That’s It For College! (Hopefully)

Posted on April 3, 2012 | 9 Comments

I almost wanted to see Anthony Davis win the Final Four MOP without scoring a single field goal in the Championship game, because I thought it would be so fitting. I love players that can affect the game without scoring and Davis definitely is one of those types of guys. He shot poorly and hit only one field goal, yet still completely dominated the game. If most guys went 1-10 in a Championship game, it might a cause for concern. With Davis it was simply more evidence that he’s a future franchise player who doesn’t need to score to dominate.

6 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 5 blocks.

That is an astounding line.

And it is most likely his last college game.

Yes, Davis will probably struggle to score inside, at first, until he gets stronger, and he’s going to get posted up to death for his first couple of seasons, but only one player in the draft is a true franchise changer, and that’s Davis. To all those Raptor fans who despise any talk of tanking, you have to realize in the NBA, a player like Davis can be the difference between a decade like San Antonio has had and a decade like Atlanta has had. Tim Duncan has lead his team to four Championships. Joe Johnson lead his team to the second round 3 times. One is good. The other is truly great.

Many people hate the idea of tanking, but if tanking results in being able to draft the type of player that comes around once a decade, then it’s worth it. All the current Raptors put together do not equal the importance of a player like Davis.

Am I going overboard?

Davis can score inside and out. He has All-World defensive potential. He could end up being the best passing big man since Arvydas Sabonis and if he doesn’t lead the league in rebounds per game at least one season I’ll be shocked.

Teaming him up with Jonas Valanciunas should be any Raptor fan’s wet dream. With them as your big men, I’d be quite comfortable with Jose Calderon running the point for the next five years. If there’s any duo that could make up for his defensive shortcomings (and be in need of his passing), it’s those two. Imagine if Tim Duncan and David Robinson played together in their prime? Okay, maybe Davis is no Tim Duncan (yet) and Valanciunas probably won’t ever be on David Robinson’s level, that’s close to the type of impact they could have.

That doesn’t mean he’s a sure thing, though.

And it’s not just his skinny frame that should be a cause for concern.

Quick, what do Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Kevin Durant and Tim Duncan all have in common? They’re all, at the very least decent looking guys. Even Steve Nash, who’s kind of funny looking, is someone women apparently find attractive.

Listen, I’m a huge fan of Davis, but the guy is simply not attractive. He’s got the unibrow and I’m sure he’s as skinny as he is because he can’t eat properly with those crooked teeth.

Okay, once he gets his NBA money, he’ll be able to fix those teeth but the unibrow is too much of his identity for his to shave that. It would be like John Stockton wearing baggy shorts.

One the plus side, Larry Bird was never attractive to anyone but his parents (and his wife), and he did pretty well.

So maybe there is hope, after all.

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In the next post, I’ll look at the other potential draft picks from a Raptor perspective.

Join the discussion: 9 Comments

Category: Draft, NBA, Raptors

Comments

paulienutbrain

Durant is an ugly dude. And james and rose aren’t actually decent looking either. If you’re a big-time athlete and have lots of money, it really doesn’t matter how you look. You’ll probably have lots of choices of women.
http://www.bpsports.webs.com BP

Decent game last night. Every time Kansas looked like they were gonna cut it to a one possession game in the 2nd half, the Kentucky defense stepped up.

It’s always nice to see players like Davis make an impact on the game without scoring. Although I wonder, if still has another growth spurt in him to get to a 7-footer?
Stephen Waugh

If only there were more players doing more things on both sides of the ball to impact the game beside scoring; then PHDSteve’s podcast about tanking not making sense would have had some more merit. How nice would it be to have a draft class a record number of franchise players and several more all-stars.
http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

@paulienutbrain

Durant and LeBron are normal looking guys. Anthony Davis is funny looking, no matter how you slice it.

@BP

I thought it was going to be a boring blowout after about five minutes. Glad it wasn’t.

And it’s amazing how many really talented players in the NBA don’t seem to care about defense. If I have one complaint about Derrick Rose it’s that he doesn’t focus enough on defense.

@Stephen Waugh

Whether we like it or not, the reality is the best way to get a franchise player is through the draft and the best chance of getting one is with the number one pick. And, as we know, you have the best chance of getting a number one pick if you have the worst record in the league. I didn’t make the rules. I just want the Raptors to take advantage of them.
FPB

His statline ressembles Camby’s but better.

I’m just scared with him that’s he’s riding talent a lot. He doesn’t seem to have developed that much moves and score off passes.

It works when you’re LBJ, but then again it’s what’s been killing him (Poor technician).

I still like him more than any other guy in the draft with MKG, Sullivan and Robinson trailing.

Last year’s draft was supposed to be weak and it’s full of pretty darn good players.

This year was supposed to be the bomb and it looks like a 2-3 men draft.

Scouts really don’t know shit.
Stephen Waugh

I know Tim W. I was just saying that that’s the way it should be. I was referring to the flawed approach to player development on the junior level in American basketball compared to the rest of the world more than that fact that you need the top pick. There are holes in the high school and college level but lack of structure and generally subpar coaching at the AAU level is largely to blame. How many talented players who join the NBA each year are only good at playing their own game and don’t know how to play with a team?
Stephen Waugh

That’s what I’m afraid of with this draft FPB
http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

@FPB

Really? I don’t recall any player in college basketball developing as much has he has in the last 4 or 5 months. He now has a right and left hook and has shown good footwork in the post. The fact that the guy has only been a post player for 2-3 years also needs to be taken into consideration.

As for the draft, a lot of people were projecting this to be a great draft, but guys like Drummond, Barnes, Perry and others simply didn’t develop the way many hoped. It’s not an exact science.

@Stephen Waugh

The AAU system is killing player development in the US, as far as I’m concerned. I think it was you who mentioned that guys like DeRozan should have been taught more and you’re absolutely right. Too many coaches let these players coast on their physical abilities instead of making them learn real skills. That’s why Harrison Barnes looked to be so great. He was already so advanced, fundamentally, in comparison to most Americans his age. People mistook that for having loads of potential, which doesn’t seem to be the case.
FPB

Tim W: I’ve lived the ”strong year” ”weak year” debacle in hockey too.

Truth is the scouting departement is still too full of ”old timey guys” and not enough hybrid guys (Stats and observation of fatal flaws).

As for the development issues, while it’s always a cancer to let youngsters do whatever they want, it’s always hard to convince a 15 years old who killing everybody and their grandma that he won’t be doing the same at the next level.