Paul Davis 6'11" 270lbs. Senior, Michigan State Davis doing well in workouts Let me make this clear, I've never seen this guy play. But his college stats look great and he's got an NBA body already. If he's really a good mid-range to 3pt shooter I think he can develop into a starting PF for the rockets. He's trying to model his game after Nowitski despite having an effective post up game. Troy Murphy is a poor man's Okur and that's the type of player to put next to Yao. Pittsnoggle may be a better shooter, but he reminds me of a slower Brian Cook and that's the last thing we need. At least we know that Davis can rebound even if he can't defend. Reading up on Davis, it's remniscent of a certain 6'11", 270lb, 7ftr we have on our team. But unlike Lampe, Davis is supposed to be incredibly self-motivated and crafty. If GM's are raving over how high his bball IQ is, JVG will love him. Can anyone here provide any insight on him? Have any of you seen him play? I think this guy would be a steal at the 32nd pick.
Don't be fooled by the numbers. Paul Davis was pretty much a disappointment at Michigan State. I went to Michigan and saw him play quite a few times over the last 4 years. He came in as a top 10 player out of high school, and he was rumored to leave for the NBA early, even before he set foot on MSU's campus. He was basically performed below expectations (albeit high ones) every year. He's a decent outside shooter, but not the consistent guy troy murphy is. He's got good fundamental post moves, but is too slow and too soft to do much with them, even on the college level. He could turn out to be a solid roleplayer on an NBA squad, but not much else. I think he's much closer to Michael Bradley than Troy Murphy. I might take a flyer on him with a 2nd rounder if it was lower than 32.
Note how the people in that thread are suggesting Paul Davis will be a better NBA player than Morrison because Morrison has diabetes... Davis isn't a first rounder IMO.
Davis is nowhere near the rebounder Murphys is and he doesn't have the range either. Murphy has a bit of nasty in his game too, while Davis is all creampuff. Davis does have a lot of skill and good enough mobility for a bigman though and will likely have a long career off the bench. He should be better than he is though. He'll be taken somewhere between 25 and 45 where it's all pretty much guesswork in this draft.
It's June the 17th and no news yet of Tiago Splitter pulling out of the draft. So he's locked in? Last year Roko Ukic was projected as a high lottery pick but dropped down to upper-mid 2nd round as teams correctly guessed about contract issues. If Splitter falls to the 2nd round I rather the Rockets grab him with the 32nd pick. His euro contract will end in 2008, appropriatley timed as Deke will be gone. IF the Rockets make a comeback from this season Splitter could be a virtual high 1st rounder for next year when we'll have a low pick. http://www.draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=1339
For years I've been saying that he plays like a 6'11" Yao Ming. Huge base, sets massive picks, good fadeaway jumpshooter, knows how to play in the post, lacks explosiveness and footspeed, plays smart. But, of course, he's not 7'6". He's also known for being inconsistent like a mutha. Letting Michigan State lose so many games with Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown is discouraging. His lack of lateral quickness and leaping ability hinders his potential tremendously. His best position in the NBA will probably be backup center. He's a second round steal if he falls that far. He knows how to play the game and can easily gain 15 pounds in the upper body and be a load on the inside.
