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It's impossible to watch Draymond Green in the playoffs, with 23 pounds less and frantically patrolling every inch of the floor, without feeling like he's doped with the rope.
It was not so long ago, Green seemed able to blow up the dynasty that he had helped to create. The goodwill of three championships seemed to be empty and the focus seemed to be on what Green could not do (shoot the ball) instead of what he could. An average of 7.4 points in a game with a 44/29/69 shot line compared to the regular season has sparked criticism, and the call of the button by pressing 100 for Kevin Durant in shouted over.
Of course, Green does not just test his limits with coaches, teammates or officials (the game does not really start until Draymond's first technical intervention). Some friendly shots can be difficult to handle, even for one of the most respected staffs in recent history, but playing on the periphery is also what makes Green a nightmare for its opponents.
Almost all the big ones push the line, and as a result, they also deceive their asses. John Stockton, the flight leader of all time, was ruthlessly dirty, pushing and pushing balloon managers to submit. Passing through a screen of Kevin Garnett was like running through a turnstile of sharp elbows and knees. Dennis Rodman would wrap his opponent's arm and hit him with an offensive foul. Green is cut from the same fabric. If every football game is held, there will be a micro-offense, referees could inflict Green on almost all taken. He will eliminate Klay Thompson's man with a last-second move on a screen away from the ball or will hold his forearm on anyone brave enough to put him through the dribble. The beating is almost worse: ask James Harden, who took two shots on the eye. In Saturday's loss to match 3 in Houston, Green recorded another great performance: 19 points (6 out of 10 shots), 11 rebounds and 10 assists. but in the final seconds, after taking what appeared to be a revolutionary charge and not receiving the call, he let out his frustration by blinding Austin Rivers with a balloon screen about fifty yards from the hoop. If Harden uses the game to his advantage, Green pushes him and pinches him …Are we there already?… until it breaks down.
But it's difficult to upset the elite in 82 games, including a fourth straight NBA Finals and Warriors run that slowly acclimatize the DeMarcus Cousins, Golden State's first skillful center for require heavy touches. Green's use dropped to 13.1%, his lowest level in career, and he turns out, himself, deformed. Green rocked the switch to the off position, seated himself and took his shots.
The switch is turned on again. In the first round of the playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers challenged Green to beat them and he did, and not under the terms of the commitment that Doc Rivers had envisioned. While the Cousins were absent from the second game and the young Clippers reacted excessively in front of all Curry screens, Green found himself in his favorite corner as the most devastating slippers and passers of the season in the league. Green's resurgence also stunned the Rockets early in the first game, as Green scored or helped 19 of his 28 points in the first quarter. In the first three games, Green was comfortably the third best player in a series littered with future Hall of Fame guys, challenging shots vertically on the edge and harassing all comers on the perimeter. He practically made Clint Capela irrelevant, to the point that Mike D'Antoni chose to lead Rivers in segment 3.
The warriors are virtually unstoppable when Green is so good. There are few players in the league that would be better able to take advantage of defenses that send more defenders to Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Green controls the middle of the ground and turns anyone in the starting point of the pudding into an unstoppable force. In this post-season, which features sports wonders such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid, Andre Iguodala, 35, leads all players in the dunks with 22 to 12 from green dishes. As lethal as Curry 3s and Durant's deep grips are, Green's move has always been a barometer of Golden State's success: until the defeat of Game 3 in overtime, the Warriors had never lost a match in which Green scored a triple-double and never lost a playoff match in which Green achieved double-digit help.
One can not exaggerate the importance of Green for this current iteration of the Warriors: there is exactly no player in the league who defends, bounces and distributes at the level that he has without spending money on shooting attempts. The 29-year-old is as irreplaceable as he is unbearable, which makes Golden State's decision on Green, which can reach the stage of free autonomy in 2020 but is eligible for the extension this summer, much more interesting that it should not be. Winning is the biggest deodorant, and Green's dominance in the playoffs has shown that he can worth the emotional and real capital it takes to keep it, as long as it does not burn bridges permanently.
Despite his dominant game, the cycle with Green still seems familiar. He'll shoot bad for long periods of time, kill him in big matches and get some of his luster, then do something wild enough to throw him in the trash. But all this is worth it. As Kobe had stans and LeBron witnesses, Draymond seems destined to always have his dopes.
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