Mario vs. Luigi, and some numbers on Luigi Datome vs. James Young


During the Celtics' victory in Miami on Monday night, there was a moment in the fourth quarter where Mario Chalmers shifted over to guard Luigi Datome:


Before the game, Datome was asked about the impending matchup with his Nintendo brethren Chalmers:


He was right.

Datome's recent emergence has come at the expense of rookie James Young.  In Orlando on Sunday, Datome logged 10 very productive minutes, scoring 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting (2-for-2 beyond the arc).  Young went scoreless (0-for-2) in six minutes.  The following night against the Heat, Datome played 21 minutes and went 6-for-9 (1-for-2 on threes) for 13 points.  Young was a DNP-CD.

I've seen comments from many Celtics fans expressing disappointment in Young's benching.  "He's the future, he needs to play!"  Young is 19 years old.  He has plenty of time to develop.  But right now the Celtics are trying to win games, and Young isn't very good.

On January 5, Young went 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-4 from downtown while posting 13 points in a loss to Charlotte.  In 21 games since then, he's shooting 28 percent from the field and 22 percent on three-pointers.  His highest scoring output is nine points, while his single best shooting line is a 2-for-3.  By comparison, over the last two games Datome is averaging 11.5 points with a field goal percentage of 71 and a three-point percentage of 75.

Yes, that is a tiny sample size, but consider this--in a span of more than two months, Young doesn't have a single game as impressive as either of Datome's last two.



Follow Mark Vandeusen on Twitter @LucidSportsFan
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