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Glen Davis profile
Drafted #35 in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Celtics
RCSI: 12 (2004)
Height: 6'9" (206 cm)
Weight: 298 lbs (135 kg)
Position: C
High School: University High School (Louisiana)
Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA
College: LSU
Current Team: Clippers
Win - Loss: 45 - 27

Articles

NCAA Tournament: NBA Draft Stock Watch (Final Four)

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Jonathan Watters
Jonathan Watters
Apr 02, 2006, 06:39 pm
After appearing to make some serious headway in his bid to prove that he is an NBA caliber player with an outstanding tournament run thus far, Glen Davis was completely exposed against UCLA and might have damaged his stock beyond repair for this year’s draft.

Whether it was getting beat down the floor time after time by UCLA’s big men, settling for fadeaway jump-shots or showing terrible touch around the rim with his non-existent back to the basket game, Davis was completely outplayed on both ends of the floor.

The most concerning part of this game was probably the complete lack of conditioning that the hefty Davis showed almost immediately after the opening whistle. Davis was clearly laboring as he lumbered up and down the floor already after the first 7 or 8 minutes, sucking wind uncontrollably and tugging on his shorts with his hands on his knees in every dead-ball. He could not open up his mouth wide enough to get enough oxygen in while shooting free throws, and missed numerous opportunities around the rim that he should have converted easily. Davis was completely neutralized by UCLA’s either small or extremely skinny frontcourt players, all considered average prospects at best, bothered by their length and being rejected embarrassingly time after time at the rim. On the defensive end things were just as bad, not a surprise considering what we’ve seen all season long, as Davis could not stay in front of anyone when pulled out of the paint and made numerous mistakes by failing to rotate or being outhustled on the glass.

Davis helped his overall stat-line by scoring 9 points in his last 8 minutes on the floor, all in garbage time when the deficit had swelled in the 20’s midway through the 2nd half, but the overall negative impression was just far too much to overcome. Tonight more than ever Davis showed that he has no shot of landing in the 1st round before he takes off significant weight in the form of 40-50 pounds, and also shows that he is able to keep that weight off.

Glen Davis NBA Draft Scouting Report

Mar 29, 2006, 09:17 pm
Strengths
Looking at Glen Davis before actually watching him play, you would assume that he is your typical wide, slow, undersized center that can barely get up and down the court and is just used for setting screens or getting a few rebounds. That however is completely not the case when discussing Glen Davis.

What stands out first when watching him play is his surprisingly good ball-handling ability. He is very good at taking defenders off the dribble and is able to change gears use hesitation moves even use a crossover move that can use to get to the hoop off the bounce. He utilizes this very well at the college level to take slower centers by surprise in the way he can handle the ball. Once he gets by the defender it is very hard to stop him because it is difficult stopping a man of his size and strength from getting a shot up. His ball-handling is not only limited to one on one situations, as he has even shown the ability to get the rebound and bring the ball up court if need be.

When he wants to get to the basket either off the dribble or when posting up, it is very hard for defenders to stop him from finishing at the rim. When a man that size gets into the air, he has to come down, and usually most post-men are not used to having to stop someone with incredible strength. Thus Davis can get his shot off around the basket and he has the potential to get a lot of continuation baskets because of his ability to follow through after contact.

Another very surprisingly aspect of Davis’s game is that he has a very
developed mid-range jump shot. He can shoot efficiently and effectively from the 15-17 foot range or even beyond and shows great shooting touch for a man his size.

Davis really likes shooting at the top of the key in the circle, which is where he is most effective if left open. When he is on the block posting up, Davis also has a very good fade-away jump shot that he can use off of a spin move. As the SEC player of the year, he’s a true go-to player for his team and will look for his shot in all situations to try and carry his team offensively.

Athletically, Davis is very rare. A player his size, with his strength and bulk, combined with his unique agility and nimbleness on the court does not come along very often. He has very quick feet, and can get up and down the court a lot better than most would assume. Davis is a mountain of a man, an immoveable object in the paint in many respects because of his wide body and physical strength. He has massive arms and looks like he could bench press a truck if really wanted too. The key is that he knows how to use his strength, too. It is not wasted on the court; he can use it when carving space for himself to post up, or to limit post players from setting up where they want to in the paint on offense. Another intriguing part of his game is that he is very coordinated for a big man, and has huge and soft, but strong hands on defense and offense.

On offense if there is one play that Davis can execute to perfection it is the pick and roll. It all starts with his ability to set a great screen with his wide body, and then use his quickness to get open followed by implementing his fine short-range jump shooting ability. He is a pick and pop player and if he gets in trouble he knows how to pass his way out of a double team. Davis is comfortable with the basketball in his hands and simply goes out and makes plays.

On the defensive end he has his virtues as well, being able to move players around in the post with his strength and width space. He does not have slow feet; if anything he is fairly nimble on defense and moves his feet well.

What he is at his best on defense is stopping the offensive player from backing up close to the basket. Davis knows how to use his leverage and size to push the offensive player away from where they want to ideally post up. When he boxes out aggressively he can really clear space. He takes out almost anyone in his path and no player can stop him from getting the ball if he puts his mind to it.

Davis is known as one of the most charismatic players in the NCAA, and from watching him interact with his teammates he appears to have a great personality. At times he can be a fun loving guy that likes to
joke around, and at other times he is a serious competitor and is one of the emotion leaders of his LSU team which reached the Final Four. Davis was one of the more vocal leaders not only on the court but also in the media during their trip to the Final Four. Having a likeable sincere guy like that on any NBA team would do nothing but help in terms of team cohesiveness.


Weaknesses
Davis has quite a few weaknesses to his game as far as his NBA potential goes.

The first would be his size. At 6-7 or 6-8 at best, Davis is severely undersized for an NBA power forward already. Although being 310+ pounds works for him currently in the NCAA, NBA teams will have to see some type of potential for him to get under 280 pounds if they are even going to take him seriously. His extra weight already limits him severely from getting off the ground to finish around the hoop or get rebounds out of his area. Conditioning issues have been a major problem for Davis throughout his career because of all the extra weight he carries, and shedding most of his excess baggage could go a long ways in making him even more nimble on the court.

Second is how he appears to force the issue excessively by going away from his strengths and trying to play too much like a guard rather than going inside and banging down low, especially in terms of using his ball-handling. No NBA team is going to build their offense around a 6-7 300+ pound player’s ability to create shots off the dribble, so he must adapt himself to becoming more of a role player that can do all the little things and play to his strengths.

Offensively, instead of using a good solid drop step and quick move to the basket, Davis might try to finesse the ball into the basket using a fancy unnecessary dribble or shot attempt. Simply put he can be too cute at times both inside and on the perimeter, which limits his production.

In terms of his footwork, it is not very developed. He is a post player that likes to face the basket and does not have a good back to the basket game as of yet. Davis will look to face up, shoot a jump shot or take the defender off the dribble. To be completely effective on offense however and in order to best utilize his strengths, he will have to learn more post moves with his back to the basket outside of a fade away jumper or a quick short hook shot.

Which brings to the issue revolving around his nickname, Big Baby. Davis earned that nickname not for his antics on the basketball court, but rather on the gridiron where he was considered too soft to make an impact that a player of his size and ability should. Questions still revolve around whether he is willing to battle in the paint consistently and use his physical size to get rebounds or does he just want to be fancy with the basketball? Davis has to show he is a tough guy that wants contact and is willing to do the dirty work as well as handle the basketball and play on the perimeter periodically. He has to make his ball-handling ability an added plus, and not the main core of his game.

Physically he would ideally be 6-10 to 7-0, but he is not. Davis is listed at 6-9 but appears to be much closer in actuality to 6-7. Because of that he does not have very long arms and that limits him in his ability to stop the shots of already taller and longer post players at times. To minimize that weakness to his game, he will have to continue to work on his ability to front the post and always maximize his strength and limit post players from posting up where they want to.

It would also be nice to see him being more aggressive boxing out on rebounds. Sometimes he gets lazy and does not actually box out the opponent; instead he just gets in the way and makes them go around his wide body. Because of his less than ideal arm length boxing out for him will be key. He periodically gets either tired or lazy and just leans on the offensive player to play defense, and that will have to stop at the next level because NBA power forwards will have a field day with him. Davis also has a tendency to bite on pump fakes too often, despite the fact that he is not and probably will never be a shot blocker unless he loses 50+ pounds and develops some sort of leaping ability. His defensive IQ will have to improve at the next level because his strength will not be enough to deal with athletic big men with good footwork that have a variety of offensive moves. Because of his size and the improvement in the ability of big men to shoot from the outside, Davis will have to do a better job showing on screens as well, as here also he is too lazy getting out to hedge the screen.

Competition
Glen Davis has gone up against some quality competition both in the SEC and in his out of conference schedule; faring well against very highly rated big men like Hilton Armstrong, Terence Dials and LaMarcus Aldridge. He was very impressive against the Texas big man Aldridge especially, completely taking him out of the game as he absolutely
controlled where Aldridge posted up.



Outlook
Glen Davis at this point in his career is looking like a better and better NBA prospect by leading his team to the Final Four. However the Tractor Traylor comparisons will haunt him. The fact that not many men his size have succeeded in the NBA will be an issue. Will his lack of height affect his ability to play center? Does he have the endurance to play in an 82 game season and still be able to get up and down
the court as effectively as he has shown in college? Can he take off and keep off all the excess weight he carries? Can he develop a more
solid post game with more developed post moves? All of these questions will have to be answered. It’s hard to imagine his stock getting any higher after helping his team make the Final Four, so many expect him to at least test the waters this year to see where his stock lies. He’ll likely get his fair share of looks from 20-40, depending on how much weight he can take off over the next few months.

NCAA Tournament: NBA Draft Stock Watch (Elite Eight, Saturday Games)

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Mar 26, 2006, 12:19 am
Glen Davis went a long way in proving his many doubters (of which we were a firm part) wrong with the way he performed in his matchup with potential #1 overall pick LaMarcus Aldridge. He absolutely outplayed him on both ends of the floor even though he noticeably gave up 3-4 inches, despite the two only being listed an inch apart officially.

Davis used his outstanding combination of strength, skill, incredible nimble feet and intelligence to have his way with Aldridge both offensively and defensively. He powered his way into the lane on a number of occasions and altered the release of his shot well enough to prevent the extremely long Texas center from sending it back.

Aldridge barely attempted to take the ball strong at Davis on the other end and instead was forced to settle for weak turnaround jumpers and soft fadeaways all game long. On the glass, Davis overcame his lack of length and vertical leap to snatch away a number of rebounds which were right in Aldridge’s area, knowing how to use his body to carve out space and letting his incredibly soft hands do the rest. He was in constant attack mode the entire game and scored in a variety of ways, whether it was with the jump hook, the soft mid-range jumper off the dribble or fading away, or even an unlikely 3-pointer in overtime that might have been the dagger for the Tigers.

It’s still not entirely clear to this particular writer how his game translates to the next level, but Davis has done almost everything in his power to convince that it will, and may have earned himself his fair share of looks in the first round based on the way he played.

NCAA Tournament: NBA Draft Stock Watch (Sweet Sixteen, Thursday games)

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Mar 24, 2006, 04:15 am
If it wasn’t for the win, Glen Davis probably would have been placed firmly in the “stock down” column of this article considering the way he performed today. Davis had a couple of monster offensive rebounds off free throws that essentially iced the game for LSU, but besides his late game heroics it can be said that the Tigers won the game tonight despite the way he played most of the way through, not because of it.

Davis started off the game the way he should have continued it all game long, by going down into the post and scoring with his jump-hook. From that point on, we could count on one hand the number of times LSU’s center actually decided to return there. A terrific move handling the ball from half-court in transition before throwing a pass-fake and scoring with the foul showed us plenty about just how nimble Davis’ feet are for a 320+ pound big man and how much he likes to show off his guard skills. The problem is he decided to show that all game long exclusively, repeatedly getting himself in trouble by attempting to penetrate the lane like a guard, abusing his ball-handling, trying to force his way into the paint instead of letting one of his guards make a post-entry pass and throwing up a number of extremely tough contested shots that looked completely out of control. His style of play is quite a novelty to watch, but isn’t particularly effective when considering his strengths on the court.

On the defensive end he was abused repeatedly by Shelden Williams, either biting on every pump fake thrown his way or not even attempting to do anything to stop him, picking up his 3rd foul with 19:30 to go in the game and then his 4th with 8:30 in the game. His pick and roll defense was average at best, making a half-hearted effort to hedge on the screen and then doing his coach a huge favor by being willing to get back in the post. Davis has admittedly struggled with conditioning problems his entire career, but only had to play in 27 minutes in this particular game

All year long scouts and agents have been saying that they hear that Davis is going to declare for the draft, and this win over Duke might be the deal-sealer for him. The catch is he has to find a way to take off 40-50 pounds before the draft and somehow convince people that he can keep them off too, because that appears to be the only way he’s going to have a shot at slipping into the 1st round. Whether it’s his conditioning problems, short arms, non-existent vertical leap or the fact that from watching him practice in person he appears to be closer to 6-7 than his listed height of 6-9, the cards are clearly stacked up against Big Baby until he makes some major changes to his physique.

NCAA Tournament: Atlanta Bracket NBA Draft Prospects

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Landry Fields
Landry Fields
Eric Weiss
Eric Weiss
Mar 15, 2006, 03:58 am
One of the most unique players in the NCAA, Glen Davis is coming off a fantastic sophomore season worthy of national All-America honors. With a wide body but incredibly nimble feet in the post, Davis is one of the toughest players to defend in the country when he is focused on playing to his tremendous strengths. Few can contain him when he manages to establish position deep in the post and catch the ball with his back to the hoop, but Davis is also equally adept at facing the basket and shockingly getting by his man with a slashing move or even by shooting a jump-shot off the dribble. LSU will throw the ball to him early and often and his ability to spread the floor and get opposing frontcourts in foul trouble make the Tigers an extremely difficult team to match up with considering the type of athletes LSU surrounds him with. Davis' NBA potential is still up in the air, but he shows the talent to make it if he can find a way to continue to take and keep weight off his massive frame.

In Case You Missed It...the Top Weekly Performers, 2/20-2/27

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Feb 28, 2006, 03:19 am
#21 LSU took down Kentucky on Saturday as Glen Davis won his matchup against Randolph Morris. LSU, now 12-2 and having clinched the regular season SEC championship, played a close game which included an ankle injury to standout forward Tyrus Thomas.

Davis started off the game hot, scoring his team’s first 6 points, and never looked back. Using his wide frame and incredibly nimble feet, Davis camped out on the block, and used an array of post moves to put the ball in the basket. He finished the game with a very efficient 28 points on only 14 attempts from the field, and play much of the second half in foul trouble that resulted from guarding Randolph Morris for most of the game (Morris did well himself with 17 points). Down the stretch, Davis played a huge role in leading LSU to the win, as he grabbed a key rebound with 4 seconds left when the score was 69-68, and made the ensuing free throws to bring the score to its final mark of 71-68.

Glen Davis is extremely agile for a 6-8, 315 pound mountain of a man, and is more athletic than you would think at first glance. He has great footwork in the post, and understands how to score in almost any situation. In addition, Davis shows solid rebounding fundamentals, to go along with very soft hands.

To be considered a top NBA prospect, Davis will need to continue to shed a significant of weight to help his extremely poor leaping ability. Davis will also need to learn to start passing out of the post when he is double teamed, and continue to show the ability to knock down his shots away from the basket. He lacks the ideal height to play center in the NBA, yet doesn’t show any ability to defend away from the basket. Davis is shooting 67% from the free throw line this season, and though his free throw shooting has improved over the past few weeks, it would be nice to see at least 75% from the free throw line from a player who averages nearly 6 free throw attempts per game. To best improve his stock, Glen Davis most importantly needs to continue to trim down and become a more natural power forward. His attitude in LSU’s huddle has looked questionable at best at times this season, so Davis will have to find a way to show some more respect for Coach Brady if he wants to earn the respect of NBA scouts.

Top 15 NBA Draft Prospects in the SEC

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Nov 03, 2005, 03:20 am
924


If he was two inches taller he'd probably be a lock to make the NBA, but he's not and being so undersized really hurts when you are 300+ pounds with very little potential to play any other position but the 5. Nevertheless, this guy is surprisingly quick and nimble, and has a lot of skills that most big men can only dream of such as passing, ball-handling and even knocking down the 15 footer when Coach Brady isn’t looking. If he can commit himself to getting down below 300 pounds or so (and early reports indicate he’s indeed slimmed down dramatically), he might have a decent shot. Otherwise he'll make just as much, if not more playing overseas.

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