Swiseman@heraldsun.com; 419-6671
DURHAM — A town, a campus and a school that had once brought Seth Curry so much joy left him struggling and downtrodden a year ago.
It was on Feb. 26 that Curry went scoreless in 15 minutes of play as Duke lost to Virginia Tech 64-60 at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.
Tonight, Curry again returns to the school where his parents once were star athletes, looking to help Duke get the win that eluded them during the 2010-11 season.
When Duke and Virginia Tech meet (7 p.m., ESPN), Curry intends to walk off the court with a different feeling.
“It’s going to be a big game for our team, just because of the way we lost last year and I played probably my worst game,” he said. “With foul trouble, I didn’t really get to impact the game.
“It’s going to be big for me to go in there and play well. It’s going to be good environment so we need to go in there and get a win.”
The environment will be difficult for Curry based on history.
Growing up, Seth and his older brother, Stephen, used to wear Hokies colors when they attending football games at Virginia Tech.
Their father, Dell, was a basketball star for the Hokies in the 1980s before his 16-year NBA career. Their mother, Sonya, played volleyball at Virginia Tech.
But just as happened with Stephen Curry before his Davidson career propelled him to the NBA, Virginia Tech didn’t offer Seth Curry a scholarship.
He went to Liberty for a season before transferring to Duke.
When he was introduced as a starter for that 2011 game, he was booed loudly by the sold-out crowd.
Dell Curry’s photo hangs on the wall, honoring him as one of the school’s all-time greats. Dell and Sonya Curry sat behind Duke’s bench for the game.
But as Seth Curry struggled after picking up two early fouls, the crowd began derisively chanting, “Who’s your daddy?”
It was the low point of an otherwise productive sophomore season. Curry started 19 games for Duke’s 32-5 team, making 43.5 percent of his 3-point shots to average 9.0 points.
But as the No.7-ranked Blue Devils (18-3, 5-1 ACC) return to Blacksburg, Curry finds himself needing to find his groove again.
In Duke’s six ACC games this season, he has made 6 of 29 from 3-point range (20.7 percent). In nine January games, he was 11-of-43 (25.6 percent).
“When you miss shots, it’s tough on your mindset to get through it,” Curry said. “But you’ve got to keep shooting because that’s what you do. Eventually, I’ll get out of this slump.”
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has asked Curry to play point guard and off guard at different times. He’s happy with Curry’s season so far, but said he expects even more from Curry in all aspects.
“I think Seth can be a lot better,” Krzyzewski said. “In the last couple weeks, he’s not played to the level that he can play at, and some of it could be the change going back to handling the ball more or just being a human being, you know, where he’s not shot the ball well.
“I think one of the biggest things I’d like for him to do is not let his shot impact who he is as a player.”
Krzyzewski said Curry forced a couple of shots in Duke’s 83-76 win over St. John’s on Saturday but that he’s getting good shots overall. Krzyzewski would like to see Curry draw contact from defenders to send him to the free throw line, where he’s made 87.7 percent of his shots this season.
“You have to play through contact,” Krzyzewski said. “It primarily happens in the post, but it can happen on the perimeter and you have to be strong, crafty and sell your call — not fake, but when you do get fouled you’ve got to get fouled.
“You have to be an experienced player, and I’d like to see him be more experienced in that aspect of it.”
Switching back and forth from the point guard slot, at both ends of the floor, has been mentally taxing on Curry. But he knows the team needs him to produce more.
“It’s tough,” Curry said. “You don’t really know what role you’re going to have, but you have to keep an aggressive mindset and just try to be as positive as you can and just do whatever the team needs you to do to win.”
