Hornets forward Anthony Davis already drawing attention from opposing defenses

[Mr. Mojo]

da ThRONe... look, I don't know anything about davis' future limitations (no one could yet) so i'm not going to argue over them. Admit that you don't either. Making a prediction is one thing, but speaking with definitives

He's limited to the 4 in this league. he does not have the ball handling ability to beat 3's or the strength to handle 5's period.

just isn't wise. I mean, what happens when davis drives by a SF or holds his own with a Center. (this WILL happen. how consistently? who knows) What happens is that your argument becomes invalid.

I want you to be able to enjoy it if and when davis exceeds your expectations as optimists will when he exceeds theirs. Its also important to note that a davis skeptic could have the EXACT same expectations for davis' rookie season as a davis optimist, the only difference being that the optimist holds the possibility of development.
It seems many of your arguments are made with the idea that davis will not grow, progress, or adapt.
Again, you KNOW this will happen; to what extent? who knows.

Bottom line here though.. davis is a great benefit to this team -already- and he only has up to go; if someone cant admit that they are either an ungrateful and cynical critic, or perhaps not a fan of this team.

[The JNR]

da ThRONe... look, I don't know anything about davis' future limitations (no one could yet) so i'm not going to argue over them. Admit that you don't either. Making a prediction is one thing, but speaking with definitives just isn't wise. I mean, what happens when davis drives by a SF or holds his own with a Center. (this WILL happen. how consistently? who knows) What happens is that your argument becomes invalid.

I want you to be able to enjoy it if and when davis exceeds your expectations as optimists will when he exceeds theirs. Its also important to note that a davis skeptic could have the EXACT same expectations for davis' rookie season as a davis optimist, the only difference being that the optimist holds the possibility of development.
It seems many of your arguments are made with the idea that davis will not grow, progress, or adapt.
Again, you KNOW this will happen; to what extent? who knows.

Bottom line here though.. davis is a great benefit to this team -already- and he only has up to go; if someone cant admit that they are either an ungrateful and cynical critic, or perhaps not a fan of this team.

[wuggie]

da ThRONe... look, I don't know anything about davis' future limitations (no one could yet) so i'm not going to argue over them. Admit that you don't either. Making a prediction is one thing, but speaking with definitives just isn't wise. I mean, what happens when davis drives by a SF or holds his own with a Center. (this WILL happen. how consistently? who knows) What happens is that your argument becomes invalid.

I want you to be able to enjoy it if and when davis exceeds your expectations as optimists will when he exceeds theirs. Its also important to note that a davis skeptic could have the EXACT same expectations for davis' rookie season as a davis optimist, the only difference being that the optimist holds the possibility of development.
It seems many of your arguments are made with the idea that davis will not grow, progress, or adapt.
Again, you KNOW this will happen; to what extent? who knows.

Bottom line here though.. davis is a great benefit to this team -already- and he only has up to go; if someone cant admit that they are either an ungrateful and cynical critic, or perhaps not a fan of this team.

Honestly Da Throne seems like he is a fan of another team because the things he's says to down Davis' potential is something some who's not a fan of the team would say.

[BallSoHard]

I don't think he wants to see him succeed so he can say he was right to the board to be completely honest.

[Luke's Pelicans]

Honestly Da Throne seems like he is a fan of another team because the things he's says to down Davis' potential is something some who's not a fan of the team would say.

I don't know he has been dogging on davis long before we landed the number one pick if I remember correctly. He is just strong about his opinion. And blind in my opinion.

[Luke's Pelicans]

I don't think he wants to see him succeed so he can say he was right to the board to be completely honest.

There is no doubt about this.

[wuggie]

To me just because the fact that Davis is a hard working, humble kid who wants it and plays like he's still trying to make the team, is a good reason for me to want him to succeed. Oh the other part where he's actually playing on my favorite team matters too lol

[FlyGirl]

LOL! What movie is that scene from?

I can see not agreeing with people on Davis and still being a fan of the team. I'm a fan of the team but wasn't a huge fan of Belinelli. I didn't need to say it in every thread about him though. It's ok to disagree because not EVERYONE will agree on EVERYTHING, but to run into every single Davis thread and toss away just about everything (just about, not everything) positive and everything that he has the potential to do, sometimes makes me wonder. Every Davis thread reminds me of that scene in the movie Friday After Next when the church ladies are on the corner singing Joy To The World and Day Day runs in and breaks it up.

[BallSoHard]

I feel like i've tried to calm down some expectations for Davis as well. I am elated to have him though. I think some people saying that he will be WAY better than Durant is a little lofty considering there haven't been many players EVER in the history of the game to be WAY better. LeBron isn't way better and he could end up being one of the greatest ever. See what i'm saying here? But I digress, it's the manner in which DaThrone has to rain on people's parades that bugs me a bit. To say he will never have the strength to bang down low as a 5 is outlandish. Pau Gasol doesn't have otherworldly strength but he could certainly man the 5 and has to win a championship. Davis will be incredibly versatile, but i do agree his position in the league is a 4. NOT because he doesn't have perimeter defense, but because his STRENGTH is at the rim.

[FlyGirl]

I feel like i've tried to calm down some expectations for Davis as well. I am elated to have him though. I think some people saying that he will be WAY better than Durant is a little lofty considering there haven't been many players EVER in the history of the game to be WAY better. LeBron isn't way better and he could end up being one of the greatest ever. See what i'm saying here? But I digress, it's the manner in which DaThrone has to rain on people's parades that bugs me a bit. To say he will never have the strength to bang down low as a 5 is outlandish. Pau Gasol doesn't have otherworldly strength but he could certainly man the 5 and has to win a championship. Davis will be incredibly versatile, but i do agree his position in the league is a 4. NOT because he doesn't have perimeter defense, but because his STRENGTH is at the rim.

Yeah, let's not go crazy in our predictions. I think the best thing we can do is sit, watch, and try to enjoy the guy and see how he progresses as a player. I don't think he should be crowned but at the same time I don't think some predictions should be dismissed altogether either.

[The JNR]

LOL! What movie is that scene from?

I think it's from Shottas. I've never seen it, but damn do I love that .gif.

[FlyGirl]

I think it's from Shottas. I've never seen it, but damn do I love that .gif.

Thanks.

[Eman5805]

Better implies that he'll take what Durant does and do it better than Durant does. But the truth is Durant really IS a smaller player with a ridiculously larger frame. Let's look at it like this. If I'm a 6'6" athletic shooting guard coming down on a fast break and Durant is in my way, I'm going to try and dunk on him and won't think twice. If I'm the same player and Davis is there? I'm going to hope a teammate is trailing me or that I can fake Davis out for a lay-in.

Davis will impact the game in a whole different dimension than Durant.

[BallSoHard]

Right and on the other end it's the opposite. durant is the most dangerous offensive player in the game.

[DirtySouf]

LOL! What movie is that scene from?

I can see not agreeing with people on Davis and still being a fan of the team. I'm a fan of the team but wasn't a huge fan of Belinelli. I didn't need to say it in every thread about him though. It's ok to disagree because not EVERYONE will agree on EVERYTHING, but to run into every single Davis thread and toss away just about everything (just about, not everything) positive and everything that he has the potential to do, sometimes makes me wonder. Every Davis thread reminds me of that scene in the movie Friday After Next when the church ladies are on the corner singing Joy To The World and Day Day runs in and breaks it up.

I almost spit out my water picturing that scene... LMAO

[Razorpens]

Monty keeps hinting around that he may play a fair bit of SF for us, and the article suggests that he could be like Durant in a few years... Coach Cal said that he expects Davis to play SF in the NBA, and there was also that article about Cal not letting Davis shoot 3s until he made something like 40 of them in practice. Monty suggests that he didn't know that Davis had this much of an offensive game, and he points to his shooting ability and ball handling ability. I'm just saying that if AD can be our SF of the future, and we sign a Center like Pekovic or Al Jefferson this off season, we could be set.

Oh, and just so you know, Durant is listed as 6'10, 235. Davis is listed as 6'10, 225.

link please on Cal saying that

[FlyGirl]

I almost spit out my water picturing that scene... LMAO

LOL!

[Razorpens]

Looks like we're trying to force AD into PF/C when we should be developing him as a wing. Folks forget that he was a shooting guard before his growth spurt. Work on his outside game and prep him as a 3.

Anthony Davis can do it, but Perry Jones can't?!?!?!??

[bradael]

He's limited to the 4 in this league. His perimeter defense isn't good enough to handle even the middle of the pack 3's and he may not be strong enough to handle a good number of 4's so playing extended time at the 5 will be a problem. Like many have pointed out you want him as close to the basket on d as possible. He's surprised me so far with his consistent range, but he does not have the ball handling ability to beat 3's or the strength to handle 5's period.

He's 19. He's grown about 9 inches in the past 3 years. It's going to take time for him to add strength, but he's already admitted that this is his biggest weakness and he's already begun to work on it.

Chris Bosh came into the league a mere 3 lbs heavier than Davis, yet doesn't look to have gained a single ounce since... and now he's playing center. Dwight Howard, on the other hand was only 18 lbs heavier than Davis when he came into the league. We see how that's turned out.

This isn't the Shaq era anymore. The Shaq era killed big-men because everyone was trying to get that 300+ lb center so they could match up with Shaq's teams. If you haven't noticed, the PFs of last decade are now playing a lot more center. Bynum & Howard are the only two big guys Davis even has to worry about anymore, and both struggle against the athletic & quick style bigs.

When it's all said and done, I expect Davis to be at least 240, but probably no more than 250. I do expect him to play a lot of center in a few years the way Tim Duncan did after Robinson retired. He's a paint protector. Pure and simple.

[Trell]

This my put on Davis. He can play the 3 but will he? Maybe a little but not as a primary position. Wouldn't be shocked if he brings the ball up the court or control and called ISO late in games later in his career. It's to much talent to not use, I know If im a coach and I have a guy who can shoot, drive, dribble, good poste moves, defend the perimeter with the best of em, and control the paint defensively. He's a great player, and I see him as a Dirk or Pau and a little of Durant type of guy offensively. While on the defensive end Camby in the paint and hopefully a Pual George type of guy(who is a underrated defender IMO). Hopefully we can get a Shumphert type guy to help defend the guard spot.

[da ThRONe]

da ThRONe... look, I don't know anything about davis' future limitations (no one could yet) so i'm not going to argue over them. Admit that you don't either. Making a prediction is one thing, but speaking with definitives just isn't wise. I mean, what happens when davis drives by a SF or holds his own with a Center. (this WILL happen. how consistently? who knows) What happens is that your argument becomes invalid.

I want you to be able to enjoy it if and when davis exceeds your expectations as optimists will when he exceeds theirs. Its also important to note that a davis skeptic could have the EXACT same expectations for davis' rookie season as a davis optimist, the only difference being that the optimist holds the possibility of development.
It seems many of your arguments are made with the idea that davis will not grow, progress, or adapt.
Again, you KNOW this will happen; to what extent? who knows.

Bottom line here though.. davis is a great benefit to this team -already- and he only has up to go; if someone cant admit that they are either an ungrateful and cynical critic, or perhaps not a fan of this team.

Relax I was talking about this season and this season alone.

[da ThRONe]

It funny because everybody makes the same positive post about Davis and no one say anything about any redundancy. Yet I can comment on how I disagree with those same comments and I'm the one saying the samething. Oh the hypocrisy. I think you guys get that I'm not going to change until I see a reason to. Which is more than I can say for most of you.

If you want to call me out be consistent and 1st look at your own post. As far as me being a fan I'm glad at least somebody commented on the fact that this has been my position on Davis well before the draft lottery. Anybody who thought my evalutation of him would change simply because we drafted him is sadly mistaken.

[FlyGirl]

It funny because everybody makes the same positive post about Davis and no one say anything about any redundancy. Yet I can comment on how I disagree with those same comments and I'm the one saying the samething. Oh the hypocrisy. I think you guys get that I'm not going to change until I see a reason to. Which is more than I can say for most of you.

If you want to call me out be consistent and 1st look at your own post. As far as me being a fan I'm glad at least somebody commented on the fact that this has been my position on Davis well before the draft lottery. Anybody who thought my evalutation of him would change simply because we drafted him is sadly mistaken.

Perhaps others won't change their stance until they have a reason to as well. Davis hasn't yet given them a reason to think he won't be good in this league. He hasn't given them a reason as of yet to think he wasn't worthy of the #1 pick.

[da ThRONe]

He's 19. He's grown about 9 inches in the past 3 years. It's going to take time for him to add strength, but he's already admitted that this is his biggest weakness and he's already begun to work on it.

Chris Bosh came into the league a mere 3 lbs heavier than Davis, yet doesn't look to have gained a single ounce since... and now he's playing center. Dwight Howard, on the other hand was only 18 lbs heavier than Davis when he came into the league. We see how that's turned out.

This isn't the Shaq era anymore. The Shaq era killed big-men because everyone was trying to get that 300+ lb center so they could match up with Shaq's teams. If you haven't noticed, the PFs of last decade are now playing a lot more center. Bynum & Howard are the only two big guys Davis even has to worry about anymore, and both struggle against the athletic & quick style bigs.

When it's all said and done, I expect Davis to be at least 240, but probably no more than 250. I do expect him to play a lot of center in a few years the way Tim Duncan did after Robinson retired. He's a paint protector. Pure and simple.

As I addressed it I'm not talking about the future just Davis and his physical abilites as of today.

As far as not having physically imposing centers thats a myth. You look around the league at the 5 spot with guys like Perkins, Gortat, Bogut, Bynum, Cousins, Howard, Kaman, Pekovic, Jefferson, Noah, Asik, Hibbert that's almost half the league and just starters off the top of my head. No need and putting Davis against that kind of work load night in night out.

[da ThRONe]

Perhaps others won't change their stance until they have a reason to as well. Davis hasn't yet given them a reason to think he won't be good in this league. He hasn't given them a reason as of yet to think he wasn't worthy of the #1 pick.

Ok but I'm not crying about anybody elses opinions. I address what I disagree with, but I never say people shouldn't say what they say or question their morals or fanhood and that's the difference.