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Green didn’t just finish 8-of-16 shooting from the floor, he got the foul line for nine attempts (making seven) and rarely got caught waiting for the game to come to him. Thrust into the role of shooting guard in Boston’s big lineup — which often left him covering Toronto’s talented tandem of Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan — Green still found the energy to attack offensively, giving Boston much-needed scoring jolts.
The advanced stats are more encouraging than the standard line. Green accounted for a team-high 21 plays finished, generating 1.19 points per possession, according to Synergy Sports data. He generated points off 57.1 percent of his finished possessions, drew shooting fouls on 23.8 percent of his touches, and limited his turnovers (1) on a night the Celtics as a whole were sloppy with the ball. Green was plus-8 overall in plus/minus.
“I was kind of zoned out,” said Green. “Going into the game, I just told myself, put your head down and drive. Be aggressive. And, if I play hard, the offense will come, but I wanted to focus on defense. I was guarding DeMar, he’s a great player. I just wanted to try to be aggressive and put them on their heels.”
A year ago Kevin Garnett said that Jeff Green was too nice a guy and needed to be an asshole on the court. Green obliged last night. He was aggressive, efficient and effective in the season opening loss to Toronto.
But Green needs to be a bigger a-hole. I’m talking complete a-hole. Take another 4, 5, 6 shots a game. They don’t even need to be good shots. Anything from Green is better than offerings from Jordan Crawford, Courtney Lee and Avery Bradley.
Green in full a-hole mode won’t be enough to carry the Celtics to any success this season. But if he can learn to be an a-hole night in and night out, he’ll carve a permanent space on this evolving roster.
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston – Stevens finds silver linings | Raptors 93 – Celtics 87 | CSNNE – Green takes reins in opening loss | Olynyk diary: It all begins for real | Faverani starts in opener | Herald – Forgotten C’s start slow | Globe – Green Celtics drop opener |
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