Behind The Game of Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis has earned himself the reputation as one of the league’s elite players in the past decade. With athleticism that of a wing and the skill that of a guard, no wonder he is a nightmare on defense. In this breakdown, I will analyze the tactics and strategies he uses to create shots and opportunities for himself and his team on both ends of the court.
In the first play, Davis received an inbound pass in the mid-range area. Furthermore, Davis has an allowance of space in both his right and left side giving him enough room to go either direction. This is crucial since the spacing gives you more options in the post. After receiving the pass, he lowered his body and widen his feet which gave him balance. As you can notice, he did not go straight to his shot after receiving the ball. Instead, he surveys the court trying to spot open areas he can get to for an easy shot. In this case, the paint area. After surveying the court, he uses the back of his shoulder and his forearm to back the defender down making him off balance. Afterward, he spins in the opposite direction creating space within him and the defender. Though Davis made the shot, the defender did a great job contesting that shot since he was in front of Davis the entire play.
In the second play, Davis is in a face-up situation between himself and a wing defender. He positioned himself in a low stance with his body almost parallel to the court maximizing his balance and power. Then, Davis takes little jab steps making the defender shuffle. Noticing his defender is reacting to his movements, he took advantage of it and taking a wide jab to completely move the defender's legs creating room to drive. However, Davis did not drive the ball noticing the help coming his way adding to the fact that his defender is cutting up his driving lane. Whilst surveying the floor for a counter, he spots an open area near the block. Noticing this, he spins towards the top foot of his defender forcing him to be on the hip of Davis. This ensured Davis the basket since the defender has nothing to do but to foul if he contests.
In the third play, Davis handled the ball in the half-court signaling Matthews for a handoff play causing Matthew's defender to go over his defender blocking his view of Davis. This made the defender unable to go in Davis's space giving him the room to shoot. After the play, Davis stepped in his defender and back creating more room for his shot converting into a three-pointer
In the fourth play, Davis is now on the defensive end of the floor. Matthews and Gasol doubled no. 1 to prevent a pass to Ayton leaving Matthews's man open for a shot. Davis notices this, closing him out. Davis waited for the shooter to get onto his shot before contesting the shot. After the shooter's feet were off the ground, Davis jumped towards the side of the defender whilst still contesting the pathway of the shot causing the shot to go off. After the closeout, Davis sprinted to the other half of the court for a transition play from LeBron. Davis then received the outlet pass but was caught off by the defense. He slowed his pace down and drove past the defense but was caught off by the defense drawing a blocking foul.
In the fifth play, Caruso was bringing up the ball and passing it to Davis. Likewise, with the third play, Caruso's man rotated over Davis's man blocking his view of Davis. Davis noticed that his defender was not in a ready position. So, he fakes a shot making the defender react by moving his feet which turned into a jump. Then, Davis attacked his top foot creating an open lane for a shot. However, was cut off by the help defense. Davis could have made a bounce pass to Harrell. However, the help already covered Harrell by the time he noticed. Instead, Davis takes on the man himself using his strength and ability to finish to make the tough layup.
In the sixth and final play of the breakdown, Davis is facing his defender, squared in position. Since the defender’s position is squared, this opens up the opportunity for a jump shot. Davis noticing this, steps in and back for the extra separation taking the jump shot.
TIPS TO APPLY IN GAME
· Survey for open spots in the paint to attack
· Attack top foot to give the defender a hard time to recover
· If the defender is in a squared defensive position with ample space between you and the defender, shoot the ball or fake it for an easy shot
· If the defender has not yet transitioned to a defensive position, use it to your advantage and slash off of him.
· Shield ball from help defense
· Get a lookout on little shuffle movements in defense and go in the defender to where he is going to draw foul
· Slow pace down when you encounter defenders who are in a ready position to avoid getting clamped by them.
· Time the closeout in the grace period where the ball is still on the shooter's hand and feet are off the ground
· Avoid going in the shooter when contesting a shot instead angle yourself away from the shooter.
· Use back of shoulder and forearm to back defender down