#1) You didn't even answer the actual question about notwithstanding?
#2) Because I didn't agree with you about Ricky Rubio, you think its pointless to try to tell me what to expect from a extremely talented 19 year old rookie? Weak. I might be a bit conventional about positions, and rookies at times, but you've got a few very accurate projections. I'm willing to listen, and kind of offended that you think I'm either too set in myways to give it an honest try, or too dumb to understand the implications you're making.
And that's with the hope that you don't think I'm so much of a jerk that I'd just ask a question so I can tell you you're wrong.
1) I don't know! It's 14th century Middle English that only lawyers use now.
2) Yeah, I realize my first answer is too woeful. But answers to the question you're asking are all over the internets, and statistical flights of fancy tend to go over with a thud here. So it's not that I feel it's pointless to argue with you, I feel it's pointless to argue with anybody. I'm a convert to SO's rule of thumb, keep it succinct.
Caveat, I'm an NBA head, not a college basketball head, but where does his freshman season rank?
• Unanimous first-team All-American.
• Voted best freshman of the year, winning the Wayman Tisdale Award.
• Won the Wooden Award, Naismith Award, Adolph Rupp Trophy and AP Player of the Year.
• Broke the NCAA freshman block record and won AP Defensive Player of the Year honors.
• Named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament while leading his team to a national championship.
• Consensus #1 pick and now a U.S. Olympian.
And you and Roy and KC can joke, but I think the Olympic selection is a meaningful impact on his development, and it's got me even more excited for the kid. It's basically training camp with the NBA's Avengers.
In terms of player comparisons, as a 19 year-old freshman he was rebounding (11.6 per 36 versus 9.65), stealing the basketball (1.52 vs 1.14) and blocking shots (5.31 vs. 4.56) at a higher rate than Marcus Camby did at any point in his college career, while - and this I find really impressive - fouling at a lower rate (2.19 vs 3.1).
So then I'd set Camby's rookie year 14.8 and 6.3 with 1 steal and 2 blocks as Davis's basement. He's going to be better than that. He's so much quicker and his body control is better.
If that answer is too dry for you? DraftExpress say his best case scenario is Blake Griffin meets Tyson Chandler.
My only cause for concern short-term is that while he's phenomenal at finishing anything around the rim, he needs passes and New Orleans after dumping Jarrett Jack has the worst guard rotation in the league. That team is one Eric Gordon set back from starting Vasquez and Roger Mason. How u.
First, sorry for not getting to this earlier. Slipped through the cracks somehow. I asked for it, and it was a faux-pas on my part. (yes, I did that so you could mock me using 'faux pas')
Second, yeah I'm coming around to Anthony Davis. He's playing a ton at the Olympics with or without a jersey which means his rookie production is fast-tracked this season.
I'm coming around on the Warriors. Pragmatically, if Anthony Davis can get some good looks, he's a lock for rookie of the year, and he'll get all the minutes his uni-brow can handle, and then some. He seems like a great kid with maturity beyond his unibrow, so I unibrow that his learning curve will be minimal, to the point where he might as well be a sophomore by the time the playoffs roll around.
Plus you've got Warriors (no pun not intended) around him like Manu and Iggy who are also very very good playmakers for their traditional positions. Anthony Davis should flourish there, and I agree with you that your basement is a very conservative estimate.
Yeah I'm sold on Anthony Davis. He'll get pushed around by some centers for a year or two but there are precious few of those guys, and Miami proved that with dynamic defenders and uber athleticism, you can overcome that increasingly outdated notion of centers dominating the game, and still win. For every 1-step power dunk a Bynum or Howard rains down on him, he'll be altering 2 or 3 shots that might have gone in anyways.
And the Bethlehem Shoals piece I read verbatim over the phone to my buddy with the preface, "Wanna know why I think basketball blogs are head and shoulders above ESPN or Newspapers?"