After a slow start, Davidson’s Jon Axel Gudmundsson finding his form
Davidson point guard Jon Axel Gudmundsson is turning the heat up on his game — finally.
It might have taken a while, but Gudmundsson has rediscovered the form that earned him Atlantic 10 player of the year honors last season. His resurgence has not-so coincidentally mirrored that of the Wildcats’ (10-9, 4-3 A-10), who have won three straight and four of their last five heading into a game Wednesday at George Washington (9-11, 3-4).
The early part of his senior season was a challenge for Gudmundsson and his teammates. Weighed down by high preseason expectations, they struggled to cope with the absence of two starters (sophomore guard Luke Frampton to a personal leave of absence, senior guard KiShawn Pritchett to a knee injury).
Gudmundsson, at his best when he is controlling the tempo of games by his aggressiveness with the ball, was inconsistent during the nonconference portion of Davidson’s season, during which the Wildcats went 6-6.
Wildcats coach Bob McKillop attributed Gudmundsson’s struggles to a lack of “joy” he usually displayed in his game, stemming from a discomfort to what McKillop called a “target on his back” from being last season’s top player in the A-10.
After a loss against Richmond that dropped the Wildcats to 1-3 in the conference, McKillop said Gudmundsson had a “glazed look in his eyes.”
But gradually, and as the victories have started to mount again for Davidson, so too have Gudmundsson’s performances improved.
“It’s not me as much as my teammates getting me open,” Gudmundsson said. “I’m getting open looks that are going down now in conference (play). They weren’t going down in nonconference. I’m still playing the same game, they’re just going down now.”
Said McKillop: “He’s certainly putting up some outstanding numbers. But it’s his aggression, the joy and fun he’s having playing the game that has really now resurfaced.”
About those numbers.
Gudmundson won last season’s award from the A-10 by being near the top of many statistical categories. Through six conference games, he’s doing the same again.
In league play, he’s second in scoring (19.3, behind only Dayton star Obi Toppin’s 19.6), fifth in rebounding (9.3), sixth in free-throw percentage (82.6), 11th in 3-pointers per game (2.0), third in assists (5.5),fifth in assist-turnover ratio (1.8), sixth in steals (1.8) and first in minutes played (39.5).
And about that aggressiveness.
“I think it’s becoming more evident that he’s playing with that abandon,” McKillop said. “He’s like that running back that catches a pass or gets the handoff: he sees the goal line and he’s running with abandon. He was thinking too much about the pass or catching it at the goal line prior to the last two or three weeks. Now he’s just playing with abandon. He’s just letting go.”
In the Wildcats’ 68-53 victory last Saturday against George Mason, Gudmundsson turned in a performance that hearkened to last season.
Playing the entire 40 minutes, he scored 27 points on 9 of 15 shooting (including 4 of 9 3-pointers), grabbed 10 rebounds and had four assists, one block and one steal. In a victory against Saint Louis three days previous, he scored 20 points (going 15 of 16 from the free-throw line), to go with eight rebounds, three assists and a steal.
With backcourt mate Kellan Grady also playing well — he’s averaging 15.2 points for the season — and players like forwards Bates Jones and Hyunjung Lee and guards Carter Collins and Mike Jones stepping in to fill the void left by Frampton and Pritchett — the Wildcats are trending upward.
Gudmundsson is in the middle of it, as he was always expected to be.
“It’s great to have one of your leaders and best players be the anchor of the team,” said Mike Jones. “Everybody feeds off that. He does a great job of facilitating and making sure everybody gets the ball and puts us in the best position to win.”
Davidson at George Washington
When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Smith Center, Washington
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: 730-AM