Anthony Davis Discussion: Sore Tummy

AD has been fine. In fact there was a stretch there where he peaked performance wise in the regular season. In the playoffs he has been a monster defensively. We absolutely have some great parts, it’s just filling in the gaps.

 

Would have won this game if AD didn’t get the yips. Blew a lot of good and easy looks. Should have defended Jokic 1 on 1 when Jokic started going off and in foul trouble.

 

For Luka, yes.

For Kyrie....

 

his defense had no impact on Jokic and while jokic didn't avg high blocks Den def was better than the lakers n den didn't even have to double AD like lakers had to with Jokic n he still burned them on doubles

 

The 5 less points is a big deal in a series the Lakers lost by the following margins 6pts, 5 pts, 11 points, 2 pts. average margin 6 points!

I think AD gets way too much flack as he is easily the best defender in the NBA in my book but the one thing he needs to do is fix the jump shot. The bubble Davis was a threat everywhere and since he doesn't like to bang, get working on that 3 points jumper. The jumper he had in the Bubble was the key to them winning the title and frankly probably a big reason they didn't win the title this year.

Doesn't mean he isn't a great player but objectively yes he's not as good as he once was. On the bright side there really isn't a reason he's can't become a good to even great 3 point shooter. If Brook Lopez can do it I don't see why Davis who has a very good form on his jumper can't either

 

his perimeter fg% has gone down every yr since bubble

 

I think there's some ish going on with AD and Bron...... Prolly fed up of each other and how he doesn't give it his all

 

Going up against a strong physical center like Jokic (who happens to currently be the best player in the world) is like the worst possible matchup for AD (and for our team considering we haven’t really had a true backup center).

The up’s and downs of AD’s offensive engagement are annoying, but I still think not 100% on his shoulders (we need to schematically create better/more looks for him). Plus he DID have 2 great offensive games this series.

On defense, AD has proven he is one of the most dominant defenders of this generation. Can single-handedly take over certain games (and even series) with his defense.

And can we talk about his availability? I mean I know ideally this would be the expectation and not anything to write home about, but with AD we know that’s not realistic. After his foot injury in December, there was talk that it could require surgery, potentially being season ending, etc. But then he came back sooner than projected in January… and then pretty much remained available for the rest of the season, including fighting through some other minor injuries here and there.

Not going to lie, I did NOT see that coming. Hopefully it’s a sign that he’s been doing something right in regards to his approach that will continue to pay dividends for his durability going forward.

Overall, I’m satisfied with AD’s production this season. Moving him is NOT the answer. Only scenario that makes sense is if Lebron does actually retire and we pivot to a different direction

 

Still not buying the “tiger within” was any less game 4 than 3. It’s basketball at the highest level against the best or next best team in the league and his effort on defense was still there with the shots on offense harder to come by, maybe or likely due to further Denver adjustments. And a lot of the ones made the game prior not dropping this time.

Freaking Jokic was unconscious with two more, all tolled three or four in the series …. impossibly difficult and well defended deep launched shots at the end of 24 seconds.

 

Yeah. I’m with Lowe here who has apparently had enough with the lack of actual analysis on these shows.

 

If we got more out of some of these guys that we traded for, we wouldn't be having this discussion. My two best players both dropped 40 pts in this series, besides Austin and Rui...we didn't get a whole lot from the rest. The bubble team had more than 4 guys stepping up.

 

No it's not but it's on him to be better offensively as Bron is getting older .

AD will tell you this himself

 

I'm sure he would,but he can't cover for everyone else either.

 

he did match Jokic in the bubble, so why now people saying its ok that he cant match Jokic now?

 

Because we aren't in the bubble, and this particular team isn't the same one that we had in the Bubble.

 

If you switch teams with AD and Jokic, I have the Nuggets going to the finals., Nuggets have a solid overall team

 

Lebron was top 5 in the NBA in the bubble, the Finals MVP. You can't understate that part at all either.