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It’s not easy being both the top pick in the NBA draft and also the best player on your team embarking on a new season. That’s where Anthony Davis finds himself as preseason nears an end. He’s been the focus of opposing defenses, and as such has already taken some lumps, but he has the right mentality and is ready for the challenge.

“Yeah, it’s been great,’ Davis tells HOOPSWORLD. “Just got to keep working hard, it’s been tough on us, tough on me especially because of guys coming after me. I got to learn how to play through that and move onto the next game.”

The special attention he receives from opposing defenses present a problem, and Davis has struggled to score the ball at times as a result, but he still posted 13.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game over five preseason games.

“It’s just going to make me better, a better player,” says Davis. “I can see what my weaknesses are and see what I have to work on.”

Hornets head coach Monty Williams already sees some important signs of leadership from his young star and couldn’t be happier with his performance to date.

“He’s just a coach’s dream,” says Williams. “He handles the situations with wisdom that’s beyond his years. He listens, he’s humble, and yet he still has an edge. I saw him get on a few guys a couple games ago, and it kind of took me back. And he has some ways to go as far as allowing his body to mature. His game is going to develop as he explores. He’s going to be pretty special if he continues to work and allow himself to be coached the way he has so far. He’s just an amazing kid.”

There’s no doubt that Davis has a great deal of respect for his new coach.

“Just got to listen to coach, he knows what he’s talking about,” says Davis. “He’s been coaching for a long time and he’s the coach for a reason, I just got to listen and go out there and execute. I just try to do what he tells me to do.”

That doesn’t mean that Davis will hesitate to call someone out if he sees a teammate who isn’t following the game plan laid out by Williams. He feels players bear a share of the responsibility for keeping each other in line.

“I just try to go out there and have fun,” says Davis. “If guys are messing up, I’m going to say something to them because I expect the same back. If I mess up and am out of position, I want them to tell me because it’s going to make the team better. We can’t just go out there and let somebody mess up, we all got to be accountable, that’s what’s going to make us better.”

Davis and fellow first round pick Austin Rivers have quite a load on their shoulders. There are veterans like Eric Gordon and Roger Mason to lean on a bit, but this year’s Hornets team will only be as successful as their rookie duo.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a challenge for us,” admits Davis. “We’re just going to try and go out there and have fun.”

It hasn’t been all work for Davis, of course. He has an all-business approach, but can also admit that working with Team USA and making it to the NBA are dreams come true for him.

“Yeah, it’s been great for me, I’ve experienced a lot things,” says Davis. “I’ve just got to try and stay humble and keep moving.”

That, in a nutshell, is Anthony Davis. He’s going to outwork everyone in the gym, take his coaches’ words to heart, and do his best to not let any of his successes go to his head.

The New Orleans Hornets can’t ask for anything more.

The Demise of the NBA Center Position

There was a time, not so long ago, when an NBA team absolutely had to have a great center if they were going to hope to win the championship. The paint around the league was patrolled by the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Brad Daugherty, Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to name a few. In the 1980′s and 1990′s you either had to have an elite center or Michael Jordan if you were going to capture the Larry O’Brien trophy, and one of the toughest things for fans to do was to pick just one center on their annual All-Star ballot.

In recent years, of course, the game has changed. It’s now all about the versatile, quick players who can blow by opponents and fly down the lane for a dunk. There is more emphasis on three-point shooting and the mid-range game, with fewer and fewer coaches leaning on big men playing with their backs to the basket as a primary offensive set. Finesse seven-footers like Dirk Nowitzki and Andrea Bargnani are now more the norm, while the number of dominant low post centers in the modern NBA can almost be counted on two fingers: Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum.

Hakeem Olajuwon will turn 50 years old in January, yet he ran circles around New York Knicks big man Amar’e Stoudemire in workouts over the summer. The modern NBA big man simply isn’t built the way they were a decade or two ago.

This is the state of the NBA as the league announces today that the All-Star ballot will no longer require fans to choose a center as they stuff their local ballot boxes. Instead, fans can choose any three front court players, regardless of position. Here’s the press release:

For the first time, the NBA All-Star Ballot presented by Sprint will feature two position choices, guards and frontcourt, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations Stu Jackson announced today.

Fans will select two guards and three frontcourt players when choosing the starters for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game. Previously, the ballot featured three positions with fans picking two guards, two forwards and a center.

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