I like this. Hopefully he can slowly add roughly 15 pounds and play around 235. If he developes a post game while still having a decent jumper, watch out, he could be a top 10 player in the league before we know it.Originally Posted by nikkoewan
 |
| . |
|
Contributor
I like this. Hopefully he can slowly add roughly 15 pounds and play around 235. If he developes a post game while still having a decent jumper, watch out, he could be a top 10 player in the league before we know it.
Contributor
These three things show how scary good he could become. He hasn't even GOTTEN the game yet. He hasn't even figured out how to best utilize his skills. Imagine when he gets how to use the face up game and the jab step or when he's not so young in the body and can finish through contact?
Scary.
For the basic stats, 18 PPG 9.5 Reb 2.5 Ast and 1.5 Stl. That's my prediction anyhow. We'll see
@DanielVeuleman
indeed. Should have added that.
For me, I'm not too keen on projecting "stat lines". Would rather expect a more improved game in terms of the bits and pieces and nuances of the game. Something like those past 19 games. Run faster (to take advantage of your speed). Smarter fronts. Better defensive post positioning. More use of the feet than the hand. Learning how to jump straight up and/or backwards instead of towards the player (something that LARRY SANDERS! and Hibbert have perfected).
Things like that. Notice also that most of those "nuances" were on the defensive side. I'd rather see him make a HUGE jump on the defensive end than the offensive end. Offensively, he could get by another year of where his offensive game is right now (primarily coming from ball screen actions -- whether he rolls, pops or passes off to the weakside corner 3 -- baseline cuts and offensive rebounds). But if somehow he was able to raise his defensive level to the point where he's at or near a defensive game changer, that would mean a WORLD of difference for us since that means Ryan Anderson can now play more minutes with the kid.
He had an incredible rookie season and likely would have been Rookie of the Year had Damien Lilliard not come out of left field and played such a vital role on their roster last season. They had similar PPG but Lilliard was the face of their offense this year.
That being said, Davis played hurt/out of shape for most of the season with shotty guard play. As an athletic PF he's going to live and die by his guards during his career, and all 3 of our best guards were either playing through injuries or just didn't play because of them all season.
Add these considerations too: finally decided to 100% place him at PF, no Olympic Team USA obligations this off-season, will *hopefully* relieve some of the defensive pressure on him by acquiring in some fashion or another a SF with offensive capabilities, he'll have a state-of-the-art practice facility starting in August where he can continue to try and beef up under NBA quality trainers for 3 months leading up to the start of the season, and he knows what to expect now. Got to remember he only played one year of college ball and it was in the SEC and the elite teams out-of-conference were weak that year. Only real experience he had against NBA talent leading up to his rookie NBA season was with the Olympics and he played mop-up duty. International game is a lot different, anyway. I don't even think he saw the Gasol's.
I think they'll still play it somewhat safe with him (and Gordon - assuming he's still here).
I'm guessing 32 minutes per game (plus, being deep at 4/5 with Anderson, Lopez, and Smith helps keep his minutes down).
16 pts 10 rebs 2.5 blks 53% from the field. I think between he, Gordon, and Anderson, they'll average about 50 pts a night. They'll probably all be around 15-18 pts per game.
I think he'll be a potential MVP candidate by his third season though.
I think he ends up at around 19/10/2 per36.
Wherehappens.
Why not just set him loose? Can't babysit him forever. You've got to look at it like we only have him for his 4 year contract. He'll only get better by playing.
We're deep at the 4/5 and we lack a true center... which is 100% ok with me because it's a dead position for the most part. Smith and Lopez are bench players, and AD and Anderson can play together. Both's shooting % and PPG are higher when they're on the floor together. If AD doesn't get big minutes we'll have a similar season to 2012-13. He's an All-Star caliber player and he should be 100% for this coming season.
I don't expect Lopez to be on our roster next season anyway. He's got too much value elsewhere for him not to come up in a trade. If anything he'll be a deadline guy. I like Lopez a lot, he's just a redundancy that we really needed this season while AD adjusted.
I just find it hard to believe that Davis will go from 28 minutes in a season that he had numerous injuries, clearly hit the rookie wall, and is in the process of adding on weight to take the physical beating every night to 36+ when the team has 4 legit bigs... possibly 5 depending who they draft at #6.
Kevin Love for example only played 28 minutes per game his second season after playing 25 his first year (36 his 3rd and 39 his 4th).
I also recall Monty Williams specifically quoting Mickey Loomis in regards to having a 3 year plan and that they don't need to rush anything right now.
I'd love to see Davis play 36 minutes per game, especially since I think he'll be an All Star this year and it would give the team the best chance of competing for a playoff spot... but it's not like 32 minutes per game is a bad thing. I think it's just a decent amount of added load to help him continue to get used to the NBA and his body as he grows.
I'm with the folks who are more worried about improving his game than his stat line. Nikkoewan does a good job pointing out some of the defensive areas for improvement. On Offense, I would like to see him develop the face up game where he puts the ball on the floor once or twice before using his long arms and great body control to put up a 10-12 foot hook shot or something else going to the basket. Last year, it looked to me like his shaky jumper was the No. 1 option, rather than using his unique size quickness and control to take it closer to the rim and get easy shots or draw fouls. Also would like to see him rolling to the hoop some more. I realize a lot of this depends on him being a little stronger so he can absorb more contact and take more punishment. But I would rather see him work through that while being aggressive to get to the basket rather than letting him morph into a poor man's Channing Frye on offense.
Stat-wise, I'm not looking for much improvement. Stats will grow as he gets more minutes and gets more opportunity. I can live with pretty much the same thing over the next 1-2 years, with better numbers coming from slightly more minutes. But during that time, I want to see his offense honed to the point that in 2015 - 2016 he is a 25+ ppg go to scorer that puts all your bigs in foul trouble and can torch you for 40, rather than an 18 ppg guy who makes a few jumpers per game but gets most of his from put backs and 'oops.
Last edited by Big Fan; 05-30-2013 at 11:47 AM.
regardless of stat line i think he will be the best big man in the league when he reaches about 24 in his physical prime, watch the hell out.
Sky's the limit for this kid. He can become as good as he wants to become and that's why I can't wait to see where he is in 3-5 years from now. He has all the tools to be the next big thing and take the torch from James and Durant. I wouldn't be surprised to see him avg 2 3ptrs a game in 4 years from now. He hasn't even scratched the surface yet. Saying that. I expect his numbers to be fairly the same as last year avg maybe 2 more pts and 1 more rbd. I'm more looking to see how he holds up injury wise next season. Hoping he can play in 78 games. That's my goal for him. 78 games.
exactly, not only does he has all the tools he has the work ethic and competitiveness
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote