The Curious Case of Glen Davis

The recent success of Glen Davis is not a surprise, not to Celtics fans anyways.  GB11 has been improving increasingly each year while maturing his off court antics at a steady pace to the point he is on the verge of stardom beyond the Boston market.

Baby’s big start comes at the expense of  Kendrick Perkins injury making available minutes that may not have otherwise been so free so early.  He has taken advantage of his 30 min/game  and his play is what makes him the prime benchman during this first month. But you have to question right now, is it time to reward him with a starting spot or is Doc thinking that may make Baby to comfortable and begin to slip off.  Is Doc keeping him hungry for a reason?

Through this first month Davis is scoring as well as any player on the Celtics per/min played.  His value to the team at this point could be argued as much as Pierce and second only to Rajon Rondo’s equally impressive start.

With Shaq on the mend it leaves Jermaine O’Neal as the default option to start at the 5-spot.  But consider this, Davis is a bit small to start against many of the League’s bigmen, but KG is not.  Is it worth the shot to move KG into the center role to keep his ferocity in the lineup and move Baby into the PF role to get the most of his talents utilized.

Doc is not wasting Baby’s talents, the coach is getting him 30 minutes off the bench and Davis is paying dividends with 14 points and 5 boards a game, all this from the back up.  That has 6th man written all over it.  I am not counting early chickens here because this is double Baby’s career averages, but it is obvious that his off-season work is paying off with an improved field goal percentage and a free throw percentage that has gone from .700 last year to .900 this season.  This could all be the markings of just an opening season hot streak, but it could also be signs of maturity and the player fans knew was budding in the 6’9 forward.

Not is past seasons have we seen Davis move so smoothly and his 2009 post-season hustle has carried all the way into the regular season.  He has taken a page from KG and played every play til the ball is in the bucket and just past the whistle, he never gives up on a board and fights it to the floor.  I guess three seasons of KG yelling at you will really break you down and build you up to a star.  Glen probably won’t be as big as KG’s legacy, but when it is all said and done he will be a much loved Celtic with a number hanging in the rafters.  And there is no reason he and Rondo can not lead this team when the Big Three hang up their ‘verse the way Bird and McHale lead the Green back in the 1980s with a fist full of rings.

Ayo Baby, keep rocking that paint.

Follow Jamie Canu on Twitter @Obi Wan Canubi