No more excuses for Jeff Green, right?

[Jeff]

Caveat: I like Green and I'm NOT overreacting to one preseason game here.  Just following a thread in my mind.

In past years Jeff Green has had legit excuses for not performing consistently up to his potential.  First he was traded for mid-season replacing a popular and very different player in Perkins.

Then he was out all year with a heart condition and he had to get back into condition. 

Also, through it all he was rarely used as the number one or even two option.

All of which added up to a pretty convincing case that he wasn't in the best position to succeed.

He DID show consistent production at the end of last year.

Now he's apparently fully healthy, he's probably the best scoring option that we have at the moment, and he SHOULD be a focal point of our offense, if not the number one option.

So.... no more excuses right?

I mean, if he's still on one day and off the next and hot for one week and invisible the next, then that's pretty much what he is at this point, right?

Nobody is cheering for him to be consistently good (if not great but let's not get ahead of ourselves) than me.  I'm just tired of the "yeah but" surrounding him.  At some point he either has to be the guy that we hope he can be or not.

thoughts are welcome

[indeedproceed]

Yeah I think this is a pretty spot on synopsis of Uncle Jeff's situation. "Last Chance Jeff" has an awesome ring as a nickname too.

[Roy H.]

Excuse:  there's nobody to get him the ball in good spots right now.

[2short]

Excuse:  there's nobody to get him the ball in good spots right now.

umm i believe roy has a pretty valid excuse
see ray allen playing without rondo coming off screens

[Donoghus]

Someone will always have excuses for Green.  Like the boy who used to post on these boards who said that Green not exerting himself on defense was actually an asset because it led to more offensive capabilities.

It'll be really interesting to see how he performs this season pre-Rondo & post-Rondo.  Barring injuries, his ceiling should finally become apparent.

Green's not the only one, however. There's people on here who have excuses for everything Rondo does or everything Pierce did. 

[D.o.s.]

There wouldn't need to be excuses if Jeff Green didn't seem like he should be a much better basketball player than he is.

[jambr380]

If he turns into a 20 ppg scorer, then we literally have one of the biggest bargains in the league today. He is now supposed to be a number 1 / 2 option, but is only being paid like a 4 / 5 option. I am hoping for the best, but if he averages 16 / 5 / 3, then I will be pretty satisfied with his production (as long as his efficiency isn't awful).

[nickagneta]

What excuse does he need. He has been here what he has always been. Up and down, inconsistent and passive unless he has a major mismatch. He still isn't an even mediocre rebounder or shot creator. He has a nice outside shot and doesn't like playing in the post. At times his defense is very good, other horrible.

He is what he is. His Per minute and Per36 numbers have never varied.

Jeff Green is an okay second offensive option and great third offensive option with little to no leadership skills and a bad left hand that half the time will come to play defense hard and half not.

There's no need for an excuse for that. As Belichick says "he is what he is".

[Boris Badenov]

In past years Jeff Green has had legit excuses for not performing consistently up to his potential. 

This sentiment really confuses me.

In fact Jeff Green has been incredibly consistent for his entire career, in terms of his overall production over the course of each year. He has been almost exactly the same player since 2007-2008, his rookie year.

He has ups and downs, and hot and cold streaks, of course. But so do many other players. Some of Pierce's, or KG's, or Rondo's hot and cold streaks over the past few years have been just as dramatic.

In fact, one could say that the most surprising thing about Green is that despite all of the turmoil he's experienced - playing different positions, changing teams, getting hurt, etc. - his numbers and production really have not wavered much at all, from year to year.

And yet, there's this widespread impression that we somehow still don't know who Green is as a player, or what his ceiling is, because he hasn't played "up to his potential."

Isn't a more natural conclusion that we've already seen who he is, and that he's already playing up to his potential?

[billysan]

What excuse does he need. He has been here what he has always been. Up and down, inconsistent and passive unless he has a major mismatch. He still isn't an even mediocre rebounder or shot creator. He has a nice outside shot and doesn't like playing in the post. At times his defense is very good, other horrible.

He is what he is. His Per minute and Per36 numbers have never varied.

Jeff Green is an okay third offensive option and great third offensive option with little to no leadership skills and a bad left hand that half the time will come to play defense hard and half not.

There's no need for an excuse for that. As Belichick says "he is what he is".

I agree with Nick.

For me it is also a matter of our high expectations. Using Tony Allen for an example, here is a guy we all really want to love. He shows us flashes of really good basketball in between adverse situations.

We as Celtic faithful want Jeff to do well because he is a Celtic. The window of opportunity is beginning to close on him. If he doesnt step up his game this year, it becomes evident he may never reach that potential level he was assigned a few years back.

If we thought of Jeff as a really talented bench player that would occaisionally give us a superman effort, but he wasnt regarded as one of our top 3 or 4 players then how would we feel?

The truth remains, "he is what he is".

[SHAQATTACK]

Maybe he is not being paid enough   
















LOL.   

[BASS_THUMPER]

when rondo gets back greens game will change for the better

[Boris Badenov]

when rondo gets back greens game will change for the better

No way, Rondo was holding him back! This must be true because Green's "breakout" occurred after Rondo got hurt.

Kidding aside, I agree with you. Of course, I think pretty much everyone else on the roster will benefit from Rondo's return. We don't have too many guys who can create their own offense.

[billysan]

when rondo gets back greens game will change for the better

No way, Rondo was holding him back! This must be true because Green's "breakout" occurred after Rondo got hurt.

Kidding aside, I agree with you. Of course, I think pretty much everyone else on the roster will benefit from Rondo's return. We don't have too many guys who can create their own offense.

Rondos return will improve everyones game but Jeff Green will still not be an all star caliber player unless he takes his game up a notch on his own. If not, Rondo will still be the only player on the roster we can call a bonifide star.

What if our new coach decides to start Gerald Wallace over Jeff? Like it or not, this is possibility if Jeff Green continues on the path of inconsistency.

I truly hope I am wrong here.

[aporel#18]

Ok, I'm embracing the "process approach" from Coach Stevens. I don't expect Green to be a different player than he has been, but I expect him to try 100% to learn and get better in every play. Of course I hope he's able to dominate every game like he's shown occasionally, but it will depend not only on him, but the team and their ability to get better every day individually and as a group.

I don't agree with the "no more excuses" thing. After his surgery, he couldn't walk    He played last season overcoming a lot of pain and exhaustion until he was 100%. He complained eventually, but never used health as an excuse. We fans did, but he didn't.

What he lacked against Toronto was sense of urgency, and I don't blame him. If he does that in the Regular Season, that will be a different thing. He's healthy, he has his chance to be a leader, wait until December to make a judgement, but until then, don't expect nothing but a team that's growing together.