It’s not about where Anthony Davis is now, but how he plans to separate himself from the rest of the NBA elite. @RobMahoney: https://t.co/tkXJCEUqGN
— The Ringer (@ringer) December 26, 2020
After years of flashing his immense potential, Davis may finally be ready to showcase the total package this season.
. . .
After all, most of the engineering needed to advance Davis’s career is already done. Last summer, he straightened out his footwork (and thus his entire shot) with Mike Penberthy, a former Pelicans assistant whom Davis sought out for help and later recommended to the Lakers. (Although that kind of referral goes a long way, the organization was probably already familiar with Penberthy from his stint coming off the bench for L.A. in the Shaq and Kobe era.) Now the two work together daily, or as close to daily as the NBA schedule allows. Penberthy helped Davis iron out some of the inconsistencies in his form, from the angle of his toes up through the way the ball rolled off his fingers. The goal, as with any shooter, is to reach a place of infinite repeatability. Of mass production. After a drawn-out first season with the Lakers, Davis is on his way. The teammates and coaches in his ear tell him to keep shooting.
…
The open-ended nature of Davis’s game is what makes him a compelling MVP candidate. For most bigs, long-range shooting is just another way to stay on the floor as the game gets smaller and faster. It’s a safety net. But for Davis, the threat of the 3 intensifies everything that already makes him so dangerous. When Vogel said that Davis’s shooting helps the Lakers win, he wasn’t just referring to some abstract benefit of spacing the floor that could lift up the team’s supporting cast. Davis pushing his range helps the Lakers win because it makes him undeniable. It takes the desperate plans of desperate teams and artfully deconstructs them—first with a turnaround jumper, then with a face-up drive, and finally, with the gutting deflation of a stepback 3. Then, when the opposing team reaches the end of its optimism, they will resort to loading up on Davis in some self-destructive way, assuming, of course, that they aren’t already doing the same with LeBron.
Terrific article about Anthony Davis from Rob Mahoney of the Ringer. Loved the information about AD recommending Penberthy to the Lakers from his time with him in New Orleans. Mike certainly deserves credit for helping AD refine his shooting. Remember, he was just barely an 80% free throw shooter before last year when he jumped to 85% and may be at 90% this year.
Good stuff by Rob on Vogel’s pushing Davis to shoot more threes and how that makes the Lakers a better team and sets up AD as the next great NBA player. I’ve long said the next decade won’t belong to Giannis or KD or Kawhi. It will belong to Anthony Davis.
When AD and Lebron are on the floor together and clicking, it’s almost unfair. Especially for whomever is guarding AD. And I use that term loosely 😂.
lol. And when you add Dennis and Trezz, it is completely unfair. We’re going to see a lot of high scoring blow outs this season. It will be the Lakers’ version of load management.