Post by elon_phan on Jan 8, 2008 21:37:55 GMT -5
Elon braces for shine test from Davidson
By Adam Smith / Times-News
January 8, 2008 - 8:59PM
ELON — As Elon University checked a practice off its to-do list earlier this week, Montell Watson sat down and essentially itemized a few pressing chores for his men’s basketball team.
Tidying up topped the list.
“You’ve got to do the little things all the time,” the senior guard said. “You can’t be a sometimes team.
“I think we have great talent on our team. But we don’t have talent enough to where we can keep making the same little mistakes over and over and over again and think that our talent’s going to compensate for it. We’ve got a small margin for error.”
For the somewhat sputtering Phoenix, it’s a call to consistency that coincides with tonight’s visit from the Southern Conference’s masters of clean execution.
The Davidson Wildcats have operated as the league’s deluxe model of efficiency for several years.
“When you make a mistake they punish you for it,” Elon guard Brett James said. “They play smart and they play extremely hard and they’re a very disciplined basketball team. They run their stuff and they run it great.”
Davidson, owner of a mind-numbing 47-6 record in Southern Conference games since the start of the 2004-05 season, has tugged at the major-college consciousness with scares of North Carolina, Duke, UCLA — all Top-10 ranked — and North Carolina State in the last two months.
Every 3-point bomb dropped by Stephen Curry, son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry, has added buzz to Davidson’s name recognition, which never has been lacking in this region of the country.
Curry averages 24.1 points per game and his backcourt partner Jason Richards, whose 8.9 assists per game lead the nation, might be one of the most underrated players anywhere.
“They never give up or take plays off,” Watson said.
“They just are a team that really has no weaknesses,” Elon coach Ernie Nestor said.
Placing the Phoenix in such a category obviously would be considered overzealous at this juncture.
Elon is coming off its fourth loss in the last five games, a 78-65 defeat suffered four nights ago at College of Charleston. Nestor has commended his team’s shot selection from that game. Converting those shots into field goals proved problematic, though.
Combining a victory at The Citadel with the loss at College of Charleston, Elon players produced seven double-digit scoring performances in a recent three-night span.
But only one Phoenix player, forward Ola Atoyebi, reached double-figure points in both games.
“Right now we’re not as consistent offensively as we need to be to be a contender,” Nestor said. “And that’s the area we really have to improve on.”
James was icing his right wrist and forearm after Elon’s practice two nights ago, trying to soothe the sting from some dunks in warm-ups at College of Charleston.
He said tonight’s return to Alumni Gym likely will feel strange to a certain extent. It’s Elon’s first home game in 25 nights.
“I’m sure we’ll all be excited and nervous, a good feeling of anxiety, at the same time,” James said. “Davidson’s a great team. So when we come in here, everybody’s going to be ready to play. I don’t think there’s any question about that.”
n DO THE DISHES: Tonight’s tip-off was set at 9 p.m. to accommodate the game’s telecast by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (or MASN), which isn’t available to Time Warner Cable subscribers in this area.
A satellite hookup, such as DirecTV, will be needed to watch Davidson play Elon.
“Obviously when you’re in the Southern Conference,” Nestor said, “you take every opportunity to get your team on TV. But I question the value of this.”
Nestor, with 14 seasons spent in the Atlantic Coast Conference, plus stops in the Southeastern Conference and Pac-10, said he never has been an advocate of 9 o’clock games. He said they make for a long day from a team standpoint.
“This has a little bit of concern to me on it,” Nestor said. “But nevertheless, it is what it is. It’s TV and everybody thinks TV’s magic. I really don’t think it is. I think TV is very, very overrated. People are going to watch games on TV if they have an interest to them. If people aren’t interested in Davidson or Elon, they’re not going to watch the game on TV.”
By Adam Smith / Times-News
January 8, 2008 - 8:59PM
ELON — As Elon University checked a practice off its to-do list earlier this week, Montell Watson sat down and essentially itemized a few pressing chores for his men’s basketball team.
Tidying up topped the list.
“You’ve got to do the little things all the time,” the senior guard said. “You can’t be a sometimes team.
“I think we have great talent on our team. But we don’t have talent enough to where we can keep making the same little mistakes over and over and over again and think that our talent’s going to compensate for it. We’ve got a small margin for error.”
For the somewhat sputtering Phoenix, it’s a call to consistency that coincides with tonight’s visit from the Southern Conference’s masters of clean execution.
The Davidson Wildcats have operated as the league’s deluxe model of efficiency for several years.
“When you make a mistake they punish you for it,” Elon guard Brett James said. “They play smart and they play extremely hard and they’re a very disciplined basketball team. They run their stuff and they run it great.”
Davidson, owner of a mind-numbing 47-6 record in Southern Conference games since the start of the 2004-05 season, has tugged at the major-college consciousness with scares of North Carolina, Duke, UCLA — all Top-10 ranked — and North Carolina State in the last two months.
Every 3-point bomb dropped by Stephen Curry, son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry, has added buzz to Davidson’s name recognition, which never has been lacking in this region of the country.
Curry averages 24.1 points per game and his backcourt partner Jason Richards, whose 8.9 assists per game lead the nation, might be one of the most underrated players anywhere.
“They never give up or take plays off,” Watson said.
“They just are a team that really has no weaknesses,” Elon coach Ernie Nestor said.
Placing the Phoenix in such a category obviously would be considered overzealous at this juncture.
Elon is coming off its fourth loss in the last five games, a 78-65 defeat suffered four nights ago at College of Charleston. Nestor has commended his team’s shot selection from that game. Converting those shots into field goals proved problematic, though.
Combining a victory at The Citadel with the loss at College of Charleston, Elon players produced seven double-digit scoring performances in a recent three-night span.
But only one Phoenix player, forward Ola Atoyebi, reached double-figure points in both games.
“Right now we’re not as consistent offensively as we need to be to be a contender,” Nestor said. “And that’s the area we really have to improve on.”
James was icing his right wrist and forearm after Elon’s practice two nights ago, trying to soothe the sting from some dunks in warm-ups at College of Charleston.
He said tonight’s return to Alumni Gym likely will feel strange to a certain extent. It’s Elon’s first home game in 25 nights.
“I’m sure we’ll all be excited and nervous, a good feeling of anxiety, at the same time,” James said. “Davidson’s a great team. So when we come in here, everybody’s going to be ready to play. I don’t think there’s any question about that.”
n DO THE DISHES: Tonight’s tip-off was set at 9 p.m. to accommodate the game’s telecast by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (or MASN), which isn’t available to Time Warner Cable subscribers in this area.
A satellite hookup, such as DirecTV, will be needed to watch Davidson play Elon.
“Obviously when you’re in the Southern Conference,” Nestor said, “you take every opportunity to get your team on TV. But I question the value of this.”
Nestor, with 14 seasons spent in the Atlantic Coast Conference, plus stops in the Southeastern Conference and Pac-10, said he never has been an advocate of 9 o’clock games. He said they make for a long day from a team standpoint.
“This has a little bit of concern to me on it,” Nestor said. “But nevertheless, it is what it is. It’s TV and everybody thinks TV’s magic. I really don’t think it is. I think TV is very, very overrated. People are going to watch games on TV if they have an interest to them. If people aren’t interested in Davidson or Elon, they’re not going to watch the game on TV.”