Former University of Kentucky star Anthony Davis might not have played in the United States Olympic Team victory over Brazil, but actually got in the game in the first half Thursday during a 118-78 exhibition win in London over Great Britain..
Davis scored 11 points, with four dunks, blocked four shots, grabbed three rebounds, and had one assist in his first playing time since the Dominican Republic contest in Las Vegas.
Here’s what his coach and teammates had to say about him after the game:
Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Your views on Anthony Davis’ play tonight?
Well he’s a developing pro. He’s the best college player in the country, I really thought by far. He wasn’t sure he was even going to be on the team. He joined us almost 10 days late, so he’s catching up, getting the knowledge of our system. Tonight, he played really well. When we went zone, the physicality of the game did not enter into his game. He was able to roam free and that may be a weapon for us – we go zone and have Anthony in the middle because he can certainly block some shots. He did a great job for us.
Tyson Chandler
Is Anthony Davis a polished NBA player already?
No, no, he’s not polished yet. But he looks really good out there. It shows that he has a bright future ahead of him. I was really excited for him. Just getting thrown out there, I thought he did an excellent job
Do you think with Davis, he’s showing young kids that defense is as important as offense?
Absolutely. He has great potential on both ends. He has a great opportunity to be a great defender, as well as on the offensive end.
Deron Williams
Your views on Anthony Davis’ play tonight?
I just think like Coach said he’s a young player. He’s already a proven player at the college level, and he’s trying to prove his way on with us. His athleticism, his energy level – those things you can’t really teach. What he does with the amount of floor he covers on defense is amazing, and he doesn’t even really know how to play the game yet. Once he figures out that, he definitely can be a scary player, a franchise player. You can tell.
16 Responses to Anthony Davis gets chance to play, impresses Krzyzewski, teammates with his defense in victory
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I would have liked to have seen what Kobe thought and LeBron too! I wonder if Kobe is staying away from AD after the comment AD made? LOl
So proud of Ad and especially proud of TJ and how well he is doing in the summer league. He is where he wanted to be all along.
I just can’t wait for the season to start. So far I have not said the ‘b’ word or bought or worn anything blue and white!!!
What did AD say?
Nevermind.
USA Basketball didn’t have any comments from him, but hoping to track down something with Anthony in the next week for you
Thanks Larry.
Davis covers more turf on defense than ANY player I’ve ever seen play the game. He can be set up on the low block and get out and block a 3 shooter when the shooter thought he was wide open. He just takes two big steps and sticks those long arms up and you have to shoot like Mike Flynn to get over him (rainbow, ceiling duster bombs). The ball would have ice on it when it came down after a Flynn shot.
Davis makes you shoot those type of shots to get the ball over him. You can sneak around him and shoot when he has his back turned but if he’s watching and he has a clear lane to get out on you then watch out. And like one of the all time greats, Bill Russell, he keeps the ball in play after he blocks shots. I saw Russell play a lot. I really think Davis is a better defender. But then Wilt averaged 30 ppg and 30 rpg against Bill so maybe Russell wasn’t the best. Wilt had a much tougher time against Kareem even when Wilt was still in his prime.
At any rate, I really believe Davis will be respected the same way those guys were when they played. If he develops a great jump shot from outside he could easily be the best basketball player ever IMO.
In the first half Kobe went out of his way to feed Davis the rock. I’m sure Kobe has no hard feelings toward Davis’ previous comments.
What did Kobe say about A.D.? Have not heard it. Also, Yes we all know A.D. is young and strength may be an issue , but he is not a weakling. For goodness sakes , they make it sound like he is a wafer, the kid can play , and he can play at the highest level and he can make anyone on that olympic eat it. I think if given the chance he is gonna show the world that he is a star. Go A.D.
It was Davis that was talking about Kobe & as usual his comments were blown out of proportion by the national media. Davis actually showed his respect & admiration for Kobe. All happened B-4 the Olympic team – Around June 25th Davis said;
“He’s a monstor. So I just want to go out there and play my hardest. There’s a lot of guys that can’t stop Kobe. So if I stop him, I could be one of the guys that say – I shut Kobe Down”.
What is he supposed to say – Kobe is so good that I won’t even guard him?
I think the he & Kobe have a good relationship in spite of this publicity.
Someone also asked AD if he had a “Feud with Thomas Robinson! Davis said;
“There is no feud. He is the coolest guy that I have met. I have no feud with him.”
Again – Some media people trying to sensationalize.
I agree with your comnments. And always enjoy King’s comments as well.
Does anyone know how many minutes A.D. played yesterday?
AD did that in all of 12 minutes of play. WOW!
I agree – Wow!
- And Krazykuski thinks he needs to learn his system or learn the sets??
Larry i thought coach K was leading the great charge agaisnt the unjust one and dones and coach an player in which he made statements about . One of the many faces of coach K . Taking his quotes and actions someone should write an book for an few dollars more the prune.This man could set every record in sports history and he’s still an smack in the sports face
Speaking of the “prune” K was in full prune mode when PRESIDENT Obama was joking with AD about his unibrow and carrying the bags for the team. K looked like he was going to pop because someone was stealing his spotlight. Seriously he clearly did not like it one bit that someone upstaged him. I’m sure he loves bossing around players like James and Bryant and Durant. Plus Chandler who makes Davis look like a short guy who should still be playing guard. I know those guys aren’t going to be crazy about listening to Mr. Macho with his Boob Knight approach to coaching. I can just see Kobe knuckling under and slapping the floor and flopping all over the floor. Kobe thinks this team could beat the dream team (he’s that crazy) so the idea that he would think any college coach can teach him anything is laughable. My guess is K can’t handle this team at all with his third rate play sets. The guy is not that good of a coach. Heck even Tubby out coached the jerk back in 1998 and he did it badly and Tubby is no Pitino or Calipari or Self or Izzo. And don’t even get me started comparing him to Rupp. Rupp still has the highest winning percentage of any coach that wasn’t driven out of basketball because of cheating. His percentage is far higher than K’s. K has 40 more wins than Rupp but he has over 100 more losses. And Rupp didn’t have the entire national media carrying his water for him like K does. It was just the opposite just like it is now. The media has tried to drag down UK since they first started winning national titles (including the Helm’s Trophy and other titles that pre-date the NCAA tourney). The media does matter because a lot of idiots believe their horse manure. Fortunately we have Larry as a counter to all that bias. Larry is a real reporter IMO.
At any rate I don’t think K can convince players like James and Bryant that he knows more about basketball than they do. Heck no one has ever done that with Kobe. And his sour puss attitude is just going to make things much worse. We might lose in these games because of K and his rotten attitude. I still can’t imagine putting someone like him in charge of anything. I wouldn’t let my kids play on a middle school team he was coaching.
Kobe will retire before Davis gets really adapted to the pro game. After AD has been in the NBA 3yrs he will be the BOSS/
the franchise…gotta love it