Gerald Green Assigned to D-League

By Peter Stringer
January 6, 2006
Celtics.com
Gerald Green has left the Celtics to play for the Patriots.

The Fayetteville Patriots, that is. Executive Director of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge announced that the Celtics assigned Green to the NBA Developmental League just before tonight's game against Atlanta. And while the Celtics' NBDL affilliate is technically the Florida Flames, the C's got permission to send him to the Fayetteville, North Carolina team to avoid a logjam at the shooting guard spot on the Florida squad.

While the Celtics see tons of potential in the rookie, the upcoming schedule made finding minutes for Green a tall order. Since he wouldn't be able to find playing time in Boston, and practice time will be limited by the team's hectic travel schedule over the next few weeks, the club decided it was in Green's best interest to get the chance to earn some playing time in the D-League.

"Gerald's development remains one of our top priorities," said Ainge. "He's progressing just as we expected, and we think this is a step in the right direction. This allows Gerald more of an opportunity to continue developing his game."

Green, who's put on more than 18 pounds since arriving, has said in the past that he'd prefer to stay with the Celtics than take an assignment to the D-League, but now he says he feels playing time will be more beneficial.

"I think I've learned tremendously," said Green. "But I think that honestly, I can learn a little more about playing by actually playing instead of just sitting around looking at game tape."

Green has impressed the team's staff with the amount of work he's done off the court to prepare for the NBA, especially how he's added size and strength to his frame. Ainge will be accompanying Green for the first few days of his stay to get a sense of how the process works. Given how new the D-League is to the NBA, there's a bit of an unknown factor in figuring out exactly how an assignment will be handled, and when affiliates are shared by multiple NBA teams, playing time isn't guaranteed. So Green will have to earn his keep, so to speak.

While there's no timetable for how long Green will remain in Fayetteville, Ainge stressed that the move is an opportunity and not a demotion for Green.

"The most important thing is for Gerald to go down there with the right attitude," said Ainge. "It's an opportunity to develop and I think Gerald does have the right attitude about it. Go down there and earn your minutes and show that you belong."

Fans hoping to catch Green in action can check NBA TV, which is broadcatsing several D-League games throughout the year. The MLK Showcase tournament is being held in Fayetteville January 15-16 and Green figures to get in on the action.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/notes010606_green.html
its about time he starts to get some action

I hope they're gonna start sending more and more people down to D-league. It's great to see a player of Green's potential willing to play in the 'minor' league without demanding a trade.

You didn't have to open 2 threads for this...

i know my computer was acting slow and then i clicked out of it not knowing that it had posted and then i did it again

You're going to hell for that.

There are so many other players out there who should be playing D-League right now. It's not that they arent good, but at least you get to play live ball and not waste away at the end of the bench.

There are so many other players out there who should be playing D-League right now. It's not that they arent good, but at least you get to play live ball and not waste away at the end of the bench.

Perhaps the league need another expansion team?

And get more watered down teams? No thanks.

or just demote some nba teams..

Why didn't the celtics play him he could then make the slam dunk cotest.

Of course. That's a legitimate reason to keep a player but not play him ever.

hm... haha lol
glad he went down, wasnt gonna do much anyways..

Smart choice. It's difficult dealing with high schoolers, because some of them have never seen a half-court offense or had to deal with playing defense. Gerald Green is going to be a special player one day. I read an article about him schooling everyone at the NBA Live Rookie Day, hitting shots from everywhere. He has so many offensive tools, but his defensive fundamentals just aren't there yet.

He's going through offseason conditioning now. He wouldn't be able to play in NBA games with the workouts he's currently going through. He's gained 25 pounds of muscle since being drafted.

Just like Dorell Wright, a lot of these high schoolers need to go through a developmental progress but once they're ready, they'll be able to live up to their potential.

Now if only we could send Doc Rivers down to the D-League.

D-Leaugue competition is well below the NBA level, so he probably won't gain as much experience playing against NBDLers. Oh well, players coming out of highschool sometimes could use this opportunity to really get themselves into some good habits for the NBA.

On another note. Pape Sow is ass raping the D-League. Go Pape!

Why didn't the celtics play him he could then make the slam dunk cotest.

i was jus thinking about that before i heard the news about him going to the D-League

make the slam dunk contest? i thought it was sign up cause wtf i didnt really think birdman was slam dunk contest material last year