Baby is back on the bench, Finally.

[papa shuttlesworth]

I thought Davis played great last night.  He is one of the most active and creative players in the post (presumably due to his size) and it was great to see.  I have no problem with him taking a few long jumpers to space the floor and to keep defenders honest, but a few is like 3, not 13 like in the past few weeks.

His rule of thumb should be "How many long jumpers has Ray Allen taken this game?  How many long jumpers have I taken?" And if A>B, then maybe consider going to the hoop or *GASP* pass the ball.  

[Bahku]

oh yeah, and Perk will help our depth as well

No, we actually need Perkins in order to improve our starting lineup. I've had enough of Shaq's 2-rebound nights.

You do realize that individual statistics like that are somewhat meaningless, right?

Sure, it would be nice to have Shaq grabbing 15 boards a night, but who really cares how many he's averaging as long as our team rebounding stays similar as to what it was?

Last season we averaged about 38.6 rebounds per game. Our opponents averaged about 40.1

This season we are averaging about 38.0 rebounds per game. Our opponents are averaging about 38.5

We're getting outrebounded by a smaller margin this season than last season, so....

Exactly, (TP) ... people need to keep in mind that this is a very unselfish team, (one of the most unselfish teams that I've ever watched), and being an unselfish team, individuals are just not going to put up big numbers, (whether scoring numbers or defensive), anywhere near as often, or even as often as most other teams.

Yes, once-in-a-while an individual will have a break-out game, but it's now the exception, and not the norm. This is a good thing, IMHO, and when we need someone to step up in a clutch situation, (like last night), we have the talent to do so. But I'll take the lower individual numbers over a lack of unselfishness anyday.

[kozlodoev]

Exactly, (TP) ... people need to keep in mind that this is a very unselfish team, (one of the most unselfish teams that I've ever watched), and being an unselfish team, individuals are just not going to put up big numbers, (whether scoring numbers or defensive), anywhere near as often, or even as often as most other teams.

It's not like we're a great defensive rebounding team. We're a poor defensive rebounding team, and the reason for this is that our starting center can't get a rebound these days unless it falls directly on his forehead.

There is nothing "unselfish" about not getting rebounds when your team gets outrebounded routinely.

[Fafnir]

Exactly, (TP) ... people need to keep in mind that this is a very unselfish team, (one of the most unselfish teams that I've ever watched), and being an unselfish team, individuals are just not going to put up big numbers, (whether scoring numbers or defensive), anywhere near as often, or even as often as most other teams.

It's not like we're a great defensive rebounding team. We're a poor defensive rebounding team, and the reason for this is that our starting center can't get a rebound these days unless it falls directly on his forehead.

There is nothing "unselfish" about not getting rebounds when your team gets outrebounded routinely.

We're not a poor defensive rebounding team, we're 12th in the league.

That's with having KG miss around 1/4 of our games and having to play BBD/Semih big minutes. If we have KG in the line up and can keep BBD to the PF slot and Semih on the bench we're a comfortable top 5 defensive rebounding team.

[Bankshot]

I thought Davis played great last night.  He is one of the most active and creative players in the post (presumably due to his size) and it was great to see.  I have no problem with him taking a few long jumpers to space the floor and to keep defenders honest, but a few is like 3, not 13 like in the past few weeks.

His rule of thumb should be "How many long jumpers has Ray Allen taken this game?  How many long jumpers have I taken?" And if A>B, then maybe consider going to the hoop or *GASP* pass the ball.  

Too much thinking will ruin his game.  He needs to play on instinct, like most good players do.  In the first half last night it looked like he was scared to shoot (probably because of the complaints about him taking too many shots).  I don't want a hesitant Baby out there.  He is fine now that KG is back and he isn't trying to do too much.

[kozlodoev]

We're not a poor defensive rebounding team, we're 12th in the league.

Actually, we're 7th (according to HoopData) in the more important stat, defensive rebounding percentage (though I sometime wonder how reliable HD stuff is). But that's not the point.

This stat is for the full season. The problem is that we were distinctly better early in the season, when Shaq played better. It is over the course of the last 13 games that he sustained a consistently poor performance of the glass (9 games with 2 rebounds or less while playing over 15 mpg).

It is during that period that we slipped from slightly outrebounding our opponents to being slightly outrebounded.

[Fafnir]

We're not a poor defensive rebounding team, we're 12th in the league.

Actually, we're 7th (according to HoopData) in the more important stat, defensive rebounding percentage (though I sometime wonder how reliable HD stuff is). But that's not the point.

This stat is for the full season. The problem is that we were distinctly better early in the season, when Shaq played better. It is over the course of the last 13 games that he sustained a consistently poor performance of the glass (9 games with 2 rebounds or less while playing over 15 mpg).

It is during that period that we slipped from slightly outrebounding our opponents to being slightly outrebounded.

The last 13 games were also without KG, who's much more important for our rebounding than Shaq.

My 12th is defensive rebounding percentage from basketball-reference.com. I think that site is more reliable than hoopdata.

[guava_wrench]

oh yeah, and Perk will help our depth as well

No, we actually need Perkins in order to improve our starting lineup. I've had enough of Shaq's 2-rebound nights.

You do realize that individual statistics like that are somewhat meaningless, right?

Sure, it would be nice to have Shaq grabbing 15 boards a night, but who really cares how many he's averaging as long as our team rebounding stays similar as to what it was?

Last season we averaged about 38.6 rebounds per game. Our opponents averaged about 40.1

This season we are averaging about 38.0 rebounds per game. Our opponents are averaging about 38.5

We're getting outrebounded by a smaller margin this season than last season, so....

There are basketball stat studies out there about 'stealing rebounds'. Interesting reads.

Someone is going to get the board. How many times do we see 3 defensive players surrounding a rebound with no offensive players near the play. It is easy to exaggerate the significance of a single player's rebounding numbers.

[BballTim]

We're not a poor defensive rebounding team, we're 12th in the league.

Actually, we're 7th (according to HoopData) in the more important stat, defensive rebounding percentage (though I sometime wonder how reliable HD stuff is). But that's not the point.

This stat is for the full season. The problem is that we were distinctly better early in the season, when Shaq played better. It is over the course of the last 13 games that he sustained a consistently poor performance of the glass (9 games with 2 rebounds or less while playing over 15 mpg).

It is during that period that we slipped from slightly outrebounding our opponents to being slightly outrebounded.

The last 13 games were also without KG, who's much more important for our rebounding than Shaq.

My 12th is defensive rebounding percentage from basketball-reference.com. I think that site is more reliable than hoopdata.

  The hoopdata stats are from January 8th. But in either case the difference between 12th and 8th is fairly negligible.

[pearljammer10]

Amen to this... He still took ten shots which to me is a lot coming off the bench and he only grabbed three rebounds. But he still played a pretty decent game. Much better than he played as a starter.

[banty19]

Also happy that he's back on he bench. He was awful as a starter and one of the major reasons the team played poorly. Stats don't lie. In the 9 games he was a starter:

34.6 MIN
5.7 FG - 13.8 FGA
41.129 FG%
2.3 FT - 3.1 FTA
1.44 STL
0.44 BLK
0.9 TO
4.2 RB
2.0 AST
13.7 PPG

In particular, his shooting percentage and rebounds were horrible. A starting power forward in the league should be close to 50% FG at least around 8-9 rebounds per 35 minutes, preferably more. I'm a Baby Fan but he wasn't cutting it.

Not to be too negative, his turnover rate was good and steals were excellent for his position. But still, Baby is what he is, a nice backup forward that's exposed as a starter.

[GreenEnvy]

We're not a poor defensive rebounding team, we're 12th in the league.

Actually, we're 7th (according to HoopData) in the more important stat, defensive rebounding percentage (though I sometime wonder how reliable HD stuff is). But that's not the point.

This stat is for the full season. The problem is that we were distinctly better early in the season, when Shaq played better. It is over the course of the last 13 games that he sustained a consistently poor performance of the glass (9 games with 2 rebounds or less while playing over 15 mpg).

It is during that period that we slipped from slightly outrebounding our opponents to being slightly outrebounded.

Although second-chance points are always great, I'm fine with us not crashing the offensive glass to get back on defense. We are an efficient team who, as long as we don't turn the ball over excessively, will put up points over 48 minutes. Teams who are inefficient need to crash the glass for more opportunities to score.

The only thing that I look at is defensive rebounds and opponents offensive rebounds. As long as we take down the boards we are supposed to, I'm happy. Long rebounds and fluky bounces happen, but not doing simple, fundamental boxing out is frustrating.

From what I recall, without looking at the numbers, the C's did a much better job in the playoffs than the regular season. As usual, they turn up their hustle and intensity when it matters.

[Eddie20]

oh yeah, and Perk will help our depth as well

No, we actually need Perkins in order to improve our starting lineup. I've had enough of Shaq's 2-rebound nights.

You do realize that individual statistics like that are somewhat meaningless, right?

Sure, it would be nice to have Shaq grabbing 15 boards a night, but who really cares how many he's averaging as long as our team rebounding stays similar as to what it was?

Last season we averaged about 38.6 rebounds per game. Our opponents averaged about 40.1

This season we are averaging about 38.0 rebounds per game. Our opponents are averaging about 38.5

We're getting outrebounded by a smaller margin this season than last season, so....

So because we stink less than we did last season, it's ok not to solve the problem?

Fact is, the opponents have been staying in games because we allow them second and third-chance opportunities. And the biggest reason for that is the fact that Shaq has become progressively worse in his rebounding and defense as the season went on (hello, 2009-2010 Cavs).

So while his 20-point outbursts are commendable, his role needs to be limited. The sad part is, Shaq is in no condition to carry even the second unit on his shoulders, so his offensive efficiency will likely drop dramatically when Rondo is not out there to find him for wide open dunks.

That's exactly why Shaq needs to start and play the majority of his minutes alongside KG & Rondo. This way we can get the must possible production from his part time minutes.

KG is a great passer at his position and really looks to find Shaq. On the contrary, Baby is pretty poor passer and routinely fails to feed the ball to Shaq in the post, regardless if he has position or not. Rondo is another one that excels having Shaq with him. All those alley oops and lobs would be gone with Perk.

Let's also not lose sight of many things that Shaq brings that go beyond the box score. He has excellent hands. Perk just can't make the catches he makes, much less finish the way Shaq does. Shaq is also a much better passer and has a terrific outlet pass.  Shaq also sets solid screens and isn't routinely called for moving screens like Perk is.

I think Perk's play will be the same regardless if he plays with the starters or not. He's going to go out and be a physical defensive presence with limited offense. That's who he is. Between the two, Shaq would suffer the most by playing with the second unit.

I realize that Doc probably doesn't want to bench Perk out of loyalty, but I hope he does what's best for the C's.

[Surferdad]

oh yeah, and Perk will help our depth as well

No, we actually need Perkins in order to improve our starting lineup. I've had enough of Shaq's 2-rebound nights.

You do realize that individual statistics like that are somewhat meaningless, right?

Sure, it would be nice to have Shaq grabbing 15 boards a night, but who really cares how many he's averaging as long as our team rebounding stays similar as to what it was?

Last season we averaged about 38.6 rebounds per game. Our opponents averaged about 40.1

This season we are averaging about 38.0 rebounds per game. Our opponents are averaging about 38.5

We're getting outrebounded by a smaller margin this season than last season, so....

So because we stink less than we did last season, it's ok not to solve the problem?

Fact is, the opponents have been staying in games because we allow them second and third-chance opportunities. And the biggest reason for that is the fact that Shaq has become progressively worse in his rebounding and defense as the season went on (hello, 2009-2010 Cavs).

So while his 20-point outbursts are commendable, his role needs to be limited. The sad part is, Shaq is in no condition to carry even the second unit on his shoulders, so his offensive efficiency will likely drop dramatically when Rondo is not out there to find him for wide open dunks.

That's exactly why Shaq needs to start and play the majority of his minutes alongside KG & Rondo. This way we can get the must possible production from his part time minutes.

KG is a great passer at his position and really looks to find Shaq. On the contrary, Baby is pretty poor passer and routinely fails to feed the ball to Shaq in the post, regardless if he has position or not. Rondo is another one that excels having Shaq with him. All those alley oops and lobs would be gone with Perk.

Let's also not lose sight of many things that Shaq brings that go beyond the box score. He has excellent hands. Perk just can't make the catches he makes, much less finish the way Shaq does. Shaq is also a much better passer and has a terrific outlet pass.  Shaq also sets solid screens and isn't routinely called for moving screens like Perk is.

I think Perk's play will be the same regardless if he plays with the starters or not. He's going to go out and be a physical defensive presence with limited offense. That's who he is. Between the two, Shaq would suffer the most by playing with the second unit.

I realize that Doc probably doesn't want to bench Perk out of loyalty, but I hope he does what's best for the C's.

I understand that rationale, but you could equally make the argument that Perk plays better with the starters.  The reality is that we have 3 future HOFers in that lineup and they way they play makes ANYONE better who plays with them.  A second unit with Perk would have trouble scoring the basketball.

Beyond that, we heard yesterday that the first practice wit hte regular starting lineup went extremely well.  These guys just know each other and where they are supposed to be.  I'm looking forward to that perfect machine being fully repaired.

[Roy H.]

BBD looked great last night.  He got back to being the screen-setting, hustle player that he should be.  BBD is at his best when he's scoring near the hoop, and moving the ball.

Well done, Baby.  Let's hope that KG stays healthy so that you can remain in this role.