Is his defense really that good? I can't find anything that supports it besides his raw numbers. Pelicans defense as a whole, his own on/off court stats, RAPM, etc. all have him as basically anywhere from being a bad defender to a decent defender.
I remember arguing with a few posters on here who were adamantly saying he was going to be a bust. I wonder where they are now. They just said that because he looks funny and never actually watched his games.
Garnett was the first guy that popped into my head. Oddly enough Davis could probably be a better defender than Garnett with his length and mobility. Garnett though had a better post game and better handles - Davis could develop that post game as he gets older which Garnett used so well during his prime years. Their stats though in their second season in the league - both were 20 years old and all-stars are strikingly similar - you could easily make the case that Davis' had the better season at age 20 (though he just turned 21 mid season -- Garnett had turned 21 right after the season ended) Garnett: 17 ppg, 9.6 rbg, 3.1 apg, 1.4 spg, 2.1 bpg, 2.3 tpg Davis: 21ppg, 10.4 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.4 spg, 2.9 bpg, 1.7 tpg Davis could be in line for most improved player oddly enough (though I think it will go to Lance Stephenson or Goran Dragic) but the stats right now support that his career trajectory arc - but Garnett was asked to do a lot more for his team in terms of facilitating the offense - the very next season started a streak of 10 seasons where Garnett averaged more than 4 assists per game (including 6 straight seasons of 5 or more assists per game) Davis though already exceed Garnett in the blocks - Garnett's 2.2 blocks per game were a career high for him in his MVP year (03-04). Oddly enough Garnett's overall win share at age 20 is lower than Davis' (7.3 vs 9.6) though Garnett has a high defensive win share. Davis is doing this largely on a team of mis matched pieces - once Holiday is back next season and if they can figure out what to do with Evans and Gordon - Davis can reach even higher heights. Though I believe - like Garnett I don't see Davis being more than a 24-25ppg scorer with the scorers in the back court on his team. but he could be a consistent 24/12 guy for several years while averaging over 3 blocks a game. To me thats HOF material if he has any sort of post season success (winning a ring) and I do expect that he will win a DPOY and a MVP in his career barring any crazy injuries.
Garnett's knowledge of positioning and when to be aggressive was great. That's the only thing stopping Anthony Davis right now. He's more DeAndre Jordan than Dwight Howard on defense. He makes the highlight plays but is sometimes overeager and gets into bad positions defensively. Serge Ibaka had the same problem as well. But I mean, he's 21. As long as he gets decent coaching he will get the nuanced understanding of big man NBA defense. It's going to be really interesting to watch his career unfold. He's definitely more Garnett than Duncan because he has all of those guard skills that Duncan possessed. Sucks that the Pelicans don't have a pick this year. I hope they get Stan Van as a coach. I feel like he could really maximize that particular roster. I'm definitely with you on Davis being an MVP candidate. He's the only guy I see right now who can reach LBJ and Durant's level
Could easily be a Top 5 player in the league. He doesn't have the defensive impact of Dwight or Asik yet, where he basically solidifies the defense by himself, but he's really young. He'll probably get there.
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He's gonna be a special one for sure. He already seems to have a pretty complete game that sees him dominate on both ends. Over time as he bulks up some more and improves his post play and passing he can be really scary. I have seen enough up to now that makes me think he will be the best big in the NBA for the next 10 years or so.
Yea...you think they gonna trade a top 10 player that's only 21 and has the potential to dominate the league in both ends for the next decade? Not even for Dwight or Harden.
it's a shame he's in new orleans, most casual fans don't even know about him. He needs to be putting up monster stats at 21 just so most hardcore fans to start talking about him. If he were in NY he would have been hyped so much starting in his rookie year.
I think he was pretty hyped up coming out of college. He had a pretty good tournament. He was the undisputed no.1. Its not like he came out of nowhere.
Davis is already very, very good. 2ndyear in the league has an excellent argument for best big.... Shaq-esk. He'll only get better. If his team duplicates said improvement, Hakeem's solo MVP/DPOY/FMVP *season could be duplicated. It's already in jeopardy with Bron. *DPOY wasn't instituted until '83 and FMVP '69
Funny way to put it Interesting... What do your eyes say? Seriously just asking because I haven't watched NO much. Will say current Brow is junior Duncan playing against pros. Definitely wouldn't BET he'll be better, lol.. but dude has already displayed better skills in certain areas than TD. Xactly ^typed it that way on purpose
true but his biggest knock was his offensive game and how skinny he was. 21 ppg shooting 53% in his 2nd year after only averaging 14 ppg his rookie season did kinda come out of nowhere. i didn't expect him to make that kind of jump offensively so fast.
