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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Davidson's Rebound From Back Injury Adding Strength to PDS Boys' Hoops
By Bill Alden
After herniating a disc in his back last basketball season, Andrew Davidson spent this past summer dedicating himself to getting as strong as possible.
Hitting the weights with a special intensity, the Princeton Day School junior forward packed on 10 pounds of muscle in the process.
Davidson is putting that muscle to good use this winter as he averaged nearly eight points a game in his comeback season. Last Thursday, Davidson scored 15 points to help PDS edge Princeton High 70-64.
In the wake of the win, Davidson made it clear that he is savoring being back into the fray. "I did a lot of work to stay strong and prevent the injury from reoccurring," said Davidson with a grin.
"I put on about 10 pounds this summer but I wanted to make sure that I stayed quick. I think my size lets me go inside and outside. That's important because being a small team, we have to be able to play everywhere."
It seemed like Davidson was everywhere in the third quarter in the win over PHS as he poured in 11 points including two three-pointers. Davidson's contribution proved crucial as the Panthers held off a late Little Tiger rally.
"We wanted to make sure that we came out strong, they are big rivals," said Davidson. "They made a strong run but we had been playing tough the whole game. We knew we had to keep it up because they weren't going to let down at all."
PDS head coach Ahmed El-Nokali was confident that the stronger version of Davidson wasn't going to let him down. "Andrew played great tonight," said El-Nokali, whose club improved to 6-9 with the win. "He was a lot skinnier last year. He has put on some weight and muscle. He's been forced to change up his game a little bit. He came up with some huge plays down the stretch tonight."
As the Panthers head into the stretch drive of the season, El-Nokali believes that a quicker style affords his team the best chance for success.
"We're changing the tempo," said El-Nokali, a former Princeton University point guard whose first inclination is to employ a more deliberate offense.
"We found out that we're not the best half-court team. We're going to be putting on a lot more defensive pressure. Teams don't like to get guarded hard. You've got to take teams out of their comfort zones and disrupt them a bit."
El-Nokali acknowledges that his team is still working to develop a comfort zone with its new style. "We're trying to condition the team but you can't kill them everyday in practice," said El-Nokali, whose club hosts Morris Catholic on January 27 and Rutgers Prep on February 1.
"We are playing three games a week. I think we are honing our skills a little bit and that comes from repetition. We just have to get good at what we do. The teams that we're going to play the rest of the season are pretty good basketball teams. But we can't worry about who's that guy and what do they do. We just have to get good at what we do."
Davidson, for his part, thinks PDS has the potential to match last season's stretch drive which saw the Panthers make it to the state Prep B championship game.
"I think it's definitely possible," maintained Davidson. "We are smaller this year but we're quicker and a better shooting team. This team has heart and if we put our minds to it we can go as far as we want."
The heart that Davidson has shown in rebounding from his back injury has certainly set a good example for his teammates.
