Film Study: Why Jeff Green is the Houston Rockets' X-Factor

Jeff Green has played for eight teams in the last six seasons, the definition of a NBA journeyman.  After starting the year on a minimum deal with the Jazz, he was released two days before Christmas while he was shooting under 40% from the field. 

The Rockets picked him up off the scrap-heap and instantly reaped the benefits.  In theory, Green is a perfect fit for the new era of Rockets basketball -- a versatile, long/athletic, do-it-all type player.  

Despite the series evening up 2-2 against the Thunder, the Rockets are poised to be a real contender. So for the sake of looking forward (not discrediting the very-solid Thunder), let's look at why Jeff Green has been (and will continue to be going forward) the x-factor for these surging Rockets.

Point Green 

Right now the Rockets are currently playing without Russell Westbrook.  This means that secondary creation has to come somewhere when Harden is in the game and it also means that there needs to be reliable offense when Harden is not in the game.

Jeff Green has flashed some “Point Green” abilities at times in his career, but nothing to the extent he has shown in Houston.  Coach Mike D’Antoni has empowered Green and his playmaking abilities. The Rockets have run what has been referred to as an “Inverted Pick-and-Roll” where Harden sets a live ball screen for Point Green as he dribbles the ball up the court. 

What makes this so deadly is that the Thunder want to keep their primary defender on Harden but the center is also being forced to get through a ball screen, something he’s likely never had to do before.  With shooters around and Green only needing one step to get to the rim, this play almost always works; worst-case it creates a closeout and advantage situations for Houston’s shooters.  

Here is about ten clips of the Rockets scoring or creating major advantages off this exact play (all through first four games of the Thunder series):

I would like to see Coach D’Antoni run this action even more, it causes major communication issues for opposing teams.    

Center Green

Everyone knows how great of an isolation player James Harden is, against a team with an elite Harden defender like Dort and maybe some other Lakers and Clippers down the road, the Rockets need more quality actions that are not dependent on James Harden having to create against an elite defender.  That is where “Center Green” comes in.  

The 1/5 action of Green screening for Harden has been killer as well.  When Green pops Harden has cleaner driving lanes + teams usually leave Green wide-open.  With Green shooting from down-town the way he has been (48% on 7 attempts in the playoffs, 36% on 5 attempts as a Rocket in the regular season), both of these are elite options.

The following video shows Green knocking down some Pick-and-Pop 3s in 1/5 actions: 

Green has also been excellent at picking when to roll after setting the pick for Harden. Here’s some clips of him on the roll:

Green has also been super helpful in the non-Harden minutes.  He has been making life easier on the other Rockets, by being excellent at the Pick-and-Pop three-ball with the supporting players.  This gives the other Rockets more room to drive and also just gives them an action to get into instead of having to always rely on Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers isolations.  Westbrook should thrive with the extra space Green has been providing when he returns. 

The following video shows him thriving in the Pick-and-Pop with supporting guys:

Potential Lakers/Clippers Impact

Now to look into how Green could potentially help specifically in what would be the next two series.  All of the things previously discussed are still in play, but there is a new element on offense.  

The Lakers adopted the super high soft trap of Harden.  The goal behind this being to get the hands out of Harden’s hands and make someone else beat you.  Well Jeff Green is kryptonite to this.  He is excellent at creating out of the short-roll.  He is not quite Draymond Green passing out of it, but he is definitely serviceable.  He also has the ability to catch at the free throw line and power up for a dunk, an element Green actually cannot do. 

Here are some clips from the Rockets/Lakers bubble matchup to showcase Green passing out of the short-roll:

Now here is Green catching around the free throw line and powering up for a finish:

Green should see the same success if the Lakers implement the same strategy.  Westbrook is also someone who has done this well.  

On the other side of the ball, Green provides much needed size and competency for the LA matchups.  Both Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James are not too adept to beating players off the dribble anymore.  Green has excelled in his defensive role with the Rockets and will be just fine matching up with those guys.  

Not only will Green be able to hold his own, he can buy time for some rest time of the others who are better off as the primary defenders of the other teams stars.  Green also possesses the necessary length and athleticism to stop Anthony Davis from getting too many easy buckets and offensive rebounds (he will definitely get a few, that makes limiting them very important).  His presence alone will be huge on the defensive end in these potential matchups. 

Potential Milwaukee Matchup

No disrespect to Boston, Toronto, and Miami, but Milwaukee will be the only potential finals matchup I will analyze.  

Green is just as huge in a potential Bucks series.  In Coach Bud’s playoff career, he has been known to not make too many adjustments.  This came to fruition in the Rockets/Bucks bubble matchup.  The Bucks allowed Houston to get up 61 shots from three, Jeff Green going 3 of 8.  

The Bucks did not make any adjustments and continued to help off of the corner (strong-side in lots of instances), and give the Rockets wide-open corner threes.  Shown in the video below, Green took advantage of this with three corner threes: 

Green will also be huge on defense in this series.  Houston would be hard-pressed to guard Milwaukee without one person who had legitimate size and athleticism.  Green would play a key role in attempting to slow down Giannis. 

Jeff Green will have a large in say in how far the Rockets advance.  If he is still hitting shots and allowing Harden to thrive a little more off the ball, they will cruise past the Thunder.  If he continues to be elite at creating out of the short-roll and plays competent defense, the Rockets can very easily win the West.  If he can knock down corner threes and remain competent on defense, the Rockets can beat Milwaukee and win it all.