The Real Question We Should Be Asking (Can BBD be future starter?)

[Onslaught]

Perhaps a star on the food network. Not in the NBA.

[clover]

Even championship-level teams tend to have one just-serviceable starter, and BBD is probably that.

[Fan from VT]

It's a very vague question. I think the answer is "Yes." (and i'm an acknowledge Davis skeptic). But I think there are some caveats.

1. Money. A starter at what percentage of the salary cap? Certainly not at the average salary for starting power forwards. He's a below average starter. At a discount relative to other starters, there's a chance.

2. Yes, he can start. But more in a way of "our building blocks are Rondo, Player X and Player Y, and we fill in with Perk and Davis" but definitely not a "our foundation is Rondo, Perk, and Davis and we'll fill in with Player Z and Player W" kind of mentality.

3. Yes, he can technically be a starter on a contender. In the way that: a slipped Bruce Bowen, a slipped Stackhouse, udonis haslem, antoine walker, drew gooden, larry hughes, matt bonner, derek fisher, pietrus, Aaron Mckie, Tyrone Hill, etc. all started for teams ending up in or near the championship game. Basically, yeah, he can start by doing one or two things very well and being the 4th or 5th best starter surrounded by a Big Three type including a duncan, kobe, prime iverson, wade, lebron, etc. type of player (or less elite but true big three type of team).

[housecall]

Success in the NBA a lot of the times comes down to having right matchups...Glen wouldn't workout well aganist most contending teams as a starting pf(6'7"according to C. Maxwell).Most teams have a  starting 6'10"(wingspan 7'+)pf,the least.

However,Glen doesn't have a problem stepping up in big games(bright light situations)as a starter whereas some other starting pf have a problem.His biggest value to a team could be playoff basketball.

[JSD]

Success in the NBA a lot of the times comes down to having right matchups...Glen wouldn't workout well aganist most contending teams as a starting pf(6'7"according to C. Maxwell).Most teams have a  starting 6'10"(wingspan 7'+)pf,the least.

However,Glen doesn't have a problem stepping up in big games(bright light situations)as a starter whereas some other starting pf have a problem.His biggest value to a team could be playoff basketball.

It's amazing how much height is exaggerated in the NBA. Look at the picture of me and Perk on my profile. I'm 6'1" and he's 6' 10"? I don't think so.

[housecall]

Success in the NBA a lot of the times comes down to having right matchups...Glen wouldn't workout well aganist most contending teams as a starting pf(6'7"according to C. Maxwell).Most teams have a  starting 6'10"(wingspan 7'+)pf,the least.

However,Glen doesn't have a problem stepping up in big games(bright light situations)as a starter whereas some other starting pf have a problem.His biggest value to a team could be playoff basketball.

It's amazing how much height is exaggerated in the NBA. Look at the picture of me and Perk on my profile. I'm 6'1" and he's 6' 10"? I don't think so.

Its not exaggerated when you are getting your shot sent back to you over&over.

[housecall]

Perhaps a star on the food network. Not in the NBA.

good one..tp

[LooseCannon]

He can be a starter.  I doubt he will ever be an All-Star, though.  I don't think he can be a starter on a championship team unless he is the fifth-best starter.  I don't think he can be your third option on offense on a nightly basis.

[action781]

It's a very vague question. I think the answer is "Yes." (and i'm an acknowledge Davis skeptic). But I think there are some caveats.

1. Money. A starter at what percentage of the salary cap? Certainly not at the average salary for starting power forwards. He's a below average starter. At a discount relative to other starters, there's a chance.

2. Yes, he can start. But more in a way of "our building blocks are Rondo, Player X and Player Y, and we fill in with Perk and Davis" but definitely not a "our foundation is Rondo, Perk, and Davis and we'll fill in with Player Z and Player W" kind of mentality.

3. Yes, he can technically be a starter on a contender. In the way that: a slipped Bruce Bowen, a slipped Stackhouse, udonis haslem, antoine walker, drew gooden, larry hughes, matt bonner, derek fisher, pietrus, Aaron Mckie, Tyrone Hill, etc. all started for teams ending up in or near the championship game. Basically, yeah, he can start by doing one or two things very well and being the 4th or 5th best starter surrounded by a Big Three type including a duncan, kobe, prime iverson, wade, lebron, etc. type of player (or less elite but true big three type of team).

I agree with VT, clover, and Roy on this topic in that championship contending rosters do come in all shapes and sizes.  However, I think some posters and Roy are thinking too much in the past though when they say things like:

There are exceptions, of course, but generally, it's big men that win championships.

I think that was the case in the middle of the past decade.  It was always preached by analysts the need for a big man and especially how important the power forward was.  The reason for this is because the league was dominated by players at those positions.  One could reasonably argue that the best players in the league were:  Duncan, KG, Shaq, and Dirk (3 of which are PF).  The league had tons of other very good PFs in Marion, J O'Neal, 'Sheed, K Mart, and Randolph (remember, they all once were very good).  4-8 years ago, no way could Big Baby start for a contending team, because he would have gotten annihilated by any of those guys and would have had to face at least 3 en route to a championship.  Remember, this was before the refs started going on offensive charge call frenzies which is Baby's only real defense.

Now, it is pretty clear that the 3 best players in the league are wings:  Lebron, Kobe, Wade.  The next tier of the present/near future generation consists of Melo, Durant, and Howard.  Only 1 of those 6 players is a big.

My point is I think we are in the midst of a generation shift in the NBA.  The league is trending from being dominated by bigs to being dominated by wings.  I think this just began its earliest stages around 2 seasons ago when celts won and the series was slightly more about Paul, Ray, and Kobe than about KG and Gasol.  This season being right after Duncan dominated his way to another title.  Then Lebron and Kobe took the league over completely last season and Durant, Melo, and Wade are now really solidifying this core of current elites.

So my opinion is that I think he can be a starter on a championship caliber team.  With the prohibition of hand checking on the perimeter, it seems the only way lately to stop these super-wings are to get a charge on them in the lane and that is what Baby is best at doing.  With the cheap money that he costs, I think you can really build a great supporting cast around him to contend.

Note:  I'm not a Baby fan in general.

[ACF]

It's amazing how much height is exaggerated in the NBA. Look at the picture of me and Perk on my profile. I'm 6'1" and he's 6' 10"? I don't think so.

I'm more shocked that whoever took the pic managed to get a smile out of Perk 

[moiso]

It's a very vague question. I think the answer is "Yes." (and i'm an acknowledge Davis skeptic). But I think there are some caveats.

1. Money. A starter at what percentage of the salary cap? Certainly not at the average salary for starting power forwards. He's a below average starter. At a discount relative to other starters, there's a chance.

2. Yes, he can start. But more in a way of "our building blocks are Rondo, Player X and Player Y, and we fill in with Perk and Davis" but definitely not a "our foundation is Rondo, Perk, and Davis and we'll fill in with Player Z and Player W" kind of mentality.

3. Yes, he can technically be a starter on a contender. In the way that: a slipped Bruce Bowen, a slipped Stackhouse, udonis haslem, antoine walker, drew gooden, larry hughes, matt bonner, derek fisher, pietrus, Aaron Mckie, Tyrone Hill, etc. all started for teams ending up in or near the championship game. Basically, yeah, he can start by doing one or two things very well and being the 4th or 5th best starter surrounded by a Big Three type including a duncan, kobe, prime iverson, wade, lebron, etc. type of player (or less elite but true big three type of team).

I agree with VT, clover, and Roy on this topic in that championship contending rosters do come in all shapes and sizes.  However, I think some posters and Roy are thinking too much in the past though when they say things like:

There are exceptions, of course, but generally, it's big men that win championships.

I think that was the case in the middle of the past decade.  It was always preached by analysts the need for a big man and especially how important the power forward was.  The reason for this is because the league was dominated by players at those positions.  One could reasonably argue that the best players in the league were:  Duncan, KG, Shaq, and Dirk (3 of which are PF).  The league had tons of other very good PFs in Marion, J O'Neal, 'Sheed, K Mart, and Randolph (remember, they all once were very good).  4-8 years ago, no way could Big Baby start for a contending team, because he would have gotten annihilated by any of those guys and would have had to face at least 3 en route to a championship.  Remember, this was before the refs started going on offensive charge call frenzies which is Baby's only real defense.

Now, it is pretty clear that the 3 best players in the league are wings:  Lebron, Kobe, Wade.  The next tier of the present/near future generation consists of Melo, Durant, and Howard.  Only 1 of those 6 players is a big.

My point is I think we are in the midst of a generation shift in the NBA.  The league is trending from being dominated by bigs to being dominated by wings.  I think this just began its earliest stages around 2 seasons ago when celts won and the series was slightly more about Paul, Ray, and Kobe than about KG and Gasol.  This season being right after Duncan dominated his way to another title.  Then Lebron and Kobe took the league over completely last season and Durant, Melo, and Wade are now really solidifying this core of current elites.

So my opinion is that I think he can be a starter on a championship caliber team.  With the prohibition of hand checking on the perimeter, it seems the only way lately to stop these super-wings are to get a charge on them in the lane and that is what Baby is best at doing.  With the cheap money that he costs, I think you can really build a great supporting cast around him to contend.

Note:  I'm not a Baby fan in general.

He would have to be paired with Dwight Howard though, to make up for all his shortcomings. 

[kozlodoev]

Success in the NBA a lot of the times comes down to having right matchups...Glen wouldn't workout well aganist most contending teams as a starting pf(6'7"according to C. Maxwell).Most teams have a  starting 6'10"(wingspan 7'+)pf,the least.

However,Glen doesn't have a problem stepping up in big games(bright light situations)as a starter whereas some other starting pf have a problem.His biggest value to a team could be playoff basketball.

It's amazing how much height is exaggerated in the NBA. Look at the picture of me and Perk on my profile. I'm 6'1" and he's 6' 10"? I don't think so.

It's all relative. The statement that you are replying to can be modified to "most teams have starting PFs 3 inches taller than Davis.

This is a significant difference. Moreover, our defense clearly suffered last season with Davis in the starting PF slot. While he's quite good in fending off low-post players, he has struggled with tall PFs who are able to get off and hit jump shots over him.

Now, a lot of the defensive struggles came from the fact that last season he was a very poor rebounder. He seems to have improved in this department now -- if nothing else, he looks like the guy who wants the ball the most. Moreover, he is no longer a step slow getting to places, so he is able to draw a lot of charges.

I think that he can potentially fill in the starting PF position on a good team, and he may still improve. But the fact that he will give up height, and will not block too many shots is not something that will change.

[ScoobyDoo]

Perk and Baby make a very physical, bruising duo and aren't a bad compliment to each other.

Big Baby as he is right now...not a starter on a championship level team.

But he solves his around the basket offensive issues with left and right baby hook moves and learns how to use his body width better to create more space.

Loses about 20-30 pounds, gets a little quicker, a little more lift...

Completely different player.

Or put another way, give him three more inches and all the same physical assets he now has...absolutely a starter.

Question is: can he figure out how to compensate and get around his limitations.

Unseld did
Rondo did / is doing
Barkeley did
Adrian Dantely did

what they all have in common. Unigue players with distinct disadvantages but who all figured out how to still succeed at the highest level.

Is Baby one of those guys? Or is he just a role player. Personally I think that is up to him. The tools are there.   

[Chris]

Perhaps he can, but I really hope it is not for the Celtics, because that would be a very bad sign.

[Edgar]

no he get blocked shot a lot.