The perplexing dilemma of Jeff Green
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| "I need to play with more heart" -Jeff Green |
"Play with more heart, plain and simple,"
"I didn't like the way I played at all, It all starts on the defensive end. I didn't feel like I was as aggressive on the defensive end as I should have been. But it'll change."
Now I'm not here to judge a guy's performance in his first regular season game back from heart surgery. That would be ridiculous. But didn't we already go through this? Play with more heart? Be aggressive? I thought we were past this. But we're still talking about it after Game 1 of the NBA regular season? All I saw was Jeff Green getting owned by Rashard Lewis (RASHARD LEWIS) when he got physical on the block. I also saw Green run in slow motion to the rim and throw up a weak floater that barely hit the rim. Was this the Jeff Green I was expecting?
Jeff Green pundits were screaming it the moment Green was signed to a contract this summer. "Hes never even been an average player in his career!". "Nobody will trade for this albatross of a contract!". I admit I was one of those people. And Jeff Green gave us plenty of ammunition to attack him with. His career has been underwhelming to say the least.
Jeff Green had an awesome preseason, he looked aggressive, he was shooting well, and he looked as if he would have an impact from Day 1. Obviously people have bad games. Obviously people who had heart surgery will not be perfect. But after a summer of highs and lows, seeing Jeff Green have no impact on the court yesterday was disheartening. No matter what, we shouldn't have to discuss playing with "more heart" after an entire career of playing with no heart. So here is to you Jeff, hope you have a successful season. We won't go anywhere if you don't.
