Saturday, February 8, 2025

Blue Blood Beat Down: Anthony Davis Crushes Kansas 2008

Based on the Value Add Basketball Game cards we created for all 358 all-time great men's basketball teams, we rated the 2008 champions from Kansas as the 56th greatest team and the 2012 champs from Kentucky - and featuring the greatest college player of this century Anthony Davis, as 3rd.

However, Kansas rolled up huge margins in five victories to push their rating all the way up to 4th best, while Kentucky had fallen to 12th. Look for those two ratings to basically flip after Kentucky destroyed Kansas 78-59 in an ultimate battle of blue bloods.

Both teams featured seven future NBA players, but Kansas barely survived a title game with a late rally over Memphis, while Kentucky simply looked like they might be the best team ever in 2012 despite on loss I witnessed on a last second shot at Indiana. 

Anthony Davis and Terrence Jones steal the ball like they were elite point guards - only they are actually 6-foot-9 and 6-foot-10, and they led a defense that has now kept most opponents to below 65 points to leap into the Elite 8 of our all-time teams.  Davis and Jones not only both came up with steals, but they combined for 37 points and 11 blocked shots to shut down Kansas 78-59. 

The remaining bracket appears below the box score. 

Pos       Kansas 2008                 Pts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFlHt     Summary
1-PGMario Chalmers904122301NBA,6'112.8 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 4.3 A
2-SGRussell Robinson11116611036'17.3 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 4.1 Ast
3-SFBrandon Rush1615344122NBA,6'613.3 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 2.1 A
4-PFDarnell Jackson903366003NBA,6'911.2 Pts, 6.7 Reb, 1.1 A
5-CDarrell Arthur201006035NBA,6'912.8 Pts, 6.3 Reb, 0.8 As
1-PGSherron Collins201001001NBA,5'119.3 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 3.1 Ast
2-SGSasha Kaun201002001NBA,6'117.1 Pts, 3.9 Reb, 0.3 Ast
3-SFCole Aldrich402005141NBA,6'112.8 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 0.1 Ast
4-PFConner Teahan2010010016'52.2 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.3 Ast
5-CRodrick Stewart2010010016'42.8 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 1.4 Ast
 Turnovers 18592201318296919  
             
PosKentucky 2012Pts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFlHeightSummary
1-PGMarquis Teague712002202NBA,6'210.0 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 4.8 A
2-SGDoron Lamb1313443104NBA,6'413.7 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 1.5 A
3-SFMichael Kidd-Gilchrist1105127101NBA,6'711.9 Pts, 7.4 Reb, 1.9 A
4-PFTerrence Jones1816337243NBA,6'912.3 Pts, 7.2 Reb, 1.3 A
5-CAnthony Davis1907579174NBA,6'1014.2 Pts, 10.4 Reb, 1.3 
1-PGDarius Miller201001001NBA,6'89.9 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 2.1 
2-SGJarrod Polson2010010016'20.1 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.1 Ast
3-SFSam Malone2010010015'111.0 Pts, 0.3 Reb, 0.2 Ast
4-PFEloy Vargas2010010016'110.8 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 0.1 Ast
5-CKyle Wiltjer201001001NBA,6'105.0 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 0.4 Ast
 Turnovers 137832813163371119 

Half of our Elite 8 is now set, with Kentucky facing either UCLA 1975 or a intra state opponent in Western Kentucky.



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