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Thursday, February 23, 2006
2lHiifln season no guaramee for JCSU
Continued from page 1C
ment for inclusion. The
Bulls, who finished 16-13
last season, made a 20-win
campaign one of its goals,
along with a division title
and the first-round bye in
the CIAA tournament
“That was one of our
goals, to get 20 wins, at
least,” center Charles Clark
said. “And now that we see
it, we really want it imore)
than we ever wanted it
before. That’s one of our
goals ”
After that comes the play
offs The rankings could
change, but Smith’s best bet
is to play deep into the CIAA
tournament to clinch a berth
The Bulls helped themselves
by securing a first-round bye
in next week’s conference
tournament with an 81-75
win Thesday against
Fayetteville State. Smith can
clinch first in the West
Division with a win Saturday
' at N.C. Central.
“We want to get to the posh
season because we haven’t
made it the last two years,”
Clark said. “This is my last
year and me and a couple of
the other guys really want to
get to the postseason. We
really want to put Johnson
C. Smith basketball back on
the map like it used to be
back in the day”
Knights ride high for playoffs
Continued from page 1C
season, is averaging 17.2
points per game, 5.7 rpg,
with 2.8 spg, and 3 5 apg.
Although Curry seems to be
typecasts as the son of NBA
great Dell Curry, Stephen
believes his teammates
respect and appreciate what
he contributes to the
Knights success this season
“It’s easy around our team
mates, because they know
what I can do on the court,
and that I can make a name
for myself," Stephen said.
Stephen says the fitiits of a
great season are starting to
pay dividends to the
Charlotte Christian basket
ball program
“Being known around the
dty as csie of the t^ teams
in the dty, people are giving
us respect now,” Stephen
said
Although Walton, who
made a habit of working on
his shooting touch, by main
taining a regiment of 500
jump shots a week during
the off season, is a team
leader, he appredates the
example set by Stephen
“Stephen sets such a great
example that people are
kind of drawn to that,”
Walton said. “We are all sort
of from different areas of life
but we are close ”
Walton averages 71 ppg ,
with 2.0 rpg , and 1.5 apg
The senior guard dedicates
himself to working hard on
his offense, but he is grateful
for the on court chemistry he
"has with Stephen.
“Stephen (k)es a great job
setting stuff up for me,”
Walton said.
The third tier of the
Kni^ts successful dynamic
is Omar Carter, a transfer
from Phillip O’Berry
Academy Carter was confer
ence player of the year with
the Cardinals a year ago, but
he is glad to have the chance
to jell with Stephen and
Walton in the Knights sys
tem.
Carter averages 16 ppg ,
6.0 rpg, and 1.3 apg, in his
first season at Charlotte
Christian.
“Coach Brown has put it in
my head to play my role, so I
had to tweak my game to
play my role,” Carter said.
“Every night is not your
night I’d say we are vinited,
we’re all on the same page,
self disdplined, and Stephen
and Ben are great leaders.”
Charlotte Christian is set
to play in Greensboro
Thursday in the state playoff
tournament.
Smith plays her role well
Continued from page 1C
Atlantic-10 because of players like Smith,
who step into the limelight or create opportu
nities for teammates
“Thmeka has a very high basketball IQ She
antidpates very well, and does a great job of
using her quickness where she doesn’t have
size,” Butler said. “She’s going to beat you to
the ball with her first step She does a good job
of boxing out and releasing at the right time
Meek has a good nose for the ball "
Being mature enough to know when to be
the consummate role player is something
Smith likes doing, but it doesn’t always come
easy
‘Tt depends on how the game is flowing, like
when I see I can take advantage of this per
son, then I think ‘Okay this is my night to
score,’ or when I feel this person is a tad bit
taller or quicker than me, I say ‘Look my
teammates got my back, so I can do the little
things,’” Smith said.
Bobcats’ prize pupil quickly
learning the NBA ropes
Continued from page 1C
have to bring it No matter
who it is you have to bring it”
When understanding what
Felton is going throu^ to
become the best point guard
he can become, shooting
guard Kareem Rush said
playing with Knight gives
Felton an abundance of
knowledge to prepare him to
lead the Bobcats.
“Being a rookie, he’s not
playing a lot behind eariy oa
We knew he was going to be a
good player based on what he
did in college, it’s all a matter
of getting acjjusted,” Rush
said. “Coming into a situation
like Raymond did with
Brevin, a point guard who’s
been in the league a long
Coach Bemie Bickerstaff
said that Knight has had an
opportunity to watch Knight
while logging minutes at
shooting guard.
“By us putting him at the
two position he has a feel of
what’s necessary when he
goes to the point, in terms of
where the two guy needs the
ball,” Bickerstaff said.
"Playing with Brevin, who is
probably one of the top point
guards in the league intellec
tually is beneficial to him ”
Bickerstaff has prescribed a
formula to aid Felton’s matu
ration, which will make the
Bobcats more successful in
the future.
“Time is key We have to be
careful that we aren’t inim-
point where we made a deci
sion that we needed to kind of
back off, and it was amazing
some of the things that he
started to pick up,”
Bickerstaff said “Raymond’s
mental toughness and
courage are very important,
Raymond is physically
strong, and they don’t take
advantage of him because
he’s really strong and he’ll
fight back It just takes time ”
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