Miami Heat: How Gerald Green’s Return Impacts Team
The Miami Heat are currently riding a three-game winning streak that has pushed their record to 6-3 on the season. They have done it on the backs Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside, who are proving to be quite the duo on the inside for the Heat. Their great play has overshadowed what has been a slow start overall for the starting unit, while the bench has been one of the highlights
Coming into the season, the second unit for the Heat looked strong on paper, but had a lot of question marks surrounding it. One of those question marks was Gerald Green, who looked to be a steal as the Heat signed him to a minimum contract. But things have not gone according to plan yet for Green and the Heat.
Green was in a bit of trouble earlier this month, as he got into a confrontation in Miami. It was hard to figure out what was happening at first, as the Heat were trying to keep whatever problem Green was struggling with out of the spotlight. They said he was in the hospital and left it at that.
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Information continued to come out though, and a details of what exactly happened were finally revealed.
It sounded like Green had gotten into physical altercations, and had to be treated at the hospital after collapsing outside of his apartment complex. Find out the full report here.
Because of the incident, Green was suspended two games, but has missed a total of six games. He has not suited up since Nov. 1, but will be taking the court Tuesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the fourth game of the Heat’s six-game homestand. What impact will Green’s return have on the team?
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For starters, he will be playing with a new teammate. The trade between the Heat and Memphis Grizzlies that sent Mario Chalmers and James Ennis to Memphis netted the Heat a new point guard in Beno Udrih. He will be playing with Green on the second unit, but he could be coming back to a decreased role.
With Chalmers out of town, it was fair to expect that Green could pick up some extra minutes, but that is no longer a guarantee. Udrih played 17 minutes in his Heat debut, only three minutes less than what Chalmers was playing with the Heat. In addition to Udrih, the Heat seem committed to giving minutes to their younger players Tyler Johnson and Justise Winslow.
It has only been two games, but both players have gotten more minutes with the departure of Chalmers.
With the success they are having, Green will probably have to earn his minutes back. He was getting 21.7 per game before leaving the team, and he will be hard pressed to reach that right out of the gate. The Heat bench is playing well, and the team is winning. Also, Johnson and Winslow are playing well and have done nothing to deserve less minutes.
That leaves Green as possibly the odd man out. While he can fill up the point column, Green leaves something to be desired in other areas of the game and stat sheet. While he is averaging a solid 10.3 points per game, he has only two rebounds and one assist on the season, and no defensive stats.
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While his three-point shooting could help the team, he will have to show that he can contribute in other areas before getting his minutes back. Johnson and Winslow are a big reason the Heat are currently riding a three-game winning streak, so Erik Spoelstra is not going to mess with a good thing just to give Green his minutes back.
Those minutes are something he will have to earn back, as the Heat have gone 4-2 in his absence.