Stephen Curry is now the greatest basketball player in the world, and when he was at Davidson we could see his potential. Over his career at Davidson Stephen Curry averaged 25.3 PPG 4.5 RPG and 3.7 APG. His first year at Davidson he was still trying to fully find his game, and evolve it. In Curry’s second year in college he found his playing style, and that was to take over the game with outstanding shooting. In the 2008 NCAA tournament during the first round Davidson was expected to lose against #7 Gonzaga, but that would not stop the #10 Davidson team from fighting. Curry had his greatest college game and one of the greatest college tournament half’s we have ever seen as he scored 30 in the second half and hit 8 threes in all to come away with a 82-76 win.
But the 2008 NCAA tournament was more than just that game, it was Stephen Curry showing everyone what he is capable of, and just how dominate he would eventually become. Everyone had a role of his team, and his was simply to score. The next round Davidson had a much tougher opponent, #2 Georgetown. During the second half Davidson seemed to be in a hole to big to overcome, as they were down 43-27 with nineteen minutes left. But Davidson believed, and they once again fought with everything they had and stuck with their original game plan. Curry had another amazing second half as Davidson upset the power house Georgetown and won 74-70. At this point Davidson was going to the sweet sixteen. This time they were facing #3 Wisconsin. The first half was an average half as Curry hit a decent amount of shots and the game was tied at 36. But the second half, once again, was all Curry and all Davidson. Curry hit shot after shot and had some beautiful plays and Davidson ended the game with a huge 73-56 win to move on the to final eight.
Davidson’s next opponent was a team anyone would be afraid to play, #1 Kansas Jayhawks. And to make things worse during the first half Stephen Curry could not get his usual made shots to fall. But once again, Stephen Curry had an outstanding second half and brought Davidson back into the game. With 16.8 seconds remaining Davidson had the ball down 2. Curry was given the ball and was dancing around the perimeter. But with just a few seconds left the Jayhawks double-teamed Curry and he was forced to pass the ball to Jason Richards. Richards took a deep 3-point shot and missed it and they lost 59-57. The Jayhawks went on the win the tournament and Davidson gave them a better fight than anyone else.
Even though Davidson was eliminated it was still a magical feeling when you saw what they did and Stephen Curry went on one of the most amazing offense runs we have ever seen. Going to the final eight is something that no one but Davidson themselves saw them doing. They put Davidson on the Collegiate map and that experience is something they will never forget.
Since the 2008 NCAA tournament Stephen Curry has had even greater performances, and achieved greater success. Curry is now a NBA MVP (Is about to win his second) a NBA Champion (Could win another this year) and is on possibly the greatest NBA team ever. His 2008 NCAA tournament performance is without a doubt similar to what we will see during this years NBA Playoffs.
