Gerald Green Patiently Waiting

Shapecity · Nov 3, 2008

The hype Gerald Green generated as a Houston high school wonder kid often soared to impractical altitudes although never reaching the rare air of the king of schoolboy lore, LeBron James, whose Cleveland Cavaliers visit Dallas tonight.

Yet, might Green’s evolution start to somewhat reflect that of another prep prodigy playing in Los Angeles, an owner of three championship rings?

Remember, Kobe Bryant didn’t conquer NBA expectations with a single leap like James. Bryant put in bench time in the beginning stages of his escalation to greatness.

OK, at this stage of Green’s career — four teams in four seasons — no one is predicting three titles when he can’t be sure of his role in three days. It was just four days ago in the Dallas Mavericks’ season opener when coach Rick Carlisle opted to not play him despite an impressive finish to the preseason.

"What I have to do is just be ready. That’s the situation," Green said. "My number can be called at any time. Getting down on myself is not going to help me, it’s only going to hurt me.

"All I got to do is be ready to play and hopefully my number gets called, and if it doesn’t, I’ll just cheer my teammates on and just go day by day."

Patience is what made Green’s poise and production — showing discipline defensively and being dynamic offensively — in Saturday’s win at Minnesota more special.

He was ready to play when called upon, but he was also prepared to sit if that’s how Carlisle chose to play it. For Green, 22, no longer is there a rush to greatness.

Visions of instant superstardom have eased into a more practical agenda. Now Green concentrates on blending his superb physical abilities with a fundamental understanding of how to approach a game he never truly learned how to play as a teen-age showman.

"I work hard in practice to be more into it defensively and offensively, trying to make the best play," Green said. "I’m trying to make the right play, make the right decision. Those are things I’m starting to learn at practice."

Scoring nine points in 16 minutes, seven during a critical three-minute span of the fourth quarter, has at least put Green in position to remain in Carlisle’s rotation tonight against James and the Cavaliers, who have lost two of their first three games.

"Of course I want to be a part of the rotation," Green said. "But as long as we win, that’s all that matters to me and everybody on the team."

How Carlisle proceeds with his rotation will be an interesting study. At least temporarily, Antoine Wright lost his starting job after one game, replaced by Jerry Stackhouse, who was as ineffective against Minnesota as Wright was against Houston.

That position could rotate again, perhaps to Jason Terry or possibly Green.

Against Houston, Carlisle often substituted two and three players at a time without using Green or backup point guard J.J. Barea. At Minnesota, Carlisle successfully employed an entire five-man reserve unit for long stretches in the second and fourth quarters.

Devean George’s possible return this week from a left hand injury would add another capable swingman to the mix. Carlisle views the depth issue as a good problem and he said, in committing to an up-tempo style, he hopes to consistently count on 10 players a game.

Of course, with 11, even 12 players capable of rotation time, it could leave some out as Green realized in the opener and Wright did at Minnesota.

"We have a lot of guys that are good and it’s not going to be possible to get everybody the kind of minutes they may get on other teams on particular nights," Carlisle said. "I said the night before training camp that one of the prerequisites of this is that everybody’s just going to have to be ready to play."
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Source: Star Telegram

Master Shake · Nov 3, 2008

Joker thinks this guy is MVP.

AGGiE · Nov 3, 2008

[video=youtube;fB1VmMpOdJ0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB1VmMpOdJ0[/video]

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Gerald Green Patiently Waiting

Shapecity S2/JBB Teamster Staff Member Administrator

Master Shake young phoenix

AGGiE Watching The Nets

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Gerald Green Patiently Waiting

Shapecity S2/JBB Teamster Staff Member Administrator

Master Shake young phoenix

AGGiE Watching The Nets

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