[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

What do you guys think of Anthony Davis’s measurements?  To be sure he had fantastic wingspan and standing reach numbers but his body fat % wasn’t kind of mediocre.  Not bad, but given how skinny he appears it was a bit high. 

Being 6’10 1/2 in shoes he has great size for a power forward, but just average or so for a starting center.  Fab Melo, Ezelli, and Tyler Zeller were taller along with Meyers Leonard.

His hands were fairly small too.  Not that they are tiny Kwame Brown hands but there were lots of guys with bigger hands including Quincy Acy who is about 3 inches shorter.

I am looking forward to seeing his athletic combine numbers.

[bloodshyParticipant]

His measurements were pretty much what everyone expected.  And I wouldn’t put too much weight into the body fat %.  That’s actually not a very scientific measurement to begin with.  The methods used can be highly innacurate based on a player’s body type.  For example, if your neck is skinny compared to your waist, you come out fat, which may or may not be true.  Paul Milsap, one of the hardest working players in the game, measured at 9.7% despite being completely ripped due to his body construction.  Unless a player is way off the norm, don’t read too much into it either way.

[river09Participant]

I was surprised by the body fat % too… Just how weak is he? But that also means he could get stronger and more explosive too without changing anything about his game…

[Hi its BenParticipant]

Why do people think that he’s a center? He has perfect size, skillset, athleticism, etc. for the power forward position.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

Hi its Ben,

Everyone wants him to be the next Bill Russell.  But that guy was 6’9 back in the day.  Now you have some HUGE guys playing power forward.  Duncan, Garnett, Pau Gasol, and Serge Ibaka come to mind. 

I think Davis CAN play center.  Perkins and DeAndre Jordan aren’t that tall and are effective at center.  So he can play both spots inside which is nice.  Whatever position he plays he will be counted on for defense first and offense second.  I think he will steadily expand his offensive game.

As a sort of baseline comparison I can see Anthony Davis being a hybrid of Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace.  Ben Wallace, of course, with defense, shot blocking, rebounding, defense, toughness, leadership and a high motor, an offense 2nd or 3rd kind of guy, along with Rasheed Wallace’s size, height, length, athleticism, dunking, offensive versatility, the ability to play AND guard all three front court positions, and high basketball IQ.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 It isn’t going to be height that makes it hard for Davis to play center it will be lack of weight. You will probably need to have a strong heavy guy out there with him at all times or else your front line will get pushed around. But if you’ve got that guy on the court at PF, then Davis could play Center. There is a lot of adjustment in the game right now between PFs and Centers with lots of fluctuation between the two positions.

So it doesn’t really matter what you call the guy, just get him on the court and watch him rack up the blocks, rebounds, steals and, to a certain extent, points.  

[strobox88Participant]

Davis, given his current defensive skillset, doesn’t need anything more than he already has in order to be effective on defense at PF or even C.  Ruffing him up in the paint won’t effect him much because at some point you will need to attempt to get your shot off.  Good luck with that.

This only works for defense, though.  If you are talking about offense, yes, he will need to get stronger because probably ever Center in the NBA is stronger than him, so he will struggle to create offense for himself in the post until he develops his strength.

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