Anthony Davis

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jod23

jod23

TheBrownDog
Zombie Lover A Star Wars Fan
Apr 2, 2000
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I think it was time to talk seriously about Anthony Davis. Now I know it's early in the season but the stuff he is doing is starting to become quite unbelievable. I made this thread after seeing the guys The Starters talk about who they would rather, AD or Boogie. They all praised Boogie but said AD.

One thing they showed me really blew me away. Hakeem Olajuwon is one of the 50 greatest players of all time. All time leader in blocked shots. Two championships. MVP. I mean we all saw him play, for me he is right there after Russell, Wilt and KAJ. He's the next big guy for me. All. Time. Great.

The following is Olajuwon's stats and AD's stats respectively in their third season in the NBA.

Olajuwon

PPG - 23.4
FG% - 50.8
RPG - 11.4
SPG - 1.9
BPG - 3.4
PER - 23.84

Davis

PPG - 25.5
FG% - 57.9
RPG - 11.4
SPG - 2.3
BPG - 3.9
PER - 36.06

Now to frighten the children even more. Olajuwon was 24 in this third season in the NBA. Anthony Davis is 21.

Wwwoooowwwwwww....

Granted those numbers for Olajuwon were from a full 82 game season and those numbers for Davis are from just the 10 games the Pelicans have played so far this season but you can see the potential and even if Davis' numbers drop, it wont be a dramatic drop off you wouldnt think. His PER wont stay that high surely and you can see his BPG, SPG and PPG maybe coming down a little, but even then it's frightening considering his age.

Not to mention in his second season in the NBA, he was 4th for PER over the entire league season. That's his sophomore go round and only Durant, LeBron and Kevin Love had a higher PER. Then this season through 10 games he is smashing everyone in PER leading everyone by nearly 8 clear points.

This is a kid who has yet to develop a full post game yet, who is still developing his strength, core and upper body and a guy who is just 21 and still learning the game.

The guys on The Starters also mentioned just what could he win this season. I mean MIP at this rate surely right? He is currently leading the league in blocks and is 2nd in the league in steals per game. DPOTY is surely a lock right?

Then with those numbers and if he leads the league in PER? MVP? If the Pelicans make the playoffs? How can he not? Can he win all those awards at the same time? Surely not. Common sense says if they give him the MVP, then they will give MIP to someone else. But you cant deny him for DPOTY. When was the last time, if ever someone won the MVP and DPOTY in the same year you ask?

Two people. Michael Jordan in 87/88 and you guessed it, Olajuwon in 93/94. That is good company.

Sure im probably going too early on this. But I think we need this thread to have an official AD watch as we could be witnessing the next great, great player in this league.
 
He is a freak game-changer sort of player. Incredible to watch, but I think the Pelicans have to win 55 games for him to be the MVP, which I find unlikely. However that might change if LeBron gets injured or the Cavs continue to suck. I'm also assuming that he doesn't keep up this ridiculous rate.

I also don't really like the idea of him winning the MIP player award as his improvement is his natural progression. People expected Davis to improve as any 20-21 year old should. People expect him to be a Top 5 player in the league. I like the MIP going to the guy who suddenly takes an unexpected step.

No doubt he will have an MVP or 5 before his career is over.
 
55 wins? In the west? No chance of that you would think. The Pelicans arent there yet. When was the last MVP to win the trophy with a poor record or a team that didnt make the playoffs? If he does keep up those numbers, Hakeem type stuff at 21 and leads the league in PER. Even 40 wins in the tough West could get him over the line.

He's a freak and he is just getting started. How good can he get?
 

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I can't think of a recent MVP where his team wasn't among the top 3 or 4 teams in the league. When Jordan was putting up ridiculous stats in the 80s he wasn't able to get many MVPs as the Bulls were winning 45-55 games.
 
I like your comparison between Hakeem and AD. obviously we all know HO is a legend of the game and to compare them right now if ADs career finished, is no contest. stats wise, pretty cool but.

obviously hakeem had to play against other greats like shaq, zo, ewing, admiral, divac,
 
The support cast isn't there for him in NOLA. Rivers and Jimmer are 7th and 8th guys there. One injury away from those guys starting

I'd say they'll be around .500

Davis could be the MVP this season though.
 
It is shaping to be a year where the Megastar's teams are not very dominant. I think right now Davis is a lock irrespective of his teams record.

However I expect Lebron will get back to his 28-8-8 range by the end of the season and the judges will be quite tempted to not reward a guy as young as Davis.
 
fidstar said:
I can't think of a recent MVP where his team wasn't among the top 3 or 4 teams in the league. When Jordan was putting up ridiculous stats in the 80s he wasn't able to get many MVPs as the Bulls were winning 45-55 games.
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Ive never understood that either. It's called the Most Valuble Player. Sure Jordan's team was only winning 45-55 games but without him they would have been lucky to win 20.

I dont always think the MVP needs to come from one of the best teams. If NOLA win 40 games this season and Davis puts up those numbers. He has to be MVP.
 
hamG said:
It is shaping to be a year where the Megastar's teams are not very dominant. I think right now Davis is a lock irrespective of his teams record.

However I expect Lebron will get back to his 28-8-8 range by the end of the season and the judges will be quite tempted to not reward a guy as young as Davis.
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Just for the record LeBron hasn't averaged 8 assists in season for 6 years. He also hasn't hit 28ppg for 6 years. But 26/6/8 is pretty terrible :p
 
People are right though that LeBron seems to be his only competition. It's hard to think of someone else... Maybe Curry might be a shot if the Warriors can win 60 or likewise Harden if they can win 60.
 
He could get a lot better with his man on man D

His help d is incredable and because of his quickness and length he can simply get to shots and changes the game in the paint by being around.

However he's a top 3 player right now. Him+Jrue are a good combo, Anderson off the bench is great

They need to dump Gordon
 

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jod23 said:
Decent game for him today too.

18 points
9 rebounds
2 assists
1 steal
2 blocks
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Funny thing is it was probably a bad game for him too all things considered, should absolutely dominate Faried most times.

So yeah, not a bad return for a 'down' game :p
 
Damon_3388 said:
I've got no problem with him winning MVP if he keeps this up, and the Pelicans make the playoffs.

Just for the record, here's a link showing the all-time single-season marks for PER, plus all accompanying season stats. Basically, Davis is on track at the moment with his 34.2 PER (very early days, obviously) to have the greatest individual season from a statistical perspective in NBA history. Amazing.
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Surely he cant keep up that 34.2 PER but I think he may settle down to around 29-30.
 
fidstar said:
How many years before people are saying Davis is the GOAT - Move over LeBron, we have the next Jordan comparison ;)
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Davis could actually be a roadblock for LeBron and his claims. If Davis can either get outta New Orleans or put better players around or simply becomes so good it wouldnt matter, which is possible given how good he is now and he is only 21. He could stop LeBron winning more rings.

Duncan's spot at the GOAT PF is officially on notice though.
 
What I'm amazed at is how quickly his scoring has developed. I really thought he'd be a guy who'd max out at 20ppg, while doing everything else very well. He's got plenty of guys around him who can score, but they're still giving him the ball and he's scoring 25 a game at very good efficiency.

jod23 said:
Surely he cant keep up that 34.2 PER but I think he may settle down to around 29-30.
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It's actually gone up to 35.8 after today's game. Ridiculous.
 
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He's going to be a dominant force like I imagine Shaq was. Just no massive weakness in his game. Pelicans need to keep building around him.
 
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