One of the reasons why I fell in love with the Bobcats was there underdog status when they came in the league, a badge they still wear proudly despite being one of the fastest maturing franchises in NBA history. In fact, most of the music, art, books, and hobbies I appreciate are ones often dubbed “underground.” There’s something alluring about the energy of the underground, the underdog, and its draft equivalent, the second round. Jermareo Davidson embodies this unproven, raw energy that typifies the underground. For that reason alone, I already love this kid.

However, like many of us, I know next to nothing about him. So, who is this kid that I now love?

If nothing else, he’s excited. At his Bobcats' introduction conference, he had this to say:

“I’m pretty excited to be here myself. I’m ready to get started, I wish we could start today. I’m close to home and I’m excited about the team’s up-tempo play. I’m ready to come in and fit in wherever possible, whether it is going hard in practice or cheering my teammates on and getting everybody going. I’m just ready.”

We’re ready to see him too. Here’s an overview:

The Numbers

If you haven’t already checked out Davidson’s stats while at Alabama, they were fairly strong. 14 points and 8 boards with a couple of blocks was good enough to get him 2^nd Team Coaches All-SEC. Along the way, he hit a pretty good % of his free throws (77%) for a big. While he’s not our guy to hit the technical, it would have put him top 10 in the NBA for power forwards. He also went to the line quite a bit, making eight or more trips nine times his senior year. His fg% took a dip in his very turbulent senior year. However, for his career, he was closer to 47%. During his senior year, he almost got a big man triple-double twice, finishing 1 and 2 blocks short. He also racked up 13 double-doubles in 30 games.

How He’ll Help the Bobcats

First and foremost, Davidson should provide defensive help off the bench. Pairing him with Okafor would make offenses think twice about attacking inside. He can run the floor and finish, which should give us a nice transition attack. Yahoo Sports says he’s got range to about 15 feet. Aran Smith of NBADraft.com recorded that he “looked very comfortable taking shots from behind the arc” at the predraft camp, adding that “He might be the top shooting big man in camp.” Mike Schmidt of DraftExpress.com describes Davidson making both face-up and back and to the basket moves. (He was also selected to the Predraft 2^nd Team by DraftExpress.com. Incidentally, Jared Dudley was their unanimous MVP.) Between that and his solid free throw shooting, he should be able to provide us with some bench scoring at the five spot without giving up defensive pressure. His mid range shot could also help spread the floor, opening things up for the other big and our cutters.

At risk of taking advantage of his pain, Davidson also is also an engaging human interest story about perseverance. While we don’t want to parade the tragedies that he experienced his senior year, the stories will inevitably surface with Bobcat fans. Fans being able to connect to players is a big part of establishing team spirit in a small market like Charlotte. To put it plainly, Davidson, nicknamed Super Jermareo, is a guy to root for.

The Questions

1. Is he big enough?

That’s the question about virtually all college bigs making the transition, but apparently he didn’t bulk up through college like the Alabama folks expected of him. Leading up to the draft he appeared to put on some muscle. 

2. Does he duplicate Ryan Hollins?

Hollins is a seven footer who somehow only managed about a block a game at UCLA despite playing 20 minutes a night. In college, Hollins never showed the game that Davidson flashed. While both are projects, Davidson brings a much higher skill set to the table and has more mass than Hollins did coming out of college. Davidson should quickly replace Hollins in the rotation, giving us some good minutes straight out of the gates.

3. What is Davidson’s upside?

Analysts across the internet have mentioned names like Robert Horry and Marcus Camby as possible upside. As far as his skill set, Camby seems to be a pretty reasonable comparison for his upside, though that’s aiming quite high. I’m thinking more of a Samuel Dalembert type guy: 10 points, 7 boards, and two blocks. If he puts those numbers up, we’re loving the pick.

4. Does he have the determination to become a great player?

Obviously, the answer is sheer speculation. At both the predraft camp and in some college games, observers noticed his occasional lack of intensity. However, moving to the NBA may be the kind of new beginning Davidson needs to take his game to the next level.

When questioned about being drafted by Jordan, Davidson responded, “I know that he accepts nothing but hard work, so I’m willing to come in and do that.” If he works hard to bulk up and plays with determination, we could be looking at a serious force at our four or five spot, one that could make us forget about having to pass on Brandon Wright with all his upside. If nothing else, we’ll be keeping it real with our boy from the underground.