Davis has played well, and more than that, he was officially in Doc's crunch time line-up the last two nights.  As they say, it ain't who starts the game but who finishes, and Doc trusts him more than Jermaine and Shaq (no surprise with his FT shooting problems) to close things out.  And Baby's been involved in some big plays in crunch time already.

He's not instead he's had two games where he hasn't turned the ball over at all and has shot 70%. Neither are sustainable. Meanwhile his production in areas other than scoring have gone down this year. The biggest different is that he's playing 31 minutes a game. Here's a repost from another thread where I go into more detail.

Quote from: Fan from VT on October 28, 2010, 10:33:49 AM

What concerns me is that he has stood out as looking fantastic, noticeably better...And yet this vastly improved looking Davis is still, through two games, averaging 13.5 points, .5 assists, 5 rebounds, .5 steals, and .5 blocks and it's taking him 31 minutes to do so. As a point of reference, a stand out bench player gives you that in maybe 24 minutes. So it's worrisome to me that even looking great while watching, he's still just providing "good" bench production expanded into borderline starter minutes.

The reason he's been so much better is that he's shooting 70% (and hasn't turned it over once). If his efficiency numbers come back down to earth he'll actually be preforming worse than last year, simply because he hasn't gotten many offensive rebounds this year. Last year he was rebounding 7.9/36 minutes. This year he's rebounding at a 5.8/36 clip which isn't good enough.

Take a look at his per 36 numbers, they're all down accept scoring and that's only because he's shooting so much better in two games.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/davisgl01.html

His rebounds, assists, and free throws are all down. I'm fine with him not drawing fouls if he converts at a high rate, but his rebounding has to get back to last year's level.

In short Baby needs to get back on the offensive glass (and then get to the line), otherwise when the shots don't fall he's quickly going to become a liability out there.

He's not instead he's had two games where he hasn't turned the ball over at all and has shot 70%. Neither are sustainable. Meanwhile his production in areas other than scoring have gone down this year. The biggest different is that he's playing 31 minutes a game. Here's a repost from another thread where I go into more detail.

Quote from: Fafnir on October 28, 2010, 10:42:56 AM

Quote from: Fan from VT on October 28, 2010, 10:33:49 AM

What concerns me is that he has stood out as looking fantastic, noticeably better...And yet this vastly improved looking Davis is still, through two games, averaging 13.5 points, .5 assists, 5 rebounds, .5 steals, and .5 blocks and it's taking him 31 minutes to do so. As a point of reference, a stand out bench player gives you that in maybe 24 minutes. So it's worrisome to me that even looking great while watching, he's still just providing "good" bench production expanded into borderline starter minutes.

The reason he's been so much better is that he's shooting 70% (and hasn't turned it over once). If his efficiency numbers come back down to earth he'll actually be preforming worse than last year, simply because he hasn't gotten many offensive rebounds this year. Last year he was rebounding 7.9/36 minutes. This year he's rebounding at a 5.8/36 clip which isn't good enough.

Take a look at his per 36 numbers, they're all down accept scoring and that's only because he's shooting so much better in two games.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/davisgl01.html

His rebounds, assists, and free throws are all down. I'm fine with him not drawing fouls if he converts at a high rate, but his rebounding has to get back to last year's level.

In short Baby needs to get back on the offensive glass (and then get to the line), otherwise when the shots don't fall he's quickly going to become a liability out there.

From what I heard Tommy say last night, that is Doc's call.  Tommy was complaining that Doc is having the players play back so that they don't get offensive rebounds. He said "you won't get rebounds that way".. or something to that effect.  Not sure how true it is, but that's the gist of what Tommy said. Besides, KG gobbled up all the rebounds.

Quote from: Fafnir on October 28, 2010, 11:13:47 AM

He's not instead he's had two games where he hasn't turned the ball over at all and has shot 70%. Neither are sustainable. Meanwhile his production in areas other than scoring have gone down this year. The biggest different is that he's playing 31 minutes a game. Here's a repost from another thread where I go into more detail.

Quote from: Fafnir on October 28, 2010, 10:42:56 AM

Quote from: Fan from VT on October 28, 2010, 10:33:49 AM

What concerns me is that he has stood out as looking fantastic, noticeably better...And yet this vastly improved looking Davis is still, through two games, averaging 13.5 points, .5 assists, 5 rebounds, .5 steals, and .5 blocks and it's taking him 31 minutes to do so. As a point of reference, a stand out bench player gives you that in maybe 24 minutes. So it's worrisome to me that even looking great while watching, he's still just providing "good" bench production expanded into borderline starter minutes.

The reason he's been so much better is that he's shooting 70% (and hasn't turned it over once). If his efficiency numbers come back down to earth he'll actually be preforming worse than last year, simply because he hasn't gotten many offensive rebounds this year. Last year he was rebounding 7.9/36 minutes. This year he's rebounding at a 5.8/36 clip which isn't good enough.

Take a look at his per 36 numbers, they're all down accept scoring and that's only because he's shooting so much better in two games.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/davisgl01.html

His rebounds, assists, and free throws are all down. I'm fine with him not drawing fouls if he converts at a high rate, but his rebounding has to get back to last year's level.

In short Baby needs to get back on the offensive glass (and then get to the line), otherwise when the shots don't fall he's quickly going to become a liability out there.

From what I heard Tommy say last night, that is Doc's call.  Tommy was complaining that Doc is having the players play back so that they don't get offensive rebounds. He said "you won't get rebounds that way".. or something to that effect.  Not sure how true it is, but that's the gist of what Tommy said. Besides, KG gobbled up all the rebounds.

For offensive rebounds there really aren't diminishing returns, especially on the C's.

If Doc really is having Davis stay off the offensive glass then he's not going to be as effective as last year. He's a poor defensive rebounder for the 4/5 positions. He needs to get extra boards offensively to make up for that.

Faf I know his shooting percentages are going to come down but I still think in the first half of the year Baby's % will be extremely high.

I would make the argument that in taking Perk's minutes with the starters he is going to get a lot of the shots that lead to Perk shooting 60%+ from the field. Especially because I consider Baby to be a better finisher than Perk.

As far as him not hitting the offensive glass I have to disagree with this. I don't see him hitting the glass any less just the players around him not doing so. It is very easy for a defense to prevent an offensive rebound when only one guy is crashing the boards.

To me he looks like he has become quicker, improved his shot and thus become better at finishing in the paint. His improved quickness will only help his offensive rebounding. This early in the season I trust my eyes more than the numbers because there is such a small sample size. My eyes tell me he's much better.

Faf I know his shooting percentages are going to come down but I still think in the first half of the year Baby's % will be extremely high.

I would make the argument that in taking Perk's minutes with the starters he is going to get a lot of the shots that lead to Perk shooting 60%+ from the field. Especially because I consider Baby to be a better finisher than Perk.

I hope you're right, but over the course of their careers Baby is not a better finisher than Perkins.

Baby has finished his close in shots at about 10% less clip than Perkins and also doesn't get many dunks because he doesn't have the height/lift to do so.

I think you're right he'll shoot better from the field than before due to increased opportunity, but he won't be shooting like Perkins (even if you throw out his jumpers)

He'll end up more efficient than Perkins as long as he avoids turning it over so much in when he does have a scoring chance and improves like you and I hope.

I hope you're right, but over the course of their careers Baby is not a better finisher than Perkins.

Whether the numbers bear it out or not, I dispute this.  While Perkins may not have as many shots blocked, and may shoot a higher percentage, but Davis converts plays Perkins could never even consider, and is much better at drawing contact and finishing.