Had my first chance of the season to see Brad Davison tonight. His Maple Grove team is ranked #2 among large schools in Minnesota, and they were playing at Hopkins, which is ranked #6 in the same category. Hopkins is the traditional power in the area and they are good again this year, but they are not as good as what they’ve been in recent years. They were thumped last night by Wayzata, which is ranked #4. Hopkins does have some nice players, including a guard (Ishmael El Amin is the son of halid El Amin) who is signed to play at Ball St. next season, and a couple solid big guys, so it was a nice opportunity to see Davison against good competition. Pretty entertaining game with both team seemingly having control at various times, but Maple Grove took control down the stretch and won 81-70. Davison was the reason MG was able to pull this out, as he was really, really good tonight. I had him for 41 points, 12 boards and 4 assists, as well as a couple big steals late to help keep MG in the lead. Very impressive evening for the future Badger.
The program listed Brad at 6’4”, though that looks to be a bit of an exaggeration. I would say he’s at least 6’2”, perhaps 6’3”, but he plays taller than his height because he’s so strong. He is definitely thicker than when I saw him in the past. He is fast and quick, but doesn’t jump all that well. From an athletic and size standpoint, I would compare him to Josh Gasser, meaning a pretty good athlete (though not overly explosive) who has a great deal of toughness and willingness to do the little things and dirty work that helps win games. In terms of how he plays, I still like the Jordan Taylor comparison. I like that comparison because both really use their strength and body effectively to get where they want on the floor, as well as to shield off the defender when they attack the basket. Both are also lead guards who teammates want to follow, guys who have that “it” factor that make them the unquestioned leader on their team. One significant difference is that Davison is a much, much better shooter at the same stage in their development, both in terms of the percentage of shots that go in and in their shooting mechanics. If Brad’s career in Madison turns out to be a mix of Gasser’s and Taylor’s career, I think all Badger fans will be pretty darn pleased.
MG does not have much height, which means Davison spends a fair amount of time guarding bigger guys, despite being the point guard. In tonight’s game, he spent most of the night defending Hopkins’ 6’5” 4-man, which his strength allows him to do pretty effectively. Defensively, he’s solid, especially in terms of playing good team defense, but he really stood out on the offensive end tonight. In getting his 41 points, he made 13 of 21 shots, including 6 of 11 triples, and 9 of 12 from the line. Really an impressive all around game on that end of the floor. He is dangerous as a spot up shooter, but is also very effective attacking the basket either in one on one situations or in utilizing ball screens. Before I detail a bunch of positive things he did, I want to mention a couple items that I think he needs to work on. First, when his defender pressures him, he has a tendency to get his off arm up really high to shield off the defender. Out on the perimeter, it is very noticeable and it puts him in danger of getting called for push offs. Further, while I like his aggressiveness in attacking the bucket, he needs to be smart with how he does that. He got out of control and called for a charge late tonight, which was in a stretch where he went from 1 foul to 4 fouls in about 60 seconds of game time. In the one game MG lost so far this season, he was called for 3 charges in the second half. I want to see him stay aggressive, but there’s a balance there between pushing too much and putting the right amount of pressure on the defense.
His hoops tonight were from all over the floor. It’s nice to see a HS kid with a game refined enough that he has to be respected out to about 25 feet, who is also capable of hitting the pull up jumper in the mid-range and using ball screens to get shots for himself and for teammates. About midway thru the second half, Hopkins had a 4-point lead, but then Davison really took over. I may have missed a possession or two, but here is what Brad did on the possessions immediately after Hopkins took their lead:
-Drove the bucket to draw a foul (made 1 of 2 FTs)
-Got a rebound, pushed the ball in transition and fed a teammate for a layup
-After the teammate’s layup, MG got a steal, which turned into a Davison layup
-Beat his man on a baseline drive for a score and a foul (made the FT)
-Got a rebound and went coast to coast for a layup
-Got a rebound, pushed the ball and made a pull-up 3
-In a half court set, came off a down screen, caught a pass with his feet already set and buried a 3
I’ve seen Davison play a number of times over the past few years. Early on, I wasn’t sure he was a Big 10 player, but he has really improved in the last year or so, and now looks to be a guy who will be capable of helping UW next season. I think his size, strength and shooting mean he could play either guard spot, and I have no doubt he will be a major contributor to a lot of wins in Madison.
The program listed Brad at 6’4”, though that looks to be a bit of an exaggeration. I would say he’s at least 6’2”, perhaps 6’3”, but he plays taller than his height because he’s so strong. He is definitely thicker than when I saw him in the past. He is fast and quick, but doesn’t jump all that well. From an athletic and size standpoint, I would compare him to Josh Gasser, meaning a pretty good athlete (though not overly explosive) who has a great deal of toughness and willingness to do the little things and dirty work that helps win games. In terms of how he plays, I still like the Jordan Taylor comparison. I like that comparison because both really use their strength and body effectively to get where they want on the floor, as well as to shield off the defender when they attack the basket. Both are also lead guards who teammates want to follow, guys who have that “it” factor that make them the unquestioned leader on their team. One significant difference is that Davison is a much, much better shooter at the same stage in their development, both in terms of the percentage of shots that go in and in their shooting mechanics. If Brad’s career in Madison turns out to be a mix of Gasser’s and Taylor’s career, I think all Badger fans will be pretty darn pleased.
MG does not have much height, which means Davison spends a fair amount of time guarding bigger guys, despite being the point guard. In tonight’s game, he spent most of the night defending Hopkins’ 6’5” 4-man, which his strength allows him to do pretty effectively. Defensively, he’s solid, especially in terms of playing good team defense, but he really stood out on the offensive end tonight. In getting his 41 points, he made 13 of 21 shots, including 6 of 11 triples, and 9 of 12 from the line. Really an impressive all around game on that end of the floor. He is dangerous as a spot up shooter, but is also very effective attacking the basket either in one on one situations or in utilizing ball screens. Before I detail a bunch of positive things he did, I want to mention a couple items that I think he needs to work on. First, when his defender pressures him, he has a tendency to get his off arm up really high to shield off the defender. Out on the perimeter, it is very noticeable and it puts him in danger of getting called for push offs. Further, while I like his aggressiveness in attacking the bucket, he needs to be smart with how he does that. He got out of control and called for a charge late tonight, which was in a stretch where he went from 1 foul to 4 fouls in about 60 seconds of game time. In the one game MG lost so far this season, he was called for 3 charges in the second half. I want to see him stay aggressive, but there’s a balance there between pushing too much and putting the right amount of pressure on the defense.
His hoops tonight were from all over the floor. It’s nice to see a HS kid with a game refined enough that he has to be respected out to about 25 feet, who is also capable of hitting the pull up jumper in the mid-range and using ball screens to get shots for himself and for teammates. About midway thru the second half, Hopkins had a 4-point lead, but then Davison really took over. I may have missed a possession or two, but here is what Brad did on the possessions immediately after Hopkins took their lead:
-Drove the bucket to draw a foul (made 1 of 2 FTs)
-Got a rebound, pushed the ball in transition and fed a teammate for a layup
-After the teammate’s layup, MG got a steal, which turned into a Davison layup
-Beat his man on a baseline drive for a score and a foul (made the FT)
-Got a rebound and went coast to coast for a layup
-Got a rebound, pushed the ball and made a pull-up 3
-In a half court set, came off a down screen, caught a pass with his feet already set and buried a 3
I’ve seen Davison play a number of times over the past few years. Early on, I wasn’t sure he was a Big 10 player, but he has really improved in the last year or so, and now looks to be a guy who will be capable of helping UW next season. I think his size, strength and shooting mean he could play either guard spot, and I have no doubt he will be a major contributor to a lot of wins in Madison.
