Jeff Green is growing up before our eyes!

[Boris Badenov]

He reminds me more and more of Sam Perkins. He has that same sleepy demeanor and casual way of hitting big 3s.

[nickagneta]

I wouldn't say he's "growing".  I've had confidence that this is exactly the player Jeff Green has been since his first couple years in the league.  I watched him closely in Seattle and eventually OKC... he's always been a guy who could consistently drop 20 points.  When Durant sat, Green always picked up the slack.  And in Boston it all came down to minutes and role.  I brought up dozens of times that his per-minute numbers were on a par with anything he had ever done.  Once Rondo went out, Green's role increased...

Post All-star he averaged 33.5 minutes, 17.3 points, 5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 blocks, 49%/44%/80% ... the 3-point shooting percentage and clutch-factor is tad surprising, but he's still pretty much the player i've always known him to be.  Solid starter... above-average scorer... fringe star who will never make an all-star team.

He's continued the solid play into the playoffs.  He deserves a ton of credit.  I just can't say it's surprising to me or that I expect him to get much better.  Always knew he had it in him.

Good observations. He is what he is. The great thing about Green is he is very efficient because he usually won't take a bad shot. But in a way that is what holds him back from being an elite scored. He's too passive and not aggressive enough to force the issue and make his presence felt every game.

He had a good night. Bad let's face facts, before those three shots, he was very quiet and we really needed him at times to force himself offensively to take some heat off Pierce. He didn't do it. I am starting to think though that with Rondo creating better shots for him in the half court offense, he could be a nice fit with him.

A Sully , Green, Rondo centric offense with one more very good scorer and a defensive stopper at the other position could be a good future as there would seem to be a lot of versatility with that type of starting 5.

[CelticConcourse]

Recognition, at long last...

[Kane3387]

He's properly paid. I'll say that.

We will see. His injury supposedly takes two years to recover from. This is the most his scoring is being featured since his rookie year.

I still see him becoming better if he can become consistently from the elbows. And if luol deng and Andre igoudala can make all star teams in the east then do can green.

He's now our starting SF and I believe he will only be better next year if Paul and KG stay.

[kgainez]

easily a 2nd option

[dysgenic]

I was wrong about this guy...he can play.  His defense is MUCH better than I ever thought it would be, and he is a tremendous finisher on the fast break.  Offensively he is def a 3. He runs into trouble when they try to post him up too much which was part of the problem when he first came here- they were using him wrong.

I never thought he could play here, but boy was I wrong.  He is rising to the occasion and maturing before our eyes.  Great to see.  Great story.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Really, I think it has a lot to do with teammates believing in you the way KG and PP do. The way they talk about you just makes guys better. They don't just say you are good they go to the next level! To have guys who are as great as they are believing in you must be special and make you try harder to live up to what they think you can be. I mean, KG made Green pause when he said he could be one of the greats. I was thinking "is this guy about to cry?" lol. I hope they stay next season to keep working on Green, you can tell it's helping him.

[SparzWizard]

Maybe now he can get the James Worthy comparison in my books hahah! 

[Galeto]

Green is growing up.  It was night and day between the second half of game 1 when he looked tentative after a great first half and the second half of game 5 when he was aggressive and just made shots.  Sometimes I worry about Green going away in a tough environment on the road.  He didn't do any of that tonight.

[ManUp]

I wouldn't say he's "growing".  I've had confidence that this is exactly the player Jeff Green has been since his first couple years in the league.  I watched him closely in Seattle and eventually OKC... he's always been a guy who could consistently drop 20 points.  When Durant sat, Green always picked up the slack.  And in Boston it all came down to minutes and role.  I brought up dozens of times that his per-minute numbers were on a par with anything he had ever done.  Once Rondo went out, Green's role increased...

Post All-star he averaged 33.5 minutes, 17.3 points, 5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 blocks, 49%/44%/80% ... the 3-point shooting percentage and clutch-factor is tad surprising, but he's still pretty much the player i've always known him to be.  Solid starter... above-average scorer... fringe star who will never make an all-star team.

He's continued the solid play into the playoffs.  He deserves a ton of credit.  I just can't say it's surprising to me or that I expect him to get much better.  Always knew he had it in him.

Good observations. He is what he is. The great thing about Green is he is very efficient because he usually won't take a bad shot. But in a way that is what holds him back from being an elite scored. He's too passive and not aggressive enough to force the issue and make his presence felt every game.

He had a good night. Bad let's face facts, before those three shots, he was very quiet and we really needed him at times to force himself offensively to take some heat off Pierce. He didn't do it. I am starting to think though that with Rondo creating better shots for him in the half court offense, he could be a nice fit with him.

A Sully , Green, Rondo centric offense with one more very good scorer and a defensive stopper at the other position could be a good future as there would seem to be a lot of versatility with that type of starting 5.

TP Nick, I didn't want to be the one to point out the super quiet first 3 quarters. I wanted him to be more assertive earlier, but I can't complain with the outcome. He's made it very clear he's a complementary scorer not a primary one.

With that said, Green has looked great with us. When he first came here I wasn't sure he was a true starter, but I think he's proven himself. The difference between Green here and in OKC is that he's more efficient from the field,  he shoots the ball better from 3pt range, and he can defend the 3(his natural position) very well. When you can do all that and scorer above 17 points and get 5 assists or rebounds I think your closer to fringe star than starter.

[bfrombleacher]

I wouldn't say he's "growing".  I've had confidence that this is exactly the player Jeff Green has been since his first couple years in the league.  I watched him closely in Seattle and eventually OKC... he's always been a guy who could consistently drop 20 points.  When Durant sat, Green always picked up the slack.  And in Boston it all came down to minutes and role.  I brought up dozens of times that his per-minute numbers were on a par with anything he had ever done.  Once Rondo went out, Green's role increased...

Post All-star he averaged 33.5 minutes, 17.3 points, 5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 blocks, 49%/44%/80% ... the 3-point shooting percentage and clutch-factor is tad surprising, but he's still pretty much the player i've always known him to be.  Solid starter... above-average scorer... fringe star who will never make an all-star team.

He's continued the solid play into the playoffs.  He deserves a ton of credit.  I just can't say it's surprising to me or that I expect him to get much better.  Always knew he had it in him.

Good observations. He is what he is. The great thing about Green is he is very efficient because he usually won't take a bad shot. But in a way that is what holds him back from being an elite scored. He's too passive and not aggressive enough to force the issue and make his presence felt every game.

He had a good night. Bad let's face facts, before those three shots, he was very quiet and we really needed him at times to force himself offensively to take some heat off Pierce. He didn't do it. I am starting to think though that with Rondo creating better shots for him in the half court offense, he could be a nice fit with him.

A Sully , Green, Rondo centric offense with one more very good scorer and a defensive stopper at the other position could be a good future as there would seem to be a lot of versatility with that type of starting 5.

TP Nick, I didn't want to be the one to point out the super quiet first 3 quarters. I wanted him to be more assertive earlier, but I can't complain with the outcome. He's made it very clear he's a complementary scorer not a primary one.

With that said, Green has looked great with us. When he first came here I wasn't sure he was a true starter, but I think he's proven himself. The difference between Green here and in OKC is that he's more efficient from the field,  he shoots the ball better from 3pt range, and he can defend the 3(his natural position) very well. When you can do all that and scorer above 17 points and get 5 boards or rebounds I think your closer to Fringe star than starter.

Also, fantastic defense.

Sadly Bass seems to be more adept at defending Melo's brand of elbow first basketball.

But slowing down lebron, 2 blocks a game is darn good. If he wants he can shut down any wing player without blazing speed.

[Boris Badenov]

I wouldn't say he's "growing".  I've had confidence that this is exactly the player Jeff Green has been since his first couple years in the league... I brought up dozens of times that his per-minute numbers were on a par with anything he had ever done. 

Actually his per-minute numbers are pretty similar in this current playoff, too. The difference is that he's averaging 43 minutes per game.

For example he averaged 16.6 points per-36 in the 2013 regular season, and in this series he's averaging 16.9 points per-36.

His rebounding and other numbers have actually been worse (e.g., 4.5 rebounds per-36 which is very low).

The big positives are (a) his 3 point shooting, which at 47% is very good, (b) the fact that he's hit some clutch shots, and (c) the fact that he's producing at a similar level given higher minutes.

But by and large he's been the same player we saw all year, as you said - a good player, and worthy of minutes on almost any team. But it's not like this has been some breakout series for him, at least to me.

To me the guy who's over-achieved more relative to the regular season has been Bass. His defense and rebounding have been very good.

[get_banners]

Green 2.0 is more aggressive than Green 1.0 (who was also unselfish, but played with Durant and Westbrook, and then Pierce, Ray, KG, and Rondo i.e. didn't have the ball that much). Whereas before he didn't force the issue as much, he is finally starting to do so much more often...especially in the 2nd half of the season onwards. Green still picks his spots (doesn't force too much), but he doesn't hesitate when its time to score. And...yes, his defense is pretty good. I think the nature of his game will never result in old Paul Pierce-like scoring, but he could be a 17-22 ppg guy. He's not on his level defensively, but I see Green being a similar kind of "star" Reggie Lewis was, especially as he works on some post moves.

[nickagneta]

Let's not go nuts here. Green never shut down Lebron. Ever. He showed flashes of being able to play the type of defense that makes Lebron work really hard for his, but that's a lot different than shutting him down.

What you have to do with Lebron is limit his touches and force his outside game. Green can definitely do that and make Lebron work hard offensively as well as defensively. That is very key. That is why Pierce was so successful against Lebron over the years.

[LarBrd33]

I wouldn't say he's "growing".  I've had confidence that this is exactly the player Jeff Green has been since his first couple years in the league... I brought up dozens of times that his per-minute numbers were on a par with anything he had ever done. 

Actually his per-minute numbers are pretty similar in this current playoff, too. The difference is that he's averaging 43 minutes per game.

For example he averaged 16.6 points per-36 in the 2013 regular season, and in this series he's averaging 16.9 points per-36.

His rebounding and other numbers have actually been worse (e.g., 4.5 rebounds per-36 which is very low).

The big positives are (a) his 3 point shooting, which at 47% is very good, (b) the fact that he's hit some clutch shots, and (c) the fact that he's producing at a similar level given higher minutes.

But by and large he's been the same player we saw all year, as you said - a good player, and worthy of minutes on almost any team. But it's not like this has been some breakout series for him, at least to me.

To me the guy who's over-achieved more relative to the regular season has been Bass. His defense and rebounding have been very good.

Anyone who recognizes my posts on this forum know that I'm not one to get overly excited about young players.  I almost always consider them "bums" until they prove otherwise.  You're not going to see me calling Jared Sullinger "the future" anytime soon. 

I bring that up, because... I remember watching Durant and Green their rookie season here in Seattle.  I personally realized Durant was going to be a superstar some day, because of all the tools he possessed... but those first few months the lanky 19 year old was shooting like 40% and under 30% from three.  I'd watch Sonics games with my friends and often it was hard not to let your eyes drift to Jeff Green.  The dude was already built like a pro, he was POWERFUL... explosive in the lane, solid shooter.  He was only getting half the attempts as Durant.  Early that rookie season they experimented with Durant at SG so Green could play his natural position, but eventually forced Green to play out of position at PF.  There were multiple times when one of my friends would comment, "I'm not sure about this Durant kid... but Jeff Green is a beast" and I'd have to talk them off a ledge at how moronic they were being.  Still... Green had game from the start.  He always had this in him... he'll never be a superstar, but with minutes and touches he can produce.  That's been a fact since his rookie season.  As far back as 2007 I was saying, "There is absolutely no chance these two play long-term together... they play the same position... one is a future phenom and the other is already a capable starter... it will never work... they are inevitably trading Green for a legit big"... I'm glad Green is finally getting his opportunity in Boston.