If This Is the Jeff Green We're Getting...

[LarBrd33]

Green has always been capable of big numbers.  I stand by what I said two years ago:

I think Jeff Green is a stud.  I think he's a stud getting overshadowed by a couple phenoms in OKC.  Green is a SF who has been forced to play PF in OKC.  I was curious how he's produced in games when Durant was out with injuries.  My hunch was that he would have produced some big numbers.  Unfortunately, Durant doesn't miss a ton of games.  In the last 3 years since Durant has been a "star", there has only been 7 games in which Jeff Green got to play without him.     

Jeff Green's stats:


08-09 season:

L 11/12/08 - 25 points, 10 rebounds, (7-18 shooting)
L 2/27/09 - 28 points, 12 rebounds, (9-20 shooting)
W 2/28/09 - 27 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists (8-20 shooting)
W 3/10/09 - 22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists (6-13 shooting)
L 3/11/09 - 19 points, 7 rebounds (5-12 shooting)
 

10-11 season:
W 12/1/10 -  37 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists (12-21 shooting)
L 12/3/10 - 17 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists (6-14 shooting)


So in 7 games he's managed to average 25 points, 7.7 rebounds 45% shooting ... Worth noting?

I think the guy ends up being a fringe all-star in the post-"Big 3" lotto Celtics era.

I think he's our future starting SF... but I don't really know what that means.  We could use another legit starting big.  Does that mean trading Pierce?... or does that mean trading some of our shooting guards and moving Pierce to starting SG?

[Celts Fan 92]

So, I think it was very reasonable to assume Green was going to be significantly better this year (if healthy), just from having time to learn the system, and find how he fits in with the other alpha dogs.

I totally disagree with this.  Players just don't magically go from decent starters to All Stars overnight.  In fact I can't think of a single time in history a player made a significant jump in output this far into his career.  I honestly can't think of a single time where a player went from 4 years of fairly steady play to a 5th year with a massive jump in output, production, etc. without a major upswing in minutes (which isn't the case here).  Players just don't magically get awesome out of the blue.

lol @ 16ppg as a 3rd option most of his career being a "ok starter" Green can score from all ova nd he's 25 is it really a reach to think he can average 20ppg in da near future?

[Chris]

So, I think it was very reasonable to assume Green was going to be significantly better this year (if healthy), just from having time to learn the system, and find how he fits in with the other alpha dogs.

I totally disagree with this.  Players just don't magically go from decent starters to All Stars overnight.  In fact I can't think of a single time in history a player made a significant jump in output this far into his career.  I honestly can't think of a single time where a player went from 4 years of fairly steady play to a 5th year with a massive jump in output, production, etc. without a major upswing in minutes (which isn't the case here).  Players just don't magically get awesome out of the blue.

Woah woah woah, who said anything about being an All-Star?  I said he would be significantly better than the deer in headlights we saw in his first time around in Green.  And yes, I know his per minute numbers were similar to OKC, but those were decieving.  He was not playing anywhere near as confidently and fluidly as he did in OKC.

All I am saying is that moving to a system that is a better fit with his skillset, and that promotes ball movement, like the C's do, he will be able to improve on where he was with OKC.  Ultimately, I expect him to be about equally productive to what he was in OKC, but more efficient.  This is because he is going from the bailout guy, once Durant and Westbrook had ran out of options to shoot the ball, to a cog in a finely tuned offensive machine.

I think Green is going to prove to be pretty much what he is being paid as.  An above average starting quality player, who can be a 3rd or 4th option on a good team. 

[Chris]

So, I think it was very reasonable to assume Green was going to be significantly better this year (if healthy), just from having time to learn the system, and find how he fits in with the other alpha dogs.

I totally disagree with this.  Players just don't magically go from decent starters to All Stars overnight.  In fact I can't think of a single time in history a player made a significant jump in output this far into his career.  I honestly can't think of a single time where a player went from 4 years of fairly steady play to a 5th year with a massive jump in output, production, etc. without a major upswing in minutes (which isn't the case here).  Players just don't magically get awesome out of the blue.

lol @ 16ppg as a 3rd option most of his career being a "ok starter" Green can score from all ova nd he's 25 is it really a reach to think he can average 20ppg in da near future?

I think if he is averaging 20 points per game, the team he is playing for is not very good.

Scoring 20 points per game is really hard to do, in an efficient way.  Lots of guys could do it, if they are just allowed to shoot whenever they want.  But that doesn't make your team better.  I just don't think that is the type of player Green is.

[RyNye]

I want you to take the following words not in the context of me as a Celtics fan, but just as a sports fan. For what I am talking about, it is irrelevant that Jeff Green is a Celtic, I would feel the same way had we waived him after the heart surgery and he signed with a new team.

But come on, would the morphing of Jeff Green into an All-Star, or even borderline All-Star, caliber player not be one of the best sports narratives of all time?

I mean, number 5 pick with huge expectations (traded for Ray Allen!), but really struggled coming into the league. Showed flashes of brilliance, but never really found a niche or a role. Then a dramatic heart condition ending a year of his prime, questions of whether he would ever reach his potential. He reappraises everything about his life during that time, then comes back into the league with a vengeance.

Is that not incredibly compelling and emotionally significant?

Sorry, I'm just ranting, heh.

[Moranis]

So, I think it was very reasonable to assume Green was going to be significantly better this year (if healthy), just from having time to learn the system, and find how he fits in with the other alpha dogs.

I totally disagree with this.  Players just don't magically go from decent starters to All Stars overnight.  In fact I can't think of a single time in history a player made a significant jump in output this far into his career.  I honestly can't think of a single time where a player went from 4 years of fairly steady play to a 5th year with a massive jump in output, production, etc. without a major upswing in minutes (which isn't the case here).  Players just don't magically get awesome out of the blue.

Woah woah woah, who said anything about being an All-Star?  I said he would be significantly better than the deer in headlights we saw in his first time around in Green.  And yes, I know his per minute numbers were similar to OKC, but those were decieving.  He was not playing anywhere near as confidently and fluidly as he did in OKC.

All I am saying is that moving to a system that is a better fit with his skillset, and that promotes ball movement, like the C's do, he will be able to improve on where he was with OKC.  Ultimately, I expect him to be about equally productive to what he was in OKC, but more efficient.  This is because he is going from the bailout guy, once Durant and Westbrook had ran out of options to shoot the ball, to a cog in a finely tuned offensive machine.

I think Green is going to prove to be pretty much what he is being paid as.  An above average starting quality player, who can be a 3rd or 4th option on a good team.

If Green is significantly better than he has been, then he will be an all star.  You have backed off that a great deal in your second post claiming now that he will be more efficient, but just as productive.  That isn't significantly better though I'm not sure he will be all that much more efficient.  Green isn't a great shooter or scorer.  He isn't a great ball handler or passer.  He isn't a great rebounder.  He is pretty good at all of those things and is a pretty solid descision maker, but when you don't excel at anything it is hard to become appreciably more efficient.  I truly believe he is a poor mans Josh Smith, but with better descision making. 

[Celts Fan 92]

I want you to take the following words not in the context of me as a Celtics fan, but just as a sports fan. For what I am talking about, it is irrelevant that Jeff Green is a Celtic, I would feel the same way had we waived him after the heart surgery and he signed with a new team.

But come on, would the morphing of Jeff Green into an All-Star, or even borderline All-Star, caliber player not be one of the best sports narratives of all time?

I mean, number 5 pick with huge expectations (traded for Ray Allen!), but really struggled coming into the league. Showed flashes of brilliance, but never really found a niche or a role. Then a dramatic heart condition ending a year of his prime, questions of whether he would ever reach his potential. He reappraises everything about his life during that time, then comes back into the league with a vengeance.

Is that not incredibly compelling and emotionally significant?

Sorry, I'm just ranting, heh.

16ppg is struggling? lol u makin it seem like he's kendrick Brown or sumthin he hasnt found a solid role but he's had an above average career so far

[indeedproceed]

I want you to take the following words not in the context of me as a Celtics fan, but just as a sports fan. For what I am talking about, it is irrelevant that Jeff Green is a Celtic, I would feel the same way had we waived him after the heart surgery and he signed with a new team.

But come on, would the morphing of Jeff Green into an All-Star, or even borderline All-Star, caliber player not be one of the best sports narratives of all time?

I mean, number 5 pick with huge expectations (traded for Ray Allen!), but really struggled coming into the league. Showed flashes of brilliance, but never really found a niche or a role. Then a dramatic heart condition ending a year of his prime, questions of whether he would ever reach his potential. He reappraises everything about his life during that time, then comes back into the league with a vengeance.

Is that not incredibly compelling and emotionally significant?

Sorry, I'm just ranting, heh.

16ppg is struggling? lol u makin it seem like he's kendrick Brown or sumthin he hasnt found a solid role but he's had an above average career so far

Below-average starter. He has an above average career because he's mostly been a starter, and played heavy minutes.

Kinda like Rodney Stuckey or Randy Foye.

[arambone]

Green's success should come as a surprise to no one, and we are lucky he chose Boston.

He was played out of position in OKC, and played 3 months in Boston under worst case circumstances. As a young guy.

I'm hoping and thinking he'll play at a comparable overall level as Josh Smith, Iggy, Rudy Gay, Danny Granger, like a borderline all star.

Doc and Rondo are just going to get better and better at setting Green up to succeed.

In limited minutes, Green shouldn't get exhausted by a quest for greatness.
 

[bucknersrevenge]

I think a post-Paul Green could score 18-20ppg on this team for a couple of reasons 1) he can exploit mismatches at either forward spot 2) Rajon Rondo. I think if he was playing 35+mpg for this team in the future with Rondo setting him up he could absolutely score 20 a game and be reasonably efficient doing it. The bigger question is though as Chris said, is what kind of team does he do this on. I'm not entirely certainly Green has mindset of a star scorer. Can he lead a team? Is he the kind of guy that is gonna want the last shot with the game on the line? I'm not sure he ever morphs into THAT guy but he could definitely be a leading scorer.

[Chris]

So, I think it was very reasonable to assume Green was going to be significantly better this year (if healthy), just from having time to learn the system, and find how he fits in with the other alpha dogs.

I totally disagree with this.  Players just don't magically go from decent starters to All Stars overnight.  In fact I can't think of a single time in history a player made a significant jump in output this far into his career.  I honestly can't think of a single time where a player went from 4 years of fairly steady play to a 5th year with a massive jump in output, production, etc. without a major upswing in minutes (which isn't the case here).  Players just don't magically get awesome out of the blue.

Woah woah woah, who said anything about being an All-Star?  I said he would be significantly better than the deer in headlights we saw in his first time around in Green.  And yes, I know his per minute numbers were similar to OKC, but those were decieving.  He was not playing anywhere near as confidently and fluidly as he did in OKC.

All I am saying is that moving to a system that is a better fit with his skillset, and that promotes ball movement, like the C's do, he will be able to improve on where he was with OKC.  Ultimately, I expect him to be about equally productive to what he was in OKC, but more efficient.  This is because he is going from the bailout guy, once Durant and Westbrook had ran out of options to shoot the ball, to a cog in a finely tuned offensive machine.

I think Green is going to prove to be pretty much what he is being paid as.  An above average starting quality player, who can be a 3rd or 4th option on a good team.

If Green is significantly better than he has been, then he will be an all star.  You have backed off that a great deal in your second post claiming now that he will be more efficient, but just as productive.  That isn't significantly better though I'm not sure he will be all that much more efficient.  Green isn't a great shooter or scorer.  He isn't a great ball handler or passer.  He isn't a great rebounder.  He is pretty good at all of those things and is a pretty solid descision maker, but when you don't excel at anything it is hard to become appreciably more efficient.  I truly believe he is a poor mans Josh Smith, but with better descision making.

I didn't back off anything.  I said he will be significantly better than he was in the short stretch with the C's, when he was really very mediocre (at best), despite what the numbers may say.  He didn't play anywhere near as well as he did in OKC.

But I also think he will be a more effective player than he was in OKC, simply because I think he was in a difficult situation to make use of his skills.  He will be able to play his more natural position more in Boston, and he will be able to play within the flow of an offense, which will improve his play.

Now, maybe his numbers won't change dramatically (they were already pretty solid in OKC), but I think his actual level of play will.  Just the open fast break layups from Rondo will make a difference in his percentages.

As far as the Josh Smith comparisons, I don't see them.  Smith is a far superior (and different kind of) defender, but not nearly the perimeter offensive player Green is.  I think Green is much closer to Danny Granger, with a little less range. 

[Cman]

I'm not sure what we'll get from Jeff Green. It is one thing to succeed in the pre-season, quite a different to actually play and contribute meaningfully throughout the regular season.  So, I guess we'll just see.

But, of all the players on the C's roster, Green is the one I'm most interested in / curious about -- if he plays well, that provides the Cs with a lot of depth off the bench, and hope for the future. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[ScoobyDoo]

Some random thoughts:

1. I think Green can definitely be a starting SF forward on a championship team

2. I also think he can average 20 and 8 with starter's minutes - and that he will mix in some monster games along the way.

3. But I see him more as a Cornbread or Worthy level player and not a Magic Johnson, Kareem, Bird, Pierce, Rondo, KG type player. Meaning, I'm not yet convinced he can be your "go to guy" on a consistent, night in night out basis. He will carry you some nights - but like others have said, I don't know if he has that "go to guy" mentality. He may develop it as Pierce moves out of the way in the next few seasons, we'll see - time will tell.

4. Right now I project him as our future starting small forward and a 3rd or 4th option on that team.

Rondo will be one of our go to guys on that team. Depending on how Sully develops he could be another go to guy in the post.

If Sully becomes a beast in the post, I would say we will still need one more "go to guy" to go with Sully and Rondo if we want to win rings - maybe an off guard.

Then, players like Melo if he pans out, Green, Lee, Bass, etc...fill in as excellent role players.

 
   

[SHAQATTACK]

As for "is this the Jeff Green We're Getting..."

I guess we'll find out soon against the HEAT. 

I'm not so much looking for alot of points from Jeff in a game against the heaters.

I'm looking for him to put the clamp on LBJ.

TO me , alot of the question if a banner is in our future, may come down to  GREEN 's defense on James.

IMO  he was brought here to shut down James and , Kobe if we get there.

Now... hows that for putting the pressure square on one guys shoulders.....LoL

[kozlodoev]

He shot 44% from three in the post season with Boston.  Yet he was a failure in the post season as well if you ask around this board.

He was viewed largely as a failure mostly because he failed to stay on the floor for more than 20 minutes on a team where we had plenty of minutes behind Garnett and Pierce.

I wouldn't say plenty of minutes. KG and Baby completely sealed up PF minutes so really he only had minutes behind Pierce which given the importance of those games down the stretch Pierce was gonna be playing at least 35 a game.

I'm not buying this. This was a team who gave close to 30 minutes to the Jermaine O'Neal/Nenad Krstic combo while bringing Green with the specific idea to play him a lot with Garnett as a stretch 4.

I'd say the fact that Green wasn't playing good enough to be on the court for at least 30 minutes per game was a pretty abject failure.