Quick & Dirty Thoughts on Today's Scrimmage
The Wildcats entertained a record-breaking home crowd of 5,753 on Saturday with a dominating performance against the College of Charleston Cougars. Davidson led by as many as 34 en route to an 81-56 victory, the Cats’ 28th consecutive against conference foes. What follows are one zealot’s observations of this afternoon’s regionally televised shredding:
** Seven total TOs (and only one in the first half)! That’s the sort of patience and precision with which the Wildcats must play if they’re to make a splash in March. Great court awareness too. See, e.g., Curry’s 55 footer to Lovedale for the flush. See generally Davidson’s 19 assists.
** Jason Richards’s double-double and four steals! After an uncharacteristic 4 TOs/4 assists against Elon and a 5/6 line in the previous game in Chattanooga, Richards rebounded in a big way, tallying 10 assists but only turning the ball over twice. (Also note that today’s four steals were Jason’s first in three games.)
** Boris Meno also rebounded in a big way, grabbing 10 boards to go along with 10 points. The big man’s stock has been on the rise over the past few games, but his performance this afternoon was particularly noteworthy. His assault of the glass reflected the sort of tenacity that we’ve seen in glimmers throughout the season. If sustained, Boris will give us another layer of interior toughness, the likes of which Davidson will need when it next encounters Goliath in the Regional Finals of the NCAA Tournament. Whoops.
** Although starting power forward Thomas Sander was sidelined for much of the game with what appeared to be something of a knee injury, the Wildcat big men did a terrific job of cutting to the basket to fish for putbacks. Boris’s Wooden-esque “dunk” on Sander’s missed layup and Rossiter’s cut following the path hollowed out by Boris were outstanding. Realizing that this is, in many respects, a product of coaching ingenuity, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give Coach McKillop a tip of the hat.
** Max’s forcing of a five-second call against opposing teams trying to inbound the ball has practically become habitual. Sure, the other guys deserve credit, but Max’s visible tenacity make him deserving of special acknowledgment.
** Curry.
In all, Davidson’s trouncing of the visiting Cougs was just what the Wildcats need at this point in the season (and on the heels of some national press coverage (see supra)). As they enter the home stretch, the Cats are firing on all cylinders and appear poised to manhandle whatever whomever throws at them.
Image from Davidson College.
Base Rich