GAME 59: DAL (35-24) vs. NOP (23-36): 125-118 WIN!

[Smitty]

I have hammered Josh Green in another thread, but it's hard to ignore this game.

This is a game that Green should have been more active in. He started the game and had 0 points in 25 minutes. More worrisome is that he only had two attempts. If you play 25 minutes and only have two attempts, then you're pretty much inactive without the ball. You're playing with Luca Doncic and you're about the fastest guy in the lineup. How difficult can it be to get open?

When Green scores in double digits it's usually because opportunities have found him, but these games seem random. He gets some transition buckets or some putbacks. Occasionally an open three. But he's not making these buckets happen. 

Somebody said about his play in the game thread, "rookie mistake"... forgetting that he's not a rookie. Let me be clear, I'm perfectly happy with him starting games like this because the more minutes he gets this season, the more we are going to find out. My personal feeling is that he needs to be packaged in a trade. There's not much of an excuse for two attempts in 25 minutes of play. Two assists. Three rebounds. Those are barely Frankie numbers and Frankie has never played 25 minutes.

I'm not saying this is the case with Green, but sometimes we can get too caught up in the numbers. I've always thought DFS does more for the Mavs than the formulas or points scored can quantify. Green is not DFS, but my point is, that maybe Green isn't a box-score type player but instead just a good NBA player. It's good for teams to accumulate good NBA players... 

I'm not opposed to trading him for an obvious upgrade but I also really hope the Mavs don't use him as a "throw-in" or salary match type trade. If you're interested in numbers... Jae Crowder averaged 4.6 points in 16 mpg over 181 games for the Mavs between ages 22-24. Josh Green is 21 averaging 4.4 points in 14 mpg this year. Let's give him some time....