Anthony Davis was flat out the best player in college basketball, and deserves to be the top pick by far.
1. Anthony Davis 6-11 220lbs Kentucky Freshman PF/SF
2011-12 stats: 32 mpg, 14.2 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 4.7 bpg, 1.4 spg, 62% fg, 71% ft
Prediction: Top pick in the draft
Strengths: Anthony Davis has lived up to the hype and some in his one year at Kentucky, leading the Wildcats to a national championship and winning the national player of the year, along with the defensive player of the year award. Davis had a rare growth spurt between his sophomore and junior season, growing from 6-4 to 6-9 and eventually stopping at 6-11. He went from a player who was unknown and playing in the lowest level of high school basketball in Chicago, to being the number one ranked high school player in the 2011 class in a year.
He is a rare talent, while he is now 6-11, Davis still has the speed, quickness, and mobility of a wing player and it allowed him to dominate the college game defensively. He has the ability to switch on pick and rolls, actually guard wing players as well as he does bigs in the paint. His ability to block shots is as good as I’ve seen in a long time, his second jump is amazing and he doesn’t throw the shots away, he controls them after the block and starts the fastbreak.
Offensively, he still has the ball handling skills and shooting touch of a guard and it allows him to take defenders his size away from the basket and beat them off of the dribble. He has some game with his back to the basket, but is still working on it. You have to keep a body on him, because he will kill you with putbacks on the offensive boards and alley oops.
Weaknesses: Davis obviously needs to add good weight and strength to his frame, and with time and maturity it should come. Remember he’s only 19 years old. Other then that, he has no other glaring holes in his game.
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