Jeff Green: I can't do it alone

[Tr1boy]

Jeff Green with another inefficient game while KO shoots 10-16. 

[PhoSita]

That quote is one word too long.

Boom.  Perfect.

[crimson_stallion]

I really get annoyed with how people on this forum use absolutely any excuse they can to throw dirt on Jeff Green and Avery Bradley...absolutely every chance.

Jeff Green said nothing bad at all in this quote.  In OKC Jeff Green was #3 behind Durant and Westbrook.  In Boston he was #3 (or #4) behind Pierce, Garnett and Ray.  Green has always been a complementary scorer his entire life.  That's always been his role.  This season those guys all went, leaving Green forced in to being the #1 guy.

Green obviously isn't used to that type of role and not yet comfortable in that role, and he's been humble and man enough to come out with these comments to admit to that.  A lot of people expected him to come out and be a 20+ PPG scorer (admittedly i thought he would too) and those expectations have probably put a lot of pressure on him.

So many people here just throw dirt on him for not being able to handle all of this pressure, blow it off like it's nothing, and just dominate.  To all the guys who are making those criticisms I have to ask - do you think you could do better when you have the entire opposing team  targetting you with NBA calibre defense? I thought not.

What you all need to understand is that not everybody can be a Lebron or a Durant.  Green is a talented athlete but he has limitations in his game - he's not a great passer, he's not a great ball handler, etc.  Some of those skills limit his ability to score under heavy defense because when the defense throws a trap at him he has to pick up his dribble, when guys like Lebron could dribble their way through a trap like that. 

Green is a very good defensive SF who is very physically gifted and who is also a very capable scorer, but he doesn't have the elite NBA talent required to be a #1 option on a great playoff team.  I think he really does do the best with what talent he has, and I think the skill set he has is also a useful skill set to have on a team like this.

So at the end of the day this is just Green's subtle way of telling the fans that maybe we expected a little too much of him.  That contrary to what many fans feel he did work hard, and he did try his best, but his best just wasn't enough...he's just not that #1 guy.  He needs a closer on the team who can create offense to help take attention off him, so that he can be his most effective.

He's not saying he had no help, that his teamates were crap, that he was the only man on the team playing.  He just understand that everybody on a team has a certain role, and he was really the only natual scorer on the team. 

Who was second on the team in scoring?  Bradley, who is a defense-first guy who improved as an offensive player out of necessity. Whos the third scorer?  Probably Sullinger, a guy who is more of a rebounder, scrapper and hustle guy. Forth best scorer?  Probably Olynyk, a rookie still making a lot of adjustments.  Or Bayless - a bench player. 

Green speaks nothing but the truth - it's not bad mouthing, he's just wants the fans to know that he needs more help...that's all.

[lon3lytoaster]

No one can do it alone. But Jeff couldn't do it with an all-NBA roster, either so..

[Ogaju]

Jeff Green does not need help. He is the help.

[Clench123]

Hold on...weren't he snoozing even when he had KG and Paul?  He's talking as if he played great when thy were here. 

[crimson_stallion]

No one can do it alone. But Jeff couldn't do it with an all-NBA roster, either so..

When did Jeff have an All-NBA roster?

Last year he was playing behind Pierce and KG, both of whom were a shadow of their former selves come playoff time last season.  It's also worth mentioning that Jeff Green was an absolute BEAST in that playoff run.  He averaged 20 PPG and was arguably the Celtics best offensive player. 

The season before that he missed due to heart surgery.

The season before that he was traded half way through the season and had a inconsistent role with inconsistent minutes.

Jeff Green is not an Alpha-Dog type of player.  He's not a guy who's going to give you 20-25 PPG and be your go-to guy on a good playoff team every night.  If he was that type of guy he'd be getting paid closer to a max contract (around the $13M-$15M / year range).  He's more like an Andre Iguodala type player - a guy who gives you some good defense, while also being a nice #2 or #3 option on offense.  He'll put up 20 points every 2nd or 3rd game, and every now and then he'll explode for 30. 

I think he's played that role very well this season. 

Jeff has scored:

* < 10 points 14 times (17%)
* 10 - 14 points 17 times (21%)
* 15 - 19 points 29  times (35%)
* 20 - 29 points 18 times (22%)
* 30+ points 4 times (5%)

So for those who constantly complain about Jeff's inconsistency, the above stats show that he has scored between 10 - 29 points in 64/82 (78%) games this season. 

Based on the amount of money Green is being paid ($9M / year) and the type of role he is expected to play (#2 - #3 scoring option) I don't see how you could consider those numbers below par.  Especially when you factor in the consistently excellent defense he has played over the course of the season.

People keep looking at Green the wrong way.  Keep saying his production hasn't changed when he's had more talent around him.  That's correct, and it won't change.  I don't think anybody is saying that Jeff Green would be a 20 PPG scorer if he had a go-to guy on the team.  He'd still probably score 16-18 PPG. The difference is that his efficiency (from three and from the field) would likely improve significantly.  So suddenly people would start judging him based on what he is (a #2 option) rather than the current scenario, where people are judging him based on the role he has been forced in to (rather than the role he is realistically suited to).

You can't blame Jeff Green because you have set your expectations too high, and he didn't meet them.  If you expect more from him than he can give (and is being paid to give), then that is your own mistake.  That's no fault of his.

[mmmmm]

Jeff Green with another inefficient game while KO shoots 10-16.

KO had a very good offensive game.

But Jeff Green scoring 20 points on 15 FGA is in no way an inefficient game.

[cltc5]

Jeff Green with another inefficient game while KO shoots 10-16.

KO had a very good offensive game.

But Jeff Green scoring 20 points on 15 FGA is in no way an inefficient game.

but that's what Jeff green does.  He shows up when he wants to.  I dont want a part time player on this team.  I want someone fully committed and showing improvement not a roller coaster.

[nickagneta]

Jeff Green has been this year, what he has always been.

And for all his cries about how much he was getting double and triple teamed, I just didn't see it all that often.  I saw worse spacing by the Celtics team as a whole this year. I saw an offensive system that didn't set plays up to maximize his chance of getting open. I saw a lot of good defensive teams that rotated fast and trapped him down low when he tried to post people and who switched really fast so as not to allow him easy open lanes to the basket.

But I also saw Jeff being Jeff. I saw him cruising through long portions of games, standing in the corner, not moving without the ball, and settling for outside jumpers rather than taking it to the hole and creating contact for a foul. I saw a lot of games where he just disappeared. I saw a lot of offensive play that just wasn't that aggressive. But I also saw a lot of games where Jeff was an extremely efficient scorer, games where he could go OFF. And games where he at times was the aggressive player I would want him to be all the time.

But, unfortunately, what I saw of Jeff was no different than what Jeff has been his whole career. No more, no less.

The Celtics this year needed a leader on offense that has heart, aggression and desire to succeed every night, Not what Jeff brings. If stating this is insulting to Jeff, my apologies to Jeff but maybe now he would know what his team mates might have felt when he said he was doing it alone but gave a reasonable informed explanation with his statement.

[Eja117]

No one can do it alone. But Jeff couldn't do it with an all-NBA roster, either so..

this

[Eja117]

Hold on...weren't he snoozing even when he had KG and Paul?  He's talking as if he played great when thy were here.

this too

[Eja117]

Too bad nobody can do it with Jeff.  Sorta hard to do it when you do your job and Jeff gets outrebounded by Muggy Bouges (if he were in the league that would absolutely happen)

Hey Jeff. Ya kinda need to be able to outrebound Muggsy alone.

[Galeto]

He deserves a break.  He battled through a shoulder injury for most of the season with complete radio silence!  Admirably he didn't even bring it up once during this "exit interview."

I just don't get it with him.  There's nothing he does at even an average level, not even defense.  His rebounding and playmaking are well below-average.  The only thing he can hang his hat on is scoring and besides last season when he benefited by going up against PFs, he's been an inefficient scorer, with the bottom falling out this season. 

To this day, I don't understand why Ainge felt like he couldn't just let Perkins leave.  A MLE free agent would have been better than either of them.

[Moranis]

FGApg - Jeff Green 14.3, Avery Bradley 13.8

Bradley better from three by 5.4%.  Bradley better from two by .3% (as well as .9 more attempts a game).  Bradley better from the line by .9%. 

Green was two points better a game because he got to the line a lot more than Bradley and shot a lot more threes (1.5 more a game), but this notion that Green was a clear #1 scorer is just silly given that Bradley was just behind him in FGA but was way more efficient a scorer. 

Green was second on the team in USG% as well behind Sullinger and barely ahead of Bradley, further demonstrating that Green really wasn't a #1 guy. 

Only Avery Bradley had a lower rebound % than Jeff Green of all of the regular rotation players (Rondo, Sullinger, Wallace, Bass, Olynyk, Humphries all were better).  Rebounding doesn't have much at all to do with whether you are the #1 option, it is about effort.  You see that is the problem with Jeff Green.  He just doesn't give maximum effort the majority of the time.  Heck I would take solid effort most of the time and he can't even do that. 

Green threw his teammates under the bus in a season when he was a total failure as a player.  His defense went down considerably, his efficiency plummeted, and his effort for the most part was non-existent.  Jeff Green is a mediocre player that isn't worth his contract.  The sooner Boston eliminates him from the roster, the better.