Glen "Big Baby" Davis apparently needs to be babied
The Orlando Sentinel reported that Davis compared his former coach Doc Rivers to his current coach Jacque Vaughn.
“Doc is more of a military-minded type of guy,” Davis said. “Jacque is more of a Gandhi type of guy: soft but powerful. Doc is more of a ‘get-the-job-done’ [person]. Jacque Vaughn is more of a guy who’ll ask you, ‘What’ll make you feel comfortable to get the job done?’"
Davis went on to say he feels he "functions" better under Vaughn's system and did not get enough support from Rivers.
"Doc wasn’t the type of guy to pat you on your back and say, ‘Good job, man.’ He’s more like, ‘All right, move on,’" Davis said.
From all accounts, except from Davis, the reason players, such as Jason Terry, want to come to Boston is because of Rivers. He is a players coach.
Because Doc did not coddle Davis after stunts like breaking his thumb while screwing around with a friend days before the 2009-10 season opener, that makes Rivers a stern coach?
Is Davis really trying to say that Vaughn is more of a players coach than Rivers?
A coach needs to hold players accountable. There is nothing wrong with a "get-the-job-done" approach. It seems to have served the former Coach of the Year well with a 554-439 overall record.
Rivers has won 55.8% of the games he's coached, including his five-year stint with the Magic and two awful years in Boston before the Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen trades in 2007. The guy gets results.
Davis did backtrack a little when he said later in the interview that he needed Rivers to whip him into shape.
“I was a rookie and I made rookie mistakes,” Davis said. “You need a guy like Doc to set you straight. But now, knowing what I know now and what Doc has taught me, Jacque doesn’t have to really [say], ‘Hey, man, do this. Hey, man, do that.’ ”
It's been well documented that Rivers does not always handle young players' development the best, favoring veterans who may be less talented, but proven.
Still, Davis had every opportunity to shine in Boston and while he had some big games, most of what people will remember are his antics, such as crying after Garnett ripped into him on the bench one game or being "Shrek" to Nate Robinson's "Donkey."
Davis' argument of not needing someone to tell him what to do makes no sense. Is he saying he does not need coaching anymore? Davis is only 26, there is still plenty for him to learn. No other player has left Boston and said, "Man, Rivers coaches too much."
While the stats do support that Davis is playing better under Vaughn, averaging 14.9 ppg and 8.8 rpg in 13 games this season, compared to his best year in Boston, 11.7 ppg and 5.5 rpg in 78 games in 2010-2011, the numbers are not the whole story.
The Magic, at 5-8, are in total reboot mode after the Dwight Howard dilemma. So far, the only team they beat that was half-decent was the Nuggets in the Magic's season opener. The others to fall to Orlando were Detroit twice, Phoenix and Cleveland.
There are some pieces to build on in Orlando with rookies Moe Harkless and Andrew Nicholson and decent role players Jameer Nelson and Arron Afflalo. But after that the team is built up of one dimensional players like J.J. Redick and Gustavo Ayon and has-beens like Al Harrington and Hedo Turkoglu.
In other words, there is not a whole lot going for Orlando these days. Davis is simply one of those "putting up numbers on a bad team" guys.
But hey, he got what he wanted. He's starting and he does not have other big personalities like Rajon Rondo, Garnett, Paul Pierce or even Doc Rivers to get in his way.
While Brandon Bass, who the Celtics traded Davis for two off seasons ago and who signed a three year extension with Boston this past off season, may be inconsistent at times and caught up in the current big man platoon in Boston, one thing you can say about him and not Davis is Bass just goes out on the court and plays.
No muss, no fuss.
