Orlando Magic Player Evaluation: Willie Green
Final Grade
Orlando Magic. WILLIE GREEN. B-. <p>Willie Green did not play like a B- in any sense. Really he had a C or C- year in terms of his actual play.</p><div class=. G
When the Magic brought him in though, I do not think they imagined he would be playing all that much. Maybe a few spot minutes at the beginning of the season and bits and pieces here and there. His value came from his presence in the locker room and his leadership as a veteran for a team with an average age that cannot rent a car without insurance.
Who knows if the Magic will still need this role?
Unfortunately, throughout the entire season, Willie Green was asked to do more than fill this original role. He was asked to be a rotation player. He was asked to play backup point guard. He was asked to be a scoring threat and help spread the floor.
In his 10-plus years in the NBA, he has never been asked to do anything like this. Certainly not for a team that did not already have pieces in place to compete.
Green was not capable of performing the role the Magic asked of him. He has not done that throughout his 10-year career. The player he is was not going to succeed individually in the role the Magic seemed to have carved out for him.
To Green’s credit, he played the best he could within that role and within his ability. He was not perfect at all. He did not fill that role.
But that is not why the Magic brought Green in. Green was largely brought in to be a veteran presence and provide a good example. And he did that.
He was an extreme professional throughout the season. He could have complained about going from the Clippers and getting picked up off waivers to a team like the Magic. Instead, he embraced the role and opportunity. He earned playing time through his consistency, beating out younger players who probably should have been playing over him.
There is something admirable in that. If Green were playing the role the team actually envisioned for him, his season might have been considered a success. So what that I curved him up for being asked to do more than he could do.
" >
B-
Willie Green did not play like a B- in any sense. Really he had a C or C- year in terms of his actual play.
When the Magic brought him in though, I do not think they imagined he would be playing all that much. Maybe a few spot minutes at the beginning of the season and bits and pieces here and there. His value came from his presence in the locker room and his leadership as a veteran for a team with an average age that cannot rent a car without insurance.
Who knows if the Magic will still need this role?
Unfortunately, throughout the entire season, Willie Green was asked to do more than fill this original role. He was asked to be a rotation player. He was asked to play backup point guard. He was asked to be a scoring threat and help spread the floor.
In his 10-plus years in the NBA, he has never been asked to do anything like this. Certainly not for a team that did not already have pieces in place to compete.
Green was not capable of performing the role the Magic asked of him. He has not done that throughout his 10-year career. The player he is was not going to succeed individually in the role the Magic seemed to have carved out for him.
To Green’s credit, he played the best he could within that role and within his ability. He was not perfect at all. He did not fill that role.
But that is not why the Magic brought Green in. Green was largely brought in to be a veteran presence and provide a good example. And he did that.
He was an extreme professional throughout the season. He could have complained about going from the Clippers and getting picked up off waivers to a team like the Magic. Instead, he embraced the role and opportunity. He earned playing time through his consistency, beating out younger players who probably should have been playing over him.
There is something admirable in that. If Green were playing the role the team actually envisioned for him, his season might have been considered a success. So what that I curved him up for being asked to do more than he could do.