Glen Davis

Celtics forward Glen Davis takes too many jumpshots. This past season he launched 4.6 times a game from between 16 and 23 feet, which is three and a half more attempts per game than he averaged last season and almost twice as many as the 2008-09 season when he first began to fall in love with the long shot.

Shooting the jumper isn’t the problem. The Celtics offense generally takes their four men away from the post and out on to the perimeter (see: Kevin Garnett). They like to keep the floor spaced and the driving lanes open for Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce.

The problem for Davis is that he didn’t make very many of them this season, hitting at just a 35 percent clip. By way of comparison, Garnett made 47 percent of his long jump shots and was one of the best shooting big men from that range in the league.

And yet for all the criticism Davis takes for his offense, he has had a breakthrough season as the Celtics most important reserve and garnered serious attention early in the season as a top Sixth Man candidate in the league. He filled that role so well that it’s easy to remember that just last season Davis was getting only 18 minutes a night and still trying to carve out a place for himself in the NBA beyond simply as a “rotation player.”

Part of the reason Davis played so well this season is that he became far more effective inside where he upped his shooting percentage from 50 to 60 percent and increased his attempts. He was frustrated by how often he got his shot blocked last season and developed some counters, which have been successful.

But he has to get inside first. Davis took eight shots in Game 1 and missed seven of them. Half of his attempts were from 16-23 feet and he made just one. Oddly enough, some of that has to do with Amar’e Stoudemire, although not directly. The Knicks use one of three players alongside Stoudemire: Ronny Turiaf, Jared Jeffries and Shawne Williams.

Friend of Green Street, Gian Casimiro showed by way of video the effect those players, particularly Turiaf, have on the Celtics defense. Essentially, Jermaine O’Neal played way off Turiaf and protected the paint. Of the three options, Williams could cause the most damage because of his ability to shoot 3-pointers. Turiaf was also effective making four of five shots inside mainly because O’Neal was busy elsewhere, but the Celtics seem willing to make the trade.

With that in mind, I asked Davis about it after the team’s shootaround this morning.

“They’re different,” Davis said. “When you guard Amar’e, he’s hard to guard because he’s so quick. Shawne Williams puts a lot of pressure on the next guy [the help defender] because he’s stretching the floor. If a guy like me is posting on Shawne Williams that’s a negative. But you know, other teams live with that. They’ll live with me scoring if the ball is not in other player’s hands. So I’ve got to pick wisely how I play the game.”

That’s why focusing on individual matchups like Garnett and Stoudemire is too simplistic. A great player like Stoudemire causes teams to make decisions and each decision has a counter-move. Davis is crucial for the Celtics in this series because of his versatility to matchup against whomever the Knicks put on the floor with Stoudemire. As he said, he needs to choose wisely.

2 Comments for “Glen Davis knows he has to choose wisely”

1. john schaffer Says:
   April 19th, 2011 at 6:02 pm

   he needs to let the jump shooting to somebody that can make it , he cannot shoot more than 5 feet from basket ,he is just like perk ,, perks good dunking ball , but even baby cant do that,,,, hes way to heavey to jump, if the celtics try and sign him for next year they need to put weight clause in for sure he has hustle and really tries he just needs to hustle and do what hes good at,, and that is not,,, jump shooting

2. celtsfan111 Says:
   April 20th, 2011 at 11:27 am

   glen is a very nasty player when he sticks to his game. he can post up on any player in the league, and get to the rim or hit any shot in or near the paint. if glen wants to help the celts in these playoffs he needs to use his size by driving to the rim and playing tough defense. he cant be firing away on 35% jumpshots, with the celts offensive rebounding problems, this could lead to a meltdown for the 2nd unit! glen is great with his spin move and drive to the rim, why he has gotten away from that, settling for jumpshots, i have no idea.

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