at some point can be less about who’s not on the court and more about the guys who are.

Left over from last week

Gary Parrish:

That’s why Davidson worked for Curry.

He immediately got on the court.

He immediately showed he’s a special talent.

And it didn’t matter that he was barely on TV through his first two years of college (except for the NCAA tournament) or that he didn’t “do it every night” in the Big 12 or Pac-10. All that mattered was that he performed when placed on a stage, at which point the NBA found him and made him a rich man.

McKillop: “A lot’s to be said for the role you play. You can be in the chorus or you can be the lead singer. You can be one of the dancers or you can be the dancer.”

What they’re saying

Gary Parrish:

I believe Stephen Curry will be a very good (and possibly great) NBA player, a lottery pick who won’t bust because, don’t let that baby face fool you, he's got decent size for a ball-handler, great vision and a high basketball IQ. Also, he can shoot. Perhaps you’ve heard. So while people will spend the next month debating whether the Davidson star will be effective at the next level, let the record show that I’m a believer in Curry, and if I could extort money from Rick Pitino, I’d take every penny and bet it on Curry being a solid pro for 10 to 12 years.

That’s what I believe.

Better yet, that’s what I know.

But I’m less sure Davidson can keep its spot in the national conversation.

Chris Littman:

With the announcement that Curry will forgo his senior season, hire an agent and depart for the NBA, one of the more compelling characters in the last decade of college basketball makes his exit.

Andy Katz:

The Wildcats can finish setting their nonconference schedule. Davidson was penciled in to play at Kansas had Curry returned. McKillop said the Wildcats were slated to go to the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden in December, too. But both were contingent on Curry’s return. Now they're gone.

Chris Chase:

Either way, Curry was a breath of fresh air in a college basketball world that is increasingly dominated by blue chip recruits and big-time programs. Curry’s jumpshot was as pure as Jimmy Chitwood’s. It is a thing of beauty. Here’s hoping his NBA career is the same.

‘Everybody wants to see’

New York.

Up in the cafe on the second floor of the Borders at 33rd and 7th, looking down at the cabs and the crush of the people and the hustle bustle of midtown Manhattan, and to my right, in white-light block letters in the early-evening dark, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN.

Ready.

Waiting.

Like Gary Parrish.

Saturday in Charlotte

Stephen had 44. Again. LeBron was there. Again. But Ben Allison had never EVER done THAT.

The zero game

Loyola of Maryland wasn’t going to beat Davidson Tuesday night, probably not, almost certainly not, so why not try something really, REALLY different? What was there to lose?

Some might say a lot.

Pride.

Dignity.

Reputation.

Respect from the players on your team.

Folks are talking about this all over the place today. Most all of them are using words like “dumb” and “ridiculous” and phrases like “an embarrassment to his profession” and “continues to lose his mind.”

For now, from here, two thoughts:

1. It’s a coach’s Hippocratic Oath of sorts to prepare his players, and to give those players a chance, the very best possible chance, to compete and to win. That is not what happened here. Jimmy Patsos did not do that. Maybe he thought at some point, the day before the game, the morning of the game, at the start of the game, that this was in fact his team’s best chance to win -- that’s totally possible -- but he HAD to realize by at least halftime that it wasn’t working. Davidson finished the half on a 35-8 run. Not working.

2. Seasons and the games that add up to seasons are all about adjustments. One team does this, the other team does that, the one team does something different, the other team tries to counter, and so on and so on. It never stops. To do one thing, and only one thing, for a full 40 minutes -- no matter what that thing is -- is a pretty good way to lose. I once was having beers with an attorney whose cases I used to write a good bit about and I asked him what made somebody good in his line of work. A malleable mind, he said. A good thinker is a flexible thinker. Loyola was losing 39-17 at the break. It got worse from there: 46-22, 52-24, 60-31, 71-38. And STILL: two men face-guarding Stephen standing in the corner. Rigidity is stupidity.