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If Anthony Davis makes a couple baskets in a row tonight, Jazz coach Quin Snyder might not immediately change up his team's defensive match up.
"He's going to do that to the next guy he matches up with," Snyder said in the run up to tip-off.
Davis, the New Orleans Pelicans budding superstar, has been a nightmare for defenders around the league so far this season. He's third in the league in scoring, averaging 24.8 points a game. He's seventh in rebounding (11.2). And he's averaging 3.7 blocks a night.
"You have to defend him in so many ways," Snyder said. "They'll take him to the low post. He'll reject screens and come to the top of the floor and shoot jump shots. He'll roll in pick-and-roll. He'll pop in pick-and-roll. He can put the ball on the floor. There really isn't one way you can say, 'Hey, we're going to defend him and take this away.' You just try to make him work for his baskets."
Davis has been on a steady ascent to becoming one of the NBA's best since he was drafted in 2012.
It seems safe to say he has arrived.
Even in last night's 20-point defeat in Denver, Davis managed 18 points and nine rebounds. "You look at the stat sheet," New Orleans coach Monty Williams said, "and the numbers still look good. Just not off the scale like they have been."
Pelicans center Omer Asik has a lower back injury and won't play tonight. But Davis is trouble enough on his own down low.
"He just works at it," Williams added. "He takes coaching really well. Our guys had big time remorse after that loss last night. He's probably got more remorse than anybody after a loss. He's always in it. No matter what the situation is, he's always locked in."
That mental leap has been Davis' biggest jump this year, Williams said. "Mentally he's taken a big step. He wants to win. I know guys are going to follow him."
— Aaron Falk