Austin Davis Appreciation Thread
I thought the lone bright spot in this game deserves its own thread.
Along with maybe Eli Brooks, Austin Davis was the only player who had anything resembling a good game. In 13 minutes, he had 9 points, shot a perfect 4-4 from the field, and grabbed 3 boards. I've posted this before, but in watching Davis this season, there has never been a moment when I felt he could have made a play but didn't. He was asked to do a lot in going up against Kofi Cockburn (to whom he gives up 2 inches and 35 lbs) when Hunter was in foul trouble, but I thought he held his own. He even made a couple of nice shots over him by taking tough angles when it looked like he had nowhere to go.
This team is extremely well-coached. They'll learn from this loss, shake it off, and hit practice Wednesday with a renewed intensity and laser sharp focus. On to the next one. Beat Sparty.
He also had a ridiculous 4 turnovers in 13 minutes. Davis deserves tons of credit, but it's an odd night for an appreciation thread.
A few very weak turnovers. Like, a guy just steals his dribble with ease.
4 TOs is a lot for sure, but you don't dribble like you run with a football. The only one I can recall from memory was when he was dribbling trying to make a move against Cockburn and an Illinois guard just swiped it from behind.
To Davis defense, late in the first half there was a screen shot that showed Michigan standing on the parameter, not moving.
they played hungover
It says a lot about how the game went that Davis trying to back down Kofi Cockburn was our best offense. He's very valuable as a backup center, but anytime the offense seems to be running through him when he's against someone like Cockburn is a very bad night
Yeah, he's not the most secure with the ball/aware of his surroundings (generally clumsy).
He's still probably the best version of anyone with his make up though. It's been great to see him turn into an efficient offensive player with his foibles. Ideally he'd see less time on the court, but given the situation he has been a pleasant surprise.
Yep, the on/off splits between Davis and Dickinson were actually a large reason why we lost last night
He plays his ass off and has maximized his God given talent.
That touch foul taken by Dickinson was awful.
Dickinson still can't make a jumper.
Isn't that the reason he will probably be here 3 yrs? He has a specific set of skills, that don't necessarily translate to todays NBA. If you are able to push him away from the basket, he's limited.
The flip side to that is he probably isn't going to improve his stock much by staying. My guess is he stays 1 more year. He's already strong and holds his own, but it would be good to see him next year after Camp Sanderson.
He can develop a 3 pt shot and a little of an intermediate game, over time. He never had to have one in HS. He could post everyone up with ease. Now it's not so easy. He can definitely improve his stock. He can learn to play with his face to the basket.
He definitely can step up his intermediate game, but he wasn't ever known as a 3 point threat in high school, right? If he wasn't, it doesn't seem like he's going to develop into one in just 2 years.
Shooting takes time. I was a much better shooter from deep at age 25 than 20.
He hit 40% of this 3's his senior year, but I think the volume was limited.
He'll develop his shooting range over time. Teske did, and Dickinson is far more talented.
The question is if he can develop an outside shot sufficient enough to pull guys out. I know he's an older freshman but it wouldn't be remotely crazy if an offseason of college weight training plus instruction from a really good coach who has developed big men before unlocks some other parts of his game.
I don't think he's got a huge NBA future, but with his size and touch there are teams that would take in as a flyer in the 2nd round and see if he can turn into a solid bench guy. There are worst fates than that.
Hunter has the ability to shoot well and he showed it high school. He will take a leap next year in this area
I see a lot of Brad Daugherty in Dickinson. Now that was 30 years ago, but he was one of the best centers in the league at the time. He was a little under 7' and played around 250 lbs. Both have outstanding hands, handle the pick and roll very well, pass to the open man consistently, aren't great jumpers and can consistently make free throws.
I believe he will improve his jump shot with age, but like Brad Daugherty will be counted on much more for making good moves to the hole with or without the ball, taking up space in the middle and grabbing rebounds.
Brad averaged 19 ppg and 10 rpg while averaging 37 minutes in 8 seasons. Unfortunately, his back gave out ending his career prematurely. I think Hunter can fare similarly at the next level, especially with a little more development from Juwan.
Give and Take with Davis.
He is effective around the hoop on offense - has some nice footwork/moves.
but...
He is extremely unathletic - can't get up and down the court, and also clumsy.
Extreme liability on defense. Takes a TON of fouls trying to guard more athletic players.
He does a nice job as a backup center and has great touch and footwork around the rim. That said, he’s a bit of a black hole when he gets the ball. I was pretty confused why our offense seemed set on forcing the ball through him last night when he probably had the worst 1 on 1 matchup on the court.
He had the worst 1x1 matchup on the court but nobody else was getting open or hitting shots so I guess he was the only option.
Matchup couldn't have been that bad if he went 4/4 . . . I thought the idea was also to get some fouls on Cockburn but he defended without fouling. If the game was close might have been a different story as Cockburn couldn't afford to give Austin any baskets but if . . .
Idk rough game, also Frazier destroyed our drop defense on the pick and roll.
Whatever im just gonna imagine there was a cold/flu going around the team and look forward to the next two games
This game should, first and foremost, define for all Michigan basketball fans how incredibly well this team has played this year. They are a remarkably well-coached group of young men who have, collectively, played well over the sum of their parts. I expect them to get right back on this ride and compete like hell-as they have done previously.
His ability to hold a pivot foot with a 280 lb man leaning on him is impressive.
I'm a fan. Sure, it'd be great if he had more lateral quickness on defense, but he gives you everything he has and has an uncanny knack for scoring in tight spaces.
Good take, nice points. I think what's being overlooked is the time Hunter spent on the bench after his third foul. The game was still within reach but quickly got out of hand. Why save the other 2 fouls to expire at the end of the game? Get him back out there and let him foul out if necessary. But Hunter's offense could have really turned the game around during that stretch with Cockburn on the bench.
Totally agree. I’ve never understood this coaching philosophy whether from JB, JH or anyone else: ‘we may lose the game but I’ll be gotdamned if he is going to foul out!’
I hear you and I generally feel the same about the auto-bench, but if Hunter fouls out with more than 6-8 minutes left in the game, who is going to spell Davis? Johns doesn’t have the size to cope with Cockburn.
we have been blessed to have Davis the last two years. Is there a better backup center in the Big Ten? He would probably start for MSU and a few others.
At 6-8 minutes left in the game, the game was already over because Hunter was kept on the bench. I'd rather have him risk fouling out and play him with 3 fouls while Cockburn sits on the bench rather than have the game get out of hand early in the 2nd half. You can't keep unused fouls and use them in the next game.
I hear you and I generally feel the same about the auto-bench, but if Hunter fouls out with more than 6-8 minutes left in the game, who is going to spell Davis? Johns doesn’t have the size to cope with Cockburn.
we have been blessed to have Davis the last two years. Is there a better backup center in the Big Ten? He would probably start for MSU and a few others.
It made sense to pull him but obviously inserting him back in the lineup earlier would’ve been worth a shot given how the game was going.
Big Country is the bench player every coach wishes they had. He won't start becaue he doesn't have starter talent, but he has a work ethic that makes enough difference that he can fill minutes when needed, adds a few buckets, rebounds and decent post D..... Team player.
Honestly, we’re just not an athletic team. We play great team ball, the way it should be played but when it comes to getting buckets and making plays, we just don’t have anyone who can do that. Our guards are too small, our bigs are too slow. On to MSU tho to get on the right track.
I haven't thought that all year. We've looked fantastic in most of our games. But that Kofi Cockburn guy is a beast. I get the Shaq comparisons. ...and the rest of Illinois were gettin after it. Every rebound was like a fumble drill for them. For whatever reason we looked tired and listless. Not athletic is a bridge too far. I thought Austin Davis did a great job against Cockburn even if he did have some turnovers.
This game left me with a case of Cockburn.
I mean I hope it’s just tired legs and whatnot, but every team has tired legs right now so I don’t wanna make that as an excuse and it’s not like we have this nice little break where we can rest up. We just looked so slow and small against them. I’m hopin it was just a bad game we were due for and come out and hammer msu these next two games.
I mean, we can beat them. There's a reason they have four losses mostly to teams we have dismantled. Just a bad night.
Agreed - I appreciate this young man
Was happy for him when he got his bucket against Garza, and again last night against Kofi. Something he can be proud of and tell stories about when basketball’s over.
Player appreciation posts are the perfect combination of brown nosing and jock sniffing.
So brown sniffing, or jock nosing?
I appreciate Davis but this wasn't a good night for him. 4 turnovers to go along with the 4-4 makes for good but not great efficiency and I think he was pretty bad defensively against the PnR. Said this in the other thread, but I would've loved to see Michigan try going small with Livers or Johns at the 5.
Davis had an O rating of 85 and was terrible defensively. When he replaced Dickinson in the 2nd half, it was an 8 point game. By the time Dickinson returned, the game was already a 20 point deficit and it was over.
like the rest of the team, dude got owned last
Dig a little deeper....when dick got his third foul and we brought in Davis...we were down 8. When dick returned we were down 20 and the game was over.
Sure he went 4-4 but I don't think he was particularly good, especially on defense.
He’s definitely a huge part of our success, attitude, and strength of our team.
I hope we have better depth in the future
Could’ve had a few more travels in the lane. He moves his pivot foot almost every time he makes a move. Do we really need an appreciation thread? He actually looked really out of place against Cockburn. I wasn’t really impressed with anybody last night. Well let me rephrase that, I wasn’t really impressed with anybody wearing a Michigan jersey last night.
I would prefer to move on from last night