Gerald Green can dunk, but Dallas Mavericks want to know if he can play Gerald Green receives perfect scores from judges Michael Jordan and Julius Irving after a contest-clinching jam at the 2007 NBA Slam Dunk competition. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>DALLAS - Sometimes when things come too fast, somebody pays the price. Gerald Green has paid. Still is paying, in fact. His sin? Nothing more than becoming an otherworldly athlete when he was a teenager. Green is one of the newest Mavericks after signing a one-year contract last week. He’s jumped into the summer league camp that represents the start of a new chapter in the 22-year-old’s already lengthy book of life. The 6-8 guard has had to learn a lot of things the hard way. He’s gone from prep school phenom to first-round NBA pick out of high school to four teams in the last 12 months. What journey would be complete without a few months totally out of the NBA? "He had to learn that there’s a big difference between being AAU famous and NBA famous," said John Lucas, the former pro guard and coach who now runs camps and drug-aftercare programs in Houston. It’s Lucas who helped get Green back on his feet when the prodigy was cut by the Houston Rockets, his hometown team, in March. Rather than catch on with another team, Green elected to train with Lucas and try to learn from the tough hand he had been dealt in three NBA seasons. It would eventually lead him to the Mavericks, who know where Green has been and how good he could be. "Gerald’s breathtaking athletic ability, and the fact that he can jump so high and soar through the air, has probably hurt his career because so many people love to watch him fly high and dunk," coach Rick Carlisle said. "In some cases, a kid can start to feel that he’s more of a showman than a basketball player." Physical talent, not fundamentals Fundamentals were never ingrained in Green because he could always get by on his outrageous physical talent. Carlisle said Green jumps higher than any player he’s ever seen and that he’s also a good outside shooter. But Green has never learned to translate his physical gifts into great defense or ball-handling ability. "I just didn’t take advantage of my opportunities," Green said. "I blame myself, nobody else. ... I’m a new guy and ready to get after it." Green averaged better than 10 points with Boston in his second NBA season, which is partly why he was included in the trade that brought Kevin Garnett (and a championship) to Boston. A struggling Green was traded to Houston, which cut him after one game. Green continued to get more notice for his dunking ability than his overall game. While Green’s athleticism is unquestioned - he has a 48-inch vertical leap and does his acrobatic dunks despite having had part of one finger amputated - his career has been marred by his lack of intensity. That’s not an NBA opinion; it’s what is written in his Wikipedia biography. A legend on AAU circuit Plenty of hands-on coaching will help Green’s development, Lucas said. Early in his basketball life, Green was a legend on the AAU circuit. He had a hoops Ph.D but never bothered to learn the ABCs of the sport. "Gerald lacked a lot of coaching in high school," Lucas said. "He’s in the maturation process right now." Green, who’s never had the benefit of working with an elite point guard, says he’s looking forward to playing with Jason Kidd. And he believes the inevitable setbacks will not have the impact that they did in the past. "When I fall down, I have to quickly get back up," Green said. "One thing I’ve known: To have success, there’s going to be failure. This is a big, humbling experience, learning experience." Many things entered into the decision to join the Mavericks. It’s close to his family in Houston. But not too close. He has other relatives who live in Dallas. But being just far enough away from the distractions of Houston is a good thing. He’s even given up most of his dogs. And he’s a dog lover. "Right now," he said, "Spalding is my dog."</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BasX @ Jul 10 2008, 08:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><span style="font-size:36pt;line-height:100%">FEAR</span></div> can I get a translation please?
