Congrats to Davidson

[229SintoZag]

One missed 3 from making it to the final 4.

I was soundly mocked hereabouts the past two years when I came on this board and claimed Davidson was a team to watch.

No more.

Davidson is a good team. An NCAA Final Four caliber team. They beat us. They beat Georgetown. They beat Wisconsin. Soundly. And they hung very, very tough with a Kansas team many think can win it all.

Notwithstanding the posts here by Spy and others claiming Davidson is not a "very, very, very" good team, I think it is fair at this point to say to Davidson: congratulations on a great season. At one point today, it was you, Kansas, UCLA, Memphis, and Carolina alive for the title, and you were a missed 3 pointer away from advancing to the Final Four.

If only our Zags could have played with the toughness Davidson displayed this tournament I wonder where they could have gone. Oh well....


At least Memphis advanced to take one of four slots from the BCS conferences....



229

[Bulldog]

Can you believe Davidson? All I can say is WOW! Very under rated.

[Birddog]

Not only are they a great team, they play disciplined, relatively error free ball, and tough defense. The best part of all is how enjoyable all that is to watch, unlike the mugging style of UCLA for instance.

[229SintoZag]

Agreed Birddog

While certain members of this board may not respect Davidson, I think it is fair to say at this point that Mark Few, Ray Giacoletti, John Thompson III, Bo Ryan, and Bill Self all have a measure of respect for Bob McKillop and Davidson that is perhaps a bit more meaningful. No joke: at one point today, it was Memphis, UCLA, Carolina, Kansas and DAVIDSON still alive playing for the chance to win a title. Come on, you have to admit, that is pretty freakin' phenomenal. And the really funny thing is this: Davidson could have easily won today if a bounce or two went their way. As is, if they make one last second 3 pt shot they go to the final four. In a word: phenomenal.

I loved watching Davidson play in this tournament. They never bought into the idea that they were an inferior team. They stepped up and competed each and every game. That is what the NCAA tournament is all about. Tip of the cap to Davidson. A job well done.


Scary thought: Curry is only a junior next year. Holy cow.

[FuManShoes]

I would also like to add to the props to Davidson, and also make this observation: these guys are devilish on guarding inbounds passes. Just one of the many small things they do well. I was infuriated with the way the Zags kept turning the ball over on inbounds plays against these guys, but after watching four Davidson games, it became clear that they guard those passes as tightly as any team I've seen. Borerline illegal but highly effective and highly demomstrative of their overall hoops IQ. I just wish they would have played a bit smarter down the stretch and gotten the best shot possible at the end.

[UberZagFan]

I was soundly mocked hereabouts the past two years when I came on this board and claimed Davidson was a team to watch.

Uber's not so sure you were "soundly mocked" the past two years but in any case, Davidson was not the team the past two years it was this year. Notably, they won games this year. And Uber is still searching the MBB forum for 229's prediction of Davidson being the "sleeper" team this year. . .


But Uber will give 229 some props for his call on Davidson, albeit it was 1 and 2 years too early. And Uber will give great props to Davidson's team this year--a team that was very fun to watch post-GU and was one-two good plays or lucky breaks down the stretch from advancing.

[BobZag]

If only our Zags could have played with the toughness Davidson displayed this tournament I wonder where they could have gone. Oh well....


At least Memphis advanced to take one of four slots from the BCS conferences....



229

Amen and Amen.

[229SintoZag]

Ahem

Uber's not so sure you were "soundly mocked" the past two years but in any case, Davidson was not the team the past two years it was this year. Notably, they won games this year. And Uber is still searching the MBB forum for 229's prediction of Davidson being the "sleeper" team this year. . .


But Uber will give 229 some props for his call on Davidson, albeit it was 1 and 2 years too early. And Uber will give great props to Davidson's team this year--a team that was very fun to watch post-GU and was one-two good plays or lucky breaks down the stretch from advancing.

Let the record reflect the fact that 229 was in trial trying a case in Monte-freaking-sano, Washington the past two weeks. 229 did not get a chance to see Davidson-GU nor did 229 get a chance to see Davidson-Wisconsin because of this trial.

Otherwise, 229 would have been all over these boards. I was here lamenting our draw after selection sunday, and I did state clearly that Davidson was a "very,very, very good" team. So any claims that I am a Johnny-come-lately on this topic are a bit far fetched.

I just would have really, really loved a UCLA-Memphis-Carolina-Davidson final four. Oh well......

[johnwzag]

It takes a little of the sting out or our loss that Davidson did so well. I cannot believe I was feeling a little bad for Curry today. What a player though! The whole team played so hard. What talent and heart. I agree that watching Davidson play is a better than UCLA hacking.

[thespywhozaggedme]

Wow,
way to throw me under a bus. If you're gonna fish for compliments try to be less transparent. Okay, here's a bone for ya, I was WRONG and YOU were right. Davidson was a very, very good team.

For the record, a complete lack of "bigs" is gonna kill them next season, just like us in 2 years.

[sullyzag66]

I would also like to add to the props to Davidson, and also make this observation: these guys are devilish on guarding inbounds passes. Just one of the many small things they do well. I was infuriated with the way the Zags kept turning the ball over on inbounds plays against these guys, but after watching four Davidson games, it became clear that they guard those passes as tightly as any team I've seen. Borerline illegal but highly effective and highly demomstrative of their overall hoops IQ. I just wish they would have played a bit smarter down the stretch and gotten the best shot possible at the end.

Yeah, watching Curry dribble around the top of the key as the final seconds ticked down, with three Davidson players standing under the basket watching him, looked disturbingly familiar. . .

[Birddog]

way to throw me under a bus.

Just for the record, Spy, nobody "throws you under the bus". You have a long standing habit of standing in front of a moving bus.

[229SintoZag]

Wow,
way to throw me under a bus. If you're gonna fish for compliments try to be less transparent. Okay, here's a bone for ya, I was WRONG and YOU were right. Davidson was a very, very good team.

For the record, a complete lack of "bigs" is gonna kill them next season, just like us in 2 years.

Actually, methinks you threw me under the bus when you flat out said Davidson was not a very good team.

I am merely here to let you know I survived the encounter with the bus.

I am also making no effort to hide the fact I am "fishing for compliments," as you say. I love compliments. Bring 'em. No need for me to make that anything but transparent.

Davidson may well struggle next year without some new bigs--I agree with you there.

But Stephen Curry is money. Pure, cash money.

[Ziggy]

That was as exciting a game as I've seen in the tourney this year. I only wish some tech at KREM hadn't gone over to a commercial during that last timeout so that we missed the final 16 seconds and only got to see an edited replay. It was like someone ripped the last page out of an excellent book and
then you got to hear the reviewer synopsize the ending.

[gamagin]

Davidson reminded me of

our run to the Elite 8. Great team. Great fun, hustle, focus, toughness. You name it.

Great season. Classy players, coach & operation.

One of these days, we will break into that thinner air called the Final Four and bring home a national championship. I just know it.

This year, Davidson kept that hope alive for all of us and carried the torch right up to the last shot vs. Kansas.

As Zag fan, and Bulldog Club member, Lao (JHoops) Tzu famously said, "The GU journey to the NCAA championship begins with one single win at a time. Beginning next season."

Go Zags !