Stephen Curry

[davekay1971]

I would love to see a tape of that game. The ESPN.com writeup is hysterical. Leave it to a Gary Williams assistant to have that kind of attitude - caring more that people will remember they "held" Curry scoreless than that they lost by 30. Strong example for the kids there, coach. Don't worry about the fact that Curry decided to go scoreless and watch his teammates rip you to pieces.

[dyedwab]

... caring more that people will remember they "held" Curry scoreless than that they lost by 30. Strong example for the kids there, coach. Don't worry about the fact that Curry decided to go scoreless and watch his teammates rip you to pieces.

I agree with the sentiment completely. I root for Davidson against everyone but Duke anyway (even) without a Curry-caliber star, they are a tough out because they are always disciplined, patient, and well coached), but really...

Loyola lost by 30 - and didn't abandon their "stop Curry first" strategy even though it clearly didn't work for them to win the game. I hate that kind of thinking.

I feel bad for the players who were subjected to that kind of embarrassment

[Wander]

I really hope no one points to this game in the future as evidence that Curry isn't one of the two best players in the country, when in fact it's evidence of just the opposite.

[RepoMan]

I would love to see a tape of that game. The ESPN.com writeup is hysterical. Leave it to a Gary Williams assistant to have that kind of attitude - caring more that people will remember they "held" Curry scoreless than that they lost by 30. Strong example for the kids there, coach. Don't worry about the fact that Curry decided to go scoreless and watch his teammates rip you to pieces.

I saw that too. Patsos should be ashamed. Happy to be on SC because they held Curry to 0 at the expense of losing the game by 30+. What a joke.

[mehmattski]

I think Loyola (MD) should try their "triangle-and-two" strategy on Kyle Singler, when they come to Cameron on New Year's Eve.

[davekay1971]

I think Loyola (MD) should try their "triangle-and-two" strategy on Kyle Singler, when they come to Cameron on New Year's Eve.

Nah, they should go with a 2-2-1 defense: 2 on Singler, 2 on Henderson, and 1 on everybody else. That should work out nicely for them. They may lose by 60, but they'll sure keep Singler and Henderson off the SC highlight reel.

[phaedrus]

Gary Williams' former assistant pulls a Gary Williams:

"I'm not some rookie coach,'' said Patsos, a former longtime assistant at Maryland. ''I won a national title as a top assistant coach to Gary Williams."

[davekay1971]

Gary Williams' former assistant pulls a Gary Williams:

"I'm not some rookie coach,'' said Patsos, a former longtime assistant at Maryland. ''I won a national title as a top assistant coach to Gary Williams."

Translated: "I looked like a joke with that coaching job? Hey, I'm no joke! Let me recite my resume to prove I'm no joke! I worked with Gary Williams, and he's no joke, so neither am I! So there!" I can't wait until my son is 18 so he can go play for this guy!

[juise]

Nah, they should go with a 2-2-1 defense: 2 on Singler, 2 on Henderson, and 1 on everybody else. That should work out nicely for them. They may lose by 60, but they'll sure keep Singler and Henderson off the SC highlight reel.

Nah, G would dunk on both of them.

[Diddy]

Here at Duke, and indeed for any other top 25 caliber team, we have the option of playing Davidson straight up and winning the game. We are more talented, by a very wide margin, at every position outside of Curry. In all likelihood we could slow Curry down while shutting down his teammates.

Other schools are not so lucky. If a team has the same talent level or lower than Davidson, then that team cannot play them straight up. There are two options left to that team.

1. Shut Down Curry and make the rest of the team beat you.
2. Turn Curry loose and stop everybody else.

Both options can work. LSU dedicated its entire team effort toward shutting down JJ. It successfully slowed him down, and the rest of Duke's team was not capable of beating LSU.

In recent years, UNC has had trouble winning on days when Hans went nutso, proving option 2 has success. Indeed, last year the key to beating UNC was essentially turning Hans loose and locking down everybody else. Hans is such a ball hog that he doesn't really notice the ploy. Indeed, shutting down Hans and turning the rest of the team loose is pretty much a recipe for getting your rear handed to you on a platter.

Loyola tried one option. It failed rather spectacularly. OK saw Curry go nuts, and still managed to win, which is probably the best option. You can't turn him completely loose, but you assign a guy to guard him and don't help. Everybody else stays with their guy.

Loyola probably feared they couldn't stop everybody else, so they tried to stop one guy, which is easier.

Regardless, even if the entire D concentrating on one player, a truly elite player doesn't get shut out. If nothing else, he gets to the line for some freethrows. Curry will have to really do something to prove he belongs back in the NPOY discussion. It will take a huge performance in win over a national power to do so.

Not that it matters. If Hans averages 20 and 10 (approximately), for a team that increasingly looks likely to enter March with less than 2 losses, it is his award. He will be a dominant player on the dominant team. He is a senior who has passed up the pros, so he will win the award. If UNC loses more than expected, Griffeth or Curry could sneak back in.

But Curry was bound to disappear from the national conscience once his conf started and he went off against inferior foes. It isn't fair, but that's the way this world works.

[ArnieMc]

Back in the day, the Duke freshmen played a box and one against Pistol Pete's prep school. The box was on Pete with the one chasing the rest. He still dropped 50, but we won.

[Ders24]

Regardless, even if the entire D concentrating on one player, a truly elite player doesn't get shut out. If nothing else, he gets to the line for some freethrows. Curry will have to really do something to prove he belongs back in the NPOY discussion. It will take a huge performance in win over a national power to do so.

But Curry was bound to disappear from the national conscience once his conf started and he went off against inferior foes. It isn't fair, but that's the way this world works.

I think that this defense was much more extreme than a normal triangle and two. As the point guard, Curry was able to effectively distribute, basically remove himself from the play, and still draw two defenders. I think this is a mark of an incredibly mature player. Rather than trying to force shots, he was content with his team pulling out a win (and winning by a lot). I don't know if a lot of people will see it this way, but that is my take on his play in this game.

[davekay1971]

I think that this defense was much more extreme than a normal triangle and two. As the point guard, Curry was able to effectively distribute, basically remove himself from the play, and still draw two defenders. I think this is a mark of an incredibly mature player. Rather than trying to force shots, he was content with his team pulling out a win (and winning by a lot). I don't know if a lot of people will see it this way, but that is my take on his play in this game.

Absolutely. The triangle and two is a 3 man zone with 2 players matching up man-to-man with 2 players from the other team. What Loyola did last night was put 2 on Curry alone. What is fascinating (wierd, actually), was that when Curry decided to simply remove himself from the offense and let his team take Loyola 4 on 3, Loyola persisted with this tactic even as the game got out of hand.

I don't have a problem with extreme tactics, even trying the desperation tactic of 2 on Curry, 3 on the other 4 guys. But when Curry turned it into a 4 on 3 ball game, and Loyola was getting killed, why keep with the tactic? Loyola's coach made the conscious decision to lose the game rather than let Curry go off, which is a disservice to Curry, Davidson, the fans, and his own players.

[dukelifer]

Regardless, even if the entire D concentrating on one player, a truly elite player doesn't get shut out. If nothing else, he gets to the line for some freethrows. Curry will have to really do something to prove he belongs back in the NPOY discussion. It will take a huge performance in win over a national power to do so.

Not that it matters. If Hans averages 20 and 10 (approximately), for a team that increasingly looks likely to enter March with less than 2 losses, it is his award. He will be a dominant player on the dominant team. He is a senior who has passed up the pros, so he will win the award. If UNC loses more than expected, Griffeth or Curry could sneak back in.

But Curry was bound to disappear from the national conscience once his conf started and he went off against inferior foes. It isn't fair, but that's the way this world works.

If Curry hits big numbers against Duke, State and Purdue- he will be in the mix - particularly if he averages 30 or more. His performance in the tourney last year has already elevated him to star status. Granted he is not 100%, but Hansbrough will need to have some monster games as well. Right now - he is 4 of 12 from the floor with 5.5rpg. Hitting 80+% of his throws alone - even a lot of them- will probably not win it for him- even if UNC has a great year.

[davekay1971]

No question that Hansbrough has some legitimate POY competition this year. Curry and Blake Griffin have come out of the gate very strong. Singler, IMHO, may be on his way to POY consideration (in the conversation, anyway), especially if he keeps being our do-everything guy and we enter the NCAAs as a true title contender. Curry has to make his mark in certain "spotlight" games against nationally recognized competition. 30 ppg in SoCon play won't do much for his chances, but numbers like he put up vs Oklahoma when he plays State, Duke, Purdue, and West Virginia will keep him at the forefront of the national consciousness.

[RepoMan]

Loyola probably feared they couldn't stop everybody else, so they tried to stop one guy, which is easier.

You give Patsos way too much credit. In his own words:

"We had to play against an NBA player tonight," Patsos explained. "Anybody else ever hold him scoreless? I'm a history major. They're going to remember that we held him scoreless or we lost by 30?"

This suggests that the goal was not to win by shutting down Curry, but instead was simply to shut down Curry. That is a loser mentality in a major way, and that is why Patsos is a joke.

[Davidson09]

I don't have a problem with extreme tactics, even trying the desperation tactic of 2 on Curry, 3 on the other 4 guys. But when Curry turned it into a 4 on 3 ball game, and Loyola was getting killed, why keep with the tactic? Loyola's coach made the conscious decision to lose the game rather than let Curry go off, which is a disservice to Curry, Davidson, the fans, and his own players.

I completely agree. That is one of the things most Davidson fans (and I suspect, fans of college basketball in general) were none-too-pleased at. Patsos completely disregarded his players, his school, the game of basketball and the idea of sportsmanship in order to get some meaningless statistic. If anything, it showed that Curry truly is a great player, with his team first attitude.

There was one point where Curry literally stood behind midcourt during an offensive play. With his two defenders. That's not just extreme, that's comical. And sad.

Oh well.

[phaedrus]

Why all this talk about how Duke might shut down Curry? We have the ultimate Curry-stopper.

It's time Curry met the real Davidson. Jordan Davidson.

[Wander]

Regardless, even if the entire D concentrating on one player, a truly elite player doesn't get shut out. If nothing else, he gets to the line for some freethrows. Curry will have to really do something to prove he belongs back in the NPOY discussion. It will take a huge performance in win over a national power to do so.

Please. Curry could have dropped 20 on these guys if he really wanted to, but he instead saw a much easier and more effective way to help his team. This performance makes me more convinced that Curry is the best player in the country, not less. Not only has Curry not left the NPOY discussion, he's arguably the favorite.

Not that it matters. If Hans averages 20 and 10 (approximately), for a team that increasingly looks likely to enter March with less than 2 losses, it is his award. He will be a dominant player on the dominant team. He is a senior who has passed up the pros, so he will win the award. If UNC loses more than expected, Griffeth or Curry could sneak back in.

But Curry was bound to disappear from the national conscience once his conf started and he went off against inferior foes. It isn't fair, but that's the way this world works.

This ain't college football. Recently, we've had NPOYs from non BCS conferences (2004, 2005) and from teams that weren't serious title contenders (2005, 2007). College basketball does a reasonably good job in giving out its award and selecting its playoff fields.

[camion]

We already knew that Curry was an outstanding player. The game last night demonstrated that he is a great teammate and person. I'll be pulling for him in every game from here on out. I just won't be pulling for Davidson to win in that one particular game on January 7.