Glen Davis to start over Rasheed Wallace Tonight

by Jimmy Toscano on Apr 20, 2010 1:05 PM EDT

From the Herald:

"It is Baby," Perkins said after this morning’s shootaround. "Baby’s been there before. We got trust in Baby so we know he’s going to come out and play hard and do what he has to do."

Perkins said the team has confidence in Davis after he averaged 15.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in Garnett’s absence last postseason.

"He stepped in. He wasn’t KG, but he did a great job," Perkins said. "They’re two different types of players, but we got full trust in Baby. I know he’ll come in and do what he has to do tonight. The good thing about is we don’t haveto survive the whole playoffs without KG. It’s just one game."

Well, it looks like Perkins spilled the beans. Davis did have a great postseason last season, but his jumper was also falling a lot more. That being said, we know Davis will have the energy that sometimes seems to be lacking out on the court. Also, he will be more active on the offensive glass.

Will Davis be able to keep up with Michael Beasley? Beasley could pose as a matchup problem tonight for the Celtics with KG out of the lineup. Rasheed Wallace still has a chance to prove his worth coming off the bench, and if Davis can't handle Beasley early on, Doc could be quick to make the switch.

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Comments

Good

Rather have guaranteed high energy and effort than the off chance Rasheed actually feels like playing tonight

by SpecialistK on Apr 20, 2010 1:23 PM EDT reply actions

LMAO

That is a crazy pic of big ba…. Um, Mr. Uno, Un… um, Glenn, ya… funny pic of Glenn.

by warriorspirit on Apr 20, 2010 1:25 PM EDT reply actions

Good call Doc...

Sheed: last time I checked, you need to actually earn a starting spot, even when the person ahead of you is out. That’s done with hard work and effort off the bench, neither of which you have shown.

Also, PLEASE cliff ray get on teaching baby an up-fake, and how about at least trying to dunk? Love the hustle to get an offensive board, but trying to lay it up soft in traffic just doesn’t work. Kick it back out if you have to!

by burnin green on Apr 20, 2010 1:26 PM EDT reply actions

This makes sense

Because Sheed can no longer play power forward, especially against flex-4s.

by SalmonAndMashedPotatoes on Apr 20, 2010 1:40 PM EDT reply actions

yeah, that's what I was thinking.

If it was Perk who was out, I think it would be no question that Sheed would be starting at C over Davis. But Davis is a better choice at this point for starting at PF.

by mmmmm on Apr 20, 2010 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Agree mmmmm

by fordescort on Apr 20, 2010 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Co-sign

by KGfanfromMONTREAL on Apr 20, 2010 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Um

It looks like Baby is getting more than a just a rebound here.

by thereallargejames on Apr 20, 2010 1:48 PM EDT reply actions

they're both going to play...

…regardless, so the point is mute (ha ha ha) joey

Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk

by mcpu40 on Apr 20, 2010 1:50 PM EDT reply actions

Lets hope Baby brings it like he did last year in the playoffs

by Mike-Dub on Apr 20, 2010 1:51 PM EDT reply actions

Hopefully this opens up some minutes for Shelden Williams

I mean I’m not a huge Shelden fan but I think this will be a good chance for him to maybe get a few minutes for himself. I also think he matches up with Beasley much better than Baby or Sheed

by galvinx10 on Apr 20, 2010 2:25 PM EDT reply actions

Id like to see Shelden get some minutes also....

He has 6 fouls to use and should be our banger off the bench which the C’s could use as these playoff games become a more physical type of game compared to the regular season.

by fordescort on Apr 20, 2010 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions

The Ticket Stub

check out Glen’s interview in the middle of this video, around 2:20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaZ-kKspfXo

funny stuff.

The Ticket Stub will be back in action!

by WikedCeltsFan7 on Apr 20, 2010 2:26 PM EDT reply actions

interesting shot

doesn’t look like BBD is getting a “helping hand” there

by slamtheking on Apr 20, 2010 2:31 PM EDT reply actions

Reading between the Lines - Celts losing trust in Sheed

It seems like Perk is throwing a left jab Rasheed’s way when he describes Glen by saying:

‘we know he’s going to come out and play hard ’ — kind of nice way to say, Sheed’s effort sucks.

And I couldn’t help but notice in Game 1, every time Sheed set a pick for Rondo and popped open behind the arc, Rondo completely ignored him.

Seems to me the youngsters are trying to do what Doc won’t; limit Sheed.

Not very UBUNTU, but I can’t say I disagree with their motives…

by D Dub on Apr 20, 2010 2:33 PM EDT reply actions

I woudn't even begin to try to read so much into those things.

Its just as easy to find ‘evidence’ of their complete confidence in him as a teammate.

This almost certainly has more to do with the simple fact that at this point in his career, ‘Sheed matches up far better at C or against bench PFs than against starting PFs. We already saw that all this year. When he was asked to start for KG, he struggled. When he’s started for Perk, he has done fine. When he has come off the bench in either role he has done fine.

by mmmmm on Apr 20, 2010 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions

that’s a fair point, and you’re right about finding all kinds of evidence for any position you want to claim.

i’ll be curious to see how many 3’s Sheed gets off this post season. seemed to me that in game 1, Rondo was just not going to let Sheed take those shots.

by D Dub on Apr 20, 2010 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Sheed hasn't been taking very many 3s for months now.

I wish folks would let it go.
For Nov-Dec-Jan, he was letting fly at a rate of 7.08 per 36 minutes (about 4.4 per game).

For Feb-Mar-Apr, he reduced that to just 3.94 per 36 minutes (about 2.4 per game).

The other myths that drive me nuts are “Sheed doesn’t play defense!” (He finished the year with a 1.00 pt per def possession rating, best on the Celtics.) and “Sheed doesn’t rebound!” (His defensive rebound efficiency was 19%, behind just KG (24.8), Perk(24.4) & Shelden(20.8) and way better than BBD’s 13.3%).

Sigh … first impressions are so hard to change.

by mmmmm on Apr 20, 2010 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions

True mmmmm

Sheed has tamed down his 3 point shooting alot compared to the beginiing of the year.

In addition to your rating #’s it is also evident by the number of times he has turned down taking a 3 pointer in the latter part of the season in order to pass the ball to players cutting to the basket in the low post when he himself is out on top of the key.

I agree also about your comments about Rasheeds defense and rebounding that he gets a bum rap on.

by fordescort on Apr 20, 2010 7:21 PM EDT up reply actions

In terms of production...Sheed is only slightly better than a cadaver!

by Title 18 on Apr 20, 2010 2:59 PM EDT up reply actions

I'll be routing for BBD, but this is troubling

I hope this decision was made to either help Rasheed realize he isn’t an automatic, or because Rasheed shouldn’t be playing PF. Other than that, to say that Rasheed has been a corpse and that BBD is of high value is distoring the truth. This link will show that Davis is one of the least, if not THE LEAST, productive players on the team:

http://www.82games.com/0910/0910BOS1.HTM

Now check out the 5-man rotations and see how they perform with Davis in place of KG:

http://www.82games.com/0910/0910BOS2.HTM

Replacing KG with Rasheed is not a good move. But replacing him with Davis is statistically a TERRIBLE move. The Celtics go from having one of the best 5-man rotations in the league, to a team that is -33 in just 46 minutes, with a win% of 18%…. and that is just from inserting Glen Davis into the starting lineup. I like his energy, but the numbers should not be ignored.

by TomHamilton30 on Apr 20, 2010 3:27 PM EDT reply actions

Yup.

I’ve been trying to get people to understand this all year.

The only thing is, I think against Miami, Davis’ height issues are less of a problem at PF. I think the matchups work ok. I would say though, that if Ray and Paul are hitting their shots, we might be better with Sheed in there for defensive reasons since Davis’ marginal value at grabbing ORBs will be less. Don’t be surprised to see Doc feel it out and change it up.

by mmmmm on Apr 20, 2010 4:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Doc doesn't use

stats to determine who plays especially +/-. Those numbers will be ignored because they have little bearing.

"Do you know that nonbelievers create the most positive energy?" Davis said

by Birdbrain on Apr 20, 2010 5:49 PM EDT up reply actions

And you know that ... how?

’Not saying you are wrong. But I wonder where your voice of absolute certainty comes from.

by mmmmm on Apr 20, 2010 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Common sense

"Do you know that nonbelievers create the most positive energy?" Davis said

by Birdbrain on Apr 21, 2010 8:54 AM EDT up reply actions

Mr aerosmith

To this I say some times numbers are misleading

by Warrior Spirit on Apr 20, 2010 11:04 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

In this case, no. They are just not the right numbers.

In the Heat matchup, the fact that the Heat don’t have a big body that can keep Davis from attacking laterally from 7 ft out makes this (Davis at PF, Perk at C) a good matchup. The important numbers here are probably the height & weights of the players involved.

Against other teams, especially those with bigger post players than Miami has, that may not be optimal. Hopefully, we’ll have KG starting the rest of the way and its moot.

by mmmmm on Apr 21, 2010 12:58 AM EDT up reply actions

I am happy for Baby...

I just hope he can finish around the rim on offense and avoid getting his shot on blocked or altered to the point its a poor % shot as was the case in the first 1/2 of game 1 and in most games this season.

He also must get back his jumper which was a great weapon last year but has been MIA this year.

Because if Baby has trouble offensively finishing in the low post and does not have confidence to take his jumper he will be a limited offense player for the Cs tonight and this playoff run which will be a liability.

I think the pick to start Baby has alot to do with the C’s not wanting a slow big man line up with Perk and Rasheed on the floor together.

We need Rasheeds offense off the bench anyway.
I just hope Doc and Rondo give him more touches (just 1 offense scoring attempt in game 1 was silly).

The C’s must also stop putting Rasheed out on the perimeter on offense and get him in the low post more for scoring attempts.
Many assume Rasheed on his own goes out on the perimeter (to shoot 3’s) but if you pay close attention on most scoring drives Rasheed is purposely ordered by Doc and Rondo to stay on top of they key.

Though Rasheed is put out on the perimeter to spread the defense and draw out the opposing center to open up penetration lanes for Rondo and Pierce etc. (which is a very good weapon) I hope he also gets touches in the low post on offense also.

Since Rasheed is such a good low post scorer and this team lacks scoring in the paint II think its up to Doc and Rondo to make sure they give him the ball down low, especially in these playoffs where the game is more of a 1/2 court offensive game.

by fordescort on Apr 20, 2010 3:44 PM EDT reply actions

Davis is quicker than Sheed, tha's why!

but Beasly is faster than Davis.. but i guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
i also do believe Sheed can match up with Beasly! No doubt!

by poezappa on Apr 20, 2010 3:55 PM EDT reply actions

if baby places anything like he did last year we’ll get the w easy

by ChristianW on Apr 20, 2010 6:31 PM EDT reply actions

I thought Rasheed but get it now

I thought start Rasheed and bring energy off bench but for sure Rasheed is better spelling Perk. Perk needs to step up. The Perk we’ve been seeing isn’t good enough

by Wildblu1 on Apr 20, 2010 6:38 PM EDT reply actions