Post by DERRENMATTS on Sept 26, 2005 0:53:19 GMT -5
In this first installment of "Pro's and Con's" (we'll try to go through every player on the roster), we'll take Ricky Davis and disect his game in an attempt to see what Ricky's strenghts and weaknesses are. There is no question that he is a talented basketball player, but there is not a single player out there who doesn't come with holes in his game. Let's see how Ricky stacks up.
Pro's
Ricky Davis is a scorer, plain and simple. When given the opportunity to take a shot, Ricky will not refuse. His pull up jumper off the dribble may be the best on the team because of his ability to create space between his defender and himself using his quick burst of speed and his ability to jump up high in the air. At times, its automatic. And when its automatic, you almost have to let Ricky ride the hot hand because he has that ability to lock his total concentration on the basket and put up a string of buckets in a hurry. Case in point, a game he had last year where he went 14 - 17 from the field for 33 pts. Many players can get into hot streaks, but Ricky does it with flair because when he's hot, he'll constantly attack and play at a lightning fast tempo. This is why he is so valuable as a 6th man. For most of his career, he has been a starter. As a starter for Cleveland in 2002, he averaged 20.6 ppg. But as a player coming off the bench for us, he has found a big niche through providing instant scoring and a big boost of energy. With Ricky being the leader of the "B Unit" on last year's team (comprised mostly of young and energetic players who brought in a ton of energy and an aggressive scoring punch), opponents had to deal with a shift in gears that sent our offensive game into overdrive. In many games, it was the B Unit who brought the team back from a deficit, or put the team ahead. They were the sparkplug who ignited the torrent of energy and excitement into the team's stalled engine. And leading the way was Ricky Davis, both by his talk and by his example. His eyes lit up and his mouth would start jabbering as he got onto the court, and you knew there was a good chance that Ricky was going to leave his mark somehow. Wyc Grousbeck even commented that the arena would go wild when Ricky was checking into the game--and for good reason. Ricky Davis loves to entertain the crowd and his swagger is clearly visible. Fans feed off of it and so do his teammates (and I'm sure it can be a bit intimidating for opposing teams hearing the crowd go wild when a player is checking in).
Another area in which Ricky excels in is his defense. Not known for his defense in the past, Ricky has begun to put some focus in that area, and it has paid off handsomely. He's one of the more athletic players on the team and he has quick lateral movements which allow him to stay with even the better wing players in the league. He plays aggressive in-your-face defense and he pesters the ball handler by constantly jabbing at the ball. One play in particular that opened my eyes to Davis' defensive abilities was the 2 blocked shots he had on Stephen Jackson of the Pacers. Stephen Jackson was trying to shake Ricky but he couldn't because Ricky was determined to stay in front of him. Thinking that he had Ricky guessing for a drive, Jackson quickly got up in the air to shoot the ball. Ricky instantly got up into the air and got his hand on the ball as it left Jackson's hands. The ball was deflected a few strides to the right, and Jackson was able to collect it while Ricky was recovering from his first blocked shot. Jackson thought there was enough space between he and Ricky to attempt another quick shot, but Ricky proved to be quicker than Jackson anticipated, and he blocked the ball from the side with an outstretched arm.
Ricky is also quite a ball thief. Because he stays in front of his man well, and because he positions himself lower to the ground than his man, he's able to swipe at balls a lot. His career statistics haven't reflected much in terms of steals per game, but only since last year has Ricky dedicated himself to being a better defensive player.
Ricky has also shown maturity the past 2 years and seems to have gotten over his flamboyant and reckless attitude to become more of a leader type.
Cons
Though Ricky has made a reputation as being a legitimate scorer, he's not a polished penetrator. He seems to constantly fumble and trip over himself as he tries to blow past his defender, especially on the baseline (lucky he's got a midrange game). He's often out of control as he's attacking the basket and he's not much of a finisher in traffic. Unless he's wide open, he has difficulty getting a good look at the basket in the lane.
Ricky is also a poor ball handler. His right hand is decent at best, but his left hand is very poor. Its shaky when he's dribbling the ball in a sprint, often dribbling too close to his body.
He's quite a midrange shooter off the dribble, but he doesn't quite seem comfortable shooting it from a stand still position. Also, his three point shot can be irratic.
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For the most part, Ricky has been a terrific pickup by Ainge. I really like what Ricky does off the bench for us, and I'd truly like to keep him there and let him make a career as being our prized 6th man. He has been working his butt of this offseason, restlessly working on his game and I hope it pays off greatly this season. Hopefully, he'll come into the season with a more consistent jumper and better ball handling. I'd like to see Ricky excel at coming off of picks for quick pull up jumpers. With these improvements, I believe Ricky can improve his scoring average over last year (16 ppg) with even less minutes.
Pro's
Ricky Davis is a scorer, plain and simple. When given the opportunity to take a shot, Ricky will not refuse. His pull up jumper off the dribble may be the best on the team because of his ability to create space between his defender and himself using his quick burst of speed and his ability to jump up high in the air. At times, its automatic. And when its automatic, you almost have to let Ricky ride the hot hand because he has that ability to lock his total concentration on the basket and put up a string of buckets in a hurry. Case in point, a game he had last year where he went 14 - 17 from the field for 33 pts. Many players can get into hot streaks, but Ricky does it with flair because when he's hot, he'll constantly attack and play at a lightning fast tempo. This is why he is so valuable as a 6th man. For most of his career, he has been a starter. As a starter for Cleveland in 2002, he averaged 20.6 ppg. But as a player coming off the bench for us, he has found a big niche through providing instant scoring and a big boost of energy. With Ricky being the leader of the "B Unit" on last year's team (comprised mostly of young and energetic players who brought in a ton of energy and an aggressive scoring punch), opponents had to deal with a shift in gears that sent our offensive game into overdrive. In many games, it was the B Unit who brought the team back from a deficit, or put the team ahead. They were the sparkplug who ignited the torrent of energy and excitement into the team's stalled engine. And leading the way was Ricky Davis, both by his talk and by his example. His eyes lit up and his mouth would start jabbering as he got onto the court, and you knew there was a good chance that Ricky was going to leave his mark somehow. Wyc Grousbeck even commented that the arena would go wild when Ricky was checking into the game--and for good reason. Ricky Davis loves to entertain the crowd and his swagger is clearly visible. Fans feed off of it and so do his teammates (and I'm sure it can be a bit intimidating for opposing teams hearing the crowd go wild when a player is checking in).
Another area in which Ricky excels in is his defense. Not known for his defense in the past, Ricky has begun to put some focus in that area, and it has paid off handsomely. He's one of the more athletic players on the team and he has quick lateral movements which allow him to stay with even the better wing players in the league. He plays aggressive in-your-face defense and he pesters the ball handler by constantly jabbing at the ball. One play in particular that opened my eyes to Davis' defensive abilities was the 2 blocked shots he had on Stephen Jackson of the Pacers. Stephen Jackson was trying to shake Ricky but he couldn't because Ricky was determined to stay in front of him. Thinking that he had Ricky guessing for a drive, Jackson quickly got up in the air to shoot the ball. Ricky instantly got up into the air and got his hand on the ball as it left Jackson's hands. The ball was deflected a few strides to the right, and Jackson was able to collect it while Ricky was recovering from his first blocked shot. Jackson thought there was enough space between he and Ricky to attempt another quick shot, but Ricky proved to be quicker than Jackson anticipated, and he blocked the ball from the side with an outstretched arm.
Ricky is also quite a ball thief. Because he stays in front of his man well, and because he positions himself lower to the ground than his man, he's able to swipe at balls a lot. His career statistics haven't reflected much in terms of steals per game, but only since last year has Ricky dedicated himself to being a better defensive player.
Ricky has also shown maturity the past 2 years and seems to have gotten over his flamboyant and reckless attitude to become more of a leader type.
Cons
Though Ricky has made a reputation as being a legitimate scorer, he's not a polished penetrator. He seems to constantly fumble and trip over himself as he tries to blow past his defender, especially on the baseline (lucky he's got a midrange game). He's often out of control as he's attacking the basket and he's not much of a finisher in traffic. Unless he's wide open, he has difficulty getting a good look at the basket in the lane.
Ricky is also a poor ball handler. His right hand is decent at best, but his left hand is very poor. Its shaky when he's dribbling the ball in a sprint, often dribbling too close to his body.
He's quite a midrange shooter off the dribble, but he doesn't quite seem comfortable shooting it from a stand still position. Also, his three point shot can be irratic.
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For the most part, Ricky has been a terrific pickup by Ainge. I really like what Ricky does off the bench for us, and I'd truly like to keep him there and let him make a career as being our prized 6th man. He has been working his butt of this offseason, restlessly working on his game and I hope it pays off greatly this season. Hopefully, he'll come into the season with a more consistent jumper and better ball handling. I'd like to see Ricky excel at coming off of picks for quick pull up jumpers. With these improvements, I believe Ricky can improve his scoring average over last year (16 ppg) with even less minutes.
