Anthony Davis = best big man in the game

[milesfides]

...And will be the best player in the league, very soon. For the next decade. A complete player, elite. Forget Lebron, forget Durant, this guy looks better than KG at 20 - and more athletic. And he's only going to get better.

Congratulations, New Orleans, you just got one of the rare ones. You guys deserve it.

[minimalist1972]

Watched the game on League Pass tonight.

This kid's for real. Unbelievable. Almost perfect. Supremely athletic, patient, basically can't miss within 18 ft, great court vision, can do everything on both sides of the court.

Congrats to you guys.

[minimalist1972]

Wow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPuY9xzJKu8

Great character too, seems like.

[NinjaSheppard]

Shame we have a completely incompetent GM who has locked Davis up with Jrue and Evans as his teammates

[JazzMatt13]

I been fairly impressed with what I have seen with what little he has had, and a fan of his right now. Pelicans weren't exactly the best of teams last year, and if it weren't for Lillards 40 minute nights, every night last season, Davis would have been front runner in ROTY.

[Jukeness]

So he's better than Kevin Love? I don't think so.

[R U Legit]

So he's better than Kevin Love? I don't think so.

Their defense isn't even close. lol

[Jukeness]

So he's better than Kevin Love? I don't think so.

Their defense isn't even close. lol

But Love is by far the most versatile big man scorer in the league and at the end of the game when you need to score Love will give you that, like he has time and time again and that propels him ahead of Anthony Davis. I really don't think you can argue that Kevin Love isn't the best PF in the game or even the best big man.

Say Davis is guarding Love, it doesn't matter how good of a defender you are, Love will light you up because he can score in so many ways. He's one of the more unique players to ever play his position.

[NO-KG-AI]

That's cool, but the game is played on both ends.

[Jukeness]

That's cool, but the game is played on both ends.

So you honestly think right now that Anthony Davis is better than Kevin Love?

Also, Love's defense has really not ben a problem this year, I'd say it's been acceptable.

[APacoJ]

That's cool, but the game is played on both ends.

So you honestly think right now that Anthony Davis is better than Kevin Love?

Also, Love's defense has really not ben a problem this year, I'd say it's been acceptable.

Loves defense has been acceptable, Davis's has been phenomenal. Furthermore, Davis can score just a well as love can within the 3 point line.

[tsherkin]

Enjoying Davis' D.

Great offensive rebounding. FT% is likely to come down, a bunch, but that shouldn't affect things TOO much. He'll start turning the ball over a little more often as well, he certainly won't maintain a sub-7% TOV on the season, particularly as a big. But it should still be pretty good overall. Davis is quickly maturing into a fine player. As before though, I'd like to see a little more of his ability away from the rim.

He's 49/85 at the rim and 22/62 otherwise. He's been hot from the right baseline and the left wing but 9/14 isn't really telling or sustainable. Nearly 3/4s of his buckets are assisted, too, which isn't necessarily bad per se, but is telling. The largest proportion of his offense comes from rolling out of a screen (with a MONSTROUS draw rate), spotting up or grabbing an offensive board, which means he's making the most of his talents.

I suggest it's a touch early to build any serious analysis based on his performance to date, only that he's really becoming comfortable with the role he had last year and expanding upon that. He's going to need to develop his jumper and he needs to grow a little as an isolation and post-up guy but basically, he's filling the major roles one wants from a big. If he does develop a lot in terms of creating his own shot, and then in terms of creating shots for others, then he'll threaten the Top 10 on an ATL. He's got fantastic physical tools and he seems to be a pretty motivated guy.

You have a good one, lads; enjoy!

[Jukeness]

That's cool, but the game is played on both ends.

So you honestly think right now that Anthony Davis is better than Kevin Love?

Also, Love's defense has really not ben a problem this year, I'd say it's been acceptable.

Loves defense has been acceptable, Davis's has been phenomenal. Furthermore, Davis can score just a well as love can within the 3 point line.

Can't rebound, get to the foul line, pass like Love can though. Love's also clutch as hell which should count for something.

Obviously you can have your opinion, but unless you consider Davis a top 10 player which Love is, I have to strongly disagree. Did you see how much worse the team was last year without Love?

[Isiahs Garden]

If I had a game to play today I would pick up Love. If I am looking 2-3 years down the road, heck even another season I'm going AD. Both are two fantastic young men.

Quick question, is there any chance of putting together a package for Kyrie when he is in the last year of his deal? there is plenty of young talent here and I am sure the Cavs do not want him to walk without being compensated.

[Boarder Patrol]

Shame his first few years will be spent with Jrue / Tyreke.

Davis/Noel with another lotto pick guard / wing this year (around 7th pick I'd guess since Davis alone will win you a few games) would have been sweet.

[APacoJ]

If I had a game to play today I would pick up Love. If I am looking 2-3 years down the road, heck even another season I'm going AD. Both are two fantastic young men.

Quick question, is there any chance of putting together a package for Kyrie when he is in the last year of his deal? there is plenty of young talent here and I am sure the Cavs do not want him to walk without being compensated.

I doubt it…we have a very crowded backcourt as it is. The last thing we need is to add another guard, and I doubt they'll be willing to ship out Jrue for him. EG seems likely to get traded, but even then we'd have kyrie and jrue, both of whom stick to the 1.

[Kabookalu]

I'm absolutely enamored with Anthony Davis. I feel like we're witnessing the beginning of an all time great's career. If he doesn't go down as one of the best power forwards ever then I feel like he massively underachieved. And that's not to disrespect the company he would be challenging, but I'm THAT high on him.

[tsherkin]

Well, the man is balling out. There are things to be said about elements which should regress a little... but damn, he's playing great basketball right now and a good chunk of it should continue all year and beyond.

I am so very jealous at this moment.

[Copperhead]

Daniel Poneman ‏@SwagAir 19h
"Over the next 6-8 years, as Lebron fades he might be the guy we're talking about as the best in the league..." -Steve Kerr on Anthony Davis

...
See Anthony Davis, Believe in Anthony Davis

All superstars aren’t created equal.

Kobe Bryant isn’t Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul not James Harden, and Kevin Durant hardly LeBron James. That’s no slight to anyone; these are basketball’s true elite. But the specific individual merits of a given player always differ from those of any other, even though they’re never alone in their place on the basketball food chain. That’s true of all NBA players, but especially pertinent concerning those at the very top of the pyramid.

In a time when so-called superteams rule the empirical and narrative day, the league’s proletariat faces mounting pressure. Do they have their guy? A star? A franchise player? The loaded 2014 draft class has received so much attention for a reason – these young prospects represent the next and best chance for bottom-dwelling teams to find the player that could single-handedly turn around the fortunes a franchise.

It’s those types of players from which everything orbits: roster construction, ticket sales and general organizational culture. Find a superstar and reap rewards, the thinking goes, and that’s true to a certain extent. A presence like Carmelo or late-stage Bryant will always glean interest and attention, not to mention perennial playoff births, too. But it’s easier to build the ultimate winner around a different kind of franchise player.

In 20 year-old big man Anthony Davis, the New Orleans Pelicans just might have such a force.

Based on hype and scouting reports leading up to the 2012 NBA Draft, that’s not exactly surprising. Davis was the surefire top choice of (what was considered at the time, of course) a solid crop of top-level prospects, and was a member of the 2012 Olympic Team. But then his rookie season quietly came and went; a rash of minor injuries and lack of team success made Davis easy to overlook. And while what we missed was definitely impressive in a vacuum, it wasn’t anything close to the All-Star level impact optimists forecasted for the teenager’s inaugural NBA campaign.

But none of that matters now. Just three games into Davis’ sophomore season, it’s clear he’s made the proverbial leap to stardom that so many anticipated.

More in link....... http://hardwoodparoxysm.com/2013/11/04/ ... ony-davis/

Davis Punches Ticket For NBA Stardom
Nov. 22 -- With his running start to this season and his seemingly boundless energy on both ends of the floor, New Orleans Pelicans big man Anthony Davis has inspired all sorts of comparisons to prodigious frontcourt stars of generations past.

The big man most commonly linked to Davis is Dwight Howard, who was similarly impressive at 20. He was a high-flyer capable of running the floor with men much smaller while possessing talents that made him potent on offense, defense and in transition.

But after further scrutiny, the Howard comparisons appear to be slightly off. A much more apt comparison is Kevin Garnett at 20. Back then, "The Big Ticket" was a wunderkind who played above and beyond his physical means thanks an overall relentlessness and refusal to be outworked by any foe of any size. They are the only players to have eight or more blocks in back-to-back games at 20 or younger, a concrete connection between the two rather than just an revisionist's theory.

The threat is coming at you from every direction on both ends of the floor. And no big man in the game right now runs the floor as well or as effectively as Davis does. It's not uncommon to see him swat a shot on one end and beat his man down the court for a finish at the rim.

More in link..... http://www.nba.com/mvp-ladder/

[Copperhead]

I definitely enjoy watching him.