by Patrick ‘Rey’ Reynell
Going into these Olympics, the buzz word around the US men’s basketball team has been “small ball.” Coach Krzyzewski would bring his Duke-brand of free-flowing offense and a 4-out, 1-in system that would actually benefit the Americans’ personnel. How could anyone blame him?
He doesn’t have perhaps the world’s most dominant center, Dwight Howard, at his disposal since Howard took these Olympics off to repair a back issue. Coach K also lost Blake Griffin when he tore his meniscus after a scrimmage. That left Team USA’s frontcourt consisting of reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Tyson Chandler, and 6’10” power forward Kevin Love, winner of this year’s NBA three-point contest.
Griffin’s sudden departure from the roster leaves Coach K with an enticing strategy change: having 6’9″ LeBron James and 6’8″ Carmelo Anthony, both small forwards and more than capable of guarding opposing big men, play the 4-position in some lineups. Offensively, this allows the US to spread the floor even more effectively with Chandler being the only true post player.
Coach K called on Anthony Davis to fulfill Griffin’s spot. Though Davis is no slouch (NCAA men’s player of the year and national champion his freshman season at Kentucky as well as the number one overall draft pick by New Orleans), some have questioned just how many minutes he should not only get, but also deserve, on a team that includes multiple NBA MVPs, champions and all-stars galore.
During exhibitions, however, USA team president, Jerry Colangelo, stated his displeasure with Kevin Love. The Minnesota Timberwolves forward was expected to fulfill a much needed hole in rebounding, but saw his minutes diminish as exhibitions came to a close.
Going into London, the critics started chirping that with no “love” being shown, along with Chandler’s susceptibility to foul trouble (only five fouls merits an ejection in international play), that Team USA might run into issues with squads possessing legit, NBA-caliber post presences like Brazil and Spain. It has been suggested that after Tyson Chandler, no options exists. None? Really?
Well – there is one option that seems to be overlooked. The 6’10” Davis has been dubbed the “12th man” of this roster and according to professional basketball accolades, with good reason. Regardless, the Olympics for men’s basketball should not be “what have you done” but rather “what can you do” type of contest, and Anthony Davis can clearly do many things on the basketball court.
Due to a complete blowout of Tunisia in the second half of Team USA’s second game of these London Olympics, Davis saw his minutes nearly double from 8 in the first game against France to 14. He finished with 12 points (10 of which came off dunks), 3 rebounds, and 1 block. More importantly, however, is how he played. InsideHoops.com tweeted this after the game:
Love the way Anthony Davis came in, cut nonstop, created passing lanes, and caught lob after lob as a result.
#NBA— InsideHoops.com (@InsideHoops) July 31, 2012
That’s the absolute truth. Davis’s activity in the low post just seemed to open up everything even more for the Americans. And forget about helping on penetration if defending Davis; he has an uncanny ability to make his defender lose him and retrieve any lob thrown his way. The same can be said about defending Davis when he ball screens. If opposing teams do not have a tight game plan for it, Davis knows when to slip, roll, or widen out for one of those entertaining lobs.
Granted, Tunisia has no NBA talent, and its posts are far from competitive; nonetheless, Davis is offensively gifted enough to play with such an offensive style and point guards like Deron Williams and Paul. So why shouldn’t Anthony Davis play more?
Size may become an issue against the likes of Brazil and Spain. Although Love’s rebounding edge seems to have returned, Davis’ wingspan and defensive playmaking could prove a vital element against Tiago Splitter, Nene Hilario, and the Gasol brothers. Coupled with Chandler’s foul trouble issues, Davis’s time should be now in the group stage.
This is an international competition; there is no time to acclimate or “bring along” youth. Such a suggestion in these style tournaments is simply wasting a roster position, especially with a team that has loads of talent at its disposal. If Davis wasn’t ready, then someone else should have been chosen. Coach K and Colangelo knew he was.
Simply put, Davis was chosen because he already is one of the best post players in America. He doesn’t need to “serve his time.” His time is now.
Great points. It only seems logical that the U.S, would break in Davis during these early games. Here’s hoping Coach K and Colangelo grab a spot on the Pine and read this. Hahaha
That would be something. Something tells me that Coach K doesn’t read too much about himself or his teams though.
It became clear to me that Davis is more than competent to back up Chandler and be one of the first off the bench only by priority if Chandler gets into foul trouble. Maybe Davis gets pushed around a little bit against more physical guys like Nene, but you can’t cancel out his athleticism and basketball IQ. I wonder how much goes into the decision not to play him because of fear of angering someone else. I heard yesterday that everyone on the team has taken a liking to Davis’ demeanor and he’s well liked on the team.
I am not the biggest Davis fan (how can that frame be affective in an 82-game NBA season plus playoffs?) but I find his work ethic and attitude very refreshing. This is an incredibly opportune experience for him; a chance to play with the best in the business for the summer might be the difference between him becoming Marcus Camby or transforming into an “Amare’ Stoudemire meets Kevin Garnett” type a scary thought.
My question is what will this summer spell for Kevin Love’s future? Coming off the heels of his best season, he was heralded as the best PF in the world by many, including Chuck Barkley (and myself). He is one of the three best rebounders in the NBA and with a fraction of the size of Dwight Howard/Andrew Bynum. Suddenly the USA Basketball team loses Dwight, Bynum and Blake to injuries, and it seems naturally that Love will start every game (or just be the #2 big man in Coach K’s Duke-styled rotation) and evolve into one of the world’s largest basketball figures (ala Barkley at the ’92 Olympics).
Instead, Love has posted 14 rebounds in 3 games and despite shooting at a very high rate and scoring well off the bench, he has not looked very good at all guarding opposing post players. Ben Romdhane (Tunisia) and Diogue (Nigeria) and even Turiaf for France played really confidently in the post. Not really on Chandler or Davis… Love has to step up on defense. He is too big and talented not too.
Romdhane was awesome. Interesting take on Love; he’s really been the enigma of this team after such a stellar NBA year. I can’t put my finger on it either. He is shooting the lights out from 3, but then again, who isn’t after yesterday’s record breaking performance.
In regards to Davis, I am growing to like him more and more. He doesn’t seem too arrogant. Great comment about his frame, which I believe will cause him to be absolutely exhausted by game #50 and just trail off by end of this rookie year of his. BUT – he will only be 20 in March and I wonder how much his reported late growth spurts have to do with his current frame. When you shoot up quickly late, doesn’t your body weight have to catch up to you? I imagine that he’ll bulk up a little once he gets into the NBA style of training and doing this as a living.