Is Anthony Davis the best player in basketball?

levon · Post #141 » by **levon** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 5:36 am

He needed to be close for them to win the title. And he's super close. He does things that I've never seen before. That combination of devastating above-the-rim finishing, 1-on-1 defense against an amazing scoring guard (suffocated Murray), face-up triple threat jumpers, fadeaway jumpers, catch and shoot 3s, euro-steps, floaters, unfair help defense (can guard two at once), and the occasional playmaking? Are you kidding me? Who is this guy? What's his closest comp?

kuclas · Post #142 » by **kuclas** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:19 pm

Pythagoras wrote:
grindtime22 wrote:
syntax wrote:
He guarded Westbrook 1 on 1 for a series.

which allowed him to simply be a help defender the whole time

He also guarded Nurkic in the first round

Nurkic is not physical center. We are talking physical centers who can bang and low post. Embiid. AD runs away and hides.

That’s why he’s not a real center

He’s great. I’m not denying it. But he simply doesn’t guard real true centers who can low post and wear him down. It’s too much effort to expend energy on the defensive end.

Denver will do it all day long if they see AD on Jokic. That’s why Howard is playing more this series.

NPZ · Post #143 » by **NPZ** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:31 pm

Statlanta wrote:Maybe, he's not on a team that built an entire offensive system around him, ala Harden/Jokic, so the numbers are fuzzy, but he's helped lead the best team in the regular season.

I personally think he's better than MVP Giannis and his teammate, but is he better than playoff Kawhi or Harden, probably not.

Oh, Ton' is better than playoff Harden. I can tell you that much with complete metaphysical certitude. AD actually impacts a game. Weird Beard is a mess. He's like building your dream home to find toxic Stachybotrys mold within a few months, making the whole place uninhabitable (saw a Forensic Files on that the other day). T is the dude. Tony Davis. TD.

Pythagoras · Post #144 » by **Pythagoras** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:54 pm

kuclas wrote:
Pythagoras wrote:
grindtime22 wrote:
which allowed him to simply be a help defender the whole time

He also guarded Nurkic in the first round

Nurkic is not physical center. We are talking physical centers who can bang and low post. Embiid. AD runs away and hides.

That’s why he’s not a real center

He’s great. I’m not denying it. But he simply doesn’t guard real true centers who can low post and wear him down. It’s too much effort to expend energy on the defensive end.

Denver will do it all day long if they see AD on Jokic. That’s why Howard is playing more this series.

Some of you Sixers fans are so delusional about the Embiid vs AD matchup.

The Rodzilla · Post #145 » by **The Rodzilla** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:57 pm

KyRo23 wrote:
dribble1614 wrote:
LesGrossman wrote:I think thats a bit overboard; i'm not sure he's the best player in this series, but the competition is not on his team. He's clearly the best player on the Lakers...i wonder where he ended up in the MVP voting, and why.

media-driven narratives and the fact that the media has been pro-lebron for nearly the last decade could be why.

lebron without davis last year - missed the playoffs.

lebron with davis this year - going to the finals.

pretty clear to me.

This could be the most idiotic thing I have read in quite some time. I'm embarrassed for you for not seeing the irony.

Do you realize the Pelicans had a worse record than the Lakers last year?

Davis without LeBron last year - missed the playoffs.

David with LeBron this year - going to the finals.

Pretty clear to me!

i guarantee this is another Jordan thing

kuclas · Post #146 » by **kuclas** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 4:17 pm

Pythagoras wrote:
kuclas wrote:
Pythagoras wrote:
He also guarded Nurkic in the first round

Nurkic is not physical center. We are talking physical centers who can bang and low post. Embiid. AD runs away and hides.

That’s why he’s not a real center

He’s great. I’m not denying it. But he simply doesn’t guard real true centers who can low post and wear him down. It’s too much effort to expend energy on the defensive end.

Denver will do it all day long if they see AD on Jokic. That’s why Howard is playing more this series.

Some of you Sixers fans are so delusional about the Embiid vs AD matchup.

Have you seen the games they play against each other. Pelicans put freaking 6 foot 8 Julius randle on embiid. Davis isn’t covering embiid until he knows embiid is tired. Why isn’t Davis covering embiid from the get go? It’s simple. It’s ok to admit it. They want to save Davis for offense.

Just don’t call him a real center. He’s not.

Why not play small ball and have Davis defend Jokic often? He won’t. The are playing Howard more.

NY 567 · Post #147 » by **NY 567** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 4:32 pm

He's doing an amazing job as Lebrons sidekick, but hes just that, a sidekick. He doesnt see the defense coverage most superstars do and generally plays off of Lebron. Amare had big numbers back in the day too, but it was obvious that Steve Nash was running the ship. Same situation here.

levon · Post #148 » by **levon** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 4:37 pm

NY 567 wrote:He's doing an amazing job as Lebrons sidekick, but hes just that, a sidekick. He doesnt see the defense coverage most superstars do and generally plays off of Lebron. Amare had big numbers back in the day too, but it was obvious that Steve Nash was running the ship. Same situation here.

I will say that he doesn't see the same coverage as Lebron because he doesn't operate from the same spots. Lebron driving from the top can be met with so much help defense. It's much harder to rotate onto the elbow and deep post because you're leaving a 3 open (see ADs pass to Danny Green last night). They have a help defender, usually Jokic, showing in the paint at all times, but he's beating that correctly with midrange jumpers. Lebron can't really do that regularly.

gorz · Post #149 » by **gorz** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 4:42 pm

NY 567 wrote:He's doing an amazing job as Lebrons sidekick, but hes just that, a sidekick. He doesnt see the defense coverage most superstars do and generally plays off of Lebron. Amare had big numbers back in the day too, but it was obvious that Steve Nash was running the ship. Same situation here.

Just admit you were wrong when you thought AD wasn't a top 5 player. Everything will be okay.

NY 567 · Post #150 » by **NY 567** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 5:56 pm

gorz wrote:
NY 567 wrote:He's doing an amazing job as Lebrons sidekick, but hes just that, a sidekick. He doesnt see the defense coverage most superstars do and generally plays off of Lebron. Amare had big numbers back in the day too, but it was obvious that Steve Nash was running the ship. Same situation here.

Just admit you were wrong when you thought AD wasn't a top 5 player. Everything will be okay.

He's not, though. He's in the 5-10 range. He's a lot like Kyrie, he did absolutely nothing as a number 1 guy, but sufficed as a number 2 guy playing next to the greatest player the NBA has seen since Jordan. I wonder who is leading the show here, is it the 4 time MVP who has won 3 championships, made 9 NBA Finals, and has only missed the playoffs once in the last 15 years? Or is it the guy who only made the playoffs 2 times in 7 years as the lead option, only making it out of the first round one time?

This is really quite simple. Much like Kyrie, he's thrived as a strong number 2 next to LeBron, but he isn't a top guy on a championship team.

C3H6N6O6 · Post #151 » by **C3H6N6O6** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:05 pm

AD has been the best player since 2017. Only blind Lebron, Kawhi and Curry fans can't see it.

SpreeS · Post #152 » by **SpreeS** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:29 pm

NY 567 wrote:He's doing an amazing job as Lebrons sidekick, but hes just that, a sidekick. He doesnt see the defense coverage most superstars do and generally plays off of Lebron. Amare had big numbers back in the day too, but it was obvious that Steve Nash was running the ship. Same situation here.

sidekick

I see the first time that sidekick has all numbers better than option A (BOX stats, advanced stats, impact stats, on/off stats, 4Q stats, hitting GW, better defender)

mademan · Post #153 » by **mademan** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:29 pm

AD the GOAT

mademan · Post #154 » by **mademan** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:30 pm

SpreeS wrote:
NY 567 wrote:He's doing an amazing job as Lebrons sidekick, but hes just that, a sidekick. He doesnt see the defense coverage most superstars do and generally plays off of Lebron. Amare had big numbers back in the day too, but it was obvious that Steve Nash was running the ship. Same situation here.

sidekick I see the first time that sidekick has all numbers better than option A (BOX stats, advanced stats, impact stats, on/off stats, 4Q stats, hitting GW, better defender)

Lebron had much better impact stats all year, but AD looks like he lapped him in that too. Really having a legendary postseason

Dmagic · Post #155 » by **Dmagic** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:31 pm

i would like to see the lakers go after embiid this offseason. or am i high. no ad isnt the best. lebron is but i think we may be sdeeing an important shift. time will tell what exactly we are seeing

kobe_vs_jordan · Post #156 » by **kobe_vs_jordan** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:35 pm

Dmagic wrote:i would like to see the lakers go after embiid this offseason. or am i high. no ad isnt the best. lebron is but i think we may be sdeeing an important shift. time will tell what exactly we are seeing

Don't see one reason to go after Embiid when AD is dominating and stretching the floor.

Johnny Tomala · Post #157 » by **Johnny Tomala** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:38 pm

C3H6N6O6 wrote:AD has been the best player since 2017. Only blind Lebron, Kawhi and Curry fans can't see it.

Durant was better than AD in 2017 and 2018. But yeah, I'm only taking fully healthy Durant ahead of Anthony Davis.

LoveTheNBA23 · Post #158 » by **LoveTheNBA23** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:45 pm

AD has been the best playoff performer this season. I’m putting him top 4 now. Leading in so many advanced and raw numbers.

Post #159 » by **Duffman100** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:47 pm

I mean it's about time he's making this the conversation right? Sky was the limit when he was drafted.

winstoned · Post #160 » by **winstoned** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:50 pm

Anthony Davis - Kobe connection started in 2012 in London and in Team USA. Of course they had practices before, AD was just off National Championship at Kentucky.
He said on the down time the players off went off with their families or their women. Kobe and Vanessa took AD with them. This happened their time there. The other player that helped him along being a 19 yr old was Carmelo Anthony.
One morning AD wanted to get some shots up. Went to the gym to work at 6 am. Kobe was already there finishing up his workout in full swea. He had been there since 3 am.
He said he learned the kind of work it takes. Kobe a huge star working so hard. They became friends, I can see why AD got the Kobe tattoo. I hope they win the championship.