Things change with Curry
Jan. 16, 2009 12:22 p.m.
MU opened the Big East last season with a 96-67 drubbing of Providence at the Bradley Center.
One missing ingredient for the Friars that night was point guard Sharaud Curry, who played just one game in 2007-'08 before redshirting due to a broken foot.
The Golden Eagles won't be so lucky this time around, though. Curry is back, and playing as well as ever for Providence (11-5, 3-1 Big East), which enters Saturday's game with a 9-1 record at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.
The junior guard is averaging 9.3 points and 4.6 assists while directing coach Keno Davis' version of a 4-out, 1-in offense.
"Completely different," said coach Buzz Williams when asked how different Providence is now with Curry once again running the show.
"I think he’s the best point guard we will have played against this year (to this point). He runs their team, he has great pace about what he does. He knows when to deliver the ball on time, on target. He knows when to shoot, he knows when to gear his team down, he knows when to throw McDermott the ball so he doesn’t get upset. He’s great in transition at giving the ball to the perimeter players to shoot the shot.
"I think he’s the best point guard that we’ve played – not to be negative to anybody that we’ve played, or played yet. But I think it’s hands-down he’s the best point guard we’ve played, and I think he’s the most definite key to their team and the reason they’ve had success the way that they have."
One MU player who's glad Curry is back is the guy who will most likely be charged with shutting him down -- Dominic James. The two have struck up a friendship during their days in the Big East.
"Me and Sharaud, we played my freshman and sophomore years. That’s one of those guys you look forward to playing," said James. "He’s my boy, too. We talk, text each other and stuff like that. It’s one of those games you look forward to, playing one of your friends. He was hurt and I just went over. He was cool from the jump.
"We didn’t know each other until college. But he was hurt, I went over and started talking to him, wished him well with recovering. We ended up exchanging numbers, and we talked during his off-season, and it just went from there."
-- Here's what Davis had to say about his team on Thursday's weekly Big East coaches teleconference:
"Coming off of our road trip at Cincinnati and at Georgetown, we have to feel pretty good about where we're standing in the Big East, although we played Georgetown well and would have liked to get that victory. Splitting on the road is a pretty good sign for any team. So now to have a space here where we don't play, it's really a time you look at as a coach to try to improve as a team, try to work on some of your deficiences, as well as try to get as healthy as you can. That's our goal: to be playing as well as we did on the road when we host Marquette here Saturday night."
Davis was asked to list one thing he's been most pleased with, and one area that he's focused on improving with the week off.
"I think most pleased with is our three-point percentage defense," he said. "If you look at our stats over the first 8-9 games versus the last 5-6, we were giving up in the mid-40s percentage from the three-point line, and then in our last five games we're holding teams to low 20s. And while I don't expect to continue that kind of percentage, I think we were able to, as a team, really able to focus on something that we needed to improve on, and that's really helped us get some victories here early in the conference.
"As far as an area that we're looking still to improve on is being a little more physically tough, so that we can draw more fouls once you get into a more physical league, then when you have your non-conference games. Especially when you're on the road, you've got to be able to not get frustrated by physical play, and that's something we're working on every day."
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