Anthony Davis: Perfect Collegiate Career Leads to Daunting NBA Expectations
The encore performance of the outstanding Anthony Davis is not going to live up to the extreme expectations placed upon him.
With Davis officially declaring for the draft after his freshman season, the hype leading up to his NBA debut is going to be astronomical. This isn't a Kyrie Irving situation where the top pick missed all but 11 games of his lone year of college. Or John Wall, who at the time was better known for the “John Wall Dance” than his play at point guard.
After winning player of the year, a national championship and winning Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, Davis has a daunting task ahead of him to pull off a successful repeat performance.
Whether it’s the Charlotte Bobcats, Washington Wizards, Sacramento Kings or New Orleans Hornets with the No. 1 overall pick, Davis will be the one they select. He’s essentially the Andrew Luck of the NBA draft.
After leading the nation in blocks while playing the sort of defense that would impress Bill Russell, the player with the most famous unibrow in the country is going to be provide an instant impact on that end of the floor. Can he be among the top 10 in blocks after his rookie season? I’d bet on in it.
But there is a dirty little secret about Davis that collegiate defenses were unable to take advantage of—Davis doesn't have an inside game.
An insane growth spurt in high school transformed him from a 6’0’’ point guard nicknamed “The little guy who shot threes in the corner” to a 6’10’’ giant.
That benefits Davis because he is an exquisite dribbler that’s comfortable taking the ball coast to coast. It also means the center has the vision and mentality of a point guard. The vision is a good thing, but you don’t want you power forward/center thinking like a guard.
Davis settled for far too many 15-footers in college as it seemed he didn't want to bang down low on every possession. While he still shot 64 percent from the floor, Davis did get pushed around at times by stronger players.
His 220-pound frame got thrown around for a large portion of the National Championship game against Kansas in route to shooting 1-of-10 in the game as fellow All-American Thomas Robinson clearly out-muscled him.
How will he fare against the bruisers of the NBA like Dwight Howard, Kendrick Perkins and Andrew Bynum? Height is no longer his No. 1 advantage.
If he rarely was in isolation situations in the post and getting bumped out of the paint on a large majority of those in college, he’ll be living on the elbow in the pro game.
Sure he can bulk up in the weight room, but his thin waist suggests he won’t be able to put a ton of additional weight on his frame.
There is no question Davis is going to be a NBA player for the foreseeable future. He isn't going to be the next Greg Oden.
But as you read all of the gushing reviews of the one player you’ll remember from the 2011-12 college basketball season, just remember he may never average more than 10-to-12 points per game.
