Glen Davis - Best 6th Man in the NBA

[More Banners]

The difference between BBD and some of the other potential 6th man guys is that the others have potential all-star talent, and BBD does not.  Jason Terry, Antawn Jamsion, Ben Gordon...

Reading this, it would seem that suddenly BBD has become the Round Mound of Rebound in his prime...(for those youngsters on CB, Charles Barkley was once an incredible basketball player).

As the sage one said, one swallow does not make a spring.

[Witch-King]

I think it's funny that people are still calling Glen Davis 'Baby'. I mean, he is 'only' 24 years old (the same age as Kobe Bryant's number  ) however, Glen is a veteran role-player at this point; even at his young age as he has proven that he is able to make key plays, fill in for injured (or suspended) players and even knock down big shots at the end of playoff games. Glen may not be a starter for the Celtics but as the title of this thread suggests Glen Davis might be the best 6th man in the league. All I'm saying is, it might be a bit of a stretch for an infant to accomplish all of that, no matter how affectionate Celtics fans are towards Davis, lol.

[BballTim]

Really, best 6th man in the league?

Are we just going this year so far? if so:

Zaza:
12/9/1 in 22 mpg

Boobie Gibson:
12/3/5.5 in 29 mpg

Taj Gibson:
16/11/2 in 34 mpg

Ty Thomas:
16.5/5.5/.5 in 25.5 mpg

Rodney Carney:
10/3.5/2.0 in 18 mpg

Ben Gordon:
22/2.5/2 in 27 mpg

Shelden Williams:
8/14.5/.5 in 25.5 mpg

Derrick Favors:
9.0/8.5 in 20 mpg

Anthony Tolliver:
10.0/7.5/2.0 (and 2.5 blocks) in 25.5 mpg

Corey Maggette:
19.5/6/1 in 25 mpg

Darrell Arthuer:
16.5/4/.5 in 28.5 mpg

Matt Barnes
8.5/5.0/1.0 in 17 mpg

Wilson Chandler
20.5/7/1 in 31.5 mpg

Serge Ibaka
12.0/9.5/0 (3 blocks per) in 30 mpg

Hakim Warrick
10/5.7/1.3 in 20 mpg

Francisco Garcia
20/3/3 in 32.5 mpg

George Hill
16/4/3 in 28 mpg

I have a hard time seeing Davis winning this with his 14.3/5.3/.7 in 28.7 mpg. Not saying everyone above has definitely been better this year, but if you correct for minutes, most of the above are in his ballpark, and several are clearly much better.

  Some of your 6th man candidates seem to be starters. Typical nba monkey-business.

[Prof. Clutch]

3 games is way too small of a sample size to be declaring best 6th man already.  That being said, it's possible that Baby could win the award, but I assume that his lack of big rebounding numbers will hurt his chances.

[greenpride32]

There's also Al Harrington out in DEN that may be in contention.

I think there are going to be 2 huge issues to overcome for BBD.

1 - Usually the 6th man is considered a key/top 3 player on the team.  Think a Manu Ginoboli in SA.  BBD is at best 6th in the pecking order.  He'll have big games here and there and get credit for winning those games, but won't be considered a main cog in too many wins.

2 - The second unit on the C's is very deep.  BBD is not going to consistently outshine Nate, D-West, Marquis, JON.  Most 6th man winners are starting caliber players who are much better than their bench counterparts.  There's so much balance on the C's bench this year it will be tough for one guy to stand out for the duration of the year.

[Fan from VT]

Really, best 6th man in the league?

Are we just going this year so far? if so:

Zaza:
12/9/1 in 22 mpg

Boobie Gibson:
12/3/5.5 in 29 mpg

Taj Gibson:
16/11/2 in 34 mpg

Ty Thomas:
16.5/5.5/.5 in 25.5 mpg

Rodney Carney:
10/3.5/2.0 in 18 mpg

Ben Gordon:
22/2.5/2 in 27 mpg

Shelden Williams:
8/14.5/.5 in 25.5 mpg

Derrick Favors:
9.0/8.5 in 20 mpg

Anthony Tolliver:
10.0/7.5/2.0 (and 2.5 blocks) in 25.5 mpg

Corey Maggette:
19.5/6/1 in 25 mpg

Darrell Arthuer:
16.5/4/.5 in 28.5 mpg

Matt Barnes
8.5/5.0/1.0 in 17 mpg

Wilson Chandler
20.5/7/1 in 31.5 mpg

Serge Ibaka
12.0/9.5/0 (3 blocks per) in 30 mpg

Hakim Warrick
10/5.7/1.3 in 20 mpg

Francisco Garcia
20/3/3 in 32.5 mpg

George Hill
16/4/3 in 28 mpg

I have a hard time seeing Davis winning this with his 14.3/5.3/.7 in 28.7 mpg. Not saying everyone above has definitely been better this year, but if you correct for minutes, most of the above are in his ballpark, and several are clearly much better.

  Some of your 6th man candidates seem to be starters. Typical nba monkey-business.

Which ones? (not snarky, I want to know so I can correct)

[Shots]

Which ones? (not snarky, I want to know so I can correct)

Shelden have at least been starting for Denver. I'd doubt that the Knicks will continue to keep Chandler out of their starting five.

I'd guess Taj would be starting with the absence of Boozer these days. His numbers might be a bit lower come his return.

The situation in terms of bigmen in Minnesota isn't really clear either, but I don't see Tolliver starting from them in the future.

[Jon]

There's no question that Baby is playing well for us now.  But I think some people are thinking that's going to translate to longer term success.  However, we have to remember that he's playing on the court right now with three first ballot Hall of Famers and arguably the best playmaking point guard in the NBA.  One could argue that a lot of players could do what he's doing in those circumstances. 

[thirstyboots18]

I really like BBD...and I hope he has a fantastic year as a Celtic...that said, 3 games is WAY too early to shower such accolades.

Agreed.  I think Baby is doing great, but let's not get carried away. lol

Who, me?  Carried Away?  ha ha ha ha...this old homer is taking lessons from Tommy...can I amend that to the best sixth man  presently playing for the Celtics?  ha ha ha ha

[Fan from VT]

Which ones? (not snarky, I want to know so I can correct)

Shelden have at least been starting for Denver. I'd doubt that the Knicks will continue to keep Chandler out of their starting five.

I'd guess Taj would be starting with the absence of Boozer these days. His numbers might be a bit lower come his return.

The situation in terms of bigmen in Minnesota isn't really clear either, but I don't see Tolliver starting from them in the future.

You're right. Gibson is starting now, so he's ineligible for early 6th man honors. Shelden Starting, however, means Al Harrington's 16.3/6/1.3 in 26 minutes is now eligible.

So far, in Minny, Darko and Love have been starting, so Tolliver is the 6th man there, which is what this discussion is.

[paul]

People, can we PLEASE stop acting like everything comes down to stats?  Of COURSE  it's too early to give Davis the 6th Man award, and of course an article from Bleacher Report is likely to be a poorly thought out burst of fan enthusiasm,  but there are a lot of intangibles that can go into be a great sixth man, and Big Baby seems to have some of those, maybe a lot  of them.   Look at Bill Walton's numbers for the 1985-86 season.  You couldn't have a better demonstration of the fact that being a great sixth man, even a legendary sixth man, isn't just about the numbers.  So far, Davis has strong numbers, and we can hope that they improve, though they could go the other way too.  They aren't far off from what Kevin Mchale was doing as a sixth man early in his career. 

But, as importantly or more importantly, Davis brings a lot of energy and quite a bit of intelligence and understanding of game situations with him, when he jumps on the floor. His flexibility as a young Big Man is absolutely CRITICAL for this team, as we see already. He seems to be a great hinge between starters and second string, able to blend with both units.  Who knows what the next game will bring, let alone the rest of the season, but so far, Davis is one reason for Celtic fan enthusiasm.  And if the second unit can gel more, perhaps when West returns, Davis might become even better, even more valuable to the team.

[thirstyboots18]

Good point, Paul.  Glen and Delonte could turn out to be a formidable duo.

[Bankshot]

Good point, Paul.  Glen and Delonte could turn out to be a formidable duo.

Agree

[Jon]

Still can't believe that BBD is so polarizing.  He's a good role player for our team right now.  But some people want to make him out to be the next Charles Barkley, while others want to insinuate he doesn't belong in the NBA. 

I just don't get why it has to be such extremes. 

[BballTim]

  The truth of the matter is that nobody on the Celts has much of a chance of winning the 6th man award for a few reasons. First of all, many of the 6th men are among the best scorers on the team, where a team has (for instance) 3 strong wing players and lower scoring bigs/pgs. We have 4 starters that are clearly better than any of our bench players. Also, we have too much balance on our bench for one player to dominate bench scoring on a regular basis.