Know Your Foe: Draymond Green, Heart and Soul

The Cavaliers are in the NBA Finals facing one of the best offenses in the league, with MVP Stephen Curry as Golden State Warriors’ top player. Just guarding the sharpshooting Curry will be a tall task, as WFNY’s Will Gibson wrote on Monday. Curry is obviously the team’s best and most important player, but the Warriors look towards another direction to find their heart and soul: Draymond Green.

The Cavaliers have had a huge advantage in energy and hustle thus far in the playoffs because of hyperactive players like Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova. Thompson and Dellavedova have completely exasperated opposing teams. But, the Cavs are finally facing a team that doles out the same medicine with which the Cavs have infuriated opponents. No Warrior exemplifies this better than Draymond Green. His game is based on his energy, enthusiasm and hustle. He gets under the skin of the opponents and drives opposing teams’ fans nuts with his sometimes-sort-of-dirty-ish plays. The Warriors’ team takes its energy and emotion from Green.

“He’s in a lot of ways our heart and soul and just plays with such passion at both ends.” This is Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr earlier in the season describing his forward. So let’s take a closer look at the Warriors’ heart and soul, Draymond Green.

Where’d he come from?

Draymond Green was born in Saginaw, Michigan, where he became known as a talker at an early age. His childhood taught him how to trash talk and how to get under the skin of his opponents. As he told Grantland earlier this year, “Sometimes I get to talking junk back and forth in these [NBA] games, and it’s so watered down compared to the trash talk I grew up hearing.” His mouth stems from his confidence and being constantly overlooked throughout his life.

Green attended Saginaw High School, excelling on the court, but still being overlooked by many. In his junior season, he averaged 25 points and 13 rebounds per game. He began his winning career early, leading Saginaw High School to a Class A state title. But even with all of his success, he was still not highly thought of by talent evaluators. He was only a three-star prospect and was ranked the 31st best power forward in the country by Rivals.com. College recruiters, however, took notice.

Green received offers from Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio State, among others. He initially signed with Tubby Smith and Kentucky prior to his senior season. But when Smith left Kentucky for Minnesota, Green reopened his recruiting. Prior to this point, Michigan State had showed some interest in Green, but once he de-committed from UK, Tom Izzo and company increased their interest in him. Between the increased attention and growing up a Spartan fan, Green committed to Michigan State before his senior season.

In his senior season, Green averaged 20 points and 13 rebounds for Saginaw High. He once again led his high school team to a Class A state title, which in turn helped them to be ranked the No. 4 team in the nation. This victory capped off an extraordinary two years for Green. Over his junior and senior seasons, his Trojans were 52-2. The accolades started to roll in then, including being named captain of the Detroit Free Press All-Dream Team and also being ranked as the 36th best player in the 2008 recruiting class by ESPN.

But when Draymond Green arrived onto Michigan State’s campus, the doubts sprouted up again. He soon squashed them with his play on the court. Former Spartan Travis Walton told Grantland that when he was a senior, he first saw Green in East Lansing and had many questions about him. He was in the weight room with Green for Green’s first weightlifting session in college. After seeing the overweight Green, weighing almost 300 pounds because of inactivity after suffering an ankle surgery, throw up from overexertion, Walton wondered, “Wow, how did this guy get here?” But that quickly changed once he saw Green tear it up on the court. Green was impressive during a scrimmage as a freshman. Walton said, “He basically took over the open gym and made a lot of plays.”

In his freshman season, Draymond Green only played 422 total minutes, averaging 3.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. In his sophomore season, his minutes more than doubled to a total of 945 minutes, while he raised his production to 9.9 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He was named the unanimous Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, a first for a Michigan State player. He was also named to the All-Big Ten third team.

Green’s career really catapulted during his junior season. In 1023 total minutes, he averaged 12.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks. He became the man for the Spartans: He was second on the team in scoring, first in rebounds, tied for first in assists, first in steals and second in blocks. He played well in big situations, including during the Big Ten Tournament, where he was awarded the Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player. He was once again named to the All-Big Ten third team.

To finish up his Spartan career, Green averaged 16.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.9 blocks in his senior campaign. He led Michigan State in scoring, rebounding and steals, while coming in second in assists and blocks. His strong season earned him the Big Ten Player of the Year award and a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten first team.

Green ended his Spartan career as a three-time captain. Green is 17th all-time in scoring (1,517 points), first in rebounding (1,096 rebounds), second in steals (180) and third in blocks (117) in Michigan State history. He is one of three players in Michigan State history to have 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. Still, this success would not lead to a highly thought of NBA prospect.

Draymond Green waited in the 2012 NBA Draft a lot longer than most people expected. He passed through the entire first round and was finally selected in the second round, No. 35 overall by the Golden State Warriors. This proved to be a heck of a steal by Golden State.

His first season in the NBA was less than eventful, averaging 13.4 minutes, 2.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 79 games. His second season saw an uptick in production, averaging 21.9 minutes, 6.2 points, 5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game. But it took until this season, his third, for him to really find his role in the NBA, and especially in these playoffs. This season he averaged 31.5 minutes, 11.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.6 steals, starting all 79 games he played.

What’s he good at?

Versatility, defense, rebounding, hustle, and energy. These are Draymond Green’s best assets as a basketball player. He is sort of the Swiss Army knife of the Golden State Warriors. He does whatever is necessary for his team to be successful. Let’s further break down his best abilities.

Green’s versatility may be his best and most important skill for the Warriors. The 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward is a player who is extremely difficult to guard. His lack of height might be an issue for some power forwards in the NBA, but for Green he uses it to his advantage. He is too quick for bigger forwards to guard and block a lot of the times. He makes taller defenders guard him on the perimeter, which opens up the paint for his fellow teammates or allows him to drive to the basket. His ball handling is very good for a forward, and he sometimes leads fast breaks. Against smaller forwards, he uses his girth and strength to muscle them around, and he can use his post game to drive smaller defenders into submission. His long arms also allow him to play over the smaller players.

Green can play inside and outside. He has a solid shooting stroke, making 35 percent of all shots from 8-16 feet, 34 percent from 16-24 feet and 33.7 percent from 24+ feet (i.e. three-pointers) during the regular season. His playoff field goal percentages have dipped a little: he is making 33.3 percent from 8-16 feet, 28.6 percent from 16-24 feet and 26.4 percent from 24-plus. His post game is his best threat of scoring. Green shot 58.5 percent in the regular season and is 57.6 percent in the playoffs on shots within eight feet. His versatility, though, is more profound on the defensive end of the court.

Green was second behind San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year. Green actually received more first place votes than Leonard (45 to 37), but overall he trailed Leonard in total points, 317 to 333. Still, this vote shows how much respect he gets for his defensive game. In the regular season he had a 96.0 defensive rating, which ranked second in the league amongst players who played in at least 70 games. In the playoffs, he has a 96.3 defensive rating.

Green is a player who can check almost any position on defense, as he told Grantland, “I’ve gotten to the point where I’m comfortable guarding any position on the floor.” He has good lateral quickness, along with length, strength and toughness. He has a defensive mentality with the confidence to face any opponent. He uses length and quickness to keep in front of smaller players. He can recover because of his length and athleticism. Against bigger players, his strength and toughness allow him to withstand punishment in the post.

Green’s toughness also helps him in rebounding against the taller players in the paint. Among players shorter than 6-foot-10, Green ranked third during the regular season in most rebounds with 8.2 per game. Even though he is undersized, he makes up for it with his 7-foot-1 wingspan. He has the ability to outreach taller players for rebound because of that long reach. Another reason that he is a good rebounder is because of his constant movement and hustle to get into the best position to grab the ball. He seems to always be in a good spot to get the board for his team.

Green’s last characteristic that really helps his team is his hustle and energy. He is the heart and soul of the Warriors team. Most of the players on Golden State are quiet, but Green is a more loud mouthed, energetic player. His energy rubs off on his teammates and can get them going. Green can be seen screaming after a big bucket or talking trash to an opponent after a block. He does not back down from any confrontation. His emotions can get under the skin of opponents and cause them to do something stupid due to frustration.

His hustle is a huge part of his game. Because of his smaller size, he needs to hustle more than most to be successful. He will dive on the ground for 50/50 balls and jump into to crowds to get a ball to save a possession. His mindset is to go all out on every possession. Draymond Green is a player who you love as a teammate, but hate as an opponent.

What’s he bad at?

Draymond Green is not a great shooter, nor a great skill post player. His offensive game is based more on trying to take advantage of mismatches rather than pure skill. He does not get much offense run through him, except for pick and pops with Curry or Thompson. His jump shot is solid, but he is not a huge threat to start draining three after three. He gets most of his action off picks, which allows him to have space for his shots. In the regular season, 82.3 percent of the shots he made were off of assists from his teammates. His ability to play off his talented offensive teammates gives a lot of open opportunities, as 57.2 percent of his shots in the regular season came when defenders were at least 4 feet away from him.

While he has mostly overcome it, Green’s size can also be considered an obstacle for him. It can hurt his offense, rebounding and even his defense. He can struggle to score versus athletic big men who are bigger than him or just as athletic as him. Just his pure hustle and length can sometimes not be enough in trying to grab rebounds amongst the trees. On defense, his lack of size can cause him to struggle versus certain offensive players.

Green can also get overly emotional and get called for technical fouls. He was called for 11 technicals during the regular season, sixth most in the NBA, and he’s been called for two in the playoffs so far. It could definitely change a course of game if he is called for a technical.

How can the Cavs handle him?

The Cavaliers winning the title could be based on how they handle Draymond Green. Green has the ability to make the big play at the right time for his team. He can wreak havoc with his hustle and playmaking. So how should the Cavs handle Green in the NBA Finals?

I think Tristan Thompson will be the main man to guard the Warriors’ do-it-all forward. Green and Thompson are somewhat alike as basketball players. Both use hustle, length, and energy to be successful. They rarely score 20 a game for their teams. But, they do all the dirty work that their teams need to be done. They are players who are irreplaceable for their respective teams because of their unique contributions.

Thompson has the size and athleticism to match up very well versus Green. Thompson has a slight height advantage, along with an advantage over Green in terms of athleticism. I really like this matchup for the Cavs, because I think Thompson is just a better version of Green. They both have similar roles and skillsets, but I believe Thompson is stronger at these aspects. Tristan Thompson will need to look at how he plays himself to figure out how to handle Green. Looking at his own game could help him figure out how to go against the similarly skilled Green.

The play type featuring Green that poses the hardest cover for the Cavs is his pick and roll with Steph Curry. Green exploits the threat of the dangerous Curry to gain open space. Because of Curry’s great scoring ability, he usually draws most of the focus on the play, leaving Green open. Green’s offensive game is highly centered on this sort of action, and the Cavs’ ability to defend it will be a key for the series.

I would use the combination of Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert to defend this duo’s pick and roll play. These two players are two of the Cavs’ best defenders and most athletic players. I would not look to switch this play like the Cavs have been doing throughout the playoffs. Instead, I would look to have Thompson show hard and make Curry go around him, and then have Shumpert fight through the pick and get back onto Curry. Thompson will then need to hustle back to Green to defend him. Thompson should shade off of Green slightly and not get too tight when recovering off the pick, which could allow Green to get to the basket. Letting Green shoot jumpers is a better option than allowing the drive to the basket.

I do not want a single coverage of Thompson on Curry, even though Tristan has played well against guards. Curry is just a different player the likes of which the Cavs have not seen in the playoffs yet. Defending this play will require a team effort and plenty of communication on the Cavs’ part.

The play of Draymond Green could be one of the deciding factors in the NBA Finals, with the matchup of Thompson and Green as one of the most important in the series. Each player is contributes highly to the hustle, energy and dirty work of their respective teams. I cannot wait to see this matchup unfold over the next several weeks.

All NBA statistics come from NBA.com