Jeff Green's teammates think he needs swagger (Green agrees)

[footey]

he needs to improve his handles. no expects him to go left because he struggles so hard dribbling to his left. if he had good dribbling skills he could get to spots so much easier.

totally agree. this is what separates Pierce from Green.  Pierce can handle the ball, create a shot off his dribble. Green cannot. Green thrives when he is hot, with the open 3, it is a beautiful shot.  And in transition when he swoops in looking like Worthy. But that is about it.  He just doesn't handle the ball well enough to create a shot.  He is a turnover machine when he puts it on the floor in a half court game.

[Ogaju]

you think this is just about handles? You a doing a big disservice to PP if you think the only difference between him and Green is handles.

[Ogaju]

in the infamous words of Kobe Bryant.. 'ship him out'.

He does not have swagger and I echo a prior post in the thread, you cannot turn it off and on. You either have it or you don't.

There are scrubs that have swagger and superstars that do not. JG does not have swagger.

'Ship him out'

Why?

because he is a major disappointment, and we need more production at that position.

[Ogaju]

I wonder what would have happened to Robert Parish if he played today and his demeanor was constantly analyzed and critiqued after every game.

Mike

If Green produced like the Chief, nobody would care.

THIS!!

[Rondo9]

in the infamous words of Kobe Bryant.. 'ship him out'.

He does not have swagger and I echo a prior post in the thread, you cannot turn it off and on. You either have it or you don't.

There are scrubs that have swagger and superstars that do not. JG does not have swagger.

'Ship him out'

because he is a major disappointment, and we need more production at that position.

Why?

In what way has he been a dissapointment if you think he was suppose to be a go to guy then you are fooling yourself

[LooseCannon]

Green is a guy who has an even keel.  He's been good when asked to take big shots late in the game.  He plays his game no matter the circumstances.

I think asking him to be aggressive and take it to the basket more does not play to his strengths.  I think you're better off asking him to use his focus to try and become a 40% shooter on threes.  He has the sort of demeanor where he might be able to take those shots without being as adversely affected by pressure the way other players might be, so that sounds like a better use of his ability than wanting him to be a 20 ppg guy on a bad team.

[cltc5]

Seriously how many excuses does this guy need.  Play the game with passion or get lost.

[Kane3387]

Swagger is simply confidence with an attitude. Green lacks attitude. Doubt that changes.

How about the truth dominating the end of that game this morning?! That was tight. Kg with the big shot to preclude pierces onslaught. Really fun to see.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Swagger is simply confidence with an attitude. Green lacks attitude. Doubt that changes.

How about the truth dominating the end of that game this morning?! That was tight. Kg with the big shot to preclude pierces onslaught. Really fun to see.

The assist on that shot was from PP too.

[GreenWarrior]

that's probably why I love pierce so much. he had swagger as soon as he came into the league.

[Kane3387]

Swagger is simply confidence with an attitude. Green lacks attitude. Doubt that changes.

How about the truth dominating the end of that game this morning?! That was tight. Kg with the big shot to preclude pierces onslaught. Really fun to see.

The assist on that shot was from PP too.

Yeah he did. Paul was vintage.

[obnoxiousmime]

In the entire history of "swagger" or "attitude" or "playing with an edge" or "being more aggressive" has there ever been a player whose personality suddenly changed after already being in the league a few years?

Anyway, I agree that none of this would be an issue if he were simply a better player. He can shoot, but not as consistently as the stars of the league. His handle, as people have mentioned is never going to be as good as the top wing players, which is probably why he's a straight-line driver with limited ability to improvise and change direction. Finally he is not a great passer as his low assist totals show.

He's not a bad player but unfortunately Pierce casts a huge shadow. Besides top athleticism Pierce had almost everything: height, strength, shooting, 3 range, passing, rebounding, defense, handle, drive and finish ability, post up game, confidence, durability, etc.

[crimson_stallion]

I think Jeff Green just needs to stop listening to everybody and just be himself.

For a person to change their personality is not easy.  If he sits there thinking about changing his personality then he's just trying too hard. He just needs to keep doing what he's doing.  Play within his limits.  Do what he is comfortable doing.

Will he ever be a superstar?  No.  He won't.  But that doesn't mean that he's not useful or valuable as a member of the team.

There are a lot of guys out there who will never be superstars.  There are guys like Ben Wallace who couldn't score to save his life, and would never be the  best player on his team.  But he knew what he was good out and he just went out there and did it.  Didn't try to be anything he wasn't.

Same with somebody like Shane Battier. 

I don't mind Jeff Green right now because he doesn't try to be somebody else.  He knows what he is and what he's good at, and he just does that.  He's a good spot up three point shooter, so it catches balls and shoots threes.  He knows hes a good transition scorer, so when the ball gets pushed he runs hard. He knows his has physical advantages over many guys, so when he's up against a slower or weaker player he usually takes advantages and drives it hard.  He knows his a good defender at his position, so when he plays an elite opposing swingman he takes it upon himself to guard that guy and shut him down.

Does he dominate every single night?  No.  Does he chuck 30 shots a night?  No.  Does he try to force-drive against guys who have the advantage on him, or force a post up against touger inside players?  No.  Does he try to force constant contested threes?  No.

Jeff plays within his game and I kinda like that about him.  He just happens to not be a superstar, which is one of the things we could kinda use right now...but that's not his fault.  That's on Danny to get us somebody who is.  At the end of the day though, I'd rather have a Jeff Green than a Jordan Crawford.  I'd rather have a guy who will hessitate some nights, over a guy who will constantly chuck up 25 footers with 15 seconds left on the shot clock.  Rather have a guy who will play within himself, rather than someone who will try to be somebody they are not.

I think on a good basketball team you need balance.  You need to have a couple of guys who are cocky, confident, ballsy and who aren't afraid to take a gamble - sometimes you are down by 20 at half time and you just need to inject an energy guy who can chuck up a ton of shots and hopefully fluke you in the game.  You also need some guys who are calm, cool, collected and who can be relied on to not do something stupid when you are in a close game with a chance to win it.  Jeff is the latter.  You can depend on him not to shoot you out of the game, yet he has a history of hitting huge shots. 

[aporel#18]

He needs (like celtic-_-pride and footey said before) to improve his ball handling skills, both hands but mostly left hand.

I couldn't care less about 'swagger' or 'alpha-guy' labels, this is a sport and you need to take advantage of your skills to win the games.  Confidence is a thing that comes from mental approach, but also from experience. The more success you get, the more confidence.

Jeff is a very gifted player, and he's been playing very different roles in his career, but he's never been given the ball (in the pros, at least), and sadly, he's never developed his ball handling. That would help him not only in iso jumpers, but also to attack the basket. He makes it look outrageously easy sometimes, but he needs to work on his handles to be even better.

There are guys like Jordan "better than Michael" Crawford who has crazy confidence, almost never based on success, and that doesn't make him a better player. Of course is funny to watch Steez do his thing, but if you want to win games, team game is key. Another example of misunderstood confidence is Big Baby, ya know...

I wouldn't want Jeff to turn into a chucker like Kobe, hero ball is disgusting and the example of everything that's wrong in our world (hehehe). Really, that's anti-Celtic stuff, and as much as I love the Captain, I hated those iso plays even when they resulted in great shots. I love clutch shots, but they're better when they come from the coach's playbook, a great pass by a teammate... but that's me.

There is only one Paul Pierce, and there's only one Jeff Green, and you should appreciate who they are, and stop questioning what they won't be.

[jambr380]

You either have it or you don't. I don't really think its a switch you can turn on and, especially, mid-career.

Jeff just doesn't have "it".

I say this as Pierce just drills a big 3 in the Nets/Raptors game. He sure as hell has it.

Eh, I actually think Green is a very good player to have down the stretch as he doesn't freak out. He has certainly proven to be a very capable 'last shot' guy.

For those still frustrated with Green, you just need to get over it. He is paid like he should be and he has produced as expected. He can sometimes go off, but often times is just a good player. If there was more talent on this team, we would probably appreciate him a lot more because of his solid offensive and defensive game.

With all of that being said, I would love to see Green turn up the attitude a bit, not vocally just in his body language. If not, I am perfectly satisfied with the player he is.