Dime is the premier basketball magazine, covering the NBA, NCAA, High School, Playground and International basketball - as well as sneakers, fashion and music.
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ANTHONY DAVIS IS THE NEXT…SERGE IBAKA ANTHONY DAVIS ALREADY has the basketball backstory that Hollywood studios are reinventing for their biggest characters. How did Superhero X become himself? Let's retell it! Knowing he played on a middling, losing high school team seems preposterous. Like hearing Mark Zuckerberg prefers fine Italian suits, or remembering when Stephen Hawking was being tutored next to you in your free period, it doesn't seem possible. After all Superman never had a losing record — or Davis' 7-5 wingspan. The phrase "from such great heights" WORDS. ANDREW GREIF PHOTO. UK ATHLETICS/CHET WHITE has rarely been so applicable. In the hoops sense, the 6-10 freshman came out of the opposite of a basketball factory like Oak Hill or Findlay Prep to become the most feared freshman since Carmelo Anthony. He showed the moxie of the smartest guy in the room, one who can play aloof while picking up your game's secrets before using them against you later in front of 25,000 people. From his center spot, he set the SEC record for blocks in a season and took the most storied college basketball program, Kentucky, to its eighth title. He was the keystone holding up the architecture that built John Calipari's first championship. Davis showed he doesn't care if you got past his point guard on the wing or his small forward on the break; it'll be the same result in the end. Davis (14.2 points, 10.4 boards and 4.7 blocks, plus 62 percent shooting) will block your shot or make you consider an emergency Plan B as you hang in the air at the cup, his wingspan encircling your airspace like a pair of hydras. He showed he will be a more lithe — but nonetheless just as dangerous — Serge Ibaka. The physiques don't match up, with Ibaka a muscle supplement company's dream sponsor. Davis may not have lifted a weight in Lexington, but it didn't seem that Kevin Durant did either during his freshman season at Texas. Muscles don't equal effectiveness, but the attitude Davis and Ibaka share for lane penetration is equally sour. Davis averaged 5.6 blocks per game from the Elite Eight to the title game, in case you wondered how the pressure would get to the former loser. Just like Ibaka, Davis seems to get the most pleasure out of stopping someone rather than scoring himself. Surrounded by like-minded teammates, both have seen their teams' fortunes rise. 38