Jan. 25, 2009

More from 16.8:

Mike Young in his presser after last night’s game at Belk said he practically laughed during his team’s Friday scouting session when he looked at a freshman guard from Cincinnati and told him who he was going to have to guard.

“Brad,” Young said he told the kid.

“You’ve got Curry.

“He’s No. 30.

“He’s pretty good.

“You’re gonna have to roll your sleeves up on this one, buddy.”

Like Eddie says: “the bright, sunlit uplands.”

Some thoughts here before heading back to the Sunshine State:

1. Will Archambault every game gets at least one rebound he shouldn’t have gotten. Not talking 50-50 boards. Like 30-70. Or 20-80. He’s one of the five best players in the Southern Conference. Y’all know that, right?

2. Last night, in the front row behind the near basket, there was a ninja, there was a boxer, there was a white lobster, there was a cat in the hat with Mickey Mouse hands, there was a kid wearing a red Max No. 14 jersey made of nothing but body paint, there was a kid wearing a red Rossiter No. 23 jersey made of nothing but body paint.

3. One lineup last night for Davidson: an NBA point guard, two 6-foot-6 Canadian run-and-jump athletes on the wings, a stone-cut 6-9 Nigerian at one big and at the other a 6-9 Brit who seems to be sucking down more than his fair share of protein shakes. No wonder these guys are 9-0 in the league.

4. Just scads of unmolested jumpers for Davidson. Hardly any for Wofford.

5. 30’s gone for 30 now 25 times.

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... and still more ...

Eddie Nicholson on DavidsonCats:

I loved all of it. The entire ride. The ups, the downs, the games, talking about the games, interacting with fans, coaches, players' families, etc., and the 100th year reunion, which would have been what we were all talking about but for the drama on the court.

All of it.

The final face plant was a bit sudden and numbing, but complaining about that is like saying something was lacking in your life because eventually you died.

Maybe the most amazing part of it, and a part that outlives the season, is that we have a reason-based hope that Davidson will be in the mix again next year.

Nowadays, "It's a great day to be a Wildcat" is both a corny cliche and the literal truth.

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Eddie after Wisconsin

On DavidsonCats.com:

My son says that when his friends are playing basketball and someone cans a particularly long shot, they call it “a Stephen Curry.”

The narrow world addressed by this board has changed dramatically over the last 10 days.

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Feb. 23, 2008

Eddie Nicholson on DavidsonCats.com:

One other thing. When the team ran off the court, the last two guys leaving were JRich and Steph. As they approached the tunnel, both turned back toward the Davidson section at the other end of the building and pointed to it. JRich then did the thing where you hold up your jersey to show off the team name. For some reason, I really loved that, and wish the cameras had been on him for it.

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Feb. 13, 2008

A fateful prediction and much rejoicing over on DavidsonCats that crazy night:

Mike Reed:
Curry will go over 40 tonight and lead us to a comeback. G's 15-point halftime lead means they will lose by 5 instead of 20.

Chip Clark:
Steph had 41. Cats 83-78. Lazarus is the MVP tonight.

Adam Stockstill:
Amazing comeback by the Cats, I'm speechless, anyone who questioned their heart is an idiot. They had EVERYTHING going against them (including themselves) in the first half and they came back and got it done. Curry doing an MJ impersonation, Richards bleeding as wills them to victory. I know it wasn't what we expected but these things happen, especially on the road during a long conference season. This will help us in the long run, the 30-point blowouts make us complacent after a time. This will prepare us for Chucktown. My hats are off to the Cats.

Stephen Curry on the Davidson Radio Network
"I got real tired, but I heard Mom on the 4th row saying, 'Take deep breaths! Take deep breaths.'"

Eddie Nicholson:
This team has some serious heart.

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Feb. 1, 2008

Eddie Nicholson on DavidsonCats.com:

At some point when we stop taking RPI out to the fourth decimal point, we might have to take a step back and think about what we’re seeing (and starting to take for granted) from Steph Curry.

Who else in America drives AND shoots a three on the same play? One of those from Curry on Wednesday had us shaking our heads. In the 3-steal-3 sequence against UNCG last year, Steph shot that second three as the guy guarding him crossed the end line under the basket into the red sideline paint. He does this all the time. Imagine a situation in which a player does this and several instances are not on the highlight film because it’s a standard move.

When he drives the lane and pulls up for the soft jumper, it is so automatic that if he misses, I wonder if he hurt himself. If a ball is loose, not only do I assume Steph will end up with it, but I look down court, certain that the turnover will result in a breakaway for someone (preferably MPG on the dunk).

Wofford went into what looked like a 1-2-2 zone at one point in the second half and Davidson seemed clueless as to how to attack it. No problem, with seconds remaining on the shot clock, they just put it into Steph’s hands about 26 feet from the basket, beyond the zone. Davidson scored three points against a defense it had failed to crack. As the CBS color man said during the Maryland game, Steph’s range is “in the building.”

I feel sorry for people who get their Steph info from the radio and/or the box score. Live and in person is the way to see the next number hanging from Belk’s rafters.

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