John Calipari has this indescribable, inscrutable and uncanny knack for walking into the home of the #1 recruit in the country and leaving with their pledge to attend whatever university he happens to be coaching at the time. Norse mythology tells that Calipari's natural musk can impregnate a woman on scent and can make all but the most staunch heterosexual males go from 6 to 9:45. Several articles online that I made up say the natural oil in his hair was synthesized to create a cialis hybrid that also cures restless leg syndrome without that pesky side effect of selling your body to finance a few spins of the money wheel.
That paragraph logical leads to a paragraph about Anthony Davis, the latest #1 to fall victim to Calipari's siren song. Some would say that Davis is acquitting himself well to the college game. He did break the single-season blocks record for one of college basketball's most storied programs in 19 games. You can expect that number to close to double by season's end as Kentucky is likely to play a game total in the high 30's if their early season play is any indication.
Here he is, in game 8, blocking probable lottery pick John Henson to seal the game:
Anthony Davis:
Aside from the 4.7 dreams he shatters per game, Davis also goes 14 and 10. If Kentucky continues at their current trajectory Davis will be mentioned in the Naismith and Wooden award conversation. His name will also be mentioned in the early evening hours of June 28, 2012 by David Stern, assuming David doesn't descend to hell to rally the rest of his fallen angels and battle Jesus for the fate of heaven and earth before that. While we have Anthony in the college game, we better enjoy him. In my experience, there is no better way to honor someone than with a tribute top 10. Let's let Anthony Davis highlight this year's top 10 blocks thus far.
10. C.J. Wilcox - 3 huge blocks vs. Marquette
9. Evan Hymes - All 5'8" of Hymes chase his man down for the block. If there were one more Evan Hymes in this video it would remind me of that last scene of Jurassic Park where the Velociraptors fight the T-Rex.
8. John Henson vs. Evansville (Second angle is pretty good) - There is nothing better than the perpendicular block. Nothing makes the blockee's confidence crater like it. If this video were 4 seconds longer you would have seen that Fairfield guard immediately start crying, flail his arms above his head and run through the stands to the team bus.
7. John Henson vs. NC Central (again, second and third angle are pretty good) - After NC Central and Evansville, John visited a local middle school, gave wedgies, swirlies and didn't let a shot get anywhere near the rim in a lunchtime basketball game (yes that's rushmore).
7. John Henson vs. A legitimate basketball team that happened to get beat by Michigan last night
6. Derrell Robertson Jr. - Doubling his pleasure and seemingly doubling his fun.
5. Arizona State's Carrick Felix vs. Fairfield - This a rare about-too-dunk-oh-shit-I'm-going-to-get-blocked moment where the blocker doesn't just tip the ball and instead takes the ball right out of the blockee's hands and hurls it towards the sidelines.
4. Dundrecous Nelson vs. Miami - I can't believe he almost kept that ball in play / fans don't yell "Cous Cous!!!!!!!!!" after every great play he makes. It's certainly a way to get Mediterranean fans involved. It's a huge missing demo in college athletics and the margins on stadium gyros and falafel are potential gamechangers in the fight to eliminate the BCS.
3. Andre Drummond / Karch Kiraly spikes ball into the 5th row -
2. Milton Jennings shows my he's the most athletic person names Milton Jennings that ever lived
1. Patrick Young vs. FSU - Young pins the ball against the backboard Jordan-style but with only one hand, mathematically twice as good as Jordan. I have no clue how he holds on to that ball outside of speculating he has 7-9 fingers on each hand.
Anthony Davis and Co. provided some fantastic rejections, but pride about a missed shot can be restored simply by making next shot. The feeling of rejection that stems from the below denial is a little harder to come back from:
(from the UCLA vs. Richmond game on Dec. 23)
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