The biggest addition to Anthony Davis' skill-set this season: An elite post-up game

[Im Still Ballin]

Anthony Davis has never been a good post-up player... Until this season. He appears stronger, particularly in the lower body. He's able to use his weight to get good positioning and back a guy down. He gets deep in the paint and utilizes a reliable jump hook. Absolutely cooks mismatches.

NBA.com shot-type data is vague but he's shooting 55.1% on roughly two jump hooks per game so far this season. 38/69 FG in 35 games. He's on track for around 162 attempts over an 82-game season, which easily eclipses his volume in any other season.

2023-24: 69 attempts in 35 games.
2022-23: 73 attempts in 56 games.
2021-22: 41 attempts in 40 games.
2020-21: 32 attempts in 36 games.
2019-20: 49 attempts in 62 games.
2018-19: 51 attempts in 56 games.
2017-18: 67 attempts in 75 games.

In the past, his high center of gravity and relative lack of lower body strength rendered him ineffective from the pivot. But now that he's stronger, more physical, and committed to the center position, he can get deeper position and finish with a deft touch.

His back-to-the-basket numbers are right there with Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic - the two best post players in the association.

Anthony Davis:

- 4.4 post-up possessions per game (4th in the league)
- 19.6% of total offense
- 1.14 points per possession (2nd among players with at least 3.1 attempts per game)
- 58.2% FG; 19.6% FT frequency

Joel Embiid:

- 6.0 post-up possessions per game (1st in the league)
- 19.4% of total offense
- 1.15 points per possession (1st among players with at least 3.1 attempts per game)
- 56.0% FG; 20.4% FT frequency

Nikola Jokic:

- 5.8 post-up possessions per game (2nd in the league)
- 25.6% of total offense
- 1.13 points per possession (3rd among players with at least 3.1 attempts per game)
- 59.1% FG; 15.5% FT frequency

[SATAN]

He has been excellent bar a couple games earlier in the season. Worthy of MVP consideration if the Lakers sort out their issues and win more games. How there is no talk of it already outside Lakers fans is strange. LeBron and co should keep trying to get him going like early last game. Shades of 2020 AD. It's now or never to take those keys. Literally.

Lakers look dangerous when they play big with AD being the defensive juggernaut. Who knows what Ham will do once Rui is back though.

[Im Still Ballin]

He has been excellent bar a couple games earlier in the season. Worthy of MVP consideration if the Lakers sort out their issues and win more games. How there is no talk of it already outside Lakers fans is strange. LeBron and co should keep trying to get him going like early last game. Shades of 2020 AD. It's now or never to take those keys. Literally.

Lakers look dangerous when they play big with AD being the defensive juggernaut. Who knows what Ham will do once Rui is back though.

He's been playing like a beast! His last 14 games:

- 14 games played
- 30.3 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.4 spg, 2.3 bpg, 2.5 topg
- 60.0% FG, 42.3% 3PT, 77.4% FT, 66.1% TS

And that doesn't even include the IST Final against Indiana!

[Xiao Yao You]

He has been excellent bar a couple games earlier in the season. Worthy of MVP consideration if the Lakers sort out their issues and win more games. How there is no talk of it already outside Lakers fans is strange. LeBron and co should keep trying to get him going like early last game. Shades of 2020 AD. It's now or never to take those keys. Literally.

Lakers look dangerous when they play big with AD being the defensive juggernaut. Who knows what Ham will do once Rui is back though.

no one talking about MVP of a .500 team? :lol

[Real Men Wear Green]

He has been excellent bar a couple games earlier in the season. Worthy of MVP consideration if the Lakers sort out their issues and win more games. How there is no talk of it already outside Lakers fans is strange. LeBron and co should keep trying to get him going like early last game. Shades of 2020 AD. It's now or never to take those keys. Literally.

Lakers look dangerous when they play big with AD being the defensive juggernaut. Who knows what Ham will do once Rui is back though.

How many players are supposed to be discussed for MVP? Especially players that are absolutely not the MVP?

[SATAN]

How many players are supposed to be discussed for MVP? Especially players that are absolutely not the MVP?

1.

[SATAN]

no one talking about MVP of a .500 team? :lol

Try watching more than 2 teams per season...

[Xiao Yao You]

Try watching more than 2 teams per season...

1 game ahead of Utah despite The Bum. Lauri for MVP!!! :cheers:

[tpols]

Thats the thing about AD. When he has a down game like 19/10 which is ~ prime Pau averages we never hear the end of it... but when has Kareem lines and drops 40/20 or averages 30/10 with elite defense we don't really hear anything. There might be one little thread on it once in a while.

[tpols]

He's been playing like a beast! His last 14 games:

- 14 games played
- 30.3 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.4 spg, 2.3 bpg, 2.5 topg
- 60.0% FG, 42.3% 3PT, 77.4% FT, 66.1% TS

And that doesn't even include the IST Final against Indiana!

And I got ridiculued for complimenting ADs jumper for a 7footer smh. I was told his jumper was "trash" lmao.

[Im Still Ballin]

And I got ridiculued for complimenting ADs jumper for a 7footer smh. I was told his jumper was "trash" lmao.

His jump shot is trash. Streaky at best. His three-point shooting is an incredibly small sample size; he's only shooting 35.9% 3PT on 1.1 attempts per game. A career 30.2% 3PT on 1.5 attempts guy. He is indisputably a poor three-point shooter. His mid-range shot is comparatively better but still unreliable. Streaky, as I said.

AD's great play has been because of his work in the paint, not on the perimeter. Rolling, cutting, posting up, cleaning the boards. Getting high-percentage looks close to the basket and drawing fouls. His average field goal distance this season is the shortest of his career.

[tpols]

His jump shot is trash. Streaky at best. His three-point shooting is an incredibly small sample size; he's only shooting 35.9% 3PT on 1.1 attempts per game. A career 30.2% 3PT on 1.5 attempts guy. He is indisputably a poor three-point shooter. His mid-range shot is comparatively better but still unreliable. Streaky, as I said.

AD's great play has been because of his work in the paint, not on the perimeter. Rolling, cutting, posting up, cleaning the boards. Getting high-percentage looks close to the basket and drawing fouls. His average field goal distance this season is the shortest of his career.

61% of AD's FGAs are not at the rim with splits of 53/38/39/36. Those are probably the best 7 footer center shooting splits in the league right now outside Jokic and Embiid and Zingis and certainly not "trash" for a center on high volume.

[Im Still Ballin]

61% of AD's FGAs are not at the rim with splits of 53/38/39/36. Those are probably the best 7 footer center shooting splits in the league right now outside Jokic and Embiid and certainly not "trash" for a center on high volume.

Shooting 38% from 10-16 ft and 39% from 16+ ft on twos is terrible. And being a center doesn't matter. And AD is by no means a high-volume perimeter shooter. He's third in the league for points in the paint. 16.8 PITP per game.

AD is just not a good perimeter shooter. He's like LeBron: streaky. Except he sucks at three-point shooting but is a little better from the mid-range. But not enough to be called good and reliable.

[tpols]

Prime Kobe has multiple years shooting around 38-39% from 10ft - 3PT range. And lots of years shooting worse than 36% from 3. Yea it was on higher volume but even some of the best midrange shooters ever shot around 40% on long 2s for many of their prime seasons so 38-39 isnt bad at all. Sorry but for a center to be doing that is definitely not trash. And furthermore being capable of hitting 80% of your FTs as a 7 footer proves AD has good shooting form.

[Im Still Ballin]

AD is getting a combined 14 possessions per game from rolling, posting up, cutting, and cleaning the boards. Add an extra 2.3 possessions from transition play for a total of 16.3 high-quality possessions.

His isolation play sucks but he only uses 1.3 possessions per game. 0.7 possessions per game as a PnR ball handler. 1.3 possessions per game as a spot-up shooter. 0.5 possessions per game from handoffs. 0.5 possessions per game from off-screens. 1.7 possessions per game from "miscellaneous" plays.

So, 22.3 possessions per game in total. Only 6 low-quality junk possessions per game. Roughly a 73/27 split.

[Im Still Ballin]

Prime Kobe has multiple years shooting around 38-39% from 10ft - 3PT range. And lots of years shooting worse than 36% from 3. Yea it was on higher volume but even some of the best midrange shooters ever shot around 40% on long 2s for many of their prime seasons so 38-39 isnt bad at all. Sorry but for a center to be doing that is definitely not trash. And furthermore being capable of hitting 80% of your FTs as a 7 footer proves AD has good shooting form.

38-39% from the midrange is below average. Davis was more reliable when he was younger (2014-2017). Was around 43.5% on higher volume. As I said, he's streaky like LeBron. He gets hot for a game, series, or playoff run.

He ebbs and flows between seasons. But he's in no way reliable and consistent. Bam Adebayo is a much better mid-range shooter.

His great play and resurgence over the last two seasons has been due to a focus on scoring in the paint. To him finally embracing the center position. Which we always knew he was better suited to. Lowest average field goal distance of his career this season. 7.3 feet.

[SATAN]

And I got ridiculued for complimenting ADs jumper for a 7footer smh. I was told his jumper was "trash" lmao.

His jumper was dog shit the previous 2 seasons.

[warriorfan]

AD isn’t a good 3 point shooter but his jumper is still good enough to keep the defense honest and not destroy spacing

[ImKobe]

And I got ridiculued for complimenting ADs jumper for a 7footer smh. I was told his jumper was "trash" lmao.

He's been a good mid-range shooter for most of his career but has struggled in some seasons in LA after the bubble run. The middy numbers aren't that great this season either but he's been trending upwards.

[Im Still Ballin]

He's been a good mid-range shooter for most of his career but has struggled in some seasons in LA after the bubble run. The middy numbers aren't that great this season either but he's been trending upwards.

Sometimes it goes like that. You'd think a guy would become a better shooter with age but it's not always the case. You see it with free throws too. Westbrook, Shaq, and LeBron were better from the line when they were younger I believe.

[ImKobe]

Sometimes it goes like that. You'd think a guy would become a better shooter with age but it's not always the case. You see it with free throws too. Westbrook, Shaq, and LeBron were better from the line when they were younger I believe.

At least I get it with Russ. He had a bunch of hand injuries that affected his shot and the league forced him to change his FT routine I believe which led to his FT% tanking.

With AD though he was borderline elite from mid-range in some seasons in NO and it just fell the fk off after 2018. Bubble AD was not too far from what he used to do in NO. He's still a great athlete and his FTs are back to being good and he's changed his game offensively.

The middy volume has gone down by a significant margin, and he's taking more shots from 3-10 ft these last 2 seasons than he ever has (over a third of his shots, up to almost 40% of his FGA this year when it was barely 20% prior to 2022 his whole career), and he's on pace to have a career-high TS% again this year so it's definitely paid off for him in the RS. I do want to see him do better from mid-range because that's the shot he'll have to make in the POs when it gets tough.