DeCourcy (TSN): Baron Davis Should Be The First Pick In The Draft

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

I wonder if Rick Pitino feels the same way.....


      Baron should be first pick
      MAY 12, 1999      

      Mike DeCourcy
      The Sporting News

      Perhaps the only thing Baron Davis does not do quickly is make up his 
      mind. 
      It is hard to believe it could take him 60 days to arrive at what was 
      clearly a foregone conclusion, but he at last announced his entry into the 
      NBA Draft. 
      He says he did not reach this decision until two days prior to holding a 
      press conference to proclaim he would leave UCLA, although it was 
      impossible to find a mock draft or list of top prospects that did not 
      include his name. 
      It also was impossible to find a mock draft with the name of the Bruins' 
      sophomore point guard at the top, but that is where he ought to be. 
      The team that wins the lottery ought to spend its luck on Davis. Just as 
      we said Vince Carter was the man to take in last year's draft, Davis is 
      the best player college basketball is sending to the pros this season. 
      There is much to say on behalf of Rhode Island's Lamar Odom, who is 
      remarkably versatile and will use his ballhandling and passing skills to 
      become a wonderful NBA player. 
      There is much to say for the athletic ability possessed by Maryland 
      product Steve Francis, although not so much to say for his production 
      under pressure. 
      Elton Brand of Duke was college basketball's player of the year, not that 
      this means a lot to NBA scouts, but he's also the one power player who 
      figures to have an immediate impact. 
      Odom is a hit-and-miss type of shooter, though, and is not the dynamic 
      sort of athlete who ordinarily dominates from a wing position. Francis is 
      to be a point guard in the pros. He did not play much at that position in 
      college, and tended to disappear when games became important. 
      Brand will fall a spot or two or more because he is an undersized post 
      player, and pro scouts keep disrespecting these guys despite the dramatic 
      success of Sacramento's Corliss Williamson and Denver's Danny Fortson. 
      There are fewer legitimate questions about Davis, unless they involve his 
      knee, which was injured in the second round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament 
      when he landed after slamming home a dunk. 
      At 6-3, 210 pounds, Davis is as quick, powerful and creative as an NBA 
      team could ask its point guard to be. Michael Bibby was taken No. 2 in 
      last year's draft and was talked about as a possible No. 1 pick. The 
      league seemed more enamored of point guards then. Now that there are 
      several available in this year's draft and a few very good ones staying 
      behind in college, they seem less precious. 
      What Davis can bring to a team, though, should not be dismissed. With his 
      size and speed, he can penetrate a defense. With his speed and passing 
      ability, he can lead the break. He is a consistent jump shooter who hit 
      .481 from the floor last season and was 35-of-102 on three-point shots. 
      Equally important, he made shots at crucial times. 
      On a team whose top nine players were freshmen and sophomores, Davis never 
      retreated from taking the big shot and so often made the ones he took. The 
      Bruins played nine games against NCAA Tournament teams after January 1. He 
      averaged 19.8 points in those games. 
      UCLA was hardly shocked by Davis' departure and has been planning for the 
      eventuality he would need to be replaced. Junior-to-be Earl Watson, who 
      ran the point while Davis recovered from knee surgery early last season, 
      is the obvious choice to take over. 
      Watson was UCLA's second-leading scorer with 13.3 points a game and led 
      the Bruins with 142 assists. He is capable enough to keep the Bruins among 
      the college elite if JaRon Rush develops into the wing playmaker he ought 
      to be and if coach Steve Lavin will either force forward Jerome Moiso to 
      play with some game sense or not play at tall. 
      This is still an extremely talented team, with guard Ray Young and center 
      Dan Gadzuric both capable of making significant progress as sophomores. It 
      will be essential that the Bruins mature. 
      That principally involves Rush recovering his sense of how to attack a 
      defense with the drive, Gadzuric playing aggressively and Moiso not merely 
      throwing whatever shots he wishes as the goal. 
      Davis was not on the court at the close of UCLA's 56-53 loss to Detroit in 
      the first round of the NCAA Tournament, having fouled out with 16 points, 
      four assists and two steals. Before he left, though, he gave the Bruins a 
      chance with some clutch shooting. 
      There is an explosive quality to Davis' play that would seem to make him 
      the prototype NBA point guard. If you wanted to think of him as Jason Kidd 
      with a jump shot, that might be optimistic, but it might also be accurate. 

      Mike DeCourcy covers college basketball for the Cincinnati Enquirer. 
     


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