LOYOLA RETURNS TO OLD WAYS
After struggling in first season in Atlantic 10, Ramblers find footing and are rolling again
Hands in faces. Bodies on the floor. Chests heaving at every whistle. That’s college basketball at its best. That’s the way Loyola played defense Sunday in a 76-63 victory against Davidson at Gentile Arena.
Any time you hold Steph Curry’s alma mater to 6-for-23 shooting from the three-point line, it seems like a pretty good day. But what was striking while sitting courtside and watching the Ramblers play was that it looked familiar. Porter Moser’s best teams just played harder than the other guys. Drew Valentine’s first couple of teams, which combined to win 51 games and play in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, did, too.
Then there was last season, when Valentine’s third Ramblers squad — new to the Atlantic 10 Conference — collapsed like a house of cards, finishing at the bottom of the 15-team league after all that success in the Missouri Valley. What in the world happened?
‘‘A perfect storm,’’ point guard Braden Norris called it, ‘‘and a bad one.’’
According to Valentine, he never was quite able to put that group’s focus on team goals over individual success.
‘‘I did a poor job just thinking our culture was going to solve every issue for the guys that we had,’’ he said.
After bottoming out at 10-21 overall and 4-14 in the A-10, the Ramblers are authoring one of the biggest turnarounds in college basketball. At 15-7 and 7-2, they’re just a game behind Dayton and Richmond, which are tied atop the league at 8-1.
‘‘It’s nice to be winning again,’’ Valentine said, ‘‘but we’re still in third place. We’re going to continue to chase a championship.’’
This team is not without remnants of a pretty glorious recent past. Norris, a fourthyear starter, ran with Lucas Williamson, Cam Krutwig, Aher Uguak — guys whose photos adorn the walls of this place. But Des Watson, the team’s leading scorer, was an offseason transfer. So was big man Dame Adelekun. They came in, helped class up the joint back to where it needed to be and, on Sunday, were the two best players on the court.
Watson came from — guess where? — Davidson. Each time one of his five threes fell against his former team and coach, he shot a telling look toward the visiting bench and held his stare just long enough for anyone within eight square blocks to notice.
‘‘Oh, yeah, it most definitely happened,’’ Watson confirmed.
‘‘ . . . They don’t have a bad culture, but their culture didn’t fit mine.’’
The new one clearly fits him better. And the Ramblers clearly have their edge back.
Three-dot dash
Just daydreaming now about Curry and Davidson and easily one of the greatest Big Dance performances ever. How ruthless and spectacular was Curry, then a sophomore, in 2008? Looking all of 12 years old, he rained deep balls on Gonzaga, Georgetown, Wisconsin and Kansas in three monster upsets and one upset bid — against the mighty Jayhawks — that fell a bucket short with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Curry’s 162 threes that season remains an NCAA record . . . .
Back to reality: Should DePaul athletic director DeWayne Peevy, who’s searching for a new basketball coach, be working on a pitch to Valentine?
This is how Valentine, only 32, described himself Sunday (not in the context of the DePaul opening, mind you): ‘‘There’s no coach in the country [players] are going to relate to more than me. I’m young, I got swag, I got belief. I’m going to coach you hard and be able to get on the floor with you. There’s no head coach in the country that can do what I do. Sorry, but it’s the reality.’’
Note to Peevy: Don’t make Valentine take the Red Line to Lincoln Park for his interview. At least send a car to pick the man up . . . .
Man, that season-ending surgery on Bulls guard Zach LaVine’s right foot sure did gum up the works with the NBA trade deadline coming Thursday. Blowing up the team while handcuffed to LaVine and his max contract would be the most ridiculous plan of all time. Meanwhile, untold Bulls fans are battling season-ending injuries to their abilities to care . . . .
Chiefs 26, 49ers 23. And print it.