When you end up in the highlight reel seemingly every night – and sometimes several times in one night – people tend to notice.
Grantland.com’s Zach Lowe did, to the point of making Suns swingman Gerald Green’s “breakaway buzz” one of the things he likes in his weekly column.
“Green had about a half-dozen of [shots that create buzz] against Milwaukee on Saturday, as the Bucks just kept kindly throwing the ball to Phoenix players. Green might be the very best dunker in the league, and with time and a runway, there's no telling what trick he'll pull out — a windmill…”
(like this one, Zach?)
“…a reverse double-pump...”
(still waiting for that one here in Phoenix)
“…or just a simple dunk where he jumps as high as he possibly can and plops the ball straight down into the basket.”
(that’s when Gerald does this, right Zach?)
Lowe also noted, along with several others, that Green has proven himself to be much more than a highlight factory. His outside shooting – which has single-handedly turned the tide of several games already this season – earned Green a spot on Lowe’s yearly Luke Walton All-Stars, handed out to players who have enjoyed resurgent seasons.
“A guy who can hit 39 percent of 3s on 8.9 attempts per 36 minutes is hugely valuable. Only seven players (not including Green) have ever launched 8.5 3s per 36 minutes while logging at least 20 minutes per game.”
Given how quickly Green catches fire, we fully approve of his quick trigger from beyond the arc. That and, at the end of the day, he’s simply following orders.
Green, however, consciously alters his approach when filling in as a starter, something he’ll be doing this week with Eric Bledsoe (knee) sidelined.
“That’s my role on this team, to be aggressive and take smart shots,” Green said. “Coming off the bench, I can take a little more crazier shots, but obviously when you’re starting, you don’t want to take a wild shot that leads to runs from the other team and can hurt our team.”