Official ANTHONY DAVIS Thread

[drae]

[Artest4Three]

[drae]

[lakersboi1993]

They should sit him for this week are at least till Saturday

[lounger]

Seems like Vogel hasn't really put to work any specific plays to get AD free or at least make it easier for him to score or facilitate more. Not much P&R too. He's been covered by double teams the past few games though. I just wish we'd run more sets to take advantage of his game... unless whatever they've been doing is it already.

[miggz23]

[ringfinger]

Officially concerned about AD.

Not about his ability to help us win games, but in his health and to a lesser degree, his role on the offensive end.

[LakerSD]

[yinoma2001]

Yeah, a bit disturbing that AD is clearly not looking 100% out there.

But at the same time, love his attitude and he's still killing it on defense (and great passing).
_________________
From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals

[wolfpaclaker]

Have to understand that even if AD is not dominant on a consistent basis, he is the guy that complements Lebron. You need a player who the opposing defense is scheming and planning for, and you clearly see they are for AD. This is opening the game for our shooters, cutters and Lebron as well.

You never saw that with last year's group and Lebron. There was just no chemistry like that, where you could rely on someone to open up the game for Lebron and get shooters great open looks.

AD is just not looking great 1 on 1, but there are so many things his presence is doing for the team.

[55]

I'm hoping he's not getting comfortable taking a backseat to Lebron on the offensive end.

[yinoma2001]

[wolfpaclaker]

I think one of the things that we aren't looking at is this is probably the most true 4 (position wise) and halfcourt offense- AD has played in his career or at least since he established himself as a superstar.

The way we play is so different to how he played as a Pelican the last few years. The offense in New Orleans was a lot quicker, less big man/4 stuff, and more just play pace + space, use his guard skills. He has fallen in love with that game, and established those habits. Then, now he comes in, and Vogel is utilizing him like a true superstar 4, sort of like a modern day Tim Duncan role.

To really utilize AD's strengths at 4, we need someone like Rondo and LBJ throughout feeding him. When neither do, and we just dump it to AD or let him handle the ball, the results are mixed. We have to go away from that. We want AD to establish deep low post position, and then get him the ball there. We don't want him isolating or taking low percentage shots outside 1 on 1. Lebron still hasn't really figured out the timing of many of his lob entries or post passes to AD. Rondo had one really nice one yesterday to AD.

Overall, I do not think we should be worried about AD's offense from inside. We need to be worried that AD thinks he is a shooting guard, and a better Porzingis. Which sure he has the talent to be, but we want him thinking, get the higher percentage shot, closer to the basket. Two things. 1) We need our guards to get him the ball the moment he establishes that good post position. 2) We need AD to get the mentality that he wants to dominate inside. He uses his elite guard skills but closer to the basket. Get the catches there. Not so far out.

Still, to make it work, it makes a lot of sense to have AD out there where he is, in the Tim Duncan role. We have Dwight and McGee beasting inside. We have Lebron getting great driving lanes. This is because AD is both capable to be a stretch 4 and a post up 4. We just want him to understand that his bread and butter scoring wise needs to be inside, and the stretch 4 stuff is to keep the defense guessing what we're gonna do, and to have good spacing. Ironically, it seems that AD's highest value to the team is at 4, where he allows Dwight and McGee to dominate the glass/defense/inside finishes, and allows Lebron and the perimeter shooters to get more open looks from outside. Not to mention the defensive help he gives. I'd be interested to see what AD's numbers would look like if we went completely away from using him at 5, aside from the close out of 4th Q's. If we do that, I think he will be better and we will be better. I began to see a decline in his impact on O once Kuzma came back and we saw Frank use AD at the 5 much earlier in games. I do not think this is the right thing to do with AD.

[LandsbergerRules]

[epak]

[LandsbergerRules]

[ocho]

[yinoma2001]

[yinoma2001]

I mean, he can run the actions he did for an in prime-David West.
_________________
From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals

[Jesusdelonla]

Stop the post dump and get him involved while moving the Ball

[levon]

I don't like fact that AD's getting post touches with very little off-ball action. He's basically forced to lower his shoulder into a center most of the time, which is why he opts for the mid-range fadeaway. Similarly, that handoff into a side PnR isn't going to work well with Lebron, because teams will opt to switch that immediately since no one can come over from the weak side in time, and a switch off Lebron often means a strong wing that can push AD at a lower center of gravity.

Come playoff time, he'll look far more aggressive 1 on 1. But right now, they should be involving him in high PnR because he's an excellent short roll passer, and if the defense doesn't switch, it's going to be an alley-oop to McGee/Dwight or a corner 3 every time. He needs more space and runway.

Ironically, Lebron playing point has actually hurt his game I think, because now everyone throws their absolute best at guarding that. A lower profile pg like Rondo or Jrue wouldn't command a switch, which means it would be a far more prolific action. They also wouldn't have a wing guarding them.

The other thing with his low shot attempts have been teams throwing hard doubles at him immediately at the elbow/low post and forcing him to pass. I think he's been getting better at this with film work.

[Killer_Z]

I love AD, but have any of you noticed how bad his passing skills are? Thankfully we have enough players who can make the extra pass, that he can just focus on finishing.

[LandsbergerRules]

[ringfinger]

There’s also a political aspect to all of this. Is AD happy to not be as featured? I think we have to ensure we are doing whatever it takes to keep him happy.

[LandsbergerRules]