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RALEIGH, N.C. -- Davidson guard Stephen Curry sprinted from the corner to the top of the key and took a handoff from teammate Thomas Sander, and in that instant when the two closest Gonzaga players were unsure who was defending whom, Curry floated an NBA-length 3-pointer that didn't slow down as it passed through the net. Matt Bouldin, the Gonzaga defender assigned to Curry at the moment, opened his mouth but made no sound. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost.
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| Like his father, Dell, Stephen Curry is an adept 3-point shooter: 8-for-10 on Friday. (AP) |
And this apparition from Davidson should scare the hell out of Georgetown.
The second-seeded Hoyas are next for No. 10 Davidson after Curry scored 40 points to lead the Wildcats past Gonzaga 82-76 Friday in the NCAA tournament.
On the surface, Curry doesn't look that difficult to guard. He's unremarkable physically -- 6-feet-3, 190 pounds, with the face of a young child -- and he's not necessarily the quickest player on the court. But he's so fluid he's almost vaporous. Curry hung 40 on Gonzaga without dominating the ball. He barely touched it.
Curry almost never runs the Davidson offense -- NCAA assist leader Jason Richards does -- so most of his shots come off passes from teammates. He might not have dribbled the ball more than 10 times all game Friday, dribbling being unnecessary when you don't shoot the ball as much as you redirect it. If this were major league baseball, it would be Ozzie Smith turning the double play. If this were the NBA, it would be Dell Curry, Stephen's father, catching-and-shooting his way to 12,670 points from 1986-2002.
"I've still got a quicker release," Dell Curry beamed afterward, just as proud as he could be of his son. "But he's quicker in every other way."
Gonzaga knew what was in store but still couldn't do anything about it. Coach Mark Few had his team prepare multiple defenses, including zone schemes the Bulldogs almost never run, to slow down Curry -- the No. 5 scorer in college basketball this season at 25.1 ppg. Gonzaga played straight man-to-man, a diamond-and-one, a triangle-and-two, a matchup zone and more. The Zags even varied their schemes within those schemes, switching on some screens high, switching on others low, and always giving Curry something else to think about.
Assuming he thought at all. Curry played with the confidence of someone who has already played the game and knows its result. It must come from being the son of an NBA player, from getting into shooting contests with one of the greatest shooters of the last quarter-century -- and winning.
The first time Stephen Curry beat his father in a truncated game of H-O-R-S-E -- they played C-A-T -- the entire Davidson team was watching. It was after a practice last season, and father and son went at it for nearly 20 minutes before Stephen finished him off. After almost 100 shots each, Stephen was still sitting on "C." Dell Curry, a career 40.2-percent shooter from the NBA's 3-point range, could put just one letter on his boy.
"When Stephen gets hot," Richards said, "he's not going to cool off. You saw that today."
Georgetown will see it Sunday. The Hoyas will have more quickness than Gonzaga in the quest to defend Curry, but not the versatility. Gonzaga tried everyone from willowy 6-10 Austin Daye to savvy 6-5 Matt Bouldin to bullish 6-2 Jeremy Pargo, and none of it worked. Curry needed just 22 shots to score his 40 points, his efficiency helped by 8-for-10 shooting on 3-pointers. Gonzaga led by 11 early in the second half, but Curry scored 17 of Davidson's first 18 points after halftime to lead the Wildcats back.
The RBC Center gradually filled to capacity as the game wore on and the crowd threw its weight behind Curry, being delighted no more than when he split two defenders, both trying to foul him to stop the clock, with 20 seconds to play and Gonzaga leading 79-74. The crowd sighed in unison on a play that took even Curry by surprise.
"I really don't know what happened," he said. "I was just running around. If I saw a white (Gonzaga) jersey, I ran in the other direction."
That description works on Curry without the ball, too. He's here, and then he's there, and eventually the ball ends up in his hands. Gonzaga held him to 10 points in the first half, but the Bulldogs couldn't keep him under control. Stopping Curry for 40 minutes is like grabbing a wisp of smoke. A puff of air. A rumor. In his only other NCAA tournament game, a first-round loss last season against Maryland, Curry had 30 points before fouling out with 20.9 seconds left and leaving to a standing ovation in Buffalo, N.Y. Gonzaga knew this could happen. Knew it would happen. And couldn't do a thing about it.
"The ball doesn't travel too much in (his) hands," Few said. "It's something we saw (on tape) and clipped it and showed our guys. We did everything ... and, you know, we actually guarded him probably as well as we could."
The Bulldogs guarded Curry as well as they could, and he still scored 40?
Be afraid, Georgetown. Be very afraid.