With 16.8 seconds left in the 2008 Elite Eight matchup between Davidson and Kansas, the Wildcats called a timeout down 59-57. KU assistant Joe Dooley and Stephen Curry, then Davidson's star guard, describe what happened next.
:16.8 left
DOOLEY: In the huddle, we talked about keeping everybody in front of you. We didn't want them to have any momentum up the court. Everyone in the arena knew where the ball was going.
CURRY: We talked about starting the play with the ball in the hands of our point guard, Jason Richards. But we didn't want him trapped where he couldn't find me. So I took the inbounds.
:15.9 left
DOOLEY: We had Brandon Rush guard Curry off the inbounds. We wanted Brandon to make sure Curry caught the ball going backward.
CURRY: I moved up the court deliberately; there was plenty of time left. I waited for Thomas Sander to set the flat ball screen up top. Depending on what I saw, I would drive the lane to tie, shoot a three or find Bryant Barr off of another screen. He was hot that night.
:7.8 left
DOOLEY: The plan was to switch on all ball screens and handoffs. It's something our guys were familiar with and, with the exception of Rush's slipping, something our team executed perfectly.
CURRY: That first screen is supposed to be on a big, but they had four guards out there and were able to switch. That kind of defeated the purpose of the play. The one big out there [Rush] was really a guard in a forward's body, so he was able to recover pretty quick after slipping.
:7.0 left
DOOLEY: When Brandon went down, Mario Chalmers saw it and ran back at Curry.
CURRY: I went toward the second screen, but Chalmers slipped it. Rush was up by then, and I was doubled just long enough to keep me from getting off a shot before one of them backed off.
:5.1 left
DOOLEY: Curry ran two screens to get open between about the five- and three-second mark, and it was the same situation. We weren't going to double him because he's not a big, and that's not what we do with guards.
CURRY: 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.
:2.0 left
DOOLEY: Curry didn't get a good look and eventually had to pass it off to Richards for a shot.
CURRY: Jason really beat himself up over missing that shot. He keeps apologizing for it. It was just good defense. I'd dish it off to him again right now if we were there again.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
March Madness
It's that time of year. The whole world stops for a few days to watch CBS all day and night. The NCAA Tournament is on for 3 weeks. Everyone in America fills out the office pool and hopes they can pick the "Cinderella".
2 years ago, that cinderella was Davidson College. The school of 1,700 students located just north of Charlotte. They had lost close games to Duke and UNC early in the regular season, but they started out 4-6. Then the Wildcats won 22 straight games heading in to the NCAA Tournament. They got a 10 seed scheduled to play Gonzaga in Raleigh in the first round.
Gonzaga was the program Davidson most wanted to be like. A "mid-major" that had made 10 straight NCAA appearences. They had made it to the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight. They had superstar players like Adam Morrison and Blake Stepp. And their coach never bolted for the big time job.
Davidson beat them 82-76 behind a 40 point performance from Stephen Curry.
Next was Georgetown. The 2 seed that was unbeatable. They had made the Elite Eight the year before and they returned nearly everybody. They had Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, two top-10 NBA picks. Davidson came back from a 17 point second half deficit and won 74-40. Stephen Curry had 25 points... in the second half.
Wisconsin was next. The 3 seed that played "hard-nosed" defense and was "tough". Everyone said they were the team that could shut down Steph. The game wasn't even close. The Wildcats won 73-56. Stephen Curry had 33 points. Jason Richards had 13 assists and 0 turnovers.
In the Elite Eight, Kansas came calling. The number one seed that would go on to win it all. They had Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers and Cole Aldridge and Sherron Collins and many other McDonald's All-Americans. Davidson had a team... and a shot to advance to the Final Four. With 16.8 seconds left (this would go on to inspire a book), Davidson had the ball and was down 59-57. They held it for one shot and put it in the hands of Stephen Curry. He got double teamed and dished it back to Jason Richards. Richards took the deep three and the whole world paused...
What if...
The shot clanked off the background. The miracle run was done. The #9 Liberal Arts school in the nation was one shot away from the Final Four. They finished the season ranked #9 in the national rankings.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Chris Czerapowicz
6'6" Small forward from Sweden.
MVP of the U18 European Championships.
18.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
Ranked #8 best U19 player in Europe.
Chris will be a freshman at Davidson in the fall of 2010. He is one of the three members of a very heralded incoming recruiting class for the Wildcats.
His father is half American and always told him about the great experience of going to college. This pushed Chris to leave Europe and attend Davidson College. He initially heard of Davidson through a friend that had a cousin that went to Davidson. The 2008 tournament run by Davidson really impressed Chris. He realized that they had a very good basketball team and wanted Davidson to be one of his top options. Czerapowicz was also recruited by Georgetown, San Francisco, Maine and Rhode Island. Chris is a huge fan of Boston sports and Paul Pierce is his favorite NBA player. Czerapowicz said his goal is not to be "the next Stephen Curry." He recognizes how good Steph was and realizes that they have quite a different playing style. Chris says his goal is to make an impact on the team and lead them back into the NCAA Tournament.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Thanks Seniors
Friday was the last game Will Archambault, Steve Rossiter, Bryant Barr and Dan Nelms would play in a Davidson uniform. They were key contributors to the Wildcats 2008 Elite Eight run. The seniors made two NCAA tournaments and an NIT appearance during their careers. This group won 101 games from 2006-2010, a Davidson record. Archambault is in a select category as a Davidson hoopster to score 1,000 career point. Will, Bryant, Steve and Dan were not only great basketball players at Davidson, but also great students and ambassadors of Davidson College.
Cats Lose in first round
The season ended Friday for the Davidson Wildcats in the Bojangles Coliseum. Elon beat Davidson 66-59 in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament. This game was a rematch from just six days before when Davidson won in double overtime. This was the first victory for Matt Matheny over his mentor, Bob McKillop.
Four players scored in double figures for the Wildcats, but they shot just 35.6% from the field and 20.8% from three point land.
Davidson finished the 2009-2010 campaign with a 16-15 record.
Monday, March 8, 2010
SOCON Brackets
Friday, March 6
Game 1 - (4N) Appalachian State (9-11) vs. (5S)
Game 2 - (3S)
Game 3 - (4S) Wofford (12-8) vs. (5N) Elon (7-13), 7:00 p.m.
Game 4 - (3N) Samford (9-11)vs. (6S) Furman (4-16), 30 minutes following Wofford-Elon
Saturday, March 7
(1S) Davidson vs. Game 1 winner, 2:00 p.m.
(2N)
(1N)
(2S) The Citadel (15-5) vs. Game 4 winner, 30 minutes following
Sunday, March 8
Semifinal 1 – 6:00 p.m.
Semifinal 2 – 30 minutes following first semifinal
Monday, March 9
Championship Game – 7:00 p.m.
Southern Conference Tournament
The SOCON Tournament returns to Charlotte, NC for the first time in decades. The first two rounds will be held at Bojangles Coliseum on Independence Boulevard. This is formerly the Charlotte Coliseum which was Davidson's "home away from home" in the 1960's and 1970's. The final two rounds will be played in Time Warner Cable Arena, the home of the Charlotte Bobcats, located downtown.
This happens to be a huge weekend of basketball in the Charlotte area. The Bobcats play the best team in the NBA on Friday night, the LA Lakers. On Saturday, Stephen Curry plays in Charlotte for the first time in his short NBA career. The rookie left Davidson last year after going down as the school's all-time leading scorer. Davidson fans will have a chance to see the men's and women's SOCON tournaments along with Stephen and Kobe all in one weekend.
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