Keep an eye on Gerald Green

[billfromBoston]

...to all those who are so quick to call a career over -- Gerald is starting to learn how to play the game and is now a fixture in the Dallas rotation....be patient with prospects before closing the door on their development -- rule of thumb: Never stop watching until a kid is through his first 5 years in the league...

...the more you know...

[SonicYouth34]

I always thought Minny gave up on him to early, kid has some talent he just needed to mature into his body

[eloper]

Perhaps getting cut by the Rockets was the wake up call he needed....just like getting passed around like the town whore was the wake up call JR Smith needed.

He's been looking real good in Dallas since the Rocky Mountain Revue Summer League right up through preseason and now early in the season. What's been most promising is that he's doing his scoring in the offense, and recognizing situations he wasn't earlier in his career.

[BillessuR6]

I have seen him once this season and he looked as lost as two years ago. Didn`t see much improvement. If he can`t get into rotation with the Mavs I don`t know where he can. They were starting Antoine Wright at SG for crying out loud...

[canman1971]

I always thought he had the tools to make it and be successful. On top of that, he was so young so why wouldn't you give him a chance. Minny, I feel, made a mistake and he'll be alright in time. He always seemed like such a nice kid, so I wondered why people were so harsh on him. In retrospect, winning the dunk contest was the worst thing for him in some regards.

[Red2]

dude give it up already. GG is gone. he may turn into a serviceable player but it won't be for us. he had PLENTY of chances here- 2+ years as i recall. His biggest problems were lack of maturity and intelligence- plus I don't think he was that hard a worker. so let's just forget about him ok?

[Mahoney_jr]

dude give it up already. GG is gone. he may turn into a serviceable player but it won't be for us. he had PLENTY of chances here- 2+ years as i recall. His biggest problems were lack of maturity and intelligence- plus I don't think he was that hard a worker. so let's just forget about him ok?

He was a big part of the Celtics rebuilding process and got booted because he couldn't learn the game while playing with a bunch of NBA noobs. Now he gets Kidd's passes and I'm quite interested to see how we does. So I'm pleased when BFB gives us a little update on the kid.

[Datruth345]

i watched the Denver Dallas game last night, and he got all the crunch time minutes at the 2
he even took the last shot with .4 seconds left on a play that was drawn up for him
I Like Gerald and hope he succeeds

[celticfan42487]

Looking at his stats quickly, looks like he's getting the third guard/fourth guard minutes. 15 or so per game.

Only in SA did they not play him yet.

And he appears to be doing his best impression of Kyle Kover. Stand and shoot and nothing else.

Bill knowes basketball awarness better then anyone on this board though, so if he says GG is starting to get it then he is. Bill freaking calls it on Powe and Gomes before their rookie seasons and their biggest asset is awarness.

So GG is a long shot to get significant mintues [20 per game] but he has been getting noticable minutes 3/4 games so far. I don't know how long he'll stay in there though if he's hot streak of 60% fg shooting ends... his stats suggest he's doing little more then knocking down open shots. House proves you don't have to do too much more then that to get a job in the NBA but not if you want to stick around or be apart of a main rotation.

[Barry Lird]

Gerald had some explosive offensive games for us as well. There was never a question about his physical assets. He can score. We know this. Can he do it within the framework of the team. Can he do anything else, like play solid D? Does he have feel for the game? These are things that are a work in progress for him.

I wouldn't draw all that many conclusions based on a good performance or two (after all, he had them for us too), though it is promising.

Gerald always seemed like a likable kid, so I surely wish him well.

[heyjohnny]

Lets not forget that Green was needed to get KG. It was a great trade so whatever happens with Gerald Green, great!
But the Celtics didn't give up on him as much as they traded his butt to get KG.

[bostonfan34]

The guy to 'keep an eye on' is actually Sebastian Telfair. In his first game back, he had 8 points and 10 assists off the bench, with 1 turnover, then started last night and had 15 points, 7 assists, and 0 turnovers.

[threrf23]

The guy to 'keep an eye on' is actually Sebastian Telfair. In his first game back, he had 8 points and 10 assists off the bench, with 1 turnover, then started last night and had 15 points, 7 assists, and 0 turnovers.

I'm not sure Telfair should be starting though. Foye fits well with the starting lineup considering he plays better D and has a better long range shot, whereas Minny ideally needs a better assist man off the bench playing when they can't just go through Big Al and Mike Miller to run the offense.

Re Gerald Green, he's just a classic case of a guy being overrated - and than underrated as a reaction to not living up to expectations. I also think it was odd that he was given almost no chance in Minny given their franchise's state...I know they had positional depth where they wanted to play him, but still.

[eloper]

Make no mistake, Telfair's always been an underrated floor general, he can run an offense at a high caliber, makes smart passes, and handles the ball terrifically. Unfortunately, he's a horribly inefficient and ineffective scorer, and a pretty poor defender. Defensively he's always going to have issues due to his size, however if he could ever learn to shoot the ball or finish at the basket, he'd be a capable starter (at least as capable as a Jamaal Tinsley). As I've been following the Mavs this year, I can't help but think how well Telfair would fit with the second unit, which seems somewhat desperate for a playmaker (probably the only reason Stack sniffs minutes).

Gerald's definitely been scoring within the offense, I'm yet to see him take a stupid shot (which through almost 50 minutes of play isn't something I'm used to). While he's yet to pick up an assist, he hasn't been a black hole by any means, and has done a good job keeping the ball moving if he's not in position to score. Defensively I think there's been a good deal of improvement, I think he understands his role far better, and for the most part the intensity has been there on a more consistent basis. Someone pointed out the Wally foul, but that's quite literally the only bonehead play I've seen from Gerald on defense, and I've seen some pretty good defenders make stupid mistakes like that (hey there Tony Allen).

He's only getting 15 or so MPG, but there's a large consensus amongst Dallas fans and the local media that Stackhouse is going to be phased out of the rotation soon (or traded), and Gerald will serve as either the primary scorer off the bench or potentially start with Terry back in that 6th man role.

[bostonfan34]

The guy to 'keep an eye on' is actually Sebastian Telfair. In his first game back, he had 8 points and 10 assists off the bench, with 1 turnover, then started last night and had 15 points, 7 assists, and 0 turnovers.

I'm not sure Telfair should be starting though. Foye fits well with the starting lineup considering he plays better D and has a better long range shot, whereas Minny ideally needs a better assist man off the bench playing when they can't just go through Big Al and Mike Miller to run the offense.

Re Gerald Green, he's just a classic case of a guy being overrated - and than underrated as a reaction to not living up to expectations. I also think it was odd that he was given almost no chance in Minny given their franchise's state...I know they had positional depth where they wanted to play him, but still.

He's actually been an improved defender through last season and the first couple games of this one. His jump shot looks better - it's super early, but it's still encouraging.

[Rocky5000]

Green is in the starting lineup for the Mavs today.

[eloper]

Mavs played terrible, but not a reflection on Green who did fairly well (Terry was horrid today, as was Bass, Dirk and Kidd were solid but not enough to make up for everyone else's crappiness).

GG finished with 13 points on 5-12 shooting (1-4 from 3, 2-3 at the line), 12 rebounds (2 offensive), 2 assists, 3 turnovers, 4 fouls. Offensively he played within the offense, took smart shots, missed a couple 3s that he generally hits at a very high percentage....one of his turnovers was a missed shot that he tried to rebound and bounced off him out of bounds....another was similar except on the defensive end, where he tried to save a ball that ended up being fought for on the ground and taken away by the Clippers.

[GuyClinch]

This Gerald love would seem alot more convincing if the Mavs weren't experiencing a shocking free fall to dregs of the NBA status.. How exactly do you account for that with Dirk and Kidd in tow?

[Athanacropolis]

This Gerald love would seem alot more convincing if the Mavs weren't experiencing a shocking free fall to dregs of the NBA status.. How exactly do you account for that with Dirk and Kidd in tow?

Because Mark Cuban is nowhere nearly as smart as he thinks he is.

[Bad-Thoma]

I hope he does well, some players "get it" quicker than others. People were pretty hard on him here, I always thought his biggest problem was that he was trying a little too hard instead of relaxing and letting the game come to him. If things truly click... watch out.