Wildcats Pride

Going into the Southern Conference tournament this weekend, UT Chattanooga coach, John Shulman, believes he has one big advantage, the tournament is being played on his home court.

There has been much debate over the site of the SoCon Tournament. Many people believe that having the tournament on the Mocs home floor gives them the advantage of the home crowd. UTC fans and administration dismiss these concerns immediately, however, there was no masking Shulman’s belief in the home court advantage.

“There isn’t anybody who thinks we’ve got a chance in heck to win three (tournament) games.” Said Shulman, “but it’s still our floor.”

Other’s agree with Shulman. Casey Long, the former Moc point guard believes the situation is falling into UTC’s hands. “You’ve got five seniors and you’re in the good side of the bracket,” said Long. “I wouldn’t want to play [the Mocs] in the tournament].

The last time Chattanooga won the Southern Conference tournament, Davidson entered the post season as the overwhelming favorite, but Chattanooga prevailed on their home court sparking the long debate.

No matter how well Shulman believes the circumstances have come up in his favor, his players will still have to outclass The Citidel, College of Charleston, and the powerhouse Davidson Wildcats, something they were unable to do during the regular season.

Tuesday on ESPN, legendary coach Bob Knight sat down to talk about the best aspect of Stephen Curry’s game… his passing.

While most people would agree that Curry has become a superstar due to his uncanny ability to put up points, that is not what impresses Knight the most.

According to Knight, Curry is “the best passer in college basketball”.

In analyzing film from this season, the former coach gives Curry high marks for running the teams set offense. He “knows where the cuts going to be… and delivers the cross court pass perfectly.”

However, it is in transition that Knight has even higher praise for Curry. After breaking down a fast break initiated by Curry and finished off with a Ben Allison dunk, Knight comments that “there are very few players who have ever played the game that can make that pass”.

“He’s as good a passer as has ever played college basketball.”

Watch the complete segment below…

ESPN has not been shy in marketing the Davidson game against Duke tonight at Cameron, here is their latest installment of pregame hype.

Andy Katz talked with Stephen Curry on Tuesday morning to discuss the upcoming game with Duke and the season thus far:

Everyone now knows Stephen Curry the superstar. Preseason all-american, potential player of the year, the lights have never shone brighter on a Davidson athlete.

However, in recent comments made to WFAE NPR radio in Charlotte, the community describes Stephen in the way that made America fall in love with him in the first place, a humble local kid.

Davidson College President, Tom Ross, speaks of Curry as another student at the small private college. “On campus he’s the same kid,” Ross says. “I think in some ways this is his escape. Because he comes back here and he’s treated by other students as Steph… which is great for him because I think it gives him a place where he can be himself.”

According to Davidson coach Bob McKillop, Curry’s presence on the team was not solely to provide 30 points per game. “I’ve known him since he was 10 years old,” said McKillop. “His presence in our program, whether he scores a point or doesn’t score a point, was going to have a significant impact because of the kind of person he is.”

All of this praise placed upon such slim shoulders could very reasonably boost any ego, but speaking to Curry, you would never know he was even aware of his stardom.

“This game is a blessing,” Curry says. “And, we’re all given gifts to play it and be able to come to school… with scholarship and play basketball for our lives now. It’s really, definitely a blessing and we’re not gonna take it for granted.”

The combination of humility and talent is what makes the average basketball fan a die-hard Steph Curry fan. However, some Curry fans have their own reasons.

When eight-year-old Johnson Krajewski of Charlotte was asked why Stephen Curry is his favorite basketball player, he replied “I like him ’cause he goes to our church.”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE NPR SEGMENT

Leading up to the Wildcats game vs. Duke, Stephen Curry talks about the matchup, his season and his ability to beat his dad in horse.

Click below to listen to the interview.

With the international flare Davidson brings to the basketball court, it comes as no surprise that we may see a Wildcat or two in the next Olympics.

In a video interview with FIBA.com, Andrew Lovedale revealed Great Britain’s interest in his services for the 2012 London games:

“Coach Finch [the coach of the British national team] was actually talking to Coach McKillop and talked about looking into my status and trying to get me onto the British national team for the 2012 Olympics,” according to Lovedale.

“That’s something I’m really hoping comes through. That’s actually where I grew as a basketball player and that’s were I was scouted.  I used a lot of resources there to become who I am today so that would be a dream come true for me if I could play for them.”

Lovedale was born in Nigeria, but he attended Loretto College in Manchester, England prior to joining the Davidson Wildcats.  The soft-spoken senior is Davidson’s top rebounder and second leading scorer averaging 12.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.  

Great Britain’s Mens Basketball team did not qualify to play in the Beijing Olympics, but they earn an automatic bid for London 2012 as the host nation.

Over the many years that Davidson and Duke have faced off, the Blue Devils may have never had a tougher defensive assignment than Stephen Curry.

The Blue Devils, ranked 3rd in the latest USA Today poll, are definitely taking the assignment seriously.

Duke coach Mike Kryzewski has said, in a recent interview, that he spent much of his holiday break watching film of Curry and the Davidson Wildcats, trying to come up with a game plan.

“We already talked to our guys about it,” he said. “Davidson is one of the best teams in the country. I think Curry is the best guard. He may be the best player in the country… He’s sensational.”

Duke senior Gerald Henderson says he wants the challenge of matching up against the sharpshooter. “Yeah, he’s one of the best players in the nation, so why wouldn’t you?”

Whatever game plans coach K has come up with, it will surely be a battle at Cameron Indoor on Wednesday.

According to statements made to the Associated Press. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball coach John Shulman made a mistake in challenging his team early.

UTC faced Tennessee, Missouri, Memphis, USC, Davidson and Alabama in the first five weeks of the season. The Mocs came away with two wins against eight losses.

While many coaches, including Davidson’s Bob McKillop like to challenge themselves as much as possible to move the team and the conference up in the basketball world, Shulman vows that he won’t do it again.

The decision comes when other Southern Conference teams like Davidson and College of Charleston are doing everything they can to compete at the highest level.

Shulman’s commitment to make things easier on his team, however, does not come with unanimous support.

Senior Nicchaeus Doaks believes the scheduling will make UTC stronger, a claim that has been supported by Davidson’s recent success.

The Southern Conference is rated one of the lowest in Division 1 basketball this year and the newest commitment by Shulman will not help.

Davidson prospect Tom Droney does not come from a big time basketball high school. But that doesn’t keep this Junior point guard off the recruiting radar.

The 6′6″ guard is making a name for himself by following up a 21 ppg sophomore year with a 25.6 ppg junior year. Droney’s play has lead to offers from Pitt, Notre Dame and Davidson.

Droney visited Notre Dame twice this fall and liked the place. He also likes the hometown team, but he was awfully impressed when he went on a visit to Davidson this fall and the entire team met him when he arrived at 9 p.m. on a Friday.

Well, not quite the entire team. Stephen Curry wasn’t there because he had just gotten his wisdom teeth pulled. Droney admits one of the main reasons he is considering Davidson is because of how Curry has excelled in the program.

In a recent interview with the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Droney talked about his aspirations despite coming from a school that isn’t known for it’s basketball talent.

“I know people say I only play Class A basketball,” Droney said recently, staring straight across Sewickley Academy’s gym at the bleachers. “But look at what I’ve done when I’ve played AAU basketball against some of the top players in the country. I’ve held my own — and a lot of times really held my own.

“I don’t think playing here hurts me. Maybe some people look at who we play and see a team like OLSH. They say ‘Who is OLSH?’ But I love everything about this place. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

As for his chances of going to Davidson, Droney has mentioned a good connection with the team but most recently has said “at this point in time, I honestly don’t have a school I’m positive about. The schools haven’t been putting that much pressure on me. When I get the feeling, I’ll pull the trigger.”

However, knowing that Droney enjoys his experience excelling on the court at a smaller school bodes well for Davidson.

Well, the rumors we reported on last week are true, Stephen Curry was named the Sporting News College Athlete of the Year for 2008.

The announcement came as The Sporting News released their final edition of the year for the week of December 22.

The award is well deserved as Curry lead a miraculous run to the Elite Eight and returned to start his junior year by leading the nation in scoring and helping develop Davidson, previously unknown, into a basketball powerhouse again.

Sporting News sat down with Curry to talk about his year and his plans for the future. Here are some excerpts from that interview:

SN: Do you ever look back and think, “Why didn’t I take that last shot against Kansas?”

Curry: I do all the time, only because people ask. I’ve watched the film countless times, and I’ve seen that was the right play to make at the time. Maybe we could have run a different play. But J-Rich had a better look. I had a help defender on me. I thought it was in when J-Rich shot it. I was ready to celebrate.

SN: Fame can come at a price. Has life gotten harder in some ways?

Curry: A little bit. There’s less time for myself. After games and practices, there’s a lot more media attention. The fan base has grown a lot. I have a lot more things to do, a lot more people to talk to. It does get difficult, but the coaches and everybody around me help me.

SN: Your father, Dell, played in the NBA for 16 years. Are you more famous than he ever was?

Curry: I don’t think so, actually because every person I talk to who’s over 30 years old says, “Oh, you’re Stephen Curry. Your dad played for the Hornets. They sold out every game for 10 straight years when he was there.” He’s still the man.

SN: Let’s say both of you pump up 100 NBA-length 3’s right now. How many do you each make?

Curry: I’ll probably make 75. Knowing his competitive streak and him not wanting to let me win, he’d probably make 76. We play H-O-R-S-E in the driveway all the time when I’m at home, and he still rules the court there… It’s his house, his rules.

SN: Will you be back for your senior year?

Curry: That’s the plan right now. I don’t want to think too much about a decision I have to make at the end of the year because that will distract me for the season.

SN: If you could go back and replay that last possession against Kansas, what would happen?

Curry: Instead of calling Thomas Sander out for a screen, I would try to take my defender one-on-one and try to draw a foul or draw another defender. If we could just spread the floor out, I could get into the middle and maybe find an open shooter in the corner. Or maybe if we run a different play, I could get a 3-pointer. Either way, we win.