Things didn't go well from there, as a collection of bench Blazers sliced the lead to 11 within a matter of minutes. For his part, Davis went almost four minutes with no points or rebounds and a few highly visible defensive flubs, and his effort seemed poor. As you'd guess, Kevin Garnett was not pleased. KG brutalized Davis during a timeout, saying what we can only imagine to be harsh criticisms. Davis responded well.
After the conflict, Davis sat on the bench with a towel over his head, television close-ups portraying him as near tears.
He sat like that the rest of the game. The camera zoomed in repeatedly -- he (an eighth man) became as big a story as Boston's attempt to repel the Portland surge. Other Celtics on the bench -- Tony Allen (in street clothes, if you wear suits on the street), Leon Powe, Patrick O'Bryant -- everyone else celebrated Garnett's monster jam to stop the bleeding and Rajon Rondo's near-Rondabout. Davis stewed. (He did give KG a high-five once the starters came out for good, but then went right back to his hole of sadness.)
Thankfully, Garnett told the media he'd be talking with Davis about his situation.
"I'll probably get real deep with him," Garnett said. "Try to understand what he's going through right now, research the problem. But Baby is frustrated a little bit with some of what we are doing. He just has to understand his role and not come outside of it."KG's like an extra coach on the floor, only he's one that makes his teammates cry and talks an inordinate amount of trash to the opponents.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
I love watching The Big. His enthusiasm and passion for the game are very refreshing, and he never stops hussling. Hang in there big guy!
HE WONT BE LONG IN THIS LEAGUE!!
KG was right to call out the bench for their poor play.
The last three games the Celtics starters have been up by 25 or so going into the 4th quarter. And in each game (Magic, Pacers, Blazers) the bench has let the lead get back to 10-15.
This is completely unacceptable (even with TA out with an ankle).
The starters are putting in a maximum effort. The bench comes in and they don't put in the same effort. They let rebounds fall in the middle of the key and just stand there watching. They don't stay in front of their man on defense. They don't pass the ball around on offense.
Completely unacceptable.
It's not enough to beat the Blazers by 25. We want to beat the Lakers and Cavs by 25 ... on the road.
That's our goal. That's why we have a good shot to win it all again this year.
I absolutely love that KG cares this much in a game when we are still up by 13.
The Boston bench needs some work ... primarily a true backup PG who can keep the opposing PG on the perimeter. That right there will clean up 90% of the bench's problems.
Davis and Powe are fine when they are defending one on one in the low post. They look bad when the PG gets beaten off the dribble. It's really very simple.