Gerald Green Bandwagon - Page 3 - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Samurai · 11-11-2008, 01:23 AM

Showmetheminutes

fluid.forty.one · 11-11-2008, 01:25 AM

VROOM VROOM

Re-Dirk-ulous · 11-11-2008, 01:30 AM

When Gerald Green is the spark of this team... You know we're in a whirl of hurt

fluid.forty.one · 11-11-2008, 01:32 AM

why? He's playing fantastic. Besides, young players are suppose to be the spark off the bench.

LonghornDub · 11-11-2008, 01:43 AM

Gerald Green is singlehandedly giving me hope that this season could still be at least somewhat special.

Dirkadirkastan · 11-11-2008, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

why? He's playing fantastic. Besides, young players are suppose to be the spark off the bench.

Shame for the grammar error within the emphasized word.

Re-Dirk-ulous · 11-11-2008, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

why? He's playing fantastic. Besides, young players are suppose to be the spark off the bench.

Yes, he's playing beautifully, and maybe he'll provide plenty of highlight reels all season long. But if he's the guy we now have to count on, if he's the guy who's got to step up down the stretch... The team's gotta look at themselves in the mirror.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this will be his breakout year. If it takes a Kidd-Green tandem to prove it, it may just get interesting.

Kidd Karma · 11-11-2008, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Re-Dirk-ulous

When Gerald Green is the spark of this team... You know we're in a whirl of hurt

...only if Green's been playing 40 a night. That's one of our bright spots up to this point, sure Dirk has been up there, and kidd has been bringing his game, but Green has certainly been a nice surprise. His outside shooting combined with his ability to create for himself is a dimension the Mavs haven't had since Finley. When Howard returns, Green has to start. He can get out and run the break along side Kidd, slash to the bucket, hit the open bomb.

Then again, if you consider Kobe the spark of the Lakers, then certainly, I can see how Dirk hasn't really stepped up night in and night out.

sandeepgm · 11-12-2008, 07:56 AM

GG is he playing more SF or the guard spot? i noticed he had 5 turnovers. Are his handles good? Can he defend the two spot? Is he going to be the answer at the two or all he can be is just a bass- that is remain behnd JHO at the 3?

DubOverdose · 11-12-2008, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandeepgm

GG is he playing more SF or the guard spot? i noticed he had 5 turnovers. Are his handles good? Can he defend the two spot? Is he going to be the answer at the two or all he can be is just a bass- that is remain behnd JHO at the 3?

He has the shooting touch to put JHo at the 3. His turnovers usually come from bad passes, but I think he'll be able to fix that. He's got good handles, and when he loses the ball when he's dribbling, he's usually able to come up with a steal right away to get the ball back.

Triple T's · 11-12-2008, 09:03 AM

His handles are the only suspect thing. He tends to over-dribble a bit. (wonder why that last dunk of his wasn't a top play nominee ...)

Dirkenstien · 11-12-2008, 09:56 AM

I really don't mind his turnovers so much. His potential far outweighs his mistakes right now and I believe that if we continue to stick with him through the mistakes it will pay off Big Time for this team.

Rick41 · 11-12-2008, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirkadirkastan

Shame for the grammar error within the emphasized word.

Yeah, double shame!

GermanDunk · 11-12-2008, 12:28 PM

I join, but ride slowly on young horses !

Dirkadirkastan · 11-12-2008, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirkenstien

I really don't mind his turnovers so much. His potential far outweighs his mistakes right now and I believe that if we continue to stick with him through the mistakes it will pay off Big Time for this team.

Seemed like he was trying to redeem himself after mistakes as well. On one of his bad pass turnovers, he almost stole it right back, scrambling and diving all over the floor for the loose ball. He didn't get it, and ended up banging his chin in the process, but it's good to see someone on this team with that kind of hustle.

Another time he missed badly on a runner, but he anticipated the rebound much like Howard often does. He managed to barely get a hand on the ball as two Laker big men tried to grab it. The ball sprung loose and Diop ended up with the ball and ultimately a couple of free throws.

Dtownsfinest · 11-12-2008, 02:24 PM

So can someone help me out? Should I get excited about Green's future with the Mavs? Or do you guys think he'll end up demanding more than the mid-level exception when its time to resign him?

SMC0007 · 11-12-2008, 03:00 PM

I think we can compete money wise to keep him, I'm not sure he will demand more than MLE by years end. But listening to the game there was a report during the game about him saying that he really feels wanted here for the first time ever, apparently he went with an analogy about a dog being wanted and loved or cared for etc. I would imagine that unless he just blows up and plays like a superstar and wants out we have a great chance of keeping him. I think if were in contention to keep him he would choose to stay. Now who knows by years end if this team is even remotely similar to what it is now.

alby · 11-12-2008, 03:13 PM

His dunk was the #1 play in the NBA top 10 countdown last night.

twosauce · 11-12-2008, 04:55 PM

Do we have a first round pick this year? or was it given away to NJ?

SMC0007 · 11-12-2008, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alby

His dunk was the #1 play in the NBA top 10 countdown last night.

Feels really good to know that is back with us now. Finley could do it some but seems that Green has more handles than Finley and a lil more hops

Dtownsfinest · 11-12-2008, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMC0007

I think we can compete money wise to keep him, I'm not sure he will demand more than MLE by years end. But listening to the game there was a report during the game about him saying that he really feels wanted here for the first time ever, apparently he went with an analogy about a dog being wanted and loved or cared for etc. I would imagine that unless he just blows up and plays like a superstar and wants out we have a great chance of keeping him. I think if were in contention to keep him he would choose to stay. Now who knows by years end if this team is even remotely similar to what it is now.

Oh so he signed a 1 year deal with us? I guess its all up in the air right now. He's only 22 so I think that would raise his value as well. Hopefully mid-level is enough to keep him because the potential there is just amazing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Feels really good to know that is back with us now. Finley could do it some but seems that Green has more handles than Finley and a lil more hops

Yea its funny because I think the weakness of both of their games are handles but Green's a better handler than Finley was. I gotta give it to Fin Dog. The way he use to jump stop and then dunk on guys was just nasty. Nobody in the league did it like him. I still remember him dunking nasty on Yao Ming.

Dirkenstien · 11-12-2008, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alby

His dunk was the #1 play in the NBA top 10 countdown last night.

Wow, we need to start keeping an ongoing count of how many times he does that. That has to be at least four or five times so far this season that he's received that honor. That dunk was pretty spankin' awesome.

SMC0007 · 11-12-2008, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dtownsfinest

Yea its funny because I think the weakness of both of their games are handles but Green's a better handler than Finley was. I gotta give it to Fin Dog. The way he use to jump stop and then dunk on guys was just nasty. Nobody in the league did it like him. I still remember him dunking nasty on Yao Ming.

I remember this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHIoS...eature=related

Kidd Karma · 11-13-2008, 01:22 PM

It's a long year, things happen, hopefully he'll see his value will grow here, hopefully us giving him a shot, doesn't price us out. Given the economy, doubt he can get more than the MLE, MLE for 3-4 years would be nice, give him an opt out after year 2 or 3, which ever would allow us Full Bird Rights. I also think having Kidd around would help the Mavs keep him around longer.

jthig32 · 11-19-2008, 01:40 PM

I enjoyed this article:

Houston native ready to work

Playing for his fourth NBA team at age 22, high-flying Gerald Green appreciates the value of staying grounded

By FRAN BLINEBURY Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 19, 2008, 12:47AM

Doug Pensinger Getty Images

On his fourth team in 16 months, Gerald Green returns to Houston tonight as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.

Speed kills. That’s the old saying.

While it hasn’t yet snuffed out the dreams of Gerald Green, it does have him clinging to his NBA career like a sports car with two wheels dangling over the edge of a mountain road.

There was his meteoric rise as one of the top schoolboy athletes in the nation and his quick jump as a teenaged first-round draft pick in 2005, followed by a rapid, plummeting descent.
In the last 16 months, the 6-8 guard has been on four NBA rosters, handed around from Boston to Minnesota to Houston and now Dallas like an old toaster on the flea-market circuit.
Being released by his hometown Rockets after just 16 days and four minutes of playing time was the unkindest cut of all. Yet it could be the inspiration he needed.

“A lot of things have happened to me that I didn’t expect to happen,” said Green, who is back in town tonight with the Mavericks. “But really, I thank the Houston Rockets for cutting me. I thank them because they really did me a favor. They really woke me up.”

Green had lived in something of a fantasy world from the time he first made the JV team as a sophomore at Dobie High School in Pasadena. He made the varsity team as a junior, but academic problems ended his season. He transferred to Gulf Shores Academy, a charter school in Houston, and averaged 33 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists as a senior. He was selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game and led all scorers with 24 points and won the slam dunk contest, boosting his image as a high-flying phenom.

College bypassed

Three months later, Green was a member of the Boston Celtics (18th overall pick), having chosen to bypass his commitment to Oklahoma State and skip college entirely. He averaged 10.4 points for the Celtics in his second NBA season. But it was his win in the 2007 NBA slam dunk contest at Las Vegas that furthered Green’s reputation as more of a carnival act than a player. That was cemented last February in New Orleans when he finished as the runner-up in the slam dunk contest to Dwight Howard, even after blowing out a lit candle stuck in a cupcake sitting on the back of the rim.
“When you go up and blow a candle out that’s sitting on the rim and you don’t win, I mean, that’s another sign that dunk contests aren’t the be-all and end-all,” said Mavs coach Rick Carlisle. “If you really think about it, the guy’s head was over the rim, he blows out a candle, and he didn’t win. I think that’s just another interesting part of it.

“It doesn’t help the perception when you’re perceived to be more of a sideshow and a high-wire act than a true basketball player. And I think that’s something else that he’s realized.”
No one in the NBA has ever doubted Green’s athleticism, only his ability to channel it and make a commitment to working at his career. He developed a reputation for having a careless attitude, poor practice habits and an inability to remember plays.

“I used to just go to practice,” said Green, whose personality is as engaging as his raw talent. “Now I treat practice like work. I treat this the way other people do what they do for a living. I’m going to work.”
Of course, those changes in attitude took several changes in latitude as Green was first dealt from Boston to Minnesota as part of the package for Kevin Garnett in July 2007. But after just half a season, the Timberwolves sent him to Houston in exchange for Kirk Snyder and a couple of second-round draft picks.

Green was coming home giddy with anticipation. He still had warm memories of being an 8- and 9-year-old kid sitting with his father in front of the television, watching the Rockets win championships in 1994 and 1995.
“Oh, man,” he says breaking into a wide grin. “Those were great times. I remember when they swept Orlando, my dad got out the broom, and he was sweeping the whole house. That was Clutch City, man. Those were my Rockets. That was my team. Those guys, all of them, were my inspiration to make it to the NBA.

“Born in Houston, watching Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Mario Elie, it was the greatest. I thought when the trade came about, it was a dream come true. But my dream turned into a nightmare.”

Unhappy homecoming

Green didn’t last three weeks with the Rockets, getting onto the Toyota Center floor for just those four minutes in one game. Before Yao Ming went down with his season-ending foot injury, the Rockets were trying to clear salary space to offer more money to free agent Brent Barry. So they cut the hometown phenom and his potential. Those practice habits didn’t help.
At 22, Green was already at a crossroads.

“He had to learn that there’s a big difference between being AAU famous and NBA famous,” John Lucas said at the time Green signed with the Mavericks last July.
It was Lucas, reclaimer of lost basketball souls and careers, who worked through the spring with Green to help pick up the pieces.
Now it is Elie, one of those Clutch City heroes whom Green and his father cheered way back when, playing the daily role of tutor as a Mavs assistant coach.

“I think in ‘G’ you’ve got a guy who has a lot to prove, who’s been humbled by his NBA experience,” Elie said. “He’s a guy who was supposed to be with high expectations, a high flyer, a very exciting player.
“Now, he’s a player who has been traded quite a bit, released by the Rockets. I think that opened his eyes about the NBA. This is hard work whether you’re a lottery pick or a slam dunk champion. You have to go out there and be a professional, and I think he’s finally realizing that.
“What he’s finally learning is it’s not all about jumping ability, coming out of high school as an amazing athlete. No, no, no. There’s more to this NBA than that.
“It’s not all about athletics. You’ve got to know your assignments defensively, who you’re guarding. You’ve got to know where you’re going to get your shot and things like that. You’ve got to really think this game.”

Pursued by Carlisle

His continuing education brought Green to the Mavericks when he probably could have signed for more money elsewhere. The proximity to home helped. He also has relatives in Dallas. And Carlisle, in his first season succeeding Avery Johnson as head coach, pursued Green.
“He was very well-grounded from the beginning,” Carlisle said. “It’s not easy being on four rosters in less than a year, especially when there was so much hoopla surrounding you when you came into the draft.

“I was very active in talking to his agent about having him come here, because I felt we needed dynamic athleticism and energy for this team. I just felt it was a good risk, no matter what happened.”
From the outside, it might have seemed surprising that three teams had already given up on Green.
“Well, it’s hard to comment on that, because you don’t know what the situations were like,” Carlisle said. “But once it went boom-boom-boom, now he’s got a different perspective and has a much better respect for what it means to be on a team with a chance to be in a rotation.”

Including Tuesday night’s win at Charlotte, Green has started five games this season, three at shooting guard and two at small forward. Subbing for an injured Josh Howard last week, he scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds in Dallas in a loss to the Lakers. He spent some time guarding Kobe Bryant, then rattled the rafters and brought down the house with one devastating dunk over Lamar Odom.

Feeling comfortable

Green is averaging 15.4 minutes, 7.3 points and 3.0 rebounds on the season.
“Even counting my time in Boston, that (game against the Lakers) was the biggest game I ever played in my life,” he said. “I want to do that more. I want to feel that excitement. I know to do that, I have to bring that kind of energy into every game.
“I feel a lot more comfortable on this than on any of the previous teams. I know there are a lot of things I can do better. But it feels great to be playing again.”

Green is playing again because he’s being diligently professional, maybe for the first time in his NBA career. He comes early to Mavs practice and stays late for extra work on the court and in the film room. After the team returned from one road trip in the middle of the night, Green went straight to the practice gym at 2 a.m. and worked on his shooting.
“I think it is a part of growing up,” he said. “When things happen, sometimes you grow up fast. When I got drafted into the league, they expect you to grow up immediately, and it’s very hard in this atmosphere.

“I’ve had to mature faster than a normal 22-year-old kid. When I got waived, I had to grow up even more and get more mature. I wouldn’t say that I took everything for granted before. I’d say I didn’t maximize my opportunities. Now I’m always ready.”
Even at 22, even with legs that let you jump through the roof, you get only so many chances.
Gerald Green nodded.

“The years go by fast,” he said. “I don’t want to blow this opportunity.”

Underdog · 11-19-2008, 01:58 PM

Quote:

“A lot of things have happened to me that I didn’t expect to happen,” said Green, who is back in town tonight with the Mavericks. “But really, I thank the Houston Rockets for cutting me. I thank them because they really did me a favor. They really woke me up.”

Never wake a sleeping dragon...

Great find, Jthig!

Dirkadirkastan · 11-19-2008, 05:31 PM

I expect a poster dunk on whatever pathetic excuse of a center Houston plays tonight.

alby · 11-19-2008, 05:37 PM

Yao is not playing.

Dirkadirkastan · 11-19-2008, 06:03 PM

I've heard all three were injured, but all three wanted to play.

monty55555 · 11-19-2008, 06:10 PM

Great article jthig. Thanks for sharing.

Kidd Karma · 11-24-2008, 12:43 AM

Any word on his back today?

chumdawg · 11-24-2008, 12:47 AM

I heard the kid may have died. Sucks to lose him like that, but what are you gonna do?

Rick41 · 11-24-2008, 01:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chumdawg

I heard the kid may have died. Sucks to lose him like that, but what are you gonna do?

Don't play me like that chum, dont play me like that. lol

RareMilk · 11-24-2008, 02:03 AM

The anologies Green come up with are funny and clever. I wonder how its all gonna play out against the lakers. I hope Green gets back at Kobe with a box out rebound dunk of his own lol

Flacolaco · 11-24-2008, 11:00 AM

From the DMN:

Quote:

Injury update: Howard went through the non-contact portion of Sunday's practice and is listed as day-to-day. He has missed two games with a left ankle injury.

Gerald Green (lower back) went through all of practice and will play Tuesday against Indiana.

dmack24 · 12-05-2008, 09:36 AM

What is working is working; we should leave Barrea at the two. I believe that Wright needs to prove that he can be as productive as Barrea; but right now I just do not see it. Though Green would be great for Jhow off the bench. I like our starters as they are .

LSMF · 12-17-2008, 12:31 PM

Carlislie is a fool, I wonder what his excuse for not playing Green is. It can't be offense because Green can score in a bunch of ways, so its probably defense. If defense is Green's problem why are we starting a 5'11 shooting guard?! I know Rick is dumb but is he dumb enough to think that someone who is 5'11 is a better defender than someone who is 6 foot 8?

DubOverdose · 12-17-2008, 12:51 PM

There must be something going on behind the scenes- in practice most likely- that we are not seeing. Green really should have gotten a lot of minutes with Josh out.

Kidd Karma · 12-17-2008, 12:57 PM

6 coaches down.

Carlisle is going the safest rout for him. Most coaches will play guys who have done well in practice. They will go with guys they trust the most, low risk mistakes. It's one of the reasons even a guy like Nellie is not playing Brandan Wright. He does not trust what he can do on a nightly basis. I think this is the case here with Green. Green, even Wright can help us more in the long run than George or Barea, but Carlisle is thinking of today. It'd be nice if we can get a guy like Sloan or Pop for that matter where they know that they don't need to look over their shoulder.

LSMF · 12-17-2008, 01:02 PM

The thing with Green is that he needs minutes to get better, do you not remember how he was playing at the beginning of the season? Everyone felt that we finally had the SG we had needed for years, then he just got buried on the bench. Even though he had proven he could take pressure off dirk, and he had proven he could contribute dude can't get minutes. I won't be suprised if Green goes to another team next year and starts kicking tail. How many times will that same event happen to us?