Danny Green's 3-point shooting has obviously been very good - unheard of, really. But his transition defense has been equally unheard of, and the analysts have paid almost no attention to it.
At some point in a game, you know that Miami is going to go track meet on you. And if you want to have any chance at beating them, you have to keep the run from becoming an avalanche. The Heat are a good offensive team, but their real knockout punch is their ability to go on those huge runs. The stops Green has gotten in transition have been worth a lot more than two points each. Because most of them have been a big part of doing just that - slowing down and stopping a Miami avalanche. And nothing shuts down a Miami crowd quite like watching the Best Player In The World get -slapped in the open court.
How many times in this series has Green broken up a fast break by LeBron and/or Wade? I wish I had an exact count, but it has to be at least ten. One of the comments you hear often is that "when LeBron gets in the open court, he's impossible to stop." And, for the most part, that's a true statement. And Dwayne Wade is just about as good. And yet, Danny Green has been successful at preventing them from scoring on the break, over and over again.
Ask yourself this: In all the games you've watched LeBron play, how many times have you seen someone succeed in stopping him on a fast break? I'm not 100% sure I've ever seen it. Maybe he's short-armed a dunk or two, but most of the time the defender gets steamrolled, and LeBron still scores. And unless the defender bails at the last second, about half the time they just give LeBron an and-1. And that's what makes what Danny has done so remarkable.
You could see that LeBron started taking it personally a couple of games ago - and he started trying to send a message by going at Danny. And Danny has still succeeded in doing it more often than not. So when you're thinking about all the made 3-pointers, remember all the points he's deprived the Heat of, all on his own. Points that are considered automatic, any other time. And remember what that has done to stop some of the Miami track meets.
Exactly. People always talk about Leonard for defensive MVP for his work on James, but they overlook just how often Green has denied Lebron as well. As I said in the perimeter-defense thread, I thin Leonard is the hammer pounding the rock and Green is the dynamite blowing it all to pieces.
In 2K14 they better give him Deadeye and Chasedown Artist.
It is obvious his confidence is sky high right now and it is showing on both ends of the court. I'm starting to think Stephen Jackson did us a favor.
Green's overall defense has had some highs and lows. (If he had left Ray Allen wide open one more time, I might have thrown something through the television.) But his transition defense has been a clinic. Defending a fast break is one of those that fails most of the time, even when you do it well. I have never... I mean never, seen anyone have the kind of success Green has had in this series. And against two of the most unstoppable players in the league, on the break.
It's worth its own thread. Partly because it's been so amazing, and partly because nobody else is recognizing.
There's another thread that's on the first page about the same thing.
Also, Green's been about as consistent as any defender for the Spurs in this series. His mistakes are just more obvious because his man usually ends up scoring off them.
Great, great post by GSH. Green didn't just do it tonight, he's been doing it all series long. All of those plays have been a great example to show young ball players about never giving up on a play. I'm also very, very surprised that the refs havent bailed out Wade and LeBron on their misses when Green has gotten back on them. One of the plays was where LeBron looked like he had an easy layup and then was stopped by Green when he got all ball on the block. Great stuff...
Yeah, it had dropped off the first page when I started this. Didn't see it.
Don't get me wrong, I've been a consistent Green supporter from the very beginning. (Caught a lot of poop over it, too.) His over all defense has been a factor in this series, for sure. I'm just saying that his play in transition has been like his 3-point shooting - something I've never seen before. If it was a stat that was kept, I think he would have broken a finals record for it, too.
In the post game conference with the wonder twins Lebron made sure not to give any credit to the defense for those misses. He and Wade shook their heads and chuckled at the thought of their missed layups as though they had been texting during the fast break, and just lost focus. The truth is Danny green has been unbelievable at getting in their way and (almost as importantly) another Spur or two have also run back to rebound, and defend second chances.
Great effort by the Spurs in the transition.
Good post.
Green deserves the FMVP at this point, for sure.
the areas that Danny can improve in the offseason:
midrange shooting, he must develop an in-between game;
ballhandling
but, yes, his transition defense is off the charts, lets hope he brings it in the last game of this series!
... and his correct shooting form. The one he has now goes in but is slow as , the man has a release as quick as Allen's in reality.
Green was good in some memorable plays but even Diaw did a better job defending Lebron than Green... It's not a knock on Green, he just isn't big enough.
You're right about the help. Danny has disrupted the break, and gotten them to miss, but the other Spurs have been there to clean up the glass and make it mean something. Nobody does it alone on this team.
One of my favorite plays of the night was when Green disrupted the layup, another Spur (Kawhi or Diaw?) disrupted the put-back by Wade, Danny came back onto the court from the endline and snagged the rebound, and then Manu hit him for the three on the other end. That one play just took took a lot of wind out of Miami. It just makes it sweeter that the two princesses can't bring themselves to give the Spurs defense any credit. Because we all know different.
That's confirmation bias. Earlier in the series, Diaw couldn't stay in front of James while Green blocked him. Actually, Green's blocked James about a half-dozen times already. He can guard Lebron just fine.
Like i said, memorable plays, but overall he wasn't good.
He does a great job of baiting the Heat to throw lob on 2 on 1 fast break, then just disrupts the pass in air
He was. In my perimeter defense thread, I showed that through the first three games (have charted the most-recent two), Green has actually been extraordinary on him. He's been behind only Leonard in terms of PPP allowed (0.65). That's insanely good. Diaw got blown by twice for a missed layup and a foul. I'm sure the Games 4 and 5 numbers will be less generous, but they will be that way for everyone. I'll have a better idea of those numbers tomorrow.
Lebron only played well in game 4
Yes. Green was a big reason James didn't play well in the first three games...Lebron only played well in game 4
But as I said, I'll update the perimeter-defense numbers tomorrow. I think they'll so a pretty even increase in PPP allowed across the board. James didn't get his points abusing Green like you seem to think. I think he got most of them by not letting Leonard's positioning stop him from going strong to the hole. But we'll see.
Regardless, Green has been as solid as anyone on James in this series. To pretend like he hasn't suggests major confirmation bias.
90% of Lebron's big runs were vs Green, Lebron is just too big.
Let's not forget Green had 2 crucial plays on defensive end at the time when the game could start to go in a completely different way than it went... The result was 71:67 iirc when he defended 2 Heat fast breaks perfectly. If the Heat scored on those 2 possessions, it would've been a tie game and who knows how the Spurs would react.
Danny is one of the most self-confident men in the world right now and it's not hard to notice it. Just keep up the good work!
This, which they should after the finals. I always end up releasing it early so he doesn't get blocked haha
if you listen to pop, that's all he cares about this finals is getting back on transition D. it's awesome to see the spurs start to put so much emphasis on it, and it's reaping wonders.
I can also see them adding his gear in 2K14 (arm sleeves and leg sleeves).
Leonard will get lockdown defender and scrapper, corner specialist if they're feeling generous.
Can't wait!
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