Was Loyola's strategy against Davidson unsportsmanlike?

2008-11-27T23:00:13-05:00

2008-11-26T11:27:16-05:00

2008-11-26T11:47:16-05:00

2008-11-27T23:00:13-05:00

CTHawk

Farmington 619063

41 When you are playing against such a good player like Davidson, why not play Triangle and 2...if they are going to beat you dont get beat by the best player make the weaker players beat you and that is what they did...bad coaching, not necessarily...30 minutes Triangle and 2...yes, a bit over the top but I think it is a bit over the top to say it was bad coaching 3469433

2008-11-27T09:52:54-05:00

wacschoolalum

Las Cruces 570979

40 Pastos is confusing means and ends. Double-teaming the opponents' star player for the purpose of giving your team a chance to win is acceptable -- a means to an end. Double-teaming the opponents' star player for the purpose of keeping him scoreless, at the expense of winning the game or at least keeping the margin respectable, makes the plan to keep the star player scoreless the end in and of itself. Coach, you're being paid to win games, not to shut down an opposing player in a losing effort in order to make a meaningless point. So you kept Curry scoreless... So what? Curry was still a major factor in helping his team win the game simply by being out on the court. If you had won the game, history would remember it well; that you lost the game means that your accomplishment will be nothing more than a footnote or asterisk in the history books. Maybe it's been your lifelong dream to someday be the answer to a trivia question. 3466958

2008-11-27T06:03:34-05:00

CT90

No City 129229

39 I don't believe the move was unsportsmanlike. It isn't the first time that a coach has used that kind of a defense. The problem...the coach shouldn't have left the kids on the guy the entire game. At some point he had to know that the strategy wasn't working. Double team the guy using the normal flow of a defense or something. National championship or not, the guy looks like an idiot for doing what he did. 3466636

2008-11-26T18:39:15-05:00

michaelkruse

Land O Lakes 618037

38 http://16point8.blogspot.com/2008/11/zero-game.html 3463290

2008-11-26T16:45:13-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/585/507/thumb/Mondo.jpg 12761 HQ

Mondo Jay

Fan Nation 586107

36 love the picture. He guys we're playing the **** defense! 3461878

2008-11-26T16:42:05-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/585/507/thumb/Mondo.jpg 12761 HQ

Mondo Jay

Fan Nation 586107

35 Talk about winning the battle and losing the War. Who is this guy? Vietnam? 3461941

2008-11-26T15:43:54-05:00

PDXsports

Lake Oswego 617943

34 This outta go over real well with the incoming recruits. 3461220

2008-11-26T15:40:11-05:00

davidsonhog

Denver 617941

33 I am a huge Curry, fan, go to the school and follow his stats. He was only a few games away from the NCAA record for consecutive games with a 3 and so I was frustrated when it became clear that he wasn't going to score, but then I thought about it some more, and this game doesn't show anything about Loyola, cuz they didn't do anything effective on defense. It's not hard to play D against 1 guy with two players when he just stands there. The thing is, Curry didn't care about his stats. He wanted to win. That's his MO, and his willingness to put his team first is a true sign of character of a player who already has all the respect for his pure basketball skills 3461213

2008-11-26T15:38:18-05:00

davidsonhog

Denver 617941

32 I am a huge Curry, fan, go to the school and follow his stats. He was only a few games away from the NCAA record for consecutive games with a 3 and so I was frustrated when it became clear that he wasn't going to score, but then I thought about it some more, and this game doesn't show anything about Loyola, cuz they didn't do anything effective on defense. It's not hard to play D against 1 guy with two players when he just stands there. The thing is, Curry didn't care about his stats. He wanted to win. That's his MO, and his willingness to put his team first is a true sign of character of a player who already has all the respect for his pure basketball skills 3461195

2008-11-26T15:08:15-05:00

FuzzyDunlop

Philadelphia 604016

31 Also, Curry handled the situation great. It shows you how much of a team player he is. It is refreshing to know that star players can still be great team players in today's game. 3460909

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img title="Jimmy Patsos" src="http://i.cnn.net/si/fannation/patsos-loy.jpg" alt="Jimmy Patsos" width="298" height="772" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Jimmy Patsos' tactic held Stephen Curry (No. 30) scoreless.<br /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Chuck Burton/AP</div> </div> <p>Davidson's <strong>Stephen Curry </strong>entered yesterday's NIT Season Tip-Off consolation game against Loyola (Md.) averaging 35.0 points, tops in Division I. Earlier in the tournament, Curry hung 44 points on Oklahoma, the preseason pick to win the Big 12. He'd also gone for 39 against Florida Atlantic and 33 against JMU.</p> <p>So Loyola coach<strong> Jimmy Patsos</strong> decided to double-team the prolific sharpshooter. His strategy was absolute. Wherever Curry went, two Greyhounds followed. "I felt like I was dreaming," Curry <a href="http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/goodmanonfox/2008/11/25/CURRY_I_HAD_THE_BEST_SEAT_IN_THE_HOUSE2" target="_blank">told</a> FOXSports.com's <strong>Jeff Goodman</strong>. "It was the weirdest thing ever."</p> <p>Curry attempted just three shots on the evening and finished scoreless for the first time in his career. Instead, the National Player of the Year candidate was content to lure his defenders into the corner, creating a <em>de facto</em> power play for his teammates.</p> <p>"He told me that he wanted to stay in the corner with the two guys and we could play 4-on-3," Davidson coach <strong>Bob McKillop</strong> told Goodman. "He said we'll just dice them up."</p> <p>Predictably, the Wildcats prevailed in a <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2008/11/25/index.html?contestId=55092&vendorId=200811250156&vendorVisitTeam=318&vendorHomeTeam=156&pageType=recap" target="_blank">78-48 laugher</a>.</p> <p>Even as it became obvious Davidson was having no problem getting baskets against Loyola's triangle-and-2 -- even as the margin ballooned to four touchdowns -- Patsos refused to remove the double-team.</p> <p>The annoyed Davidson coach left Curry in the game until the end, perhaps testing the limits of his counterpart's adamance. But Patsos showed no intention of easing up and allowing Curry to get into the scorebook. The Loyola coach kept the suffocating double-team on Curry throughout the game -- and received an earful from the 2,373 disgusted Davidson fans in attendance.</p> <p>''We had to play against an NBA player tonight,'' Patsos reasoned. ''Anybody else ever hold him scoreless? I'm a history major. They're going to remember that we held him scoreless or we lost by 30?''</p> <p>But McKillop didn't see things the same way.</p> <p>''It seemed to me they were willing to risk the game at the expense of locking Steph up,'' McKillop said. ''When you put two people on somebody and you do it for 30 minutes and at the end of the game, you have to wonder what the reasons for that are.''</p> <p>What do you think? Did Patsos practice bad sportsmanship by keeping a double-team on Curry after the game had been decided? Or was he simply salvaging some kind of silver lining from an unwinnable game -- like an NFL team kicking a meaningless field goal in the red zone while trailing 28-0 to avoid a shutout? For a school like Loyola -- tabbed for fifth in the MAAC -- is any kind of national publicity a good thing?</p> <p><a href="http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/goodmanonfox/2008/11/25/CURRY_I_HAD_THE_BEST_SEAT_IN_THE_HOUSE2" target="_blank">CURRY: 'I HAD THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE'</a> [Good 'N Plenty]<br /><a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2008/11/25/index.html?contestId=55092&vendorId=200811250156&vendorVisitTeam=318&vendorHomeTeam=156&pageType=recap" target="_blank">No. 24 Davidson 78, Loyola (Md.) 48</a> [SI.com]</p>

The SI Staff

New York City 21244 27041 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img title="Jimmy Patsos" src="http://i.cnn.net/si/fannation/patsos-loy.jpg" alt="Jimmy Patsos" width="298" height="772" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Jimmy Patsos' tactic held Stephen Curry (No. 30) scoreless.<br /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Chuck Burton/AP</div> </div> <p>Davidson's <strong>Stephen Curry </strong>entered yesterday's NIT Season Tip-Off consolation game against Loyola (Md.) averaging 35.0 points, tops in Division I. Earlier in the tournament, Curry hung 44 points on Oklahoma, the preseason pick to win the Big 12. He'd also gone for 39 against Florida Atlantic and 33 against JMU.</p> <p>So Loyola coach<strong> Jimmy Patsos</strong> decided to double-team the prolific sharpshooter. His strategy was absolute. Wherever Curry went, two Greyhounds followed. "I felt like I was dreaming," Curry <a href="http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/goodmanonfox/2008/11/25/CURRY_I_HAD_THE_BEST_SEAT_IN_THE_HOUSE2" target="_blank">told</a> FOXSports.com's <strong>Jeff Goodman</strong>. "It was the weirdest thing ever."</p> <p>Curry attempted just three shots on the evening and finished scoreless for the first time in his career. Instead, the National Player of the Year candidate was content to lure his defenders into the corner, creating a <em>de facto</em> power play for his teammates.</p> <p>"He told me that he wanted to stay in the corner with the two guys and we could play 4-on-3," Davidson coach <strong>Bob McKillop</strong> told Goodman. "He said we'll just dice them up."</p> <p>Predictably, the Wildcats prevailed in a <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2008/11/25/index.html?contestId=55092&vendorId=200811250156&vendorVisitTeam=318&vendorHomeTeam=156&pageType=recap" target="_blank">78-48 laugher</a>.</p> <p>Even as it became obvious Davidson was having no problem getting baskets against Loyola's triangle-and-2 -- even as the margin ballooned to four touchdowns -- Patsos refused to remove the double-team.</p> <p>The annoyed Davidson coach left Curry in the game until the end, perhaps testing the limits of his counterpart's adamance. But Patsos showed no intention of easing up and allowing Curry to get into the scorebook. The Loyola coach kept the suffocating double-team on Curry throughout the game -- and received an earful from the 2,373 disgusted Davidson fans in attendance.</p> <p>''We had to play against an NBA player tonight,'' Patsos reasoned. ''Anybody else ever hold him scoreless? I'm a history major. They're going to remember that we held him scoreless or we lost by 30?''</p>