Will Jared Sullinger be Better than Big Baby?

At some point this season, the Boston Celtics will play the Orlando Magic, and when they do, I will be hoping for a match-up between Jared Sullinger and Glen Davis. Come on. Admit it. The match-up must get your juices flowing, too. Glen Davis was confounded by his inner demons. A player who spent a fair amount of time getting into shape during the summer, only to screw it all up by getting into a fight and breaking his hand. Then, the season before his departure, he totally faded into oblivion, so much so that most of Celticdom wondered how it was that we landed Brandon Bass in exchange for Bambino Grande.

On the other side of this match-up will be Jared Sullinger.


When the Celtics drafted him, I remember thinking, wow, the Green actually got a decent-sized power forward in the draft (size here being equated with height). Finally, the C's have added someone taller than the Leon Powe's, Big Baby's, and Brandon Hunter's of the world. And then I checked Sullinger's Draft Preview and my bubble burst. He is exactly the same height as Big Baby. I had a quick laugh when, after taking note of Sullinger's 7-1 wing-span, I looked at Baby's and it showed "NA." How perfect. Not applicable. Glen has no wingpsan. But alas, the information simply wasn't available.

Whether the on-court match-up materializes or not, I submit there will be a virtual match-up worth considering. Glen Davis failed to live-up to expectations in Boston. Yes, he had his moments, and God Bless him for those. But, in the end, he just couldn't keep the wheels on the track. He needed to be a consistent big-game producer. He was hot-and-cold. He needed to be a beast on the boards. He almost never was. He needed to be more stable. Period.

It won't be a slam-dunk of a match-up either. Baby, as an earlier link shows, had a pretty damn good rookie season. During his inaugural campaign, Glen exceeded expectations. He came up huge on offense in a big game against the Pistons, and came up huge on D in a big game against the Spurs. What the two players undoubtedly will share in common is how they earn PT, slowly and sporadically. That's how Doc does it with rookies. Let's see how Sullinger meets the challenge.