Carlesimo Comments on Jeff Green

[jester]

www.nba.com/sonics/news/Carlesimo_070907.html

"You worked directly with Jeff on the Select team. What were your first impressions of him?"

"That had already been crystallized a little bit by what I had seen in summer league. Jeff comes in, I think, a lot more complete player than usually you get a guy coming out of college, particularly somebody who hasn't been in college four years. I think that's a result of a) the program that he was in at Georgetown and JTIII (John Thompson III)'s coaching; secondly, the way they play at Georgetown is great preparation. I've heard some people say, 'Well, you know, they make a lot of passes, it's a five-man rotation, they don't play the way he's going to play in the NBA, they don't play a way that showcases individual talent.' I think there's an element of truth to that, but what it also does is it teaches you to play basketball. His ball skills are way above average. For a guy who's as talented as Jeff, as big and has played some inside, he handles the ball very, very well, particularly his passing. I think he's had great preparation for the NBA.

You could see already in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City that his game is a simple game, simple in terms that he doesn't try to do things he can't do. He has all the skills you need from a player. He's not limited. He's not somebody that can just score or just rebound or just pass or just shoot. He's got a very well-rounded game and he's got a lot of poise for a young guy, an unusual amount of poise because he lets things come to him. When you watch him play, the more comfortable he became with the system Ralph was employing this summer, the more comfortable he became with his teammates, the more he showed. That was reflected again in the U.S. system. He was very comfortable playing against the best players in the league and he was comfortable playing with the other young guys. He and Aaron Brooks were the only rookies there. The other seven guys were all guys who had played in the NBA already. He fit in with them very well and I think Jeff, the better the talent you put him with, the more comfortable he is, the more you're going to see what he's capable of doing. This summer was very good for him."

[SirSaxa]

Sign that guy up! Get PJ on Tape. make DVDs and send it to all the top recruits!!!

WOW
what an endoresement for JT3 and GU!

Thanks for posting.

[The Stig]

Jeff Green's become one of our greatest recruiting tools just by being himself. Hats off to the man!

More proof if any is needed of what an incredible job JTIII is doing with our guys.

[jerseyhoya34]

I think PJ and others will eventually see that the system showcases talent because JT3 will allow more freelance play now that we have more talent on the team.

There was only so much JT3 could allow us to do, for example, in 2004-5 with 3 young freshmen and 3 playable upperclassmen in Owens, Bowman, and Cook who did not know how to win at the time.

I'm more of a "Roy fan" but, my gosh, is Jeff one hell of a player and a person. A great representative of his family, teammates, and community.

[MCIGuy]

Some more info....
SFSHoya wrote this for us on the HoyaReport Premium message board:


An interesting quote from the current issue of ESPN Magazine. "Tyson Chandler thought the Sonics had landed a mature-beyond-his-years forward and playing against USA's select team has only confirmed his suspicions--about No. 5 pick JEFF GREEN. "Seeing how smooth he was in college, I knew he was going to make a better pro." Chandler says. "All the young guys came to Las Vegas wide-eyed, but he came in a started making moves."