Grantland on Jeff Green (one of 10 most intriguing)

[Eric M VAN]

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9755369/eric-bledsoe-anthony-davis-evan-turner-nba-all-intriguing-team

Green gets the small forward slot, since Boston has a bunch of bigs who need minutes — Brandon Bass, Kris Humphries, Kelly Olynyk, Jared Sullinger, Vitor Faverani (don't laugh, the C's like him!) — and a wing in Gerald Wallace who probably works better than Green as a small-ball power forward.

Green split his minutes between the forward positions last season, and he looked good on offense spotting up around pick-and-rolls or bulling his way to the rim on drives with the floor spread. He nailed 46 percent of his corner 3s, a killer mark, and he was able to spot up for a lot of those even as the small forward in traditional lineups, in part because of all the focus Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Rajon Rondo drew. Teams even left him open in the strongside corner, usually a no-no, because they were so concerned about actions involving two of those three stars.

Everything changes now. Green will have to work harder for shots, but he'll also get to work differently. Boston rarely allowed Green to run pick-and-rolls, or even to catch the ball flying off screens and going to his right — where Green almost always goes. Almost all his dribble drives had high degrees of difficulty — isolation attacks after sets designed for other Celtics went nowhere. And Green, with his rare combination of size and speed, did well driving past bigger defenders and right through smaller ones.

We'll see some of that this season, and more of Boston working Green in the post against shorter wing players — a hit-or-miss proposition. But we'll also see if Green can adapt to more involved modes of offense, and if he can progress as a defender outside of one-on-one situations. Green has some trade cachet, despite what is still an above-market contract.

Speaking of Grantland, I've been finding it painful to watch Simmons and Jalen Rose do there NBA previews. Is it just me or is Mr Rose just plain horrible at his job? I would have much rather seen Simmons with Zach Lowe (who's a good read and not bad on the podcasts) or somebody from that cast of characters over there (I always mention Russillo...I wonder if Simmons and Russillo get along...think they've done stuff before).

[manl_lui]

that's a good analysis of the expectations for Green this season. I always thought that his post moves could use some improvement. He did make a big leap from the first half of the season vs the 2nd half. First half, he was very passive, can barely post up, and defense is mediocre. 2nd Half was a totally different story. From the buzzer beaters to that 41 pt game vs the Heat, to all those skills he showed us during the 2nd half, it was nice to see. I expect to see more of the same next season and want to see how he plays as the leader (before Rondo comes back)

[86MaxwellSmart]

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9755369/eric-bledsoe-anthony-davis-evan-turner-nba-all-intriguing-team

Green gets the small forward slot, since Boston has a bunch of bigs who need minutes — Brandon Bass, Kris Humphries, Kelly Olynyk, Jared Sullinger, Vitor Faverani (don't laugh, the C's like him!) — and a wing in Gerald Wallace who probably works better than Green as a small-ball power forward.

Green split his minutes between the forward positions last season, and he looked good on offense spotting up around pick-and-rolls or bulling his way to the rim on drives with the floor spread. He nailed 46 percent of his corner 3s, a killer mark, and he was able to spot up for a lot of those even as the small forward in traditional lineups, in part because of all the focus Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Rajon Rondo drew. Teams even left him open in the strongside corner, usually a no-no, because they were so concerned about actions involving two of those three stars.

Everything changes now. Green will have to work harder for shots, but he'll also get to work differently. Boston rarely allowed Green to run pick-and-rolls, or even to catch the ball flying off screens and going to his right — where Green almost always goes. Almost all his dribble drives had high degrees of difficulty — isolation attacks after sets designed for other Celtics went nowhere. And Green, with his rare combination of size and speed, did well driving past bigger defenders and right through smaller ones.

We'll see some of that this season, and more of Boston working Green in the post against shorter wing players — a hit-or-miss proposition. But we'll also see if Green can adapt to more involved modes of offense, and if he can progress as a defender outside of one-on-one situations. Green has some trade cachet, despite what is still an above-market contract.

Speaking of Grantland, I've been finding it painful to watch Simmons and Jalen Rose do there NBA previews. Is it just me or is Mr Rose just plain horrible at his job? I would have much rather seen Simmons with Zach Lowe (who's a good read and not bad on the podcasts) or somebody from that cast of characters over there (I always mention Russillo...I wonder if Simmons and Russillo get along...think they've done stuff before).

Jalen Rose has NO business being on TV in any capacity---and he gets his own show--?....he makes Magic Johnson sound like a William Shakespeare character.

[D.o.s.]

I think Jalen Rose has a lot of personality--that's important for things like the ESPN 30 for 30 that they did about the Fab Five, or the small television spots he's done for the league since he retired. It's good to have talking heads that are personable and memorable when they're only allocated a small amount of time.

This Simmons/Rose thing, though, is not his finest hour. Or Simmons's, actually.

[Snakehead]

I have my disagreements with Jalen on points but I find him very entertaining, and that makes him better than most people covering the NBA right now.  Analysts and announcers, the NBA is pretty dreadful for the most part right now, IMO.

[clover]

What I found interesting was the idea that Stevens is going to try to squeeze Green into the shooting guard slot at times, clearly in order to also use and profile Wallace.

(Both Stevens and Green talked about the challenge in him learning a new position and referenced the 2-4 spots, whereas Green already has extensive experience at the 3 and the 4.)

After the first day of practice, Stevens gave both Pressey and the Crawdad some love, while suggesting Bradley would start the season at PG. But he even went so far as to say Pressey played as well as any guard on the floor. That wasn't a ringing endorsement for Lee or Brooks, whom most people are expecting to get the bulk of the shooting guard minutes.

Makes sense, really, as Wallace is the biggest, long-term contract the C's most need to deal, and I think they want plenty of development time for Vitor, Kelly and Jared in the frontcourt--and wouldn't mind profiling Bass and Hump for a potential trade either.

[Galeto]

What I found interesting was the idea that Stevens is going to try to squeeze Green into the shooting guard slot at times, clearly in order to also use and profile Wallace.

(Both Stevens and Green talked about the challenge in him learning a new position and referenced the 2-4 spots, whereas Green already has extensive experience at the 3 and the 4.)

There isn't a difference between 2s and 3s.  So long as you have enough athleticism and perimeter skills for the position, they're interchangeable.  Like when Pierce and Green played together as ostensibly the 2 and 3 last year, what difference did it make?  The player still plays within his skill set regardless.  It's not like just because Green might be "called" a 2-guard, he'll start handling the ball much more than his skill set prescribes.  The one benefit offensively would come from whoever gets to post up the smaller defender.