Glen Davis plays like a drunk seal, often falling over on routine shots, belly flopping like he’s trying to earn a cracker. He’s a thick-fingered power forward with minimal elevation and low athletic upside. He shot 43.7% from the floor this season and was criticized for not having his focus ready.
Well, the seal’s grown fangs and is destroying his opponent. He was shooting 47% from the field in the 2010 playoffs coming into Game 4, and then dropped a 5-9 shooting performance on his way to a game-high 17 points. As a comparison, in last year’s playoffs he shot 49% in the playoffs. But, when you factor in free throw shooting (and perimeter shots which aren’t part of Davis’ game... yet), you have a stat called True Shooting Percentage. In last year’s playoffs, Davis had a TS% of 54% (53.8%). This year he has a TS% of 56%.
Meanwhile, his rebounding has improved as well. He’s grabbing 12% of all rebounds when he’s on the floor versus 9% last year. So even with bigger, better rebounders on the floor versus last year in Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett, Davis is outdoing his work last year.
Davis isn’t necessary for the Celtics to win. That’s the scary part. He’s the player you hope comes into the game because he’s not as disciplined as Kendrick Perkins and not as skilled as Kevin Garnett. But his performance makes an already indomitable Celtics team near unbeatable. That flailing around? He’s collecting fouls on each fall, and knocking down shots while he’s doing it. He repeatedly knocked down mid-range shots in Game 4, despite only shooting 33% from mid-range in the regular season.
Davis has been a significant part of the Celtics’ dominance. There are dozens of reasons the Celtics are taking it to their playoff opponents, but when Big Baby Davis brings his game, it’s blotting out the last rays of sunshine on their already dying worlds.
Oh, but he still doesn’t get to be called “Uno-Uno.” You don’t get to make your own nicknames until you’re the dominant player on a Finals team, Davis. You’re Big Baby Davis for life. But it’s a name he’s made into something fearsome.