Well you certainly got me with the thread title at least. Listen, people do hate on Green here, but its threads like this that are the seed for that hatred to grow. People are put off by the blind love and facsination that fans have with Gerald though he has done absolutely nothing in this league to warrant considering him as a valuable contributor to an NBA team.
Nobody, especially fans, can guarentee anything about someone´s future in this league. You´re argument is flawed. Saying that two of the teams had impossible rotations to break into (due to them being stacked at the wings) doesn´t make sense if you are then going to turn around and ignore the fact that he had all the opportunity in the world in Minnesota. Yeah, that team was young and inexperienced, but he was given all the chances he needed to break out on that team. If his overwhelming skills are purely offensive, he should have at least been putting up tons of points on that team and firmly grabbed ahold of the starting role. He didn´t do that.
Sure there is a possibility that Gerald will eventually figure it out, though with each passing year it seems unlikely. He´s going to run out of teams willing to pay him lots of money and taking a chance on him eventually. And with a team that is in ``win now´´ mode (like the Celtics) it doesn´t make senes to take on any pet projects with hopes that he´ll be able to contribute eventually (remember we didn´t even re-sign Powe even though he was even more of a fan favorite and has produced far greater results in his two years of experience than Green has in all four of his years.) We are not wasting any roster spots according to Ainge. We have only space for those who will help us win now. Without any prior evidence to support it, Green is highly unlikely to be able to do that.
Some other things that I just have to call out while I´m here - Gerald was in no way the ``key piece´´ to the Garnett trade. It is widely known that Jefferson and Gomes were the desired pieces by Mchale. The ``anyone can play defense´´ assertion is absolutely as false as a statement can get. ``anyone´´ cannot play defense, which is why it is hard to find specialists in that area. Defense is also almost entirely the reason the Celtics hung banner 17 and their biggest asset in an attempt to hang up 18. Gerald is athletic and perhaps he will eventually develop those abilities into being a defensive guy, but it also takes experience, intuition, intelligence, and passion beyond those physical gifts. It´s the reason why guys like Bruce Bowen (who is without many athletic gifts anymore) can be so successful even at a later stage in his career.
Finally, why was there a need for yet another thread on this? You wrote that you were upset with all the Gerald hatred on this board which tells me that you have already read any of the numerous other threads about this exact same topic. Just as a recap, here are the threads that already exist in the last month that are identical to this topic.
Bring back Gerald Green threads already existing so far this offseason (other than this one):
http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=29159.0http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=30226.0 (though this one is a joke)
http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=28436.0http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=29216.0http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=30324.0Threads already existing where Gerald Green is discussed as a potential back-up:
http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=30151.0http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=30133.0That is FIVE threads devoted to bringing back Gerald Green, and your opinion would have been suited for any of them. There are two additional threads covering the overall SF situation in which Gerald discussions also took place. This subject has already been argued to a point of insanity. Instead we now have this, a SIXTH thread, with a title that just provokes people into getting upset. All caps and telling us from the get go that our opinions are stupid and ignorant. There are NO facts in this thread that you provide that warrants that claim. Indeed, it is you who probably needs to take a step back and really analyze the situation.
Look I don´t hate Gerald, I´m just realistic about what he can offer THIS team. He´s not the answer at small forward, but I do wish him success somewhere and somehow.
