Kentucky Wildcats Anthony Davis redefined what a star is in the NCAA, can he do the same for the NBA?

Anthony Davis is a freak of a player. Yes we know the story of his growth spurt. Yes we know that he won any and every award available to win in the college game including the NCAA Championship, but now it’s time to start to evaluate what he could be on the NBA level.

Anthony Davis was not able to show his full talents atKentucky. He was able to show the defensive abilities that will make him an immediate force in the NBA game. He will be able to guard any position in the NBA making him a pick and roll killer. His long arms will not allow other players to just lob the ball over his head to the roller. He will block shots, because of his ability as a weak side defender to block the shot. He does need to put on more muscle for the banging, but too much could slow him down, he needs to be sure to focus on getting stronger and not heavier, after all  this is not a league of true centers anymore. To make my point, Tyson Chandler is long and lean and just won the defensive player of the year award. . .

The thing that will surprise a lot of people will be his offensive game. He did not have that ability to showcase his talents atKentuckybecause of the dribble drive offense. In the Dribble driveDaviswas required to set up for screens and roll to the basket or set up on the opposite side of the ball and take the lob for a dunk. In the words of Will Smith from the song “Summertime”  “and if it aint broke, then don’t try to fix it”. And they did not fix it, all the way to NCAA Championship.

If you really want to understand what type of player Anthony Davis can be, you should look at the type of player he was for his high school team. He was the primary ball handler and played mostly the entire game on the perimeter. He has nice touch from the three point range, and very comfortable knocking down 15 footers.Davishas the ability to take anyone off the dribble and go to the basket. The fact that he transformed into a post player in the AAU circuits and NCAA shows how high his basketball IQ is.

Anthony Davis is one of those players that figured it out; Davis uses his athletic talent to the best of his abilities and that is something we don’t see all the time. Too often we see players with all the tools in the world and they still manage not to put them to use.

Perry Jones is a perfect example of this. Jones has a more “NBA body” than Anthony Davis and he is better than Anthony Davis offensively and has the tools to be just as solid defensively but Davis puts a little more effort into every play.  He has figured out how to make himself useful on every play whether or not he is involved in the play or not. I do believe that Perry Jones will flourish in the NBA but that’s another story. Anthony Randolph, John Henson, Branden Wright are all players that have the tools but not the desire or the basketball IQ of Davis.  Anthony Davis has taken his talents and used them to the best of his abilities.

I personally would like to see Anthony Davis play the SF and a little PF. If Magic Johnson could be a 6’10 PG why can’t Anthony Davis play the SF if his skill set calls for it. He is a basketball player and his best position is at the SF or PF depending on the offense.  

You would be able to take smaller guys in the post. Shoot over shorter players, and defend any position. Anthony Davis does not compare to any other player that we have ever seen. 

I look forward to seeing if he can transform a franchise, the way people expect him too.