Echoing CO's apology about lack of content and offering another one to Tom G and his wonderfully detailed pre-game break down, I wanted to take a quick look at the non-7-foot big man that will be suiting up on Saturday — Jeff Green.
Not much has been left unsaid about Green's versatility on the court, but the final six minutes of regulation and five minutes of overtime in the Hoyas' Regional Final win over North Carolina absolutely hammers this home. What follows is a run down of Green's contributions after he hit one of two free throws with 6:02 left in regulation.
• Defensive Rebound (5:48)
• Hook shot in the lane trims the UNC lead to 5 points. (5:06)
• Defensive Rebound (4:48)
• Assist to Roy Hibbert for a thunderous baseline dunk to make the score 75-72 UNC (4:21)
• Assist to Patrick Ewing Jr.* (2:38) [* Okay, it could have been an air ball, but he WAS looking right at Ewing after releasing the ball.]
• Alters a shot in the lane by Tyler Hansbrough with the score tied at 81. (4:40 in Overtime)
• Assist to Wallace to put the Hoyas up 83-81 (4:20 in OT)
• Combines with Roy to block Hansbrough's shot. (3:45 in OT)
• Fadeaway jumper off the glass to push it to 87-81. (2:52 in OT)
• Defensive Rebound (1:05 in OT)
• Defensive Rebound (46 sec. in OT)
This stretch support two things I think: 1.) Jeff Green is as versatile as the pundits say, it's not just hot air. 2.) The Hoyas don't need Jeff Green to score all of their points in crunch time to win the game. Do the Hoyas give him the ball with the game on the line in a one possession game? Absolutely. But as the Hoyas rallied from five down with six minutes left and then pulled away in overtime, Jeff Green scored just four points.
He also wears pimping suits when making surprise appearances on TNT. (click on the TNT at the Half: Bulls-Pistons halftime show link)
Hey, let's give them full credit; G'town was down 10 pts. with 6:02 left, not 5.
ReplyDeleteAnd I, too, was wondering why Tom's preview was light on Jeff Green (maybe he's trying to keep Jeff under the radar a little longer).
You're right, I probably should have paid more attention to Jeff Green in the preview. I guess it's primarily because he's good at some many different things, yet not great at anything captured in the stats. I think Green stands out better in the late-game HD box score I did.
ReplyDeleteOn the Buckeye side, I similarly didn't pay particular attention to Ron Lewis, either, and he's been making the big plays for them.