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12-02-2011, 02:46 PM
LEXINGTON, KY. â Anthony Davisâ first inclination that this college basketball thing was going to be a little tougher than high school came in his opening practice at the University of Kentucky earlier this fall. Davis, a 6-foot-10, 220-pound stringbean, all arms and legs, built like a man on stilts with TV antennas for arms, was matched up with chiseled, 6-9, 252-pound teammate Terrence Jones.
âHe would just go straight to the post every time, trying to back me in or attack the basket,â Davis said. âThatâs when I was like, âOh, yeah, itâs going to be a long season.â â
But the first two games of his career sure seemed easy enough. Against Marist and Kansas, Davis had a combined 37 points, 16 rebounds and 12 blocked shots. Then came last weekendâs Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic, where Penn State mixed in some zone defense and tried to get physical with Davis on Saturday, and Old Dominion played exclusively zone and bullied the skinny freshman throughout Sundayâs game.
In the those two games, Davis had 14 total points, blocked just six shots and fouled out against ODU after Monarchs forward Chris Cooper â a 6-9, 230-pound bruiser â worked him over for 17 points and 12 rebounds in a game that was much closer than the Wildcats expected.
âThat was a very good eye-opener,â Davis said, speaking for both himself and his young UK teammates who struggled in Sundayâs slugfest. âWe canât let them get in our heads and weâve got to play physical right back with them.â
That will be a point of emphasis for Davis and the second-ranked Wildcats (4-0) tonight as they host Radford (3-3), although the Highlanders wonât likely be able to dish out the same kind of physical punishment. Their tallest player is 6-9 and their heaviest is 215 pounds. But Davis will nevertheless be working on his toughness and attacking the basket.
He knows UKâs Dec. 3 showdown with No. 1 North Carolina, featuring star forwards Harrison Barnes (6-8, 215), John Henson (6-11, 220) and center Tyler Zeller (7-0, 250) is just around the corner. And that his post game will have to have evolved significantly by then if he hopes to handle that challenge.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/2...t|Sports|s
Article goes on for 2 more pages.
âHe would just go straight to the post every time, trying to back me in or attack the basket,â Davis said. âThatâs when I was like, âOh, yeah, itâs going to be a long season.â â
But the first two games of his career sure seemed easy enough. Against Marist and Kansas, Davis had a combined 37 points, 16 rebounds and 12 blocked shots. Then came last weekendâs Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic, where Penn State mixed in some zone defense and tried to get physical with Davis on Saturday, and Old Dominion played exclusively zone and bullied the skinny freshman throughout Sundayâs game.
In the those two games, Davis had 14 total points, blocked just six shots and fouled out against ODU after Monarchs forward Chris Cooper â a 6-9, 230-pound bruiser â worked him over for 17 points and 12 rebounds in a game that was much closer than the Wildcats expected.
âThat was a very good eye-opener,â Davis said, speaking for both himself and his young UK teammates who struggled in Sundayâs slugfest. âWe canât let them get in our heads and weâve got to play physical right back with them.â
That will be a point of emphasis for Davis and the second-ranked Wildcats (4-0) tonight as they host Radford (3-3), although the Highlanders wonât likely be able to dish out the same kind of physical punishment. Their tallest player is 6-9 and their heaviest is 215 pounds. But Davis will nevertheless be working on his toughness and attacking the basket.
He knows UKâs Dec. 3 showdown with No. 1 North Carolina, featuring star forwards Harrison Barnes (6-8, 215), John Henson (6-11, 220) and center Tyler Zeller (7-0, 250) is just around the corner. And that his post game will have to have evolved significantly by then if he hopes to handle that challenge.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/2...t|Sports|s
Article goes on for 2 more pages.
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