DeMarcus Cousins: All NBA
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Davis is a role player on offense? Does anyone even try to understand USG rate around here?
25% USG for Davis is clear #1 territory. And he had elite efficiency to back it up with a 58 TS%, along with 15 FGA/game and 6.6 FTA/game. Those are elite #1 option numbers. No other way to put it. I doubt you could find 5 guys with better offensive numbers in the NBA.
25% USG for Davis is clear #1 territory. And he had elite efficiency to back it up with a 58 TS%, along with 15 FGA/game and 6.6 FTA/game. Those are elite #1 option numbers. No other way to put it. I doubt you could find 5 guys with better offensive numbers in the NBA.
I didn't use the term roleplayer.
But there is a "goto player" category he is not truly in yet. the closest you can easily come to spotting that is with ast% of his shots:
66.9% of his shots were assisted last year. Compare that to some of the true goto guys ahead of him:
38.6% Anthony
41.6% LeBron
46.3% Randolph
47.2% Durant
51.2% Howard
55.3% Cousins
59.2% Nowitzki
60.0% Aldridge
61.3% Jefferson
65.2% Griffin
65.5% Love
66.9% Davis
the SF goto guys obviously have a positional break there, and with superior ability to handle they often start possessions themselves and never pass. Nonetheless, ast% is always a pretty decent standin for "gotoness". And the higher the assist percentage, the more dependent you are on your teammates to get you a shot, on the play to work, whatever. Davis still very much is. Lot of easy points in transition. Alley oops. Got a facing jumper, and especially once Reke took over worked well with him in the p&r. Not a lot of ability to just beat a set defense on his own though.
But there is a "goto player" category he is not truly in yet. the closest you can easily come to spotting that is with ast% of his shots:
66.9% of his shots were assisted last year. Compare that to some of the true goto guys ahead of him:
38.6% Anthony
41.6% LeBron
46.3% Randolph
47.2% Durant
51.2% Howard
55.3% Cousins
59.2% Nowitzki
60.0% Aldridge
61.3% Jefferson
65.2% Griffin
65.5% Love
66.9% Davis
the SF goto guys obviously have a positional break there, and with superior ability to handle they often start possessions themselves and never pass. Nonetheless, ast% is always a pretty decent standin for "gotoness". And the higher the assist percentage, the more dependent you are on your teammates to get you a shot, on the play to work, whatever. Davis still very much is. Lot of easy points in transition. Alley oops. Got a facing jumper, and especially once Reke took over worked well with him in the p&r. Not a lot of ability to just beat a set defense on his own though.
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Meh, I don't really see the difference indicating much here judging Davis "Gotoness." I mean you're talking about 7 more assisted baskets every 100 FGA for Davis over Dirk. Considering both guys take 15 FGA/game you're basically saying Davis isn't at the same level of being a #1 because he has 1 more basket assisted every game than most of the bigs below him. AST% is more of an indicator of what team you play for and who's around you on your team. If we shipped off Gay and IT and brought in Jose Calderon and Chandler Parsons, I bet a good sum of money that Cuz's Ast% would hover in that 60-65% range.
Davis certainly can improve his offensive game, which is scary to think about, but you can't just discount the 21 PPG, 6.6 FTA/game on 79% FT, 25% USG and 58 TS% as him scoring off oops, in transition, easy baskets, etc. Those are beyond elite offensive numbers for a big and probably a season that's only been duplicated by future HoF's.
Davis certainly can improve his offensive game, which is scary to think about, but you can't just discount the 21 PPG, 6.6 FTA/game on 79% FT, 25% USG and 58 TS% as him scoring off oops, in transition, easy baskets, etc. Those are beyond elite offensive numbers for a big and probably a season that's only been duplicated by future HoF's.
Taking the Kings out of the equation Phoenix and NO were the two teams I saw the most of last season. At first for Reke but eventually my focus switched to Davis and their terrible coach Monty Williams.
First off Davis isn't a complete player at this point and any argument for him over Cousins or for him as a go to player is based partly on potential. That potential is pretty obvious in my opinion if you spent any sort of time watching him this season. He flat out has the best first step of any big out there and while I haven't been watching the league as long as many around here it's one of the best I've seen over the last 15 years for a player with his size. Due to his length he covers so much space, easily getting from the elbow to the basket with one dribble. It really is Durant like the way he leaves guy and covers ground on his first move. He doesn't have the ball skills of a player like Durrant, he's not great handling the ball at this point, but he's vastly improved from where he was at Kentucky. One thing that hasn't been mentioned thus far is that Davis also has great touch both around the basket and from the perimeter. That can't be emphasized enough when were talking about his potential. If he keeps developing his ball handling he's going to be unguardable facing from the high post and possible the perimeter depending on his development. He's also a elite pick and roll player, which somehow got used in this thread to minimize his overall game.
George, along with the rest of his team, had a odd trajectory this season, but I'm not sure it's fair to say that he's topped out yet. He certainly didn't take the leap many were expecting, as he still doesn't get to the rim or even into the paint to the degree a elite swing player should. Some of that falls on the Pacers though. Indiana's spacing is terrible and outside of West their bigs stink at setting screens. Especially Hibbert who in the second half of the season suddenly decided he was more interesting in slipping ever screen rather then creating space for George. On top of that Indiana doesn't have a play makers to pair him with, resulting in very few open looks for him. I also think having two bigs clogging the paint has hurt the development of any kind of post up game. Something that a player with his physical gifts should be working on. Due to the limitations of the Pacers offense and his age I'm willing to take a wait and see approach when it comes to his efficiency, but it's a legitimate concern and one that could prevent him from ever being a top player.
First off Davis isn't a complete player at this point and any argument for him over Cousins or for him as a go to player is based partly on potential. That potential is pretty obvious in my opinion if you spent any sort of time watching him this season. He flat out has the best first step of any big out there and while I haven't been watching the league as long as many around here it's one of the best I've seen over the last 15 years for a player with his size. Due to his length he covers so much space, easily getting from the elbow to the basket with one dribble. It really is Durant like the way he leaves guy and covers ground on his first move. He doesn't have the ball skills of a player like Durrant, he's not great handling the ball at this point, but he's vastly improved from where he was at Kentucky. One thing that hasn't been mentioned thus far is that Davis also has great touch both around the basket and from the perimeter. That can't be emphasized enough when were talking about his potential. If he keeps developing his ball handling he's going to be unguardable facing from the high post and possible the perimeter depending on his development. He's also a elite pick and roll player, which somehow got used in this thread to minimize his overall game.
George, along with the rest of his team, had a odd trajectory this season, but I'm not sure it's fair to say that he's topped out yet. He certainly didn't take the leap many were expecting, as he still doesn't get to the rim or even into the paint to the degree a elite swing player should. Some of that falls on the Pacers though. Indiana's spacing is terrible and outside of West their bigs stink at setting screens. Especially Hibbert who in the second half of the season suddenly decided he was more interesting in slipping ever screen rather then creating space for George. On top of that Indiana doesn't have a play makers to pair him with, resulting in very few open looks for him. I also think having two bigs clogging the paint has hurt the development of any kind of post up game. Something that a player with his physical gifts should be working on. Due to the limitations of the Pacers offense and his age I'm willing to take a wait and see approach when it comes to his efficiency, but it's a legitimate concern and one that could prevent him from ever being a top player.
Good grief, Davis just completed his 2nd year in the league and was only 20 most of the season and put up 21 and 10, while being a strong defensive presence. If that is not beastly, I am not sure what is. His numbers are remarkably close to what CWebb did in his 2nd year. CWebb is a much better passer and Davis is a much better defender a this point. Does anyone want to argue that CWebb was never an elite #1 option? Never the go to guy?
Davis is one the best players in the league younger than 25 and he is only 21.
Davis is one the best players in the league younger than 25 and he is only 21.
But...as the point has been rather delicately made, not quite there yet. His "beastly" block/steal numbers didn't translate into great defensive impact (they were a very bad defensive team, and barely any better with him on than off (0.5pts per 100 possessions). His "beastly" scoring wasn't entirely of goto player type yet and his team did better than you'd expect without him. He's a huge young talent, but he wasn't really franchise player carrying them last year. And at age 21, that would have been a bit of an unreasonable expectation anyway. He needs to maybe fill out a bit, get a little less run jump, a little more physical. The only way the hype outran the man with Davis this year was people ascribing to him an impact today that they think he might have three years from now.
He should have been an all-star this season, no doubt. Anthony Davies got Kobe's spot simply because of politics: The weekend took place in New Orleans.
The league definitly has an issue with him, probably bacause of the technichal fouls and such...
And yet still, those stats are great and everything, but he has to grow up and mature as a leader so that he could lead the Kings to the playoffs. The team became his team right after Evans was traded.
The league definitly has an issue with him, probably bacause of the technichal fouls and such...
And yet still, those stats are great and everything, but he has to grow up and mature as a leader so that he could lead the Kings to the playoffs. The team became his team right after Evans was traded.
You and others make very good points and after re-reading the thread I probably did unintentionally create a straw-man as nobody stated that Davis would never by a go-to guy. The spirit of the argument in favor of Cousins over Davis did seem to me to partly entail Cousins being more of a goto presence than Davis. Maybe that meant just right now and I wrongly inferred it to mean right now and in the future.
Honestly, I think both of them will have 10+ all-star and all NBA seasons.
Honestly, I think both of them will have 10+ all-star and all NBA seasons.