Lessee, we spent last week bashing Rondo. A day on Fab. Green should serve as punching bag for a couple of days before we move on to a repeat of Avery Bradley is a Terrible Offensive Player(tm). At some point we'll circle back to Ray Allen is a Traitor (tm) and then debate again why 55 different point guards in the China Basketball Association are all better than Rondo because they can make free throws.
I find it notable how the OP completely ignores (doesn't mention) the fact that Green came back last year after missing an entire season ... from having his chest cracked open, his heart operated on and then having to rehab all the way back from learning how to walk again.
It just seems like it
might be an important factor to consider ...
When you look at his various efficiencies (pts / fga, FG%, 3PT%) they rise in a steady, progressive fashion from just awful to start the season (he shot 29.2% from 3PT arc in November) to fantastic to end the season (52.6% in April). While he played in 81 games, he also showed a steady progressive increase in his ability to play more minutes per game as the season progressed.
Call me crazy, but those things just MIGHT be indicative that he was not really recovered in the Fall and maybe folks should take his performance from the first part of the season with a big grain of salt -- unless you expect him to have to get open-heart surgery and do big rehab cycles frequently.
If you just look at the last 4 months of the season, it is hard to understand what it is the OP is complaining about when he says:
"1) He really hasn't passed the eye test.
He can score but his scoring is primarily from uncontrolled drives for a layup...which he really isn't the best at finishing. "
"The eye test" is, of course, completely subjective. I'm right and you are wrong. Whatever.
All I know is he looked pretty darn efficient at finishing to me. He posted FG% numbers of 48.5%, 51.2%, 48.8% & 49.1% in Jan, Feb, Mar & April. For the season, on 'At Rim' shots, he finished an excellent 66.3%. Probably better in the second half, though I don't have that particular split.
But if you think his footwork looked awful and out of control, that's fine. Opinions are opinions and you get to have yours To really assess that, I guess we'd have to do video breakdowns comparing Green's drive through the paint to that of the other 5 or 6 guys in the NBA who elevate the way he does. I'm fully expecting to find flaws in Green's approach.
Green's offense did benefit at times from having defenses focus on Pierce or Garnett. But he also had most of his biggest offensive games when one or both of those guys were not in the lineup. In fact I think all of his top scoring output games were with at least one of those guys missing.
As far as splits go, Green has always been decent on offense against both PFs & SFs. Generally, he's bigger than most SFs, and faster than most PFs so he could score one way or another against either. Last year, the 82games.com splits heavily favored him against PFs, but it's hard to say how those splits were distributed throughout the season.
My sense is that Green was playing more exclusive SF early in the season, when he was doing straight sub for Pierce off the bench. His overall play was pretty sucky then regardless of position. His total shared minutes with Pierce in the first half was just 326 minutes, across 41 games.
Later in the year, he played a lot more, both with and without Pierce on the floor. He played 688 minutes with Pierce in the second half. So he got more minutes as 'PF' in the second half. Though, even when on the floor with Pierce it was sometimes still at SF, as we moved Pierce to the SG spot in some lineups (for example, in the playoffs).
On Green's defense - it's been no secret that for years Green had more trouble with bigger, 'true PFs' - especially on the block. He's long. But he ain't heavy.
His defense on the perimeter was always his strength, even back in OKC. Last year, the C's often defended the P&R to keep Green on the man on the perimeter. Fighting through picks when his man was the ball handler and switching when his man was the pick. This probably had a lot to do with why his Synergy per play defensive ratings were so good. More perimeter plays and fewer plays getting posted up.
Overall, Green's defensive ratings were extremely good last year - especially in the second half. Especially as a threesome combined with KG & Pierce: a tiny 88.1 points per 100 possessions surrendered when those three were on the floor! Clearly, when used in a strong defensive system, with other smart defenders, Green is not a defensive liability.
I suspect that Brad Stevens will be able to use Green effectively on defense.
I don't get the criticisms about Green's 'consistency'.
He was consistently sub-par in the first half.
He was consistently pretty awesome in the second half. Heck, starting around game 48, it became a rare game when he didn't score at least 15 points. And his efficiencies were consistently very, very good.
I'm not worried about his consistency.
Finally, on his supposed, 'passivity'. I really don't give much weight to this. Guys don't always wear their emotions on their sleeves. That doesn't mean they aren't competitive and intense.
Green was considered a 'leader' on both his Georgetown and OKC clubs - voted captain on each. In college he was never afraid of taking 'the big shot'. And I think he showed last year he's not afraid to take it here.
Green's coach at Georgetown, the great John Thompson III once said this about Green's play during his last season there:
"“He wouldn’t let us lose on our run that year,” Thompson said. “It wasn’t just his game-winner against Vanderbilt. It was the shutdown game he played in the other end. He can control and dominate a game without scoring, and he had come into his own as an outstanding defensive player.”
And on Green's "passivity" and transition to be more of a primary scorer this last Spring with the Celtics:
“Jeff is an unselfish person, and he was used to playing on teams with very good players,” Thompson said. “Something we do (at Georgetown) is share the ball. I think he went to the next level and realized that there can be a difference.”
I'm not concerned about Green's "passivity".
