This kid f***ing rules. Giant killer.
His own man
Davidson's Curry has the genes, maturity of a pro
Posted: Friday January 26, 2007 4:14PM; Updated: Friday January 26, 2007 4:52PM
 | 
Stephen Curry didn't draw much interest from big-conference schools, but has found the right fit at Davidson where he averages a team-high 19 ppg.
Brian A. Westerholt/WireImage
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When you see Davidson freshman
Stephen Curry is averaging 19 points per game, and you hear he is the son of former NBA standout
Dell Curry, the assumption is father taught son the ins and outs of how to ball.
But, you know what they say about assumptions ...
This is not to say Dell, and his wife
Sonya, are not fully involved in their four children's lives. On the contrary, Davidson coach
Bob McKillop says they are as supportive as a family can be. But Dell has a philosophy on just how much he wants to be involved with Stephen's (pronounced STEFF-en) game.
"I want to keep being a dad separate from being a trainer or a coach," said Dell, who played for 16 years in the NBA after a stellar career at Virginia Tech. "I try to teach him that [excelling at basketball] takes work. If a parent has to motivate the child to work, I don't think it will last long. I work with him, but I want to make sure his work ethic is there."
McKillop says Stephen doesn't have the sense of entitlement you might expect from the child of an NBA player who grew up with boatloads of money and access to the best players and arenas in the world.
"Stephen's not out celebrating his success, he's out trying to shore up some of his weaknesses," said McKillop, whose team leads the Southern Conference with an 8-1 record (17-4 overall). "He has a maturity level you don't see in too many freshmen."
That maturity was on display on opening night, when Davidson fell behind by 18 against Eastern Michigan in the second half before rallying for the win.
"Stephen was just awful," McKillop said. "He was turning it over, he was forcing shots. And then in the last 10 minutes, he took over the game. For someone to play as badly as he did for 30 minutes, and then have the capacity to play as well as he did for the last 10 minutes in his first game, that showed me something right there."
Curry followed that up with 32 points and nine rebounds at Michigan, a 78-68 loss, in his second game and suddenly it appeared Davidson had a steal of a recruit -- a guy whose game may be worthy of a bigger league than the Southern Conference.
Virginia Tech was interested in Curry coming out of Charlotte Christian High, but the Hokies had a veteran team coming back and wanted the thin Curry (6-foot-1, 180 pounds) to walk-on for one year and take a redshirt in order to get stronger. Rather than go to his father's alma mater and wait a year, Curry wanted to go where he would get to play right away.
"Virginia Tech was all I knew growing up," Stephen said. "Once I got into the decision-making process, they sort of took a backseat as far as the best situation for me. There was no better situation than Davidson."
Dell said he thought Virginia Tech could have "handled the situation better," but he says Stephen's decision to attend Davidson has worked out very well.
Curry is second in the Southern Conference in scoring, 10th in assists (and first among freshman) at 3.24 a game, third in free-throw percentage (84 percent) and third in steals (2.0). On Tuesday, he scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half as Davidson rallied to win at Georgia Southern.
"I saw him play in high school, and I can't believe the improvement he's made in such a short period," said Appalachian State coach
Houston Fancher, whose team beat Davidson recently. "If he gets a little more strength, he's going to be a handful for our league. He is a high-major player."
The Wildcats have a good chance to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament and will enter the upcoming Southern Conference tournament as at least the co-favorites with Appalachian State. Should Davidson emerge from there, Curry will be one Wildcat who will not be intimidated of a first-round opponent from a power conference.
"No matter who you play, you just have to play your game and not get stuck worrying about who you are playing," Curry said. "You just have to have confidence in yourself that you can play with them."
Curry has the confidence, and not because he is going through some NBA workouts or breaking down film for hours with a 16-year NBA veteran.
"[My dad] tells me some things I might need to work on after a game or something like that, but he leaves it to me to work on it myself," Stephen said. "It is up to me to do it."
So far, whatever he's doing is working.
