When Alvin Gentry was hired as the New Orleans Pelicans’ head coach in June, Anthony Davis immediately began thinking about Gentry’s recent Phoenix teams. The Suns of the previous decade relied heavily on the potent inside-outside duo of power forward Amar’e Stoudemire and point guard Steve Nash, en route to putting up prolific offensive numbers, regularly winning 50-plus games and playing one of the NBA’s most entertaining brands of basketball.
During NBA TV’s “Real Training Camp” coverage Tuesday of Day 1 of USA Basketball workouts in Las Vegas, the 22-year-old said he’s visualized doing similar things with the Pelicans’ stable of young and talented backcourt players.
“He’s an unbelievable coach – I used to watch him all the time in Phoenix,” Davis said of Gentry. “I used to watch what he did with Amar’e and Steve Nash, to see how they were so effective. The first thing I envisioned was me and Jrue (Holiday), me and Tyreke (Evans), me and Eric (Gordon), me and Norris (Cole).”
Davis (pictured above with Paul George and John Wall) smiled while discussing Gentry’s fast-paced offense. After Gentry took over the Suns as head coach midway through the 2008-09 season, Phoenix scored a staggering 140, 142 and 140 points in three straight victories. Gentry’s teams have consistently ranked near the top of the NBA in tempo, including the reigning champion Warriors, who were No. 1 in that statistic last season.
“First of all, I love Coach Gentry,” Davis said. “We talked a lot about what we want to do as far as offensive schemes and game plans. I love his style of play. He’s definitely going to bring a lot to our team. He’s definitely one of the coaches who says, ‘Let’s go play. I want to score 115 points.’ It’s a lot of running. He’s definitely going to benefit us.”
Davis good-naturedly pointed out Tuesday that he has been hearing often from other USA camp invitees about the lucrative contract extension he signed in July.
“All these guys keep bringing it up,” a smiling Davis related, “(saying) ‘I want to be like you.’
“It’s just an honor. All the guys who’ve helped me get to this point, coaches, friends, teammates, it’s an honor to have them in my life. It’s a blessing and I’m definitely humbled. Now it’s time to get that out of the way and get ready for the season.”