Baby Stepping Up Into Role
by Jeff Clark on Mar 22, 2010 5:51 AM EDT
in Boston Celtics News & Links
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PrintGlen Davis is putting in the extra work and doing well in his role.
New role, and on a little roll - The Boston Globe
"You definitely have to commit yourself to that in order to focus on the right things,’’ Davis said. "That’s what you have to focus on. I can’t focus on anything else — if I have an opportunity to shoot, if I have an opportunity to take a guy to the rim. My job is to be an energy guy and I’m comfortable with doing that.’’
Key role up Glen Davis’ alley - BostonHerald.com
"If you want to talk about the last two weeks, then yeah," Rivers said of Davis’ progress. "Over the last two weeks he has been very consistent, and that’s what we need him to be. He’s not a finesse player and he has to remember that. "When he comes in with energy, that’s when things really start to happen for him. Even if he just comes in looking to bring energy every night, then he’s going to be a better player."
Now if he could just stop forcing up shots in the post that end up getting blocked, we'll be making some progress.
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good to see his hustle
But if this team is going to win a championship it will be because bench players like him are only playing 8 to 10 minutes max a game. They need to come in with energy and try to push up a lead, but ultimately the starters need to get some more minutes and the roster be shortened.
Despite the foolishness...
He seemed to constantly be involved in to start this season, he deserves another chance to win back our good graces. I for one have been impressed with his ability to adapt to his role this year, which is quite different from last years role. His energy and hustle are a breath of fresh air for a team that is sorely lacking in this area at times. Despite some of the horrible, and immature , off-court decision he has made, he has always been a hard worker on the court. Last year he was asked to work on his jump shot for the betterment of the team, and he did. this year he was asked to work on his rebounding, and guess what, he did. Sure he isn’t a perfect player, but how many bench player are. I he was everything some people wish he was, he’d be starting for some other team this year. Appreciate him for what he brings, because contrary to some peoples opinion, he has really contributed to this team this year.
One thing that hurts Davis...
…is the inability to finish strong around the rim. However, if you watch closely a large amount of the put-backs end up with him getting hacked, without a whistle. He doesn’t garner the respect to get those whistles, perhaps because he is a bench player or that he hasn’t been consistent with it. Yes, he does get his shot blocked cleanly at times, and this is not complaining about the referees. I think if he maintains consistency with attacking the glass some of those calls will start to surface.
- JoeB
He needs to learn to lead with his arms and not the ball
in those situations. Then he’ll start to get the foul calls.
Alternatively, he needs to be more patient and use his 280-ish pounds of mass to create some space before going up for the shot.
He’s still young. I’m pretty confident he’ll get there.
He did exactly that
…in the Mavs game. Twice, if memory serves. Was good to see.
Someone has to get a rebound ...
because the other Celtics (excepting Rondo) sure have a difficult time with this part of the game. Baby has been doing a pretty good job of that in his limited minutes, but it would be nice if some of the starters caught on to the idea of rebounding the ball (Hello, Perkins). It makes you wonder if Doc had the same sort of thing to say about Perk, i.e. be who you are.
Anyway, it looks like the team is starting to get the message that people need to be fulfilling their roles in order for the C’s to be a factor. If only we really had a back-up point guard, the C’s would be better off because Robinson decidely is not suited to that role.
I still wonder why Shelden Williams has been benched for Davis. Looking at his numbers, he’s second on the team in offensive rebounds, even not having played nearly as many games as the rotation guys. His offense appears to be no worse than Davis’. Possibly it’s because Doc feels Davis can defend centers better for a short period of time. I wonder if Williams knew when he signed here that he was going to be viewed as just insurance in case of injury.
It’s not that I don’t like Davis as the 4th big in the rotation. I do wish, however, that Wallace could borrow some of his excess energy.
rebounds
the only aspect of rebounding that BBD is doing well on is offensive rebounds – he sucks at defensive rebounds compared to our other bigs. All of our other bigs (Perk, KG, Sheed & Shelden) are WAY better at getting defensive rebounds than BBD. And those are more important.
He needs to expend the same level of energy and hustle to chasing down balls on the defensive side.
When you grab a defensive rebound, you have 100% stopped the other team from scoring on that possession.
When you grab an offensive rebound, you have merely improved your chances of scoring on that possession. And in BBD’s case – getting blocked in the paint at a 28% rate – the improvement isn’t much.
I know the offensive rebounds are exciting to see – but we’d usually be better off if he’d hustle back on defense instead so we can be in position to contest their shots and create defensive rebounds and turnovers – which lead to higher percentage shots for us.
All true, but...
…at some point, it becomes a zero sum game. Talking about how much energy he can expend. I’m not sure he CAN expend that much energy on BOTH sides of the court. Now the Cs’ defensive rebounding is already pretty good as it is. And there’s nobody else getting offensive rebounds like Baby. So maybe it’s all good the way it is. There have certainly been times when his offensive rebounding has saved the day.
The only (obvious) thing he needs to change is his absolute bullheadedness about going back up for the shot, even when surrounded by the entire opposing team (literally). He’s actually succeeded much more often than not in getting the score vs. multiple opponents… but if he just adds a LITTLE judiciousness to that decision process, he’d improve a lot.
look at it a different way
THe C’s best +/- is with the starters on the floor (against tougher opponents).
None of those guys make as much a premium out of pursuing offensive rebounds as BBD does when he’s on the floor. Neither KG nor Perk (nor Sheed, when he’s with the starters) grab over 9% offensive rebs. BBD grabs almost 16%.
Yet the starters out-perform the bench.
What those guys DO do is they grab defensive rebounds at a much higher rate than BBD does (Sheed is the WORST of those three at 18.8% – much, much higher then BBDs 12.2%!)
That would suggest that, no, they DON’T need someone (who plays 17 minutes per game) to over-emphasize offensive rebounds. They need BBD to hustle his butt back on defense.
I see
Then we should check on how well the bench defensive-rebounds. If about equal to the starters, Baby can keep doing what he’s doing. If significantly worse, he should make the defensive side his priority, and work the offensive side as possible. Sound about right?
I really like glen Davis. I honestly believe if we lost the big 3. And started the 10-11 season, the starters would be rondo, Nate robinson (re sign), Marquis (resign), big baby, and Perkins. With that lineup we could be a run and gun offense. Well if perk stops running like sheed
But were not loosing the big three. So these “should be” starters, Nate, quis, and glen need to play off the bench as If they were starters. All three of these guys average over 13 points a game as starters. Now after having time to adjust to coming off the bench, can’t we get at least 8 from all of them?
by Pmartin60 on Mar 22, 2010 8:53 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
We need him
Offensive rebounding, unselfish pick setting, charge taking, wide body to put on Shaq and other bigs (less effective on Howard), young and not too expensive. Why any regular watcher of the Celtics would want to get rid of this guy, as so many on this blog did, is beyond me.
Does he get his put backs blocked too much? Yes of course. Can he learn to be more of a Charles Barkley than a Danny Fortson. Yes, he is not stupid (despite his off court stupid moves).
As far as why Sheldon Williams doesn’t get more time, I agree with the other head-scratchers. I didn’t see him perform so badly as to get banished. But I do believe you get more quality from Davis
adjustments at the rim
he just needs adjustments at the rim, because how you said it Jeff: he always will be blocked because of his size and weakness at jumping. Box out is one thing, the other is just simple: put back or outlet pass and he will be fine ;-)
glen davis at 6'9 285lbs shouldve already put in the extra work in the offseason
I don’t think he falls in the category of : learning his role….more like : learning his limitations. I dont want him attacking the rim, unless its for a rebound or a tip in. His role— should be to knock down that PJ Brown Jumper, and get charges by being in position.
malcontents....the lot of you
Baby....
has played hard this year but he has regressed as a player compared to last year.
Baby was suppose to be our big young up and coming stud off the bench and possible future starter.
After his play last year many expected much more production from him this year which has not materialized.
He has a problem playing the power forward position since he lacks length and jumping ability.
This weakness is exposed when he has to match up against longer power forwards who can jump better then he can.
His inability to finish near the hoop and get blocked so many times (he must lead the NBA) is a big problem which he must remedy.
Baby must work on spacing his opponent away from him with his bulk so that he can get his shot off and not be blocked and also rebound better.
He must learn to play like former power forward Charles Oakley (another player who lacked length and jumping ability) who learned to carve out space with his bulk body in order to score, defend and rebound against longer more athletic power forwards.
Baby must also bring back and utilize his jumper again (considering his inside low post offense is limited) which was a great offensive weapon last year, but has been MIA this year.
If the C’s make a push for a title this year we need Baby to produce for us, especially considering Garnett is not 100% this year.
So lets hope he can get his groove back by the playoffs.
I've said it before on this blog and I'll say it again...
that whatever you have to say about his strengths and weaknesses, there is nobody in the league who is better at getting a loose ball out of a pile of people during a broken play. When he’s playing consistent minutes, Davis’ “skill” in this area translates to a few extra possessions over the course of a game. Especially during the playoffs when games become dogfights, this skill will serve the C’s well.
I’d also like to point out that Glen has proven himself to play best in big situations. Whether he’s “supposed to be” a great player or a young stud the way people speculate around here is irrelevant. He has the right psychology for big moments b/c he doesn’t freeze up like most players do. He stays fluid and poised, which I think is also part of why he’s great at snagging loose balls.
by milt palacio's shot on Mar 22, 2010 12:57 PM EDT reply actions
Agree that Baby's been doing a good job
And he’s certainly entertaining. Two of the funniest plays I’ve seen recently had him in the starring role. The first was when he was surrounded by all five Rockets – so that you couldn’t even SEE him – and he went up for the shot anyway. That was very, very funny. The 2nd was in the Mavs game, when he took the last shot of the quarter. It’s not that he didn’t need to shoot from half court (there was still a little more time on the clock) it’s that he had an open look and still his shot only got about HALF WAY to the basket. It ended up as a pass right into Kidd’s hands. I mean, we don’t expect him to score or anything, but the ball should end up in the same zip code as the target, dontchya think? Baby’s gotta be the most unusual player in the NBA.
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