Unguardable: The Arsenal of Anthony Davis
By Spencer Darr
The Pick & Roll Offense
The pick & roll is the bread and butter of the Pelicans half-court set. Eric Gordon, Tryeke Evans, and Jrue Holliday all have the handles and jumper to be dangerous coming off a screen. But Anthony Davis is the ingredient that turns a simple play into a nightmare.
However you try and defend it, AD has another variation to counter with. Here are his main avenues of attack.
Pick & ROLL
In this play New Orleans runs a high pick & roll with Jrue Holiday and Davis, both Warrior defenders drift off AD and devastation ensues.
While Andrew Bogut waits in the paint for Holiday, Davis slips free – at that point it is already too late for the defense.
Pick & Pop
As Kirk Goldsberry explained earlier this season, Anthony Davis is the league’s most lethal 2-point scorer. His shot chart has kept the video team at Golden State up since Wednesday night.
Anthony Davis 2015 Shot Chart | Kirk Goldsberry – Grantland
AD converts a scorching 69% of shots near the rim, which is why you can’t allow him to slip free on the roll. But his high conversion % at the top of the key is what truly opens up New Orleans’ offense.
Even a sliver of space is too much room for Davis.
That shot goes in 52% of the time, but Davis doesn’t just settle for jumpers.
Want to hone in on AD’s mid-range game? Good luck. Bogut nearly trips over himself at the mere thought of Davis pulling up.
One dribble, two steps, 3-point play. Davis is clinical, patiently picking apart defenses across four quarters. Typically power forwards with range lack mobility, but AD is a blue chip athlete with refined ball-handling abilities.
Davis’s massive wingspan and sick hops allow him to finish tough shots at the rim comfortably above his defenders. Again, off a pick, AD shames Kenneth Faried with that patient, pathological precision.
Faried does an admirable job of staying with AD, but can’t account for a running left-handed floating layup.
Just off the pick & roll play Davis has four different moves to get great shots against essentially any defender.