Wow, Jeff Green! (The first part of the mid-season analysis series for the Nets in the 2020-21 season)
He was selected with the fifth overall pick in the first round and is now thirty-four years old; however, his biggest and only achievement so far in his career was the first team of the rookie of the year more than ten years ago.
You are curious to ask: Did he leave the basketball forever because of injury, leaving only some memories and regrets for the fans? You got a negative reply, I believe it makes you puzzled.
If you are at a loss, ask again: Has he been a stable main player in the same team but has not reached the star level? This time, you got half of the correct answer, but your perplexity continued to increase.
I decided to give a hint. His career has played for exactly ten teams: Thunder (SuperSonics), Celtics, Grizzlies, Clippers, Magic, Cavaliers, Wizards, Jazz, Rockets, Nets. At this time, you probably have some clues.
Ever since, I decided to reveal the answer, a name that is both familiar and unfamiliar-Jeff Green.
Of course, I am not going to talk about Jeff Green’s career in basketball in this article, so I chose an appropriate entry point: In late December 2019, the Jazz officially announced the layoff of veteran Jeff Green. Compared with the data of last season (2018-19), Jeff Green’s basic statistics except for the number of turnovers have declined significantly, and it is difficult to integrate into the team system.
After two months of waiting, the team finally handed out an olive branch, and Jeff Green completed his salvation…
The signing of Jeff Green was originally regarded as an insignificant operation for the Rockets in the mid-season market. A player who is 33 years old and has no ball to play for nearly half the season after being cut by the Jazz not long after the start of the season, if he can squeeze into the rotation and get an average of ten minutes per game, he must have exceeded expectations; However, Jeff Green’s performance after joining the team swears that his value is far more than that. It also made Mike D’Antoni, the head coach of the Rockets at the time, willing to open the door to his narrow rotation and include Jeff Green in it.
Several operations of the Xuheng Rockets in the season, there is no doubt that Covington is the player who has the greatest influence, change and help to the Rockets; however, Jeff Green’s role as the Rockets’ backup center actually gave the team a positive and positive role. And the surprising impact and upgrade.
In addition to the fact that Jeff Green’s presence has greatly reduced the playing time and pressure of small ball center PJ Tucker (note: height 196cm) on the inside, and the situation of the latter being directly picked off the rebound in the penalty area will not be repeated. He is more Mike D’Antoni’s small ball system brings a frontcourt player who can contribute in many aspects and positions.
After Jeff Green joined the Houston Rockets, he directly said: “It’s going to be special to see those two guys and the way they’ve grown It’s been wonderful. I’m excited to be with them again.”
Before the NBA was suspended due to COVID-19, the Rockets finally got out of a 4-game losing streak after defeating the Timberwolves 117-111. However, PJ Tucker in the team’s starting lineup could not give the Rockets a particularly good help on the offensive end. . Growing age and averaging more than 36 minutes per game made PJ Tucker feel more comfortable on both offensive and defensive ends. Even though he struggled to grab 11 rebounds, he only took two shots and scored two points. Previously when the Rockets arranged for Tucker as a power forward, he was able to use his hard work and willpower to limit his opponents, and he often grabbed key offensive rebounds at critical moments with the spirit of not giving up; however, the direct matchup was more than himself. Tucker’s center has made Tucker’s physical consumption even greater and arduous. It is obviously extremely difficult to maintain a stable shooting ability on the offensive end and the style of the corner three-pointer.
With the addition of Jeff Green, although he cannot solve the fact that the Rockets are extremely poor and weak inside, he has not only learned the valuable experience of serving as a small ball center after the rotation (also proved that he is capable of such a role), but also let the team Have the capital to fight with the super strong team. In the extremely competitive playoffs in the Western Conference, the Rockets defeated the Thunder, led by the league’s first traditional point guard Chris Paul. Faced with the Lakers, which won the championship, they once took the lead in the series. But Danuel House had no choice but to violate the league’s epidemic prevention. The rule was expelled from the epidemic prevention bubble, so that the Rockets’ frontcourt lineup was defeated without a fight, and the Lakers took advantage of the trend and reversed the promotion.
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