Why freshman Davion Bradford is thriving (and dunking) in Kansas State’s small lineup
It’s too bad college basketball teams don’t keep track of lob dunks as an official statistic.
Davion Bradford appears well on his way to breaking the school record for them, no matter what the number unofficially is at Kansas State.
“You just throw the ball up there like how Kansas was with (Udoka) Azubuike,” K-State guard DaJuan Gordon said. “Just go and throw it up there. It’s been great playing with him and having him in there being able to throw the ball up there and not having to worry about a turnover or anything like that.”
Bradford still has a ways to go before he can match the absurd field-goal percentage (74.8%) Azubuike posted for the Jayhawks as a senior. But Bradford is currently ahead of where Azubuike was as a freshman (62.9%).
That’s how good Bradford has been since Bruce Weber switched to a four-guard lineup last week following injuries to Kaosi Ezeagu and Montavious Murphy.
After a slow start to the season, it’s now easy to see why Weber described him as the team’s biggest surprise during preseason practice.
“It’s always been there in practice,” Bradford said. “It was just my confidence, bringing it onto the court and into the game. I would dunk all the time in practice, but when it came to games I guess my confidence wasn’t there yet at the start of it. I think it was just my experience. Being in the Big 12 now and competing against these people, it has gotten better in games. But it has always been there in practice.”
Bradford, a 7-foot freshman forward, has thrived with teammates spacing the floor and then lobbing the ball inside to him for easy buckets around the rim. Three of his five field goals were dunks during Tuesday’s 74-65 victory at Iowa State. The other two were layups. He also delivered three dunks in last week’s win over Milwaukee on his way to a game-high 18 points.
Small ball seems to fit him perfectly, at least on offense.
“We spread the defense out, that is the big thing,” Weber said, “and then you have got four guys who are really good perimeter weapons. They can put the ball on the floor and they can pass ... it definitely gives us more threats, different threats ... it just gives us more versatility and gives Davion more space inside.”
Just seven games into his college career, he is already displaying more offensive skills than any K-State post player since D.J. Johnson and perhaps even before that.
He is shooting 65.4% from the field, with just about all of his attempts coming in the paint. There’s no need to step outside when you can easily throw down lob dunks.
Those easy points weren’t there in K-State’s first few games when Weber brought Bradford off the bench behind Ezeagu. But they have been there for the taking with Bradford as the lone big in the starting lineup.