jefe wrote:mirrornick wrote:Hey Grizz fans. What do you think about Ed Davis so far?
He's coming along nicely and starting to produce. A couple of thoughts
- He's better at protecting the rim as an off-the-ball, help defender than I thought
- BUT, the flip side to the above, is that he gets caught watching the ball and lets his man cut to the hoop wide open at times
- His thin frame lets him get backed down and bullied by stronger power forwards
- Overall, his offensive game is more limited than I thought; he hasn't shown a face up jumper from any distance or a back to the basket post game - he's getting his bucks after having the table set by Gasol or Conley and cleaning up missed shots from his teammates (which generally leads to efficient scoring)
- His length and athleticism is something the Grizz did not have on the roster before
- His free throw shooting is Dwight Howard level awful right now
At this point, I think I still prefer a healthy Darrell Arthur over him if Hollins is going to stick with a 3 big rotation; but I hope that Hollins will use both Arthur and Davis in a 4 big rotation. The problem with playing them both at the same time is that neither of them can consistently get you buckets in a post up situation - which is the entire basis of our offense - meaning our offense reverts to Bayless pick and rolls with Arthur/Davis when they're playing together.
That's why I suggested mixing up the big rotation a bit: getting Davis and Arthur plenty of minutes but rarely together. It would mean less Gasol/Zbo on the court together, but it could reap benefits. Both Arthur and Davis have the defensive quickness to show hard on the pick and roll, allowing the guards to run under more often, which makes it easier to keep opposing ball-handlers out of the paint. When we have Gasol and Randolph on the floor together we generally run over screens, which often puts the defense in jeopardy.
Both Arthur and Davis also offer other skills: namely jumpshooting in Arthur's case and shot-blocking and activity on the glass in Davis's case.
