MENDENHALL CENTER, LAS VEGAS, NV — On the first day of practice for USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team, Draymond Green flexed his “point-forward” and “stretch-four” versatility during scrimmages against the U.S. Men’s Select Team.
Team USA head coach Mike Kryzyzewski split the twelve Olympic team members into groups of six to scrimmage against the young Select Team.
On the near court made available to media from the balcony, we caught Green scrimmaging with the likes of DeAndre Jordan, DeMar DeRozan, Harrison Barnes, Kyle Lowry, and Paul George.
Going up against Jabari Parker, who stands 6’8″, 250 lbs and plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, Green was able to outmaneuver Parker for rebounds and was very vocal on defense.
“Stay high, DJ!” he yelled to Jordan, providing air traffic control from under the rim and Jordan’s man went to set a pick.
“Switch, DeMar!” he barked to DeRozan as they dealt with a pick-and-roll.
“Iso, iso!” he warned Barnes, as another screen developed in the area.
On offense, there was a play where Green set a screen and slipped to the rim, open. George saw him, but the bounce pass was too low to catch, and trickled out of bounds.
“My bad, P!” Green screamed.
But George pointed to himself, taking responsibility for the errant throw.
They made up for it shortly thereafter, Draymond hitting a catch-and-shoot three from the left wing.
“Good pass, P!”
On at least two occasions, Green got the defensive rebound and started the fast break on his own, as he became famous for in the 2015-16 NBA campaign.
On one of the plays, the ball got swung around and he ended up with a wide-open three-pointer from the top, which he swished:
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On another, he weaved through the transition defense of the Select Team and lofted an alley-oop for Jordan:
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Green recently said, “I think a lot of international teams use the stretch four, so I think that suits me well.”
It sure suited him well on Day One of #USABMNT training camp.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIImqGe4cVs&w=560&h=315](Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @sacramentokings)
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