‘I’m just playing:’ Davidson’s Kellan Grady ready for postseason run
Davidson guard Kellan Grady knows there is still time for the Wildcats to achieve something special this season. That process would begin Thursday, when they face La Salle in the second round of the Atlantic 10 tournament at the Barclays Center in New York.
“It’s a one-game championship for us, that’s our motto,” Grady said earlier this week of how the seventh-seed Wildcats are treating the postseason. “We’re very very confident right now.”
But nothing has been certain for Davidson this season. Picked in the preseason as one of the favorites for the A-10 championship, the Wildcats have struggled to recover from the unanticipated losses of two players — guards Luke Frampton and KiShawn Pritchett — who were expected to play key roles for coach Bob McKillop’s team.
“I don’t think it was anything I had to endure individually, it was more about the team,” Grady said. “It was an adjustment for all of us. All the things we were accustomed to Luke and KiShawn doing, as threats on the court. When we lost them semi-abruptly, it was a transition for all of us.
“And we had to do it while playing games.”
The Wildcats struggled to adjust to life without the sharp-shooting Frampton (who took a personal leave of absence in December and left school) and glue-guy Pritchett (who never got on the court due to a nagging knee injury). Davidson has been up one week, down the next; hot one game, cold the next; rugged on defense one game, a sieve the next.
“It was an emotional heartbreak, the combination of losing KiShawn and Luke,” said McKillop. “It’s not a broken ankle or ligament problem, that you’re going to heal at rehab. The emotions are there and you’re not sure how they’re going to be handled — when that will occur or if that will occur.”
The Wildcats (16-14, 10-8 A-10) couldn’t piece together a winning streak of more than three games in the league, and, just when it looked as if they were finding some momentum, they would find a way to lose to a team like 11th-place George Washington (in four overtimes) or last-place Saint Joseph’s.
Grady, along with senior backcourt mate Jon Axel Gudmundsson, has been a constant for the Wildcats in his junior season. Named to the A-10’s all-conference second team earlier this week, Grady is averaging 17.2 points and 4.2 rebounds. But he was particularly effective in February and on into March, averaging 20.6 points in 11 games.
“The biggest thing I’m doing now is just playing,” Grady said. “All that other stuff is moot at this point. So, just winning and being as productive as I can. Thankfully those two things have gone together.”
Grady has made his reputation over his first three seasons as an explosive offensive player. He averaged 18.0 points and earned A-10 rookie of the year honors two seasons ago. As a sophomore, he averaged 17.3 points despite missing four games with a knee injury.
But he said he’s started to figure out that he can be equally as valuable to his team on the defensive end. In a 68-53 victory against George Mason in January, Grady only scored five points, but played solid defense against Patriots guard Javon Green. In a victory recently against Rhode Island, Grady put the clamps on Rams guard Fatts Russell, holding him to eight points, well below his 18.8 average.
The George Mason game “was indicative to me that I could impact a game even if I wasn’t playing well offensively,” Grady said. “A lot of things that I’m not doing well are ‘me’ problems, whether it’s a mental thing or indecision, or stuff like that. It was almost like, ‘grow up, get with the program. Stop overthinking things and just play. Have an impact on the defensive end.’
“So if I can do that, I can always just clean up things on the offensive side. Be more assertive, that’s a big thing with me.”
Grady also said he’s just flat enjoying himself more on the court. After the George Mason game, he said he got a call from a few high school teammates who had watched on television. They reminded him of the joy he used to always have while they all played for the Northfield (Mass.) Mount Hermon Hoggers.
“They said the biggest challenge for me was to get back to where basketball is the love of your life and is fun again,” Grady said. “Watching on TV, they said that was evident only when things are going well. That’s not usually the way it is with you. Just go have fun however things are going.”
Grady’s doing that. He let out a huge roar when he hit a key 3-pointer last week in a victory against Virginia Commonwealth. If that might have been interpreted as playing to the Belk Arena crowd a bit, he doesn’t mind.
“We were going on a run, and we were going crazy,” Grady said. “There’s mutual-respect trash talk here and there between opponents. You don’t want to taunt or be overly assertive in your expressions. Arrogance can have a negative effect on others. But there can be showmanship and an expressive nature that’s acceptable in basketball.”
And Grady often takes cues from his idol, former Wildcats star Stephen Curry.
“Growing up a Steph fan, watching how much fun he has, a lot of people say he’s unbelievably cocky on the court,” Grady said. “But you see how humble and filled with humility he is overall in life. Those things are acceptable if you do it in a respectable and natural way. It’s got to be natural.”
Davidson vs. La Salle
What: Atlantic 10 tournament second round
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn
When: 6 p.m., Thursday
Watch: NBC Sports Network