That's Just Quisy Being Quisy

I never paid too much attention to Marquis Daniels before this summer but I'm starting to become a big fan.  He strikes me as kind of an oddball addition to this group.  You've got Sheed and KG trying to out-intense each other.  You've got the quiet storm duo of Perkins and Rondo.  Then you've got all business Ray Allen.  It seems like the only guy that cracks a smile on the court is Paul Pierce, and he's become more focused as the years go by.  Somehow, Quisy just doesn't seem to fit the mold.  And maybe that's a good thing.

I kind of picture the Celtics sitting in the locker room at halftime with their game faces on, struggling to figure out why they are struggling against an inferior team.  Everyone is too tense to think.  Then Quis walks up behind Rondo and rips a loud one, leaving everyone in stitches.  Then the team, properly loosened up, goes out and rolls to an easy victory.  But maybe that's just my overactive imagination.

Now, I'm not saying Marquis is not focused or intense or serious about winning.  Far from it.  I'm sure he works as hard as anyone on his game.  But off the court, he just seems to have a very laid back, easy going, almost spacey personality.  We're talking about a guy that has a tattoo that supposedly spell out his initials "M.A.D." except that they don't.  They actually stand for the words "healthy, woman, roof."  We're talking about a guy that tweets several times a day, but it would take a masters degree in ebonics and text-ology to figure out what he's talking about.  Look at the tshirt he wore to the press conference. The guy is just a little different than what we're used to.

None of these things are bad in any way.  I'm not even sure they point to any kind of pattern of behavior or if they are just interesting things about him.  But to me, he just seems a little quirky.  Hard to put a finger on.  Hard to define.  Which, as it turns out, is a pretty good description of his game as well.

He's pretty much your stereotypical "jack of all trades, master of none."  He can handle the ball and pass, but he's not really a point guard.  He's probably best suited to play shooting guard, except that he can't really shoot.  He's capable of playing the 3, but he's not really big enough to guard the larger small forwards in the league.  But still, he has a place in this league.  Doc and Danny see him as a kind of utility infielder and they appear to be using him that way.

He'll be used as a point forward, which helps us with ball pressure.  He'll be tied to the hip to either Eddie House or Ray Allen, so teams won't be able to stack the lane.  In short, Doc is planning to minimize whatever deficiencies he has in his game in order to emphasize the matchup problems he creates for other teams.

His game isn't always pretty.  Where Paul Pierce's game is a kind of waltz, Marquis Daniels' game is more pop n lock.  He slashes into the lane, stops on a dime, and knuckleballs a floater off the back of the rim that bounces around a bit before (hopefully) falling in.  Kind of like the guy at the local courts that people don't take too seriously because his game isn't smooth, but at the end of the game he's scored half the baskets and the other team is wondering how they lost.

Yeah, it is pretty safe to say that I'm going to like this guy.

More Player Articles: Kevin Garnett | Ray Allen | Paul Pierce | Rajon Rondo | Kendrick Perkins | Rasheed Wallace | Brian Scalabrine | Bill Walker | Lester Hudson | Eddie House | Tony Allen | Shelden Williams | Glen Davis | JR Giddens | Michael Sweetney