Post by DERRENMATTS on Oct 9, 2005 5:17:10 GMT -5
BCHistorian has this Herald article up on his daily news board, but I wanted to post this here as well because I think its fantastic news.
Since when do you hear of coaches and star players asking a 19 year old rookie fresh out of high school to shoot the ball more? We are a team with a lot of scoring potential, but yet, they want this totally young kid to become more selfish because it'll make us better.
Gerald Green is going to be a star. He's doing his best trying to fit in with the players on the team, but the coach and the team wants him to start looking for his shot more. And this is coming from Rivers, who preaches ball movement and from Pierce and Ricky Davis--2 of the better scoring wing players in the NBA. They sense what he is capable of, even at this incredibly early stage of his development. They sense the enormous scoring potential he possesses and they want him to start using it instead of holding it back trying to fit in with the team.
Green may not be afraid to shoot, but that doesn't mean he's hogging the ball. After one week of training camp, then, he's getting a unique message for a rookie from the coaches.
``My athletic ability is going well for me here, but the coaches are getting on me because they want me to shoot the ball more than I am,'' he said. ``I feel that sometimes people are looking for more from me that way.''
With guys like Pierce and Ricky Davis on the floor, the 6-foot-8 Green has been a little too deferential. Doc Rivers wants his young guard - essentially Pierce's understudy - to indulge his selfish side a little more.
``I'm assuming that he shot the ball every time he touched it in high school,'' the Celtics coach said. ``I'm just assuming that's the way he thinks. So when in doubt, err on the side of shooting. That's all I'm saying.''
You know this kid is going to be special.
Since when do you hear of coaches and star players asking a 19 year old rookie fresh out of high school to shoot the ball more? We are a team with a lot of scoring potential, but yet, they want this totally young kid to become more selfish because it'll make us better.
Gerald Green is going to be a star. He's doing his best trying to fit in with the players on the team, but the coach and the team wants him to start looking for his shot more. And this is coming from Rivers, who preaches ball movement and from Pierce and Ricky Davis--2 of the better scoring wing players in the NBA. They sense what he is capable of, even at this incredibly early stage of his development. They sense the enormous scoring potential he possesses and they want him to start using it instead of holding it back trying to fit in with the team.
Green may not be afraid to shoot, but that doesn't mean he's hogging the ball. After one week of training camp, then, he's getting a unique message for a rookie from the coaches.
``My athletic ability is going well for me here, but the coaches are getting on me because they want me to shoot the ball more than I am,'' he said. ``I feel that sometimes people are looking for more from me that way.''
With guys like Pierce and Ricky Davis on the floor, the 6-foot-8 Green has been a little too deferential. Doc Rivers wants his young guard - essentially Pierce's understudy - to indulge his selfish side a little more.
``I'm assuming that he shot the ball every time he touched it in high school,'' the Celtics coach said. ``I'm just assuming that's the way he thinks. So when in doubt, err on the side of shooting. That's all I'm saying.''
You know this kid is going to be special.
