Perimeter Assault

Davidson might be the country's best three-point shooting team.

Jordan Barhams interview begins with a polite amendment to a question.

So, Jordan, Davidson was picked ninth in the 2014-15 Atlantic-10 pre-season poll, your first season in
that conferen

At which point, Barham gently interjects. Actually, the 6-5, 200-pound Davidson senior says, we
were picked to finish 12th.

Twelfth, out of a possible 14 teams. That Davidson ended up winning the A-10 regular-season
championship on the strength of a 14-4 conference record (the Wildcats won 24 games in total) is a
testament to the culture at hand, and the skill in place. One that kicked into overdrive several years ago,
thanks to a certain baby-faced assassin.

Barham remembers watching Davidson make that thrilling run to the Elite Eight in 08. He was
transfixed by Steph Curry, that slight-of-frame guard who could get any kind of shot off, whenever he
wanted. Barham begged his mom to get him a No. 30 Davidson jersey; he hung up a poster of his new
hero in his room. He says it was at this point that he began to pursue basketball more seriously. When
Davidson came calling to recruit him, Barham says it was like a dream come true.

Curry still drops by campushe was there this past summer to unveil a gleaming new practice facility
and Davidson coach Bob McKillop frequently uses pieces of his former stars story as teaching tools.
Theres the one about Currys first game in Wildcat red. In the 2006-07 season opener, against Eastern
Michigan, Curry had 9 turnovers by halftime, and 13 at the end of the game.

This is where a program staple surfaces. Next play. Dust aside your disappointment, forget about the
mistakes just made. What matters is finding a wayany wayto help your team.

Coach tells us that you have to trust in yourself that youll be able to do what you do, says Jack Gibbs,
Davidsons 6-0 junior point guard. When things arent going well, theres still so many things you can
do to affect the game.

***

Gibbs and Barham join Peyton Aldridge and Brian Sullivan as returning Wildcats startersall of whom
happen to be from Ohio. Its quite the quartet.

They are the teams top-four returning scorers, and a big reason why this coming campaign promises to
be one of the best in program history. Gibbs is coming off averages of 16.2 points and a shade under
5 assists; Sullivan, a 6-0 senior, drained 83 threes, dropped over 4 assists, and posted an assist-to-
turnover ratio of 2.75. Barham led the team with 6.1 boards and threw down some of DIs most rim-
rattling dunks. Aldridge, a 6-8 swingman, turned into a dynamic force able to rain from three or bang in
the post.
They are the current practitioners of one of the greatest shows on court. When Davidsons offense is
clicking, the reads upon reads of its motion offense unfold like some masterful concerto. At times, the
improvisations hearken jazz. Canny cuts are met by pinpoint passes, all washed down with a steady
helping of surgical perimeter shooting.

Take its effectiveness during a road game at Virginia, last December. The Cavaliers entered that
matchup ranked No. 3 in the country. Their vaunted pack-line defense was allowing just 46.3 points,
tops in DI. In a resounding win over Harvard, nine days earlier, Virginia held Harvard to one field goal
in the first half, and 21 points in total. And this was a Crimson team that went dancing for a fourth
consecutive season in 14-15.

But after watching Davidson grab a 36-32 halftime lead on the strength of some serious fluency,
Virginia coach Tony Bennett said simply, They kind of schooled us. (UVA ended up winning 83-72.)

Sullivan is the youngest of three brothers, both elder siblings currently coaching. In addition to
basketball know-how being embedded in his psyche, Sullivan has said that his brothers will pick his
brain sometimes about McKillops principles. Everyone wants to learn about what hes doing with this
motion.

Last season, Davidson coursed to the first at-large NCAA Tournament bid in program history by posting
79 points per gameseventh-best in the country. Their 17.1 assists ranked third; their 343 threes were
one behind the national lead. In addition to the Virginia fireworks, against Dusquesne in the regular-
season finale, the Wildcats chalked up 35 assists on 40 field goals, 23 of which were threes.

When each member of the quartet is asked for a reason behind this stirring success, this withering
precision sending defenses reeling, their answers remain refreshingly simple. I would attribute it to how
much we care about each other, honestly, says Gibbs. We spend almost all our time together. My
roommates and I live right next to Brian [Sullivan] and his roommates. Were family, and that means
you dont want to let your teammates down.

We dont have egos on this team. If someone is doing well, were happy. We get him the ball. Coach
also listens to us, during recruiting. If a kid comes in, he asks us if we think hell be a good fit. If we say
No, he might look somewhere else.

When Barham is asked that same questionwhat sets Davidson apart, what allows them to shred some
of the best defenses in the country?Sullivan lets out an Oof. Tough question.

Theres a lot of different things, but the biggest is that we just like each other, and we like playing
together, says Sullivan. Theres an unselfishness, and a oneness to the offense. The extra pass is
always made. Its the unselfishness of five guys working together.

***

Says Aldridge, who notes he played on a series of top teams growing up, When I came to Davidson, it
was just totally different. We really want whats best for the team. The end goal is just winning.

We have guys that are willing to sacrifice for the team, says Barham. Were all setting screens, and
running the floor. We know thats the way we get really good shots.

This isnt to say that it doesnt take time to master the nuances of all the wrinkles on tapand thats just
concerning the secondary break. Gibbs says it took until the start of his sophomore season before he felt
completely comfortable running the offense.
A strong culture of leadership helps in that regard. During his freshman season, Gibbs learned from
Tyler Kalinoski and Tom Droney. Sullivan cites JP Kohlman and Nick Cochran as mentors.

They were seniors during my redshirt year, and they were unbelievable leaders, says Sullivan. Even
today, I try to emulate how they led the team. Even with Tyler [Kalinoski] last year, we were the same
age, and we were roommates, but watching him prepare, practice and lead was a great help to me.

Sullivan, who transferred from Miami (Ohio) following his freshman year in 2011-12, had the benefit of
an NCAA-mandated redshirt year to learn the ropes. But even he recalls DeMon Brooks, one of the best
Davidson players in history, telling him that it took a full season until Brooks felt comfortable.

It certainly is a process, but it doesnt take as long as you might think, says Sullivan. Coach does a
great job recruiting the right types of guys to execute it. You have to read and react quickly. When guys
do it, and you create those gaps in the defense, and its like, Whoof.

It was a more abridged transition for Aldridge, who was called into serious PT as a freshman.

Theres definitely a lot going on, but the coaching staff did a great job of breaking it down for me,
says Aldridge. Every drill in practice concerns some kind of offensive move we do. It took me some
getting used to, but by the time conference play started, I felt more comfortable. And once youve got it,
youre just playing. Those set reads and rules mesh with our ability to flow. It just becomes natural.

With each season, they try to enhance their skill set, to widen the breadth of their potential impact.

Last year, it was spacing the floor, allowing penetration from the guards and Jordan, and that got me
good looks, says Aldridge, who hit 46 percent of his shots, including 39 percent from three. Now,
teams will realize how well I shot it, and theyll start crowding me, so I have to be more dimensional
than just shooting it.

Sullivans shooting and savvy, Gibbss headiness and drive. Aldridges smooth, Barhams bounce. All
become meshed in the overriding philosophy: We attackrelentlessly, says Sullivan. We look
forward to playing the best defenses. We want to prove we can put points on the board against anybody.
And with Coach, the stuff he draws up, and the way he teaches it, its opened my eyes as a player. Its
broadened my basketball mind.

Call it the Steph approach.

Its about fearlessness, says Sullivan. Stephs not afraid of anything. I try to take that from him, and I
think he provides motivation for all of us. Hes not just in the NBAhes the MVP. Hes the flagbearer
of this program, and hes the ultimate at staying in the moment. Coach relays that to all of us.

***

Its an ever-changing offense, Gibbs says. Even in the middle of practice, Coach will put something
new in. We dont usually run that many plays, though. Its just a bunch of different reads, based on what
the defense is showing. We go for the best shothopefully, a layup or a wide-open three.
In high school, Gibbs mostly ran an isolation-based offense, but he notes that when McKillop watches
recruits, he is most interested in how they adapt on the fly. Do they notice a good back cut? Can they
make the appropriate pass to capitalize upon it? That quick thinking transitions to Davidson. Should
McKillop note something about an opposing defense during the middle of a game, he expects his players
to adapt immediately.

It takes conditioning to run these defenses ragged, but Barham says that after building a base in the
summer, the season is dedicated to basketball. We get our conditioning from the constant running of
the secondary break, says Barham. Were going up and down, up and down. Its continual motion.

A note on setbacks. The story of Currys first game for Davidson; the way things ended for the Wildcats
last season.

Says Sullivan, Losing to VCU in the conference tournament, and then to Iowa in the NCAA
Tournament (Round of 64), still hurts. It was with us for pretty much the whole offseason. We have
confidence about our team this season, but we have a bitter taste, too. Its a great balance of knowing
how good we can be, while still trying to prove how good we are. Being that close just makes you want
it more.

After the Iowa game, Coach brought us in and made sure we realized what wed accomplished, says
Gibbs. First year in the A-10, and we won the regular-season championship. We got to where we
wanted, but then, we didnt get it done. We didnt like the way we went out. We knew we couldve done
a lot better, and we knew we needed to get better.

So, everyone was motivated this offseason. Wed gotten the first at-large NCAA Tournament bid in
school historybut we dont just want a taste of the tourney. We saw Steph lead this program to the
Elite Eight, and we think, Why cant that be us? The goal is not just to make it to the NCAA
Tournament, but to do some damage. And we can definitely do that.

You get why Steph, when he was about Gibbs after a Warriors game last April, said: Its kind of his
team now.

Barham speaks of the 12-month journey that began days after the last season ended. Aldridge seconds
the point.

Thats what Coach told us, when we met a couple weeks after the Iowa loss, says Aldridge.
Whatever were doing, we picture where we want to be. After our first practice, Coach told us that hed
planned it as the practice right before the NCAA Tournament. Thats how we took the mentality to be.

Were preparing to be there.

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