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	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Ht	Summary
1-PG	Mario Chalmers	9	0	4	1	2	2	3	0	1	NBA,6'1	12.8 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 4.3 A
2-SG	Russell Robinson	11	1	1	6	6	1	1	0	3	6'1	7.3 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 4.1 Ast
3-SF	Brandon Rush	16	1	5	3	4	4	1	2	2	NBA,6'6	13.3 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 2.1 A
4-PF	Darnell Jackson	9	0	3	3	6	6	0	0	3	NBA,6'9	11.2 Pts, 6.7 Reb, 1.1 A
5-C	Darrell Arthur	2	0	1	0	0	6	0	3	5	NBA,6'9	12.8 Pts, 6.3 Reb, 0.8 As
1-PG	Sherron Collins	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	NBA,5'11	9.3 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 3.1 Ast
2-SG	Sasha Kaun	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	NBA,6'11	7.1 Pts, 3.9 Reb, 0.3 Ast
3-SF	Cole Aldrich	4	0	2	0	0	5	1	4	1	NBA,6'11	2.8 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 0.1 Ast
4-PF	Conner Teahan	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'5	2.2 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.3 Ast
5-C	Rodrick Stewart	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'4	2.8 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 1.4 Ast
	Turnovers 18	59	2	20	13	18	29	6	9	19
Pos	Kentucky 2012	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Height	Summary
1-PG	Marquis Teague	7	1	2	0	0	2	2	0	2	NBA,6'2	10.0 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 4.8 A
2-SG	Doron Lamb	13	1	3	4	4	3	1	0	4	NBA,6'4	13.7 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 1.5 A
3-SF	Michael Kidd-Gilchrist	11	0	5	1	2	7	1	0	1	NBA,6'7	11.9 Pts, 7.4 Reb, 1.9 A
4-PF	Terrence Jones	18	1	6	3	3	7	2	4	3	NBA,6'9	12.3 Pts, 7.2 Reb, 1.3 A
5-C	Anthony Davis	19	0	7	5	7	9	1	7	4	NBA,6'10	14.2 Pts, 10.4 Reb, 1.3
1-PG	Darius Miller	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	NBA,6'8	9.9 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 2.1
2-SG	Jarrod Polson	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'2	0.1 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.1 Ast
3-SF	Sam Malone	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	5'11	1.0 Pts, 0.3 Reb, 0.2 Ast
4-PF	Eloy Vargas	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'11	0.8 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 0.1 Ast
5-C	Kyle Wiltjer	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	NBA,6'10	5.0 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 0.4 Ast
	Turnovers 13	78	3	28	13	16	33	7	11	19

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