Bad Bench
Posted by Brendan Jackson on Feb 8, 2011
“We passed 800 miles talking circles about living with loss
You said your sense of humor’s always helped you get above & across.” ~ Mesa AZ By Bad Books
The above lyrics might as well be an Ode to Glen Davis. Since the Celtics’ demoralizing loss in Phoenix (and perhaps even before then, but hey, let’s pick a defining moment), the bench has been bad. Collectively, Glen Davis, Marquis Daniels (5 games), Nate Robinson, Von Wafer (5 games), Semih Erden (3 games), and Shaquille O’Neal (3 games) have notched a -39 on the +/- Salvation Scale. Surprisingly, the champions of the chumps has been none other than the pseudo-Sixth Man of the Year candidate and his donkey, Glen Davis and Nate Robinson.
There are numerous reasons (both valid and bullpucky) that explain Davis and Robinson’s poor play, and we will get into those momentarily. First, I want to show you the numbers (courtesy of HoopData.com):
Since (including) the loss in Phoenix:
Glen Davis:
eFG% 38.9
TS% 43.58
TRR 12.66
League Average (Power Forwards, at least 15 minutes of PT, per 40 Minutes):
eFG% 50.6
TS% 54.8
TRR 14.8
Nate Robinson:
eFG% 44.25
TS% 48.35
AR 12.65
League Average (Point Guards, at least 15 minutes of PT, per 40 Minutes):
eFG% 48.4
TS% 53.6
AR 27.24
League Average (Shooting Guards, at least 15 minutes of PT, per 40 Minutes):
eFG% 49.9
TS% 54.4
AR 15.29
I included the league averages of both point and shooting guards that log at least 15 minutes per game to be fair to Nate Robinson. He’s not really a point guard. He’s a shooting guard being forced into the role of a backup point guard because Delonte West is out. I also included the league averages for both point and shooting guards to prove a point: no matter how you compare Robinson’s numbers to the league average, they are bad.
Obviously, comparing Davis and Robinson’s numbers over the past six games against the league average contains one huge salt grain. Comparing the sample sizes of six games to over half a season’s worth of data isn’t entirely fair. That still doesn’t mask the fact that Davis and Robinson have been, at very best, subpar since the Phoenix game.
Here is where we get into the philosophical argument regarding what coach Doc Rivers should/can do to remedy this situation. In some circles, he’s getting killed because he’s playing the starters so many minutes instead of letting the Celtics injury woes force his hand into playing the bench more. In other circles, he’s getting killed for putting a group of under-performing guys on the court only to watch them under-perform.
Some people like to get into a whole cause and effect argument when it comes to the bench. Usually, it goes something like this:
Person A: Doc can’t play the bench any more than he is because they have consistently shown to be unreliable.
Person B: The reason the bench hasn’t been playing well is because Doc does not give them enough court time to gel.
I tend to agree with Person A despite his snootiness, however in winnable games like last night’s loss in Charlotte, I give Person B a little leeway. Hayes nailed it in his recap when he suggested that putting in Avery Bradley to guard Shaun Livingston could have altered the outcome of the game (or at least that final nail-in-the-coffin drive). Hindsight is 20/20, but it’s pretty obvious now that Rivers had nothing to lose last night by playing the bench more minutes. However, I commiserate with his position—it gets pretty tight when your neighbors are a rock and a hard place.
None of this explains why Robinson and Davis have been playing so poorly. Davis almost gets a pass for the constant role changing (“Hey Glen, tonight you’re going to chase Lamar Odom around and tomorrow you’re going to get your ass kicked all night by Dwight Howard. Mmmmkay?”). Robinson, I am at a loss. The only thing I can hope for is that things get better when Delonte comes back.
I was a staunch proponent of the “stay put” approach but it appears I have been tricked into thinking the bench was fine because the Celtics were winning. I am now ready to consider a late season addition.
Any thoughts on that? Or why the bench is playing so poorly?
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