Expectations for Donte Greene

TDot_nomad · Post #1 » by **TDot_nomad** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:13 pm

What do people expect from Donte Greene this upcoming season? Additionally what do you expect from Donte for the duration of his career?

I think Donte has a huge opportunity this season. The team is obviously young and willing to play the the younger players if they demonstrate some sort of potential. But i'm not sure he's ready to break through and sincerely deserve playing time. If healthy, guys like Nocioni, Garcia, JT obviously deserve PT; its the guys like Mason, May, Casspi that Donte needs to beat. I would be dissapointed if Mason and Casspi outperform Greene. But I could see the situation happening.

I'm not sure Greene has anything to offer at this point in his career besides a streaky jump shot. If he has developed some sort of dribble drive game that would be awesome. I know he has put on some muscle perhaps he's been working on an inside/post game. He's a great FT shooter and if he could get to the rim a little more it would help set up his outside shot.

Like I said, it wouldn't suprise me if Greene has another mediocre year with the glimpses of potential being few and far between. I hope not. But he might be a player that develops slowly. Similar to J O'Neal and R Lewis. Not sure his ceiling is as high as those too, but he could turn into a R Lewis type if he gets his J more consistent.

What do you all think? Does he need to show some serious growth this season to avoid the bust label?

Website · Post #2 » by **Nicky Nix Nook** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:37 pm

He's still only what 20? 21? I say the bust label gets slapped on you after 3 seasons of little to no growth (assuming you have had a fair opportunity to showcase your abilities).

mobiuseinz · Post #3 » by **mobiuseinz** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 1:15 am

It's gon' rain!

Website · Post #4 » by **Nicky Nix Nook** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 1:16 am

mobiuseinz wrote:It's gon' rain!

Thanks Ollie!

Smills91 · Post #5 » by **Smills91** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 2:43 am

Rashard Lewis on steroids............oh wait....... :oops:

My Bad!

sacking101 · Post #6 » by **sacking101** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 3:11 am

Garcia, nocioni, and maybe desmond mason will play infront of him at the 3 spot. So unless May turns out to be better then i expect or we sign ely then i think donte will see most of his playing time at the 4 spot. I rather him at the 3 cause that is his true position. He has the potential its all about whether he can get the minutes.

Post #7 » by **KF10** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:05 pm

I'm a bit weary about Greene. I still like him as a prospect but I think he is still raw in a sense that he needs more seasoning/games under his belt to fully contribute. And knowing our SF position is a bit packed, I don't know if he can see the court if alot of guys are ahead of him. Unless, Greene plays the PF position more. Which I think he will this year.

cdt3 · Post #8 » by **cdt3** » Thu Oct 1, 2009 4:54 am

He will probably get about 20 min a game. He will probably play between the 3/4/5. Rashard Lewis had Paul Westphal as his coach as a rookie and improved from 5pts to 10pts to 17pts. I expect him to come off the bench here untils he proves he can defend SFs in the NBA he will just be a backup 4/5. I remember Lewis was a pretty lethal defender for a big guy he used to give Peja fits. Will Greene make the jump? If he doesn't we have Casspi and Garcia still.

Don't expect more than 10 pts out him this year.

TDot_nomad · Post #9 » by **TDot_nomad** » Thu Oct 1, 2009 5:18 am

I guess i'm not as optimistic as you. If Donte averaged 20 minutes and near 10 points for the season I would be VERY surprised. Does he have it in him to make a huge leap this year? I feel like he's going to be a slow developer and i'm not sure he offers much to deserve playing time at this point. Will his defense improve? I don't see anyway he can guard the 5 spot.

In westphal's recent comments he said that mason has had a great showing at camp so far. I see the minutes at small forward to be almost non-existent for Greene now. Power forward is pretty crowded especially if May demonstrates any ability; he offers a lot more in terms of a post presence than Greene.

I see Greene getting some playing time toward the beginning of the season but if he doesn't show well then it could be a frustrating season for him. Of course there will be injuries and he'll have other chances, but I think it will take a lot of patience to see Greene develop. I hope I'm wrong. Perhaps Greene has learned some pointers from his buddy Thompson.

Post #10 » by **pillwenney** » Thu Oct 1, 2009 5:22 am

He might still take a while, but he seemed to be making some strides in summer league, and I think he'll have plenty of opportunities at PF. May will only get so many minutes (and likely depending on how you see things, will likely be playing plenty of backup center). Unless Noc gets pushed to PF a lot, or he's outplayed by Brockman (I doubt it), Donte should have plenty of opportunity at PF.

OGSactownballer · Post #11 » by **OGSactownballer** » Sat Oct 3, 2009 10:30 pm

Since he is still at a place where he has the "potential" value label attached, I can most likely see him included in a trade to fill out the outgoing "value" rather than developing here. That is of course unless they see more from him early that is promising enough to warrant sending out either Casspi as that young "potential" guy or Garcia. Don't forget that you can't teach the size, and that 6'7" SF's (Noc; Garcia; Mason) are a LOT more common than talented 6'9"+ SF's (Greene; Casspi).

I do see that somewhere between here and the trade deadline that we will make some sort of an either cosolidation move to solidify the SF into a solid to star starter and solid backup. Conversly, I would be just as OK with that move being to clear even more 2010 or 2011 cap space (I am thinking Carmelo in 2011 rather than JJ in 2010).