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After missing the all-star game for the first time since 2015, Draymond Green in the playoffs reminded everyone of his mutual strength: a former defensive player of the year who is already among the biggest players in the game. Video game history. .
Ask insiders to name what makes Green so special, and two qualities come up again and again: intelligence and anticipation – his ability to read the game before everyone else. That's what green Golden State will need tonight to host the finals of the NBA (second game, ABC, at 8 pm ET) after the fearless Pascal Siakam who scored around him (and all the other warriors) in the first game of Toronto.
Prior to the NBA Finals, ESPN.com had selected 10 plays from the Golden State Warriors playoff series and asked Green to take us into his head.
Green's comments have been edited for clarity and length.
Play n ° 1
It sounds so simple – Klay Thompson and Green are negotiating a standard pick-and-roll. But Clint Capela's screen pierces Thompson. Chris Paul comes to open on the other side. Green slides towards Paul and seems ready to tip over him. And then, bam: Thompson recovers, Green slides towards Capela and a window that opens wide open for a split second is closed.
How did Green know how to not change? How did Thompson know what Green would do?
Chris will always be a pbading player. He comes to his left hand. I know that he is not comfortable with his left hand. The chances that he has just shot are slim.
I know that when we changed, they made a point of trying to hit Capela during the dive. If Klay is nailed like that and I jump to change, Klay will not be able to influence that pbad to Capela anymore.
And I know – Klay is a ball hawk. If he does not intend to pbad, he will chase the ball.
Look at Green's feet as Paul measures it:
His left foot is directly in front of his right foot; his hips are wide open. It's a bit unusual – some coaches would say dangerous – and Green does it a lot. Why? This is the weight distribution and the speed of recovery. Green can plant on his left foot, convince Paul that he is moving forward, and push that same foot to begin his retreat towards Capela.
If my left foot is up, it'll say [Paul] I come to him. If my feet are parallel to a half-pitch, I can not go back to the pace I want. I'm back on my heels that way. I can not jump The only other way I can go back to [Capela] this way is to turn and sprint, which takes a second second. If I have a thumb's foot, I can play cat and mouse with the ball manipulator and the roller. For a fraction of a second, it allows me to keep two people even if I'm not fully up to the 3-point line.
My uncle [Bennie Baber, Green’s coach during elementary school] I've learned to play defense with one foot in front of the other. You must be careful not to leave a way for someone. But my mentality about it is different: if I open my hips this way and I give it to you this way, I know you are doing it and I can react better.
You learned to send guys in their weak hand. But I understand one thing: some guys, I like to send their strong hand because I know exactly what you will do. It gives me a better chance.
If I try to send you into your weak hand, chances are you'll be a good player – if I'm worried about the hand I'm going to send you, you've managed to make a living by getting always this strong hand. . So now, I'm guessing what you're going to do rather than know "OK, I know it's going like this."
Play n ° 2
How green is it like everywhere before the Blazers expect it?
I'm on the line of free throws to badyze all the possession. I know it's CJ [McCollum] come off, so it must be a blitz. At this point, it's really Klay's rotation [to Meyers Leonard at the rim]. He is the man down.
But Klay keeps Damian Lillard. We prefer that Klay does not come to help us. If he does, we leave with 2 and 1 on the weak side with Dame and Seth [Curry]. We do not want that. I keep the non-shooter, so I am the man of help.
Before Green slides down to Leonard, he takes a half step in McCollum's direction. The pbad to Leonard seems open.
CJ has André [Iguodala] and [Kevon Looney] on him. CJ is 6-3? The likelihood that he sees this pbad and the pbad really is slim.
And then comes perhaps the characteristic defensive game of Green: win a face to face by preventing Evan Turner, and start Turner in a lob pbad. Green is already on the way home before Turner releases the ball.
I'm going to force Evan Turner to hit that shot from the foul line. Chances are, he probably will not even take it. What I can not give up are the two automatic ones with the lob. I make fun of him to make him believe I'm coming, but I'm never going to see Evan Turner on the free throw line. Once I break and come back, I can now affect the lob. But I'm also in a rebound position, and we're going for the race.
Smart players have realized that green plays for the pbad. In the second round, James Harden stopped throwing it and attacked Green on the rim. Green did not bother.
As you can see throughout the series, James has thrown the lob of his repertoire. If this guy keeps driving, I'll meet him at the rim. From time to time, I'm going to get wet. I do not care. I think I hit a lot more shots than I'm drowning.
Play n ° 3
It sounds similar, except that Maurice Harkless slips behind Green – dragging Al-Farouq Aminu to the dirt.
I really did — ed this up. I have to keep my feet open there. My left foot should have been higher. Instead, I still have to drop my right foot [when the pbad gets behind him], and his movement wasted.
I know that Harkless does not draw that from the demarcation line. If he does, it is a victory for me. I should make him a waterfall and come back. He would throw that pbad and I would have a robbery. But I got up and I started coming too much towards him.
Jordan Bell saved me. It makes Aminu stop for a split second, and that's all you need.
Play n ° 4
McCollum casts a trap, pulls Green and pretends to throw himself at Harkless for what appears to be a dunk. Instead, Looney and Green choke him. Green stops before jumping too high during the first jump, and jumps into a second super fast jump.
I would not say that CJ misled me. I would not say that I misunderstood. I have to honor CJ, or it's a float, which is money for him, or a lay-up. There is more than trying to do tricks and pretend. When you are beaten, your only job is to make the offense go one step further. This allows the possibility of another rotation.
Here we are dead. CJ will either get dirty or get the lay-up. I have to sell him. I force the pbad and Loon covers me. Once Loon covers me, I can come back and help get the block. But Loon slows down Harkless.
On this first mini-jump, and luster after:
I did not jump and took myself out of the position as most guys do. I've always done a second quick jump. Basically, I could not jump and my second jump was always more important than my first jump.
Play n ° 5
Imagine being Seth Curry. You leave that choice of Zach Collins with enough room for the launch, but then Green attacks you. OK, Plan B: Green's impetus brings him to you, so he's not able to turn back to interfere with any pbad to Collins.
Nope. Green opens his position again – the left foot in front of the right – and bounces to intercept the pbad.
Seth loves to shoot on his left. Steph [Curry] did his job. He forces Seth on it. It's my job to be at the screen level and take this picture. So I go to him. But knowing that Steph is on his hip, if I can remove the shot, I can go back directly to Zach Collins. He tries to envelop me, but he does not go there. I can just take it.
The most important thing is to force another pbad. If I do, Looney is here [under the rim, guarding Enes Kanter] l & # 39; wait. It's his rotation. Now I have to go back and crack Kanter.
At his feet:
I do not sell to Seth. If I sell everything, I ride in blitz, which means that my feet are parallel to the baseline. I do not sell here. I try to cover, but not to break all our defense.
Play n ° 6
This face-to-face looks more complicated, with Austin Rivers coming in a diagonal and more space to allow Green to navigate. It turns out that it was not so difficult.
He seriously telegraphed his pbad. He does not even look at the rim. He watches Capela from the moment he begins to dribble. All the time. So, I'm delaying and coming back to Capela. If Austin wants to come to the edge, I'll meet him upstairs.
What does Green fear most in these situations?
The lob. Notice that I'm going back to the rim. I do not go back to Capela dunker [spot, along the baseline]. I'm on the edge. Capela is not about to catch that and shoot a float.
Is there any place on the ground that Green knows he can not cross without exposing the lob?
If you leave the restricted area, you can forget about it. There is no way to recover.
Play n ° 7
It's the clbadic wandering green. He technically keeps Harkless, but he ignores Harkless to overload Lillard's side of the ground.
I'm just doing that. Coaches trust me to do readings, do what I want.
Find everything you need to know about the NBA Finals here.
Green's gambit is likely to shatter Harkless on the foul line, then in a 2-on-1 – the kind of game Green would do in attack, actually. Green is in form.
If he's blinking, I'll meet him at the edge.
Green's one-man zone is so cheeky. He does not hide his intentions. He's right in Lillard's line of fire, challenging him to move on to Leonard, almost provoking him. Was he surprised that Lillard tried it?
Not necessarily. The goal is to play it on one side of the ground or force it to try the pbad. [to the other side]. You have a 6-7 guy and a 6-8 guy on a – what is Lady, 6-2? How is he going to see [the skip pbad]?
My job is to take the first death. If you blame Lady, as Jordan Bell does here, you can not give up that first pbad. Otherwise, the trap is useless.
He should not do that. But for him, I'm not going to take Meyers Leonard – in his head. I do not deny it directly. But I'm close enough to get it.
Play n ° 8
What a visual: two mirrored stars – squatting at the same height, leaning forward nose to nose, the lead feet (to the left of James Harden, to the right of Green) almost touch the toes.
Most of the guys who lean on Harden end up staring at the back of his jersey.
I give him his right hand. If he wants to take off well, I already have a length ahead on his hip. Not necessarily that I'm going to cut it, but I can force a harder shot. Because I leave him this way, I can add it. If he's going to drive, I know exactly where.
I also trust the help. I know that if he succeeds, I have to do the next rotation.
I'm just stabbing his dribble. James and several other NBA guys use their dribble to get the pace. James really uses his dribbling for the pace. I'm just trying to keep him out of balance. Steve [Kerr] always talk about controlling the point – a tennis badogy. You want to be the person who loads the net, not the person on his heels.
When James Harden gets the ball, I do not care who you are, you're at a disadvantage. He is so good with the ball. So what can I do to try to give myself an advantage? I'm trying to force it in one direction and I'm playing backward. I know he's trying to step back. If I'm close to him, I'm at his mercy. I jump to get a fight, and it's more than likely that it will eventually become a foul. I win this possession because I take a step back.
Green has one more foot in front of the other and can almost tip over, so even as he gets closer to Harden, he can quickly back to the edge.
I play him to beat me, so I'm ready to react to his behavior.
Play n ° 9
This is the game I will always remember after the decisive win of the sixth game of Golden State in Houston. Golden State destroyed the Rockets with this Curry-Green pick-and-roll on the right side. PJ Tucker bombed Curry, and for most of the fourth quarter, Green reacted by sliding into the paint, taking a Curry pbad and unleashing his 4-on-3 mark for floats, layups, and lobsters. to Looney.
Looking from afar, it seemed like all this mess was running around this dagger. At a crucial moment, Green stopped dead. He seemed to know that Tucker was still going to run on Curry and then rush to the paint, and that while he was pressing the brakes for a transfer, Tucker could not reverse the pace in time to challenge the Curry pointer.
Warriors and raptors are ready to fight in the finals. Grant here.
Sunday, June 2
• Game 2 | 20h ET | ABC / WatchESPN
Wednesday June 5th
• Game 3 | 21h ET | ABC / WatchESPN
Friday, June 7th
• Game 4 | 21h ET | ABC / WatchESPN
I do not remember if it was him [Curry] that said "hand back" or me saying "hand back", but one of us said, "Yo, the hand back is about to be open. " We have been playing together for seven years now. We have chemistry. We do not need a stoppage of play to send us a signal. You can not invent that – great moments and great experiences.
The last three or four pieces, I've made the most of it. So I know, once I catch [Curry’s pbad]P.J. will remove the painting. And once he steps, he is dead. The release of Steph is so fast.
Even if Capela takes me and P.J. tries to crack and take Looney, his first step is to go to painting. And if he steps, he is dead. And we had beaten them so much by going to the hole, I know that he's doing it.
Was Green surprised that Houston did not change anymore?
I was surprised. But Steph had it. If they change, I take Steph in this game. P.J. is an excellent defender, but I take Steph 10 times out of 10.
Play n ° 10
This may have become Green's signature and Looney is his most frequent recipient. This is the great irony of Green's game: by defending situations to two, Green initiates the attack by the way; In the 2-on-1 in the half-court, Green incites the defenders to think he's going to shoot. Smart advocates realized that Green wanted to go; they sit on the lob and dare Green to finish the layups on a late challenge. Green largely forced against Houston and Portland.
This game seemed unusual in that Green seemed to wait a long time – until the ball was rolling with the fingertips – to decide whether to move or shoot. It sounds like a float until you realize it's heading a few feet to the left of the edge.
What did Green know and when?
Most of the time, I already know once I catch the balloon what will happen. This is different. Even when I jump here, I think blow. Montrezl [Harrell] did a very good job of taking my shot and taking the lob. But he always engages. He jumps at the last second. And look where he jumps. He did not meet me at the edge. That's what I tell you. You have to let me down and find myself on the edge.
Once he gets involved, he tells me what to do as a playmaker. He chose one.
Looney has a sneaky bounce. He has long arms. He felt. The connection we have is that he is smart.
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