THE GREEN MACHINE: The Subtle Emergence of Josh Green

[mvossman]

I hope Kidd doesn't credit himself for this.
Took him long enough to get Green his deserved minutes.

I feel like you could make a fairly good argument that Kidd has handled Green perfectly.  Its hard to remember now, but in Green's first couple of games this season he displayed some of his offensive timidness.  In fact I think one of the regular posters on here said he was done with him right before he started to take off.  Confidence is so important to a basketball player, especially a young one, and Green's confidence after that playoff run was looking fragile.  I think he did a good job bringing him along slowly.  Folks always get frustrated with a coach not making roster moves quick enough, but I think in general its better for the players if moves are made more gradually.

There has been a ton of Kidd bitching this season, but I am starting to come around to the idea that he has some notion of what he is doing.  He has:

Recognized quickly that his choice for starting center was a disaster and removed him entirely from the rotation
Gave all of McGee's minutes to Powell who was originally not planned to be part of the regular rotation
Replaced an underperforming Bullock in the starting lineup with an underperforming Timmy to great results (who was asking for this?)
Has slowly dialed back Bullock's minute while slowly dialing up Greens minutes

Its not been all great.  Would we have won a few more games if he gave Wood another 6-8 minutes when he was playing well?  Why can't this team beat tanking teams or teams missing their best players?  Is it Kidd?  Is it Luka?  Is it the rest of the team?

But I'm starting to see a pattern with Kidd.  There was a lot of complaining early last season as well.  As I step back, I am starting to recognize more good Kidd than bad from a roster management standpoint.  Hopefully it plays out the same way it did last year.