Sunday, March 30, 2008

Unanswered Prayers: Davidson Beats Themselves!


Let me begin by saying that the Davidson Wildcats represented both their school and the Southern Conference quite well. Unfortunately, Davidson's coach Bob McKillop's prayers were unanswered by the great Wildcat in the sky as his team lost to Kansas today 59 to 57 at Ford Field in Detroit.

Davidson was not out-played by Kansas, in fact they kept Kansas out of their game by keeping the ball out of the hands of Kansas' big men. Davidson lost because they quit believing. All year the press has made Davidson the "Stephen Curry Show" but alas, there was always four other guys on the court when he was dropping thirty points in a game. (Photo courtesy of AP/Chuck Burton)

You may blow off my psycho-analysis as much to do about a thing, but when Curry quit hitting his shots his teammates became deflated and even when they had the open shots they wouldn't take them. They for lack of a better word became scared. Curry too had a deer in the headlights stare, and it seemed as though the clock was about to strike twelve for Cinderella. Yet, Coach McKillop kept his team in it and kept the faith. But as the old adage about leading a horse to water tells us, the foregone conclusion was that the Wildcats beat themselves as soon as they looked at the clock and the scoreboard. They quit trying to win the game and started to trying not to lose the game, which as we all know, usually ends in defeat.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Fah-King Davidson Just Killed My Bracket!


I know that I should support the Davidson Wildcats and I did in the first round against Gonzaga, but the Wildcats and Stephen Curry just totally screwed my bracket by beating Georgetown 74-70 today. Now, I hate to be so narcissistic to think that my own desires to win the office pool here at the Bushido should spoil the dreams of the folks up in Davidson, North Carolina, but at the end of the game, I found myself saying the same thing I have since my beginnings at the College of Charleston-Fah-King Davidson!

Oh well, there has to be a winner and a loser and Stephen Curry showed his stuff with 30-points and the rest of the Wildcats squad pulled their weight to upset the favored Hoyas of Georgetown. Good luck in the next round guys-way to represent the Southern Conference in this years' NCAA Tournament. (Photo courtesy of ESPN.com/Chuck Burton)

Friday, March 21, 2008

And I need Curry to go VROOM! Just like a motorcycle!


Davidson Wins Their 1st NCAA Tournament Game Since 1969!
Davidson beat Gonzaga today 82 to 76, shooting .500 from behind the arc, .491 from the field and .714 from the charity-stripe. I picked Davidson to win this game and as predicted it was one heck of a game. Good for Davidson, good for the SoCon and good for Stephen Curry's Mom, because everyone needs a good cry from time to time.

Curry goes VROOM!
Stephen Curry and the Wildcats proved a lot today: that a mid-major can compete on the next level and no matter how small the school or how small the player-if a kid can shoot he's hard to stop. Curry scored 40 points (30 in the second half) which to this b-ball fans was a big middle-finger to the "big" schools who passed on him (i.e. his Dad's alma-mater, Virginia Tech) due to his size and lack of chest hair. (Note: Curry has sprouted four inches during his tenure at Davidson). Another thing Curry accomplished today was that he became the first member of his family to win a NCAA Tournament game. Something his father and the Hokies never achieved. Good for you Stephen and congratulations to all of those in the Wildcat Nation.
(Photo courtesy of CNN.com)

Monday, March 3, 2008

Cougs land sixth seed in SoCon Tourney, face Citadel on Friday!


2008 Men's and Women's SoCon Tournament Pairings

Men

Friday, March 7
Wofford vs. Western Carolina, 3 p.m. (Seeding TBD)
No. 7 Elon vs. No. 10 Furman, 5:15 p.m.
No. 6 College of Charleston vs. No. 11 The Citadel, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 8
No. 1 Davidson vs. Wofford/WCU winner, 2 p.m.
No. 4 App State vs. No. 5 UNC Greensboro, 4:15 p.m.
No. 2 Chattanooga vs. Elon/Furman winner, 7 p.m.
No. 3 Ga. Southern vs. Charleston/Citadel winner, 9:15 p.m.

Sunday, March 9
Semifinals, 6 and 8:30 p.m.

Monday, March 10
Championship game, 9 p.m.

Women

Thursday, March 6
No. 7 Furman vs. No. 10 Wofford, 3 p.m.
No. 8 App. State vs. No. 9 UNCG (30 minutes later)

Friday, March 7
Furman/Wofford winner vs. No. 2 Western Carolina, 10 a.m.
App State/UNCG winner vs. No. 1 Chattanooga

Saturday, March 8
No. 4 Georgia Southern vs. No. 5 College of Charleston, 9 a.m.
No. 3 Davidson vs. Elon, (30 min later)

Sunday, March 9
Semifinals, noon, 2:30 p.m.

Monday, March 10
Championship Game , 5 p.m.

For a printable bracket in PDF format, click here.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

C of C Legend Kresse Closes Namesake Arena


From Ken Burger at the Post & Courier:

Someday you can tell your grandchildren you saw the College of Charleston play basketball in the "old" Kresse Arena.

Hopefully they will look at you with some sense of awe and appreciation.

If you live long enough you'll see venues like this old gymnasium on George Street relegated to the pages of history. Some of us remember the old "Blue Heaven" at North Carolina where the Tar Heels played, Reynolds Coliseum where the Wolfpack prowled and the Old Field House at South Carolina where Frank McGuire sparked his magical run with the Gamecocks.

The same can now be said of John Kresse Arena at the College of Charleston,

home court for the Cougars from the winter of 1982 until Saturday night when they played their last game here against Furman, winning 77-59.

It's only right that they closed this place with a victory because that's the way the Cougar faithful will remember it. All told, over all those years, the College logged a total of 342 wins with only 44 losses.

The credit for this legacy goes to John Kresse, a living legend in this town, for his remarkable run of 560-143, much of it accomplished in a building that Sports Illustrated magazine once described by saying it "looked like a high school gymnasium and smelled like a Chinese restaurant."

New York accent

Not only will this old gym be razed soon to make way for the "new" Kresse Arena on an adjacent property, but the oriental take-out joint next door is disappearing as well.

Cougar alumni who knew the College way back when can only marvel at how far the school and its fledgling basketball program have come in their lifetimes.

It seems like only a couple of decades ago that a young, energetic John Kresse came to this Southern city with his New York accent and bag of basketball tricks. Within a few years he took the Cougars all the way to an NAIA national title in the same year they opened play here in the F. Mitchell Johnson Physical Education Center.

Since then the program transitioned into Division I status and earned the reputation as a giant slayer during several appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Some say Cougar basketball peaked in the late 1990s and suffered a setback when Kresse, the undisputed king of this homecourt, unexpectedly announced his retirement in 2001.

Since then the program has struggled to regain its dominant position in the Southern Conference and find a place on the national stage.

Few doubt, however, that former Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins can find a way to bring the College back as it prepares to move into its new 5,000-seat arena next season.

Jittery genius

Regardless of what the future holds, there will never be a feeling at this school like there was on those cold winter nights when this little hothouse was rocking.

With Kresse, the jittery genius on the sidelines, this was the toughest ticket in town.

With students breathing down the referee's necks and a loyal, basketball-savvy home crowd, the Cougars turned this rather pedestrian place into a place of pain for opponents.

While it's doubtful this year's team (14-16, 9-11 in the SoCon) will capture America's imagination the way Kresse's teams did a decade ago, the future of Cougar basketball remains bright.

As today's players built a 20-point lead over the Paladins in the second half, they were celebrated by longtime fans and former players who came to give this special building a proper sendoff.

After the victory, the court was ringed by more than 120 former players dating back to the 1940s. In a special ceremony, they passed a basketball through the ages, ending with a handoff from Cremins to Kresse, who made the last layup to close the building for the ages.

Nice touch.

Nice shot.

(Photo courtesy of CofC Sports.com)