Davis Sends Love Home to Bayou
By Troy Johnson, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.
Mar. 26–Standing atop the massive podium that was hastily erected at midcourt of the Georgia Dome Saturday night, LSU forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis could see all the way to Indianapolis.
As his teammates contemplated their berth in next weekend’s Final Four, Davis took a moment to reflect on the past. After his coach, John Brady , addressed the large pro-LSU crowd that lingered for the NCAA Regional championship trophy presentation, the 6-foot-9, 310-pound Davis grabbed the microphone from him and established himself as the Round Mound of Profound.
He dedicated the Tigers’ 70-60 Elite Eight win over Texas to his home state and those displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
“I wanted to give a shoutout to the people of Louisiana and the victims of Hurricane Katrina,” Davis said. “Just giving them some motivation and a good feeling about their state. I know a lot of things are going on right now and people are just trying to recuperate from what happened. This is something to push them in the right direction of coming back home to New Orleans and just having a good feeling about their home state.”
Surprise shot
Davis propelled his team to its first Final Four berth in 20 years in a most surprising manner. While the bulk of his 26-point outburst was earned inside the lane, he helped LSU distance itself from the Longhorns in overtime with a rare 3-pointer.
Davis came into the game having converted just 5 of 21 3-point attempts all season (23.8 percent), but that didn’t dissuade him from firing one in with 3:03 left in overtime to extend his team’s lead to 59-52.
“It’s called thinking without thinking,” Davis said. “The opportunity was there to make the shot. Most of the time when I’m shooting 3s, I’m thinking too much about it. I was in rhythm and I felt it was a great shot.”
Bricks aplenty
Two of the difference-makers in Texas’ Sweet 16 win over West Virginia on Thursday night went eerily quiet at the wrong time Saturday.
LaMarcus Aldridge , whose NBA draft stock soared this season, had the unenviable duty of banging bodies with Davis at both ends of the court in the regional championship game.
While Aldridge managed to block five shots and grab 10 rebounds, he struggled to establish a firm post presence at the offensive end. After hitting 11 of 15 shots and scoring 26 points Thursday against West Virginia, Aldridge hit was 2-of-14 against LSU.
Guard Kenton Paulino , whose last-second 3-pointer Thursday night sent Texas into the regional championship game, went 4-of-14 and failed to hit any of his five 3-point tries.
“They do an unbelievable job with perimeter defense,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “You go back to the Duke game and the job that they worked on J.J. Redick . It’s not just their inside defense.”
Toasting Tyrus
LSU forward Tyrus Thomas wasn’t content to finish the season as the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year.
His brilliance in back-to-back NCAA tournament games made him an easy choice as the Atlanta Regional’s MVP.
Thomas, a 6-foot-9, 215-pounder, finished the regional with a combined 30 points, 26 rebounds and eight blocked shots. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Davis, Aldridge, Texas forward P.J. Tucker and Duke forward Shelden Williams.
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