Anthony Davis

[Ca]

weird that ESPN would have that wrong, but you are right it does make sense he is 18 given his huge growth spurt.

Well, right now it's a two horse race between Davis and UNNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT freshman Drummond for first pick. And where do you think big brother ESPN's Headquarters is?

[Deathray]

The best comparison I can think of for Davis is Keon Clark. He's like Keon without the substance abuse problems. Keon could have been a great NBA player if it weren't for his demons.

Davis is not strong but still a freak athlete for his size and length. I wouldn't compare him with KG, he doesn't have KG's kind of strength and he's more fluid in his movements than KG.

[hello_melo]

Keon Clark was certainly more talented than what he ever showed in the NBA, but that comparison seriously undersells Davis.

Clark never relished physical contact, only showed up mentally on rare occasions, and didn't have great body control. Davis has absolutely no problem banging with guys who are stronger than he is, remains locked in 100% whenever he's on the floor, and has truly spectacular body control.

[Sharcm1]

this kid is a defensive beast. he is still young too. I would take hi, over drummond. You can't teach a guy the type of timing on defense this kid has. That is a natural ability. He will block shots like this for the rest of his career. His offensive game will come with time. He can learn to shoot and if he gets into the right situation his first few years he might just need to catch and finish.

[TheExpert91]

LOL everybody thinks he should put on weight. I don't think he can.

[ManualRam]

LOL everybody thinks he should put on weight. I don't think he can.

he's already put on 20 lbs in the past calendar yr.
he also has the frame to put on much more weight unlike a john henson.

[MGrand15]

I know it's not a new comparison, but Davis looks a lot like a young KG to me. Hopefully, minus the dbag attitude.

I think what people are missing here is that - aside from KG being a jerk, he's insanely competitve. That's a very rare quality and sets him apart from other players with great ability. It's not at all a knock on Davis to say that he's most likely not going to measure up to KG.

I doubt he'll ever get to the insane KG level (punching himself, making Glen Davis cry, barking at foreign opponents, etc.) but I do think he has that quality that makes KG great. I don't know if he'll ever be the leader that KG is (I imagine KG wasn't the leader at age 20 that he was at age 30) but I think his motor and focus is almost on that level. This guy, more than almost any other big man in recent years, is locked in 100% of the time. No possessions off. No silly shots. No missing defensive assignments. No dumb fouls. The kid is focused and has an extremely high basketball IQ. He's like this as a college freshman, I can't imagine how good he'll be as a 3 year vet.

I really hope, for his sake, that he's drafted to a team that isn't a complete mess. (like the Wizards right now) Pair him up with a good defensive coach (like a Dwayne Casey, Scott Skiles, etc.) and a good structured system, and I think this guy could be a transformational type player. Like Tyson Chandler with the Mavs on defense type good. Really excited to see him when he bulks up and opens up his offensive game.

[Dr Positivity]

I think one of the big things that goes wrong with high school/college scouting is making solid athletes look like elite ones. MKG is the guy who's supporters are guiltiest of this right now turning him into an Iguodala/Wallace physical force, but to me Davis getting treated like an plus athlete in the NBA is also wrong. You're not a plus athlete in the NBA unless you're a freak. If the NBA athletically is a bell curve, I think Davis is part of the large group within 1 standard deviation. KG was in the 3 standard deviations away fractional percent group. The NBA fits the model that I heard for the NFL once of all the hottest girls in their schools moving to LA to become a model or actress, and then they're just completley par or even subpar compared to their competition. To me Davis is par for the course athlete in the NBA - "good enough" but not a dominant athletic talent for that to carry him, for me to say "Wow if he gets his skill game in order, he'll be unstoppable because of those tools!" He's not KG, or even Nene or Chris Bosh to me. I really think he's more like Joakim Noah or Amir Johnson

I really like A Davis as a prospect but I think in pure TALENT level he's just not worth his reputation the way previous consensus #1 picks have been. He's a reasonable physical talent with a usable when open skill game, who has a great attitude and IQ and who is blocking the hell out of shots in college. Obviously the idea of a great shotblocker is valuable to all teams, but if that's all it took to be considered a lock top 2 prospect Henson would be right behind Davis. As for his defense, it looks great no question. But he's not the first uber long player to rack up a ton of blocks in college, in a large way because of that length. I think it's a leap to say he has Duncan/KG/B Wallace type defensive talent because of those blocks. That has to be proven first especially with a guy like Davis who I don't expect to either be longer or faster than the tallest opponent in the NBA, and who's lack of strength and power becoming a bigger issue. I don't trust just looking at blks, or any college stat in particular, to determine upside in a category. I kind of like elite athletic talent + length more than blks/stls as the best indicator of X factor defensive potential. Especially in the post handcheck, elite rotations and close-outs speed > man d era. So while Davis' blks are special, if I was looking at his toolset without knowing the stats, would I say that guy's built to destroy the NBA defensively? Probably not. I'd say in TALENT, he doesn't feel like a #1 pick especially with Drummond in the draft, and I think it's dangerous when you're picking anywhere but especially #1 to not take the most talented player. Talent usually wins. If not in college, then a few years later (for the record stuff like skill and bball IQ fits into talent as well, so eg. I would consider Lamb more talented than Barnes and MKG). It's dangerous IMO to look at 18-20 year old kids and make judgments about whether one cares and the other doesn't enough for the less talented player to surpass him. It can happen but to me most players end up within reasonable range of where they should. Busts like Kwame, Darko and Beasley was as much about their talent being overrated as anything else IMO. Nobody in this draft is a Coleman or Cousins style idiot where that outweighs talent level

To be honest I felt better about Irving having perenniel all-star upside than I do A Davis. To me if I take A Davis first it's a declaration that there isn't a player with a good chance at superstardom and this draft is more about an extremely deep pool of secondary building blocks. If a team is looking at this guy as someone who can be the MAN and completely change a team like Rose or Durant, I just don't think it's happening. I might still take A Davis but I'd be EXTREMELY worried that I'm aiming low by takinga guy #1 in a great draft who I don't expect to be a perenniel all-star. I'd love to be wrong because I like players doing well who deserve it attitude/work ethic wise, and certainly voices I trust are huge on A Davis, but I stand by thinking he'll be a Bogut level franchise player

[dru9212]

Anthony Davis vs Arkansas

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC4sjeNharg[/youtube]

[Jazzfan12]

Davis athletically, at worst, will be like Prime AK47 and AK had all the athleticism needed to be a top 5 defender in the NBA. Davis' length and quickness is amazing.

[Deathray]

Alabama bullied him in the post today and exploited his weak one-on-one defense down low. First time I've seen that. No surprise given his frame but it was the first time I've seen it this season.

[dream_catcher_9]

I've been reading up on Anthony Davis' background and his is one of the weirdest I've seen for such a highly regarded prospect.

Just 3 years ago the dude was jacking up 3 pointers in the corner, then he grew 10 inches and started dominating on the high school level, but his high school team must of been historically bad because his teams HS record was 6-19 his senior year. Now he is on the best team in the country and the consensus player of the year and the next Kevin Garnett.

you can't script that in a movie.

[bigboi]

Can't wait for UConn-Kentucky. This will prove who is better between Drummond and Davis IMO.

[ManualRam]

Can't wait for UConn-Kentucky. This will prove who is better between Drummond and Davis IMO.

is it really still debatable?

[bigboi]

Can't wait for UConn-Kentucky. This will prove who is better between Drummond and Davis IMO.

is it really still debatable?

Of course it is. Say Drummond absolutely happened to destroy Davis and UConn won. Drummond happens to have a great tournament, is it out of the question, he goes first?

[dream_catcher_9]

Can't wait for UConn-Kentucky. This will prove who is better between Drummond and Davis IMO.

Davis >>Drummond. the only thing this game might prove is that Drummond has some heart and competitiveness if he goes out and dominates Davis.

[ManualRam]

Can't wait for UConn-Kentucky. This will prove who is better between Drummond and Davis IMO.

is it really still debatable?

Of course it is. Say Drummond absolutely happened to destroy Davis and UConn won. Drummond happens to have a great tournament, is it out of the question, he goes first?

sure, he could still go first, but there's no doubt in my mind who the better player is.

[bigboi]

^^ We'll see, crazy things happen in college...

[StojkoVrankovic]

Can't wait for UConn-Kentucky. This will prove who is better between Drummond and Davis IMO.

is it really still debatable?

Of course it is. Say Drummond absolutely happened to destroy Davis and UConn won. Drummond happens to have a great tournament, is it out of the question, he goes first?

You seem to be forgetting that Drummond has been a bust so far at UConn.

He has EASILY been the most disappointing player Storrs has ever seen. You could throw Ajou Deng in the mix, but based on Drummonds background I do not think it is close.

He should dominate everyone, but instead plays small and soft.

[ManualRam]

Can't wait for UConn-Kentucky. This will prove who is better between Drummond and Davis IMO.

Guess we wont have to worry about that matchup.