Cleveland
“As a basketball player, as a man, just certain things that you have to do,” Green said to media assembled at Quicken Loans Arena, site of Game 6 tonight. “You can’t put yourself in certain positions. One thing that I’ve already been kind of teaching myself and trying to learn how to do is control my emotions. So, really, just knowing the position that you’re in and adjusting to those positions. Not putting yourself in harm’s way, and really being a better teammate.
“I put myself in a position to where I couldn’t be out there, and the way I view it, it’s awful. Terrible teammate. I take pride in being better.”
The question, as far as Game 6 and the remainder of the series is concerned is whether that newfound zen will prohibit Draymond Green from playing like Draymond Green.
Part of what makes Green so valuable to the Warriors is his willingness to bang bodies in the post with players several inches taller than him, while also guarding players several inches smaller on the perimeter. That dual role requires a lot of energy, an energy he often derives from an unwavering belief he belongs on the grandest of stages with the biggest of names, despite being a mere second-round pick four years ago. Will Green be as effective if he turns away from the angst that his fueled him during his rise to NBA stardom?
When Green doesn’t play with that edge, he isn’t the same game-changing force at both ends of the court. Instead, he plays like he did in Games 3 and 4 of Golden State’s Western Conference finals series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Those games coincided with the first controversy to surround Green this postseason: his kick to the privates of Thunder center Steven Adams. While Green was allowed to remain in Game 3 after being hit with a flagrant foul level one, and then was allowed to play in Game 4 after it was upgraded to a level two penalty but not a suspension, he was a shell of himself.
The NBA’s leader in plus/minus during the regular season was a combined minus-73 in those two games. He scored a total of 12 points and committed 10 turnovers, alternating between trying to force too many plays offensively and looking uncharacteristically passive on defense.
He finally began to look like himself again in the second half of Game 5 against the Thunder, but those two road games severely hindered the Warriors; they account for the only time this season Golden State has lost back-to-back games.
“I’ve always said Draymond is the spirit of what we do,” Stephen Curry said. “You see it out on the floor. That’s what he brings.
“I think he’s going to play with that same aggression, same passion, leave it all out on the floor, but be smart.”
The challenge for Green in Game 6 will be to stay out of his own head the way he didn’t in those first two games in Oklahoma City.
“I think I’ve got to come out and play my game regardless,” Green said. “There’s those little fine lines you know you can’t cross.
“I just have to make sure I’m composed when those situations come about that I control my emotions and channel that energy and use it in a positive way to help my team, and not in a way to where I may feel like it helps me as a person, me as a man, but hurt my teammates. That’s irrelevant. Just really channeling that energy and bottling it all up to use it for my teammates in a good way.”
The need for Green to be at his best will be magnified by the loss of starting center Andrew Bogut, who suffered a bone bruise in his left knee in Game 5 and has been ruled out for the remainder of the series. Bogut’s absence will almost certainly mean Green will start at center in Game 6, allowing Golden State to begin the game with its highly effective small lineup.
But that lineup will only be successful — and the Warriors will only win a second straight championship over the Cavaliers — if Green is able to provide his usual level of energy and effort at both ends.
“When you can quiet 20,000 screaming fans, celebrate on their floor, celebrate in their locker room, it’s an amazing feeling,” Green said. “And it’s hard. That’s what makes the feeling even better, because it’s so much harder.
“We know the formula, we know the blueprint, but we know that it’s not easy. In order to do it, you have to be locked in from the jump. I think guys understand that. I have no doubt in my mind guys will be ready to do that.”