Remember the way Gonzaga became the darling of the NCAA basketball tournament several years ago and, instead of disappearing after a cameo, became a recurring character in subsequent seasons?
Davidson has studied the Gonzaga model.
“That’s our motivation. It’s our goal,” Stephen Curry said Tuesday night to a room filled with reporters deep inside Madison Square Garden.
“Coming from a mid-major conference and trying to stay on the national level is what they’ve done and what we’re striving to do. We beat them in the tournament last season. With these last two wins (over N.C. State and West Virginia), we’re getting there.”
It was a difficult night for Curry, who wasn’t at his best until the end when the essentially won the game with a pair of 3-pointers. He tried to treat the trip to Madison Square Garden like just another game but it wasn’t.
It was a big deal to coach Bob McKillop, a native New Yorker who was coaching in the Garden for the first time, and it was a nationally televised game against a Big East opponent that isn’t great but plays grinding defense.
For Curry and the Wildcats, it was a victory based on resiliency.
“Stephen Curry stepped to the plate and tried to swing for the fences early here on this grand stage,” McKillop said. “Maybe he tried a little too hard.”
But the Wildcats didn’t want Curry to quit trying, no matter how tough a shooting night he was having.
“I told him during a timeout in the second half, ‘Just keep shooting,’” teammate Andrew Lovedale said.
Curry listened.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Davidson following the Gonzaga model
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7 comments:
I agree that Davidson appears to be maintaining it's elite mid-major status like Gonzaga, but was there a similarity in the way they achieved it? Just curious.
The difference between Davidson and Gonzaga is that Gonzaga will be good every year while Davidson will only be good until Curry graduates.
Take any team and let ONE player take over 50% of the shots. They too would score betwenn 23 and 35 pointes per game. This guy takes shots that would have most coaches would pull him from the game.
About Davidson not being on the national stage after Curry leaves...
Davidson has made tournament 4 times since 2000, and has been to the elite eight 3 times in its history. Gonzaga has only been once.
The same was said of Gonzaga after Morrison jumped to the NBA. Now, just 3 years later, Gonzaga is national championship material. 3 years from now, Davidson will still be a contender for the SoCon Tournament and the Sweet Sixteen. Stephen Curry is only a part of the Davidson resurgence, not the resurgence itself.
Only time will tell, but I think Davidson will remain a mid-major power, like the Zags, Creighton, the Sallukis, and Butler.
Justin, I got a few names for you:
Ben Allison (freshman)
Frank Ben-Eze (freshman)
JP Kuhlman (recruit)
Jake Cohen (recruit)
We're in a different league now with our recruiting.
Oh, and my money is on Steph pulling a Tim Duncan. He'll be back.
To the anonymous coward:
Before last night's aberration, Curry was 50% from the floor for the year.
That tripe about "if any player shot that much they would score that much" is just that - tripe. If it were so, more players would do it.
"Take any team and let ONE player take over 50% of the shots. They too would score betwenn 23 and 35 pointes per game. This guy takes shots that would have most coaches would pull him from the game."
This is beyond idiotic. You've never seen him play, huh? And that's 30+ per game -- the nation's best scoring clip.
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