It’s not like this team has no use for him. Green’s playing style isn’t the easiest to swallow for fans, coaches and teammates alike, but through it all, those people usually have nothing but positive things to say about him.
“He caught fire, he helped us win the game,” Brandan Wright said. “He was a big part of what we needed to do to win.”
“Gerald. Gerald came in and do what Gerald do,” Eric Bledsoe added. “He made unbelievable shots and he just got us going. Got us pumped up.”
That shot-making ability off the bench is something the Suns have sorely lacked lately…you know, ever since Green started getting benched and Isaiah Thomas was traded away.
Defensively, Green can be a train wreck at times. On the offensive end, Green can be just as bad, especially when he’s trying to prove to Hornacek he belongs on the floor by jacking up a shot every time he gets the ball. But one play stood out last night that displayed what his role on this team could be — and, to everyone’s surprise, it wasn’t a shot.
With Green already in the zone and the Jazz desperately time to put out the flames with smothering double-teams, Green pump faked his man into the air and took a step toward the basket. He had an open elbow jumper, but instead found P.J. Tucker open in the corner. Tucker drilled the three, giving Green his only assist of the night.
“Yeah, with Gerald you never know what’s going to happen, you just got to be ready,” Tucker said. “You don’t know if he’s going to pass it, if he’s going to shoot it. So, I was happy he passed it because I was pretty open.”
Green, recognizing that the defense was going to double him and overplay his shot, made a smart basketball play and found a teammate, who rewarded him for his trust. Green found two other open shooters on different plays, but they both missed their shots.
This doesn’t seem like much, but isn’t smart playmaking late in the middle of a close game something the young guys can learn from? It’s easier to learn by actually being on the floor, and yes, it was a meaningless game, but considering Green’s professionalism through this whole ordeal, his ability to come in and perform was the kind of exemplary play the Suns would want from a veteran addition to the roster.
Next: A Look At The Roster