Scouting report: Common opponent sees guard play as deciding factor
DETROIT -- Mike Boynton chuckled softly after he was asked if Davidson guard Stephen Curry has a weakness.
"It's very hard to find. If he does have one, I haven't found it yet," said Boynton, the associate head coach at Wofford, who lost to Southern Conference foe Davidson three times this season. "The kid is really good. He has deserved all the recognition he has gotten lately. He's so smart, that's what puts him over the top."
Boynton was asked his opinion about the matchup between the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team and Davidson in tonight's NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Sweet 16 game because Wofford has played both teams. Wofford lost to 10th-seeded Davidson (28-6) three times by an average of 27 points a game and also lost 70-43 at third-seeded Wisconsin (31-4) on Dec. 3.
"My experience has been these games will start out fast and settle as the game goes along," Boynton said. "And just from watching both teams and coaching against both teams this season, I would say the overall advantage goes to Wisconsin but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if Davidson won a close game. I expect it to be a five- to eight-point game."
Defensively, both are man-to-man teams that guard the paint and have an obsession about not allowing any easy baskets. Wisconsin plays smarter defense and doesn't foul much. Davidson is more aggressive and prone to foul trouble but has the depth to handle it.
"Davidson plays physically as well," said Boynton. "They don't let you cut freely, they double team you in the post, they double team you off ball screens, they make it really hard for you to inbound the ball. They are a very good team, very disciplined."
Davidson is not as big as Wisconsin, but the Wildcats proved during their 74-70 win over second-seeded Georgetown in a second-round tournament game in Raleigh that they can handle bigger teams.
"Davidson was able to combat that by playing smart and playing with good position and playing with discipline," said Boynton, who believes 6-foot-8, 215-pound junior forward Andrew Lovedale, 6-8, 220-pound senior forward Thomas Sander and 6-8, 230-pound senior Boris Meno can neutralize Wisconsin's forwards like Brian Butch and Marcus Landry.
Boynton believes the game will be decided in the final minutes by the strong guards that both teams possess.
"I'm a firm believer that it's a guard's game for the most part, especially when you have two good sets of guards like in this game," he said. "It will be one pair of guards who makes a play or two more than the other pair and that's the team that will win."
Besides Curry, Davidson is also led by 6-2 senior point guard Jason Richards, who leads the country in assists per game (8.0). Boynton said the Richards-Trevon Hughes matchup is almost as intriguing as the Curry-Michael Flowers matchup.
UW assistant coach Gary Close said Richards will be the best point guard they'll face all year "as a setup guy who can knock some shots down. We've played some point guards who are real good scorers, but this guy, in terms of distributing the ball and running the team and making big shots, he's probably the best we've faced."
That said, it's still Curry and his 70-point effort in Davidson's first two tournament victories that are worrying the Badgers.
"I don't think they'll shut him down per se, but I think they can get physical with him and slow him down a little bit. The kid is terrific and he'll find a way to score," said Boynton, who pointed out that UCLA was physical with Curry and limited him to 15 points.
The Badgers might have a chance at scoring over Curry if they can post him up in the swing offense. "But as an offensive player and what you can take away, I haven't found that yet," Boynton said of Curry, who averaged 26.3 points in Davidson's three wins over Wofford.
Both teams are on incredible win streaks. Wisconsin has won 12 straight, Davidson 24. And nothing will shock either squad.
"Davidson has improved as the year went along. You can see them playing with more confidence; they've been in situations where they were down, they've been in situations where they had to hold the lead late, they've been in situations where the game was tight to the end," Boynton said. "So they've had all those experiences and that's why they've done well in the tournament. They didn't see anything in the tournament that they didn't see sometime during the season."
