Mini Scouting Report on B. Davis from watching him on Clipps

Leor_77 · Post #1 » by **Leor_77** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 8:52 pm

Congrats guys - Nice pickup. Low risk, high reward.

Here is my mini scouting report from watching him in LA:

First of all, no Clippers fan actually wanted him to be traded when he was, but they understood that management had to get his exorbitant salary off the books.

He doesn't have the greatest outside shot, but it's not bad at all, and he can definitely hit big shots (I believe he had several game winners against the Celtics, when they were Juggernauts). You guys are going to have your own "Lob City" with him as your Point Guard. He's masterful in directing passes for alley-oops - He will connect effectively with Tyson, Melo and Stat. I always enjoyed seeing he and his ability to penetrate defense - He should do this for you guys very well, and expect to see easy shots/layups/dunks created from his penetration. He's also a great leader, and a nice veteran; Very positive guy in the locker-room; very outgoing/"Hollywood" - New York is perfect for his personality.

Obviously, injuries would be the only issue; make sure you have solid backup PG's.

I've watched him nearly his entire tenure with the Clippers, so if you have any questions, be sure to ask.

Post #2 » by **j4remi** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 8:54 pm

Thanks a lot for the break down, sounds like exactly what I was expecting. This signing looks like a good one to me. I'm slightly bitter about you guys winning the major sweepstakes though.

PeteW · Post #3 » by **PeteW** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 8:57 pm

man this sucks that the clippers and knicks dont play until the end of the season

Ron1 · Post #4 » by **Ron1** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 8:59 pm

I think with B. Diddy healthy, we are a top 3 team in the east.

Leor_77 · Post #5 » by **Leor_77** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:06 pm

PeteW wrote:man this sucks that the clippers and knicks dont play until the end of the season

Actually better that way - both teams will be able to gel basketball-wise and chemistry wise. Both teams will be in top form. I'm very curious to see how he performs with all of those offensive assets at his disposal. I think he may actually be key for you guys against Miami - With the Clippers last year, he was really bothering them with his penetration to the basket.

nykfan42 · Post #6 » by **nykfan42** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:12 pm

This report makes me feel better about the pickup. I only see him play a handful of games a year so it carries more weight coming from a fan that watches them play every game. Him staying healthy will be an issue still.

Smokey9782 · Post #7 » by **Smokey9782** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:14 pm

Ron1 wrote:I think with B. Diddy healthy, we are a top 3 team in the east.

There's no reason why they shouldn't be. As long as they are seriously buying into playing defense the right way then they'll be fine. This is a very strong squad.

KnicksScholar24 · Post #8 » by **KnicksScholar24** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:16 pm

I think the Knicks fan have first hand knowledge of Baron Davis' lob-throwing and clutch ability.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMk0n-9VplI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThjbYcGK3Xo[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-V-gL23TMg[/youtube]

That's for the scouting report, though. Hopefully, he will really get the Knicks offensive going. _'Antoni is probably jizzing in his pants now.

Leor_77 · Post #9 » by **Leor_77** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:16 pm

nykfan42 wrote:This report makes me feel better about the pickup. I only see him play a handful of games a year so it carries more weight coming from a fan that watches them play every game. Him staying healthy will be an issue still.

Glad I could help. It's tough to know a lot about a player if he isn't in your conference. Also, I wish I could speak about his defense, but to be honest, It just doesn't stand out to me in a bad or good way...Doesn't come to mind.

blackstar · Post #10 » by **blackstar** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:29 pm

Leor_77 wrote:Congrats guys - Nice pickup. Low risk, high reward.

Here is my mini scouting report from watching him in LA:

First of all, no Clippers fan actually wanted him to be traded when he was, but they understood that management had to get his exorbitant salary off the books.

He doesn't have the greatest outside shot, but it's not bad at all, and he can definitely hit big shots (I believe he had several game winners against the Celtics, when they were Juggernauts). You guys are going to have your own "Lob City" with him as your Point Guard. He's masterful in directing passes for alley-oops - He will connect effectively with Tyson, Melo and Stat. I always enjoyed seeing he and his ability to penetrate defense - He should do this for you guys very well, and expect to see easy shots/layups/dunks created from his penetration. He's also a great leader, and a nice veteran; Very positive guy in the locker-room; very outgoing/"Hollywood" - New York is perfect for his personality.

Obviously, injuries would be the only issue; make sure you have solid backup PG's.

I've watched him nearly his entire tenure with the Clippers, so if you have any questions, be sure to ask.

Look, I appreciate that you're trying to give a scouting report but please don't sugarcoat it. If you're gonna appraise a player you're familiar with, give the good and the bad. The only weakness is his injury concerns? Then why aren't we talking about prime B-Diddy here? I'll give you that the only weakness the Davis from New Orleans had was injury concerns, but now? Come on.

I've watched the majority of games he's played on the Clips as well, and I saw quite a different player than what you described in the bold. His shot was not what you would call "not the greatest, but not bad". Did he hit a few clutch shots? Yes, because he took most of them. But his shot was just embarrassingly bad for NBA standards most of the time. The thing with guys like Davis is that they're not pure shooters. They don't have good shooting mechanics and relied on their lift to shoot early in their careers. Now that his lift is gone, his shot is just flat and awful. Yes he can go on streaks and get hot (see: Youtube clips) but for pro standards, his shot was embarrassingly bad.

Ability to penetrate with ease? Along with his shot, the biggest change from his GSW days was his loss of athleticism. Along with that went his ability to finish at the hoop. Did he get to the basket at times? Yes, but his ability to finish is night and day compared to early on in his career, when he was an elite finisher at the hoop. He's also not quick enough anymore to consistently get around a lot of the younger guys these days. We might get the occasional drive to the hoop, but if you're counting on him doing that as a major part of your game plan, then I would start making other plans.

Don't get me wrong, I sincerely hope he'll have a revival here. But more than likely, expect him to dump the ball off to Melo or Amare and get his points off of 3's kicked out to him when they get doubled. All I hope is that he'll hit them at a respectable rate, that'll be good enough for me. More importantly, his ball-handling is better than Toney's, which will (hopefully) allow Toney to slide over to the backup SG spot, which is where he belongs.

blackstar · Post #11 » by **blackstar** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:32 pm

I will give you that he can throw lobs though, although he's no JKidd or Nash. And as for his defense...forget it.

KnicksScholar24 · Post #12 » by **KnicksScholar24** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:36 pm

Honestly, Davis still has a lot left in the tank. He may not dunk like he did earlier in his career, but he's still a very good starting caliber PG (when healthy). He'll likely be the Knicks best PG since Marbury. Billups was mediocre when he was here.

Christophersp10 · Post #13 » by **Christophersp10** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:43 pm

I'll stick to statistics and facts than the opinion of a Hater.

Davis is clearly not the same player he once was. He has injury concerns and has lost a step. But the talk about his shooting? COME ON!

For his Career he is a 41 percent shooter. Davis shot .417 percent last year. He is a career .321 three point shooter. Last year he shot .339. Doesn't appear that he lost his shot at all. PLus Davis going to go from being the #1 option to the #3 option. So it should less the wear and tear on his body for taking shots, penetrating to the basket and getting hit by guys bigger than him. Plus he should get more open shots playing with Melo and Stat.

Haters are going to hate.

god shammgod · Post #14 » by **god shammgod** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:54 pm

we don't need davis to play like an all star and he won't. all we need him to do is see the whole court, find the open man and hit the occasional 3. he can still do all those things. if he starts chucking he'll be pulled for someone else. we have 3 guys on the bench now who we can give minutes at point.

TrueWarrior · Post #15 » by **TrueWarrior** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:59 pm

god shammgod wrote:we don't need davis to play like an all star and he won't. all we need him to do is not give up his dribble, see the whole court, find the open man and hit the occasional 3. he can still do all those things. if he starts chucking he'll be pulled for someone else. we have 3 guys on the bench now who we can give minutes at point.

Yea I think some posters are mistaking enthusiasm with believing we got a prime Baron or something. We know hes not what he used to be, but we dont need him to be that. Even if he shoots 40% he should still be able to reasonably control the game on offense better than Toney and Bibby. Im expecting something around 12/7 from Baron if he gets around 30 mpg, which is all we need. When you factor in how cheap we got him for there really is no way anyone can complain about this move. Even if Baron completely blows or gets hurt again this move was a no brainer.

blackstar · Post #16 » by **blackstar** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 10:05 pm

god shammgod wrote:we don't need davis to play like an all star and he won't. all we need him to do is see the whole court, find the open man and hit the occasional 3. he can still do all those things. if he starts chucking he'll be pulled for someone else. we have 3 guys on the bench now who we can give minutes at point.

That I have no disagreements with. It's just the original post mentioned all the positives but neglected to mention all the negatives that took him from earning a $60 million contract to one of the most onerous contracts in the league.

DocZaius · Post #17 » by **DocZaius** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 10:39 pm

This guy and Mike D'Antoni is gonna be insane to watch

This is probably Baron's last chance to revitalize his career

The time is now!!

malik959 · Post #18 » by **malik959** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:02 pm

KnicksScholar24 wrote:I think the Knicks fan have first hand knowledge of Baron Davis' lob-throwing and clutch ability.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMk0n-9VplI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThjbYcGK3Xo[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-V-gL23TMg[/youtube]

That's for the scouting report, though. Hopefully, he will really get the Knicks offensive going. _'Antoni is probably jizzing in his pants now.

(Mental note) On almost every play Baron hit a 3 due to Jefferies leaving him open while trying to double someone sorry.

I_Love_NYK · Post #19 » by **I_Love_NYK** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:17 pm

I just hope Baron Davis is healthy, he knows in NY he won't have to score because he has scorers around him. In New Orleans, GS, and Clippers he had to score the ball as much as he passed the ball. Defensively his knee injuries and age bothers me against guarding the quicker PGs in the league.

munchies · Post #20 » by **munchies** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 4:20 pm

he certainly is a high reward low risk signing and that's the major positive that i'm gonna look at. but i think if he really wants to be here, he will find a way to help us become a contender. he got his millions, now its time to play for the love of the game. he shot over 40% from 3 in Cleveland, i bet that was enough for 'Antoni to jump on the bandwagon