Miami Heat: Gerald Green Failing To Take Advantage Of Opportunities

The Miami Heat’s season is nearing an end, and Gerald Green is running out of chances to reclaim a spot in their rotation.

When the Miami Heat signed Joe Johnson after he was bought out by the Brooklyn Nets, their rotation needed to be tweaked a bit. Johnson has stepped into the starting small forward role seamlessly, and is averaging 32.1 minutes per game. Despite all of the injuries the team has dealt with, there was going to be some players losing minutes with the addition of Johnson.

It was fair to think that a trickle-down effect would be in place, with a number of players losing a couple minutes here and there to Johnson, but that has not been the case. Instead, Gerald Green has been removed from the rotation altogether, as head coach Erik Spoelstra has opted to stick with his rookies Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson as the guards off the bench.

It has been hard to argue with the results, as the Heat have gone 6-2 over the span since Johnson came over to the team. Granted, the competition hasn’t been overly strong, with four wins coming against the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns.

But, the Heat are beating who they have to beat to stick in the Eastern Conference playoff picture and continue to move up in the standings despite still not having Chris Bosh in the lineup.

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The soft schedule and maintenance days for players such as Dwyane Wade also present an opportunity for Green to get back into the good graces of the coaching staff and earn some playing time. Unfortunately, he has squandered those chances thus far.

Against his old team in the Suns, Green was given some minutes in garbage time. He played 10 miuntes, but shot only 2-of-7 from the field for four points, adding a rebound and assist. On the second night of the back-to-back he got more minutes, playing 20 against the 76ers.

He performed better in this one, scoring 12 points, but once again it was inefficient, as he shot 5-of-14 from the field.

He was out of the rotation again for the next three games, playing only seven minutes total. But, a golden opportunity was given to him against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. With Wade out because of a thigh injury, Green was inserted into the rotation and had mixed results.

Once again the shooting numbers were poor, as he made only 1-of-9 from the field, scoring seven points in the game. But, he did help out in other areas, as he pulled down seven rebounds and handed out two assists in the overtime loss.

While he didn’t hurt the Heat while on the court, as he finished with an even plus/minus ratio, it is hard to imagine he helped himself much in the way of receiving more playing time.

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If Wade is sidelined beyond the one game because of the thigh injury, Green should see minutes once again off the bench. But, if he does not perform better with the opportunities, he may find himself stuck to the bench more often than not.

With only 16 games left in the regular season, Green does not have many more opportunities to show Spoelstra and the Heat that he deserves a spot in the rotation and a contract beyond this season.