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The Season in Review: Draymond Green Edition

This is the sixth in a series of posts looking at the performance of individual MSU basketball players this past season.  Because the end goal is to discuss improvements and/or adjustments that appear to be in order for next season, the series is limited to returning players.  Previous entries: Kalin Lucas, Korie Lucious, Chris Allen, Durrell Summers, Raymar Morgan.  Next up: Draymond Green.

Qualitative review of Draymond Green's freshman season:

  • Offseason: Redshirt candidate.
  • Nonconference season: Single-digit-minute reserve, for the most part.
  • Conference season: Double-digit-minute reserve, for the most part.
  • Postseason: Key reserve, playing starter-level minutes in the three games leading up to MSU's appearance at Ford Field.

Quantitative review of Draymond Green's freshman season after the jump:

Star-divide

2PM/G 2PA/G 2PT% 3PM/G 3PA/G 3PT% FTM/G FTA/G FT% PTS/G
Nonconference 1.0 2.1 47.8 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.6 0.9 70.0 2.6
Conf Reg Season 0.7 1.2 54.5 0.0 0.0 -- 0.7 1.0 66.7 2.0
Postseason 2.8 4.4 62.9 0.0 0.0 -- 1.6 3.0 54.2 7.1
Full Season 1.2 2.2 56.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.9 1.4 61.5 3.3
MIN/G OREB/G DREB/G AST/G TO/G STL/G BLK/G PF/G
Nonconference 10.0 0.9 2.4 0.9 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.5
Conf Reg Season 9.6 0.9 1.6 0.8 0.6 0.2 0.2 1.6
Postseason 17.5 1.6 3.5 0.9 1.1 1.4 0.1 2.5
Full Season 11.4 1.1 2.2 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.2 1.8

(Notes: "Conference Regular Season" includes the Kansas game.  2PM/G = 2-pointers made per game, etc.)

I think the concise description of Green's freshman season would be "unqualified success."  And, really, the numbers above don't do justice to how effective Green was when he was on the court, given that he only played much more than 10 minutes/game late in the season.  Here's an update to my previous review of his tempo-free rankings among his Spartan colleagues:

  • 2nd in offensive rating
  • 3rd in two-point shooting percentage
  • 4th in offensive rebounding percentage
  • 2nd in defensive rebounding percentage
  • 4th in assist rate
  • 3rd in block percentage
  • 2nd in steal percentage

Not bad for a guy listed (generously) at 6'6", 235 pounds.

Going forward, the only real concerns about Green relate to those dimensions.  First, will his conditioning be good enough to play "sixth starter" minutes next year?  Based on how hard he worked last offseason to get his weight down, I don't think that's a major concern.

Second, to what extent does his lack of height limit his upside as an interior presence?  There were certainly times this past season when an opponent would grab a rebound over Green's head or turn and shoot over Green's outstretched arms.  But those instances were relatively rare.  Meanwhile, Green showed a knack for using savvy and positioning to overcome his relative lack of length and he posted very good rebounding numbers playing for the best rebounding team in the country.

Offensively, he showed no fear in going to the basket when presented with the chance.  Note that his 2-point shooting percentage increased significantly as the season progressed and the opponents got tougher.

The old basketball maxim is that you can't teach height.  But I don't think you can teach teach what Green has, either.  I've said it before: Draymond Green is a basketball player.  He makes plays.

And he's a Tom Izzo-type basketball player.  Here's to three more years of watching the Dancing Bear dance.

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I watched Draymond a bit in high school. Something else he has that he didn’t show much last year: a three-point shot. I think the more he plays, the more people will be impressed with his shooting touch.

-- pH

by patrick_hayes on Aug 25, 2009 8:48 AM CDT reply actions  

Good point

Meant to mention his jump shooting potential but forgot.

Cheer for The Only Colors: Green and White!

by KJ@theonlycolors on Aug 25, 2009 9:01 AM CDT up reply actions  

Dancing Bear?

Where did that nickname come from?

by SpartanDan on Aug 25, 2009 9:23 AM CDT reply actions  

Clark Kellogg

Not sure if he made the nickname up or was reporting what other people call him.

Chronicled at the bottom of this post.

Cheer for The Only Colors: Green and White!

by KJ@theonlycolors on Aug 25, 2009 9:49 AM CDT up reply actions  

Draymond Green

He has an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time. I like him at the 3, where he should be able to use his weight to his advantage. This year, he will be on the second team, next year, he will start.

by MSU1978 on Aug 25, 2009 11:31 AM CDT reply actions  

Pleasant Surprise

His all around play surprised me more then anyone else on last years squad. I’m excited to see him play more consistent minutes and show off his all around game. He may not start, but I bet he finished a lot of games with Morgan at 3, him at 4 and Roe at 5.

by Stones1981 on Aug 25, 2009 3:16 PM CDT reply actions  

feel good story

It is hard not to like the guy, who does not look like a college athlete, yet seems very old school in his approach and had pretty amazing smarts for a freshman. Two things not mentioned yet — First, he is very good interior defender. I’d be curious to see the numbers, but I think he may have led the team in drawing offensive fouls. Second, his passing is pretty slick, again particularly for a freshman big man. Compared to Marquise, for instance, by the end of the season Green seemed to have a knack for inside passing in traffic.

I don’t know if he is quick enough for the 3, where he has to defend slashers, and lead the break on the wing. If he continues to improve the way he did late in the season, one assumes Izzo will find minutes for him, but where on the floor will be interesting.

by Anderlecht on Aug 25, 2009 3:47 PM CDT reply actions  

Another good point

Team leaders in charges drawn (going into Final Four; see final page of this doc):

Green 6
Morgan 3
Lucas 2
Roe 2
Suton 1

Cheer for The Only Colors: Green and White!

by KJ@theonlycolors on Aug 25, 2009 3:54 PM CDT up reply actions  

The thing that surprised me most about Green is that he seemed to end the year being a better player than Roe. Never saw that one coming…

by MooTheKow on Aug 25, 2009 4:58 PM CDT reply actions  

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