Mmm..is it just me, or is David West 4/4 this season on last second shots? I don't think it's just me, but the guy seems to have ice in his veins, and is a beast with that 17-20 ft mid-range jumper.
His improvement this year has been unbelievable. I know he credits Chris Paul for giving him confidence and giving him good looks, but he has to take a lot of credit himself. I always said he'd be a star rebounder once PJ buggered off, but i never saw him as the offensive weapon he has become.
David West has always been a special player. A star at Garner high in a small school outside Raleigh, went to Hargrave Military School; was recruited to Xavier by Skip Prosser, incomparable at recognizing talent, one that UNC and Duke, et al let get away. Oh, they knew about him, but...wasn't believed to be headed for greatness. I believe his situation was a little different than P. J. Tucker of Raleigh, the star at TX who had great potential, a man among boys, but couldn't put together the academic elements to land and star in the ACC. West got the work done at Hargrave but the ACC was focused on other players, except for GA Tech and Bobby Cremins which made a late run. Then Prosser found out about him. At Xavier he was probably at times the best college player in America. An All American. A first team All-American. A first round draft pick. But what happened? Injury. Lack of playing time. A team with problems. A player who needs to have the ball to make things happen. This is his year and he has earned tremendous accolades and opposing teams should be putting their best defender on him every game and he still scores and rebounds and makes assists and plays great defense. Of course Paul is part of his success, but that's the way it should be in a team game. Speedy hasn't exactly been chopped liver either.
