Last week there was an ESPN classic showing of Spurs-Bulls from 01-28-92.
Of course Robinson was awesome with 21, 13 and 8. Just incredible. Elliott was good except for dumb foul issues and mings was nailing his bow-legged jumpers. Strickland had a poor game and Bob Bass for some reason had Antoine Carr at SF covering Scottie Pippen.
But what seemed weird to me was watching Sidney Green. His line in the game wasn't bad, he had some luck and junked some shots in and had 7 and 4 in only 13 minutes.
But it brought back to me childhood memories of the first Spur I remember truly getting frustrated seeing play as a Spur. Before broken down Finley, before broken down Steve Smith, before Carl Herrera or Charles Smith the first, before Mason or Bonner in the playoffs . . . my first true 'please get him the out of the game' player was Sidney Green.
But of course, I was a kid. I couldn't have appreciated the nuance of the game nor did I have access to any replays of any sort, even VHS. I couldn't study the games, only watch road games live and read box scores and Glenn Rogers.
But I remember loathing Green's play. I remember getting very annoyed and it seemed like a symptom of him playing too much was that his arms would start to look like hot sausages brushed with butter. If he looked like a ready to eat brat then he had played too much. To me he was one of the role players holding the Spurs back and a reason why they couldn't advance.
Now all these years later, were my memories and childhood conclusions valid?
Was Green a bad player for the Spurs?
Or was he just a serviceable role player that I wrongly vilified for the team's failures?
I don't have any great quality copies of Spurs games with Green so I can't go through like 20 games and re-evaluate for myself. I wasn't even aware at the time that the Spurs had given up a first rounder for him where they could have had Stanley Roberts, Rick Fox or Bobby Phils instead. So my dislike for seeing Green on the court wasn't influenced by that factor.
Your recollection matches mine. Sidney Green was bad.
The thing that I remember was him being slow with his decisions. He had Nazr hands in traffic. When he did get the ball down low, it seemed to take a long time for him to gather himself resulting in blocks or steals. I think the thing that was frustrating was he looked like he had the size/skills to be a good player for the team. If I recall correctly, he was a high draft pick out of college, but we got him at the tail end of his career.
He was a decent role player his first season with the Spurs. He was the Antonio McDyess of that team. He was a solid pro that brought some rebounding, toughness, bench energy and scrappiness...plus he had a nice baseline, mid-range jumper. Sidney wasn't as athletic as Antonio but he could run the floor and make hustle plays.
I think he caused some disharmony in the room, if I recall.
GM Bob Bass liked him. I think after Bob moved to Charlotte, he traded JR Reid for Sidney, but Sidney was pretty much done as a player by then.
He is the only player for the Spurs that I actually hated. Worst Spur ever.
I think I remember that game. Was it the one where the Spurs beat the Bulls at home that year when Robinson blocked MJ at the rim two or three times? If it was, I remember Robinson having to step up because Elliott got fooled by MJ's pumpfakes about 28 times in a row.
Anyways, yeah Sidney Green was pretty damn bad. I remember Larry Brown was REALLY high on him after the trade. He even said Green was one of the best rebounders in the league and that Green's ability to defend the post would free Robinson up to block more shots. I remember questioning the trade as a 10-year-old because Green was a joke before he had that decent season with the horrible Magic team the previous season.
For most of his time with the Spurs, Green remained fat and to make it worse he was painfully soft and slow. He rebounded decently but was otherwise pretty damn bad at defense. He couldn't block a shot to save his life and he got bullied by any halfway skilled big. On offense, he loved his mid-range jumper ... but he seemed to always miss it if there was any type of pressure. I remember Larry Brown begging him to post up but that rarely happened.
He had a few stretches where he played like a poor man's Kurt Thomas for a few weeks here and there but was mostly a huge disappointment ... especially with how hyped up LB made him coming from Orlando.
Oh yeah, the best Sidney Green story was when he tried to steal Antoine Carr's wife. The two were fishing buddies until Sidney went out of bounds.
He was a poor man's Derek Coleman. A fraction of the talent, twice the laziness.
The trading of him for Jr Reid was a move most applauded in my house. Always liked Reid. Had that solid jumper and decent rebounder but was so damn inconsistent...
I remember him doing an interview and him comparing his game to Dr J'a game.
He sucked, but he was no Alfredrick Hughes.
Is this gonna turn into a horrible obscure Spur thread? If so....
Chris Whitney
Whitney went on to have a 10 year career though. And a double double in his 4th NBA game.
It's not his fault the cheap Spurs tried another garbage pile vet like Sleepy as the season starter.
that might have been the year they cut Chris Childs in camp.
Speaking of Chris Childs....remember when the Spurs signed Charlie Ward?
Pop probably blew his load when that happened. He was obsessed with him
That figures with him. I remember as a teenager a buddy and I went to George Gervin's Celebrity All Star Basketball Game in the summer (maybe 93 or 94) at the Dome. We stuck around for autographs and then went to the Hilton where the players were staying. Anyway... out walks Sydney Green from the elevator (think he was playing for the Pacers at the time) drunk off his ass with his arm around some groupie, who was also smashed. Bottle of cheap champagne in one hand and sweatin alcohol. We ask him for his autograph and he mutters something we can't make out. My buddy, always the smartass, asks the groupie "Are you his wife?" Sydney butts in quickly with a " naw!" They proceed to start arguing as they walk off completely ignoring our autograph request. What an ass...I think I remember that game. Was it the one where the Spurs beat the Bulls at home that year when Robinson blocked MJ at the rim two or three times? If it was, I remember Robinson having to step up because Elliott got fooled by MJ's pumpfakes about 28 times in a row.
Anyways, yeah Sidney Green was pretty damn bad. I remember Larry Brown was REALLY high on him after the trade. He even said Green was one of the best rebounders in the league and that Green's ability to defend the post would free Robinson up to block more shots. I remember questioning the trade as a 10-year-old because Green was a joke before he had that decent season with the horrible Magic team the previous season.
For most of his time with the Spurs, Green remained fat and to make it worse he was painfully soft and slow. He rebounded decently but was otherwise pretty damn bad at defense. He couldn't block a shot to save his life and he got bullied by any halfway skilled big. On offense, he loved his mid-range jumper ... but he seemed to always miss it if there was any type of pressure. I remember Larry Brown begging him to post up but that rarely happened.
He had a few stretches where he played like a poor man's Kurt Thomas for a few weeks here and there but was mostly a huge disappointment ... especially with how hyped up LB made him coming from Orlando.
Oh yeah, the best Sidney Green story was when he tried to steal Antoine Carr's wife. The two were fishing buddies until Sidney went out of bounds.
Sidney Green...shudder.
Another one I couldn't stand was Paul Pressey, man he was useless.
Sidney Green is arguably the worst Spur, ever. You definitely couldn't make a top 10 without him.
Sidney Green foreshadowed Charles Smith. Both underwhelmed. Give me Brickowski any day. And obviously, Walter Berry.
Charles Smith was hurt. Sidney Green was an en led fat pile of crap.
Confirm. Not good . . .
Charles Smith?
The first recollection that comes to mind was the disappointment of his acquisition. I kept hearing Oakley, I convinced myself that's who was coming (I was pumped), and then Smith.
Certainly, Frank Brickowski in 1989-90 was more productive, particularly in the playoffs, than Sidney Green. Green was Frank's direct replacement in 1990-91.
However, Sidney wasn't as bad in '90-91 as some of you are remembering...or mis-remembering. We split season tickets David Robinson's first few seasons and my view of Green's contributions were that he was a decent 15-18 mpg role player. He had similar regular season production to Brick.
Sid was far from the worst Spur ever. Not that I wouldn't have rather seen the Spurs keep Tom Copa and give him more of Green's minutes one of those seasons.
Have you forgotten Jack Haley, the worthless Rodman cheerleader with the FT airballs and the 1/10 Assist/TO ratio? Sid was certainly better than Melvin Ely and who can forget Cherokee Parks' 1 and 1/2 PPG warpath on the opposition?
I think some of you old-timers may need to re-adjust your memory. Sid was a bad guy though...no doubt about it.
I have a hard time calling anyone the worst, as suck ude comes in all shapes, sizes and skill sets, but he was bad.
I won't say worst, and I don't believe Haley should be in consideration because he was nothing more than a valet and entertainer -- he played his role.
The Charles Smith trade was ripped but I will always stand by it as a why the F not trade.
Getting him and Monty Williams for Brad Lohaus and Reid was a good one.
Smith was a decent 4, just soft and his knees where shot.
Of course then there was the tossing the table incident...
I always thought the Knicks knew he was injured when they traded him. I just wonder how the Smith passed the physical.
But to me, Haley, Ely and Parks never played. Green was an everyday rotation guy who made me angry to see him in the game. But your memory is probably better than mine to his contribution.
He almost didn't. My memory is that the Spurs actually held him out of his first half of basketball over his physical, I think they got additional compensation ($) to not void the trade, his first game action was in the second half of a game.
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