Dan Hurley didn’t like hearing that his point guard, Silas Demary Jr., wasn’t named among the top 10 midseason candidates for the Bob Cousy award.
“I really am not aware. But now I’m aware, and I’m gonna go (bleeping) nuts,” he said after hearing the news following Tuesday’s 92-60 win over Xavier.
Demary had 17 points, eight assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals in the victory, which improved the team to 22-1 on the year and 12-0 in the Big East.
“There’s obviously a lot of deserving players, but we’re one of the best teams in the country this year, we’ve played to it. Obviously our resumé says what our resumé says. He’s played at an incredibly high level. I guess what hurts our players in these types of situations is the balance,” Hurley went on.
“But there’s just 10 points guards better than him? Two-way players … I think the most important thing with Silas is he’s the quarterback of the team that’s got a chance to win some things this year, and he’s playing his way into becoming an NBA player. So yeah, I know right now he’s getting the attention of a lot of NBA teams and, again, I don’t know the other 10 players and I’m not gonna sit here and take shots at them. But that’s (expletive). Just total (expletive).”
The 6-foot-4 Georgia transfer has put the Huskies back in the mix as one of the best teams in the country with his defensive ability at the point of attack, his poise on offense and his ability to pick his spots, which has come along throughout the year.
As far as the balance Hurley mentioned, Demary is the Huskies’ fifth-leading scorer at 10.9 points per game, he’s the fourth-leading rebounder at 4.3 per game and the leader in both assists (6.2) and steals (1.7). He is also having his most efficient season as a junior, shooting 48.2% from the field, 47.1% from beyond the arc and 81% from the foul line – all career-highs.
“That’s an individual award, and that’s something I’m not really worried about. I think the end goal is winning the national championship and I think if I can come here and just do what I need to do with my teammates and we play hard every night, everything else will take care of itself,” he said. “Those individual awards I’m not too worried about, I’m more of a team guy. So it wasn’t really a problem, just another day in the office.”
Demary’s performance on Tuesday moved him up to No. 7 in EvanMiya.com’s rankings of the best players in the country with a Bayesian Performance Rating of 9.96, which is tops in the Big East by a solid margin.
His offensive emergence, particularly over the last several weeks, has coincided with his growing understanding of the Huskies’ offense and when to pick his spots. Surrounded by talent, he hasn’t taken as many shots as he did while at Georgia, but he has taken more good ones and he’s seeing it pay off.
“Just talking with the coaches and AK (Alex Karaban) is helping me figure out where I can be effective in the offense. I think over the past couple weeks I’ve been able to pick and choose my spots the right way and it’s helping us because I feel like I’m a threat now on the 3-point line and now teams have to guard us a different way,” Demary said. “Toward the beginning of the year, people were going under (screens) and I think last year I shot a good percent, so it was just getting my confidence back and then just being able to pick and choose the spots where I can let it fly.”
Since conference play began, Demary is shooting a league-best 56.8% from 3-point range, where he hit at a 37.4% clip last season. He has also been able to show off his physicality, driving into the paint and finishing through contact, while being one of the best rebounding and defensive guards in the nation.
“But he’s not on the list,” Hurley said, also taking issue with the team dropping to No. 3 in Monday’s AP Top 25 rankings despite the winning streak, which is at 18 games heading into a big-time matchup against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
“He’s the quarterback of a very talented team with a lot of weapons out there. So it’s not easy to figure out how to get your own, how to shoot, score, create, get to the rim, get your own, but then also get Braylon (Mullins) enough shots, get Solo (Ball) enough shots, get Alex enough shots, get the centers the ball, get your guys off the bench shots,” Hurley said. “It’s not easy to be a quarterback on a team that’s got the type of guys we have on offense. But while he’s done that, he’s changed our defense completely.”
As far as the Cousy Award goes, Demary could very well play his way onto the list as the season goes on. He is certainly heading in that direction.
Challenge leads to ‘worst case scenario’
After a collision between Malachi Smith and Xavier’s Anthony Robinson in the second half led to the ball going out of bounds and the referees awarding the Musketeers possession under the basket, Hurley decided to challenge. And it backfired.
Not only did he lose the challenge, but Smith was called for a flagrant foul after the review and went to the bench with a bloody nose.
“Worst case scenario,” Hurley said. “I didn’t know that was possible. Plus, I looked over at Malachi who was coming off the court and he might’ve had his nose broken… I thought (the challenge) was just about possession, and when you’re looking at the iPad, you’re looking for possession. You’re not looking at it saying like, ‘They could call a flagrant.’”