Memphis Grizzlies: Buy Or Sell Early-Season Statistics
By Tom Firme
Jeff Green field-goal percentage
Buy.
Jeff Green is where one would expect, shooting 41.4 percent from the field. The eight-year pro is 2.2 percent below his career average, but it’s hard to predict that he will make a big jump will long runs of great shooting.
Green is a streaky shooter who can excite for a few games, and then fall off the radar for a week. He’s had two seasons in which he made 45 percent from the field. This year, Green has made better than 40 percent from the field six times through 17 games.
Perhaps, the 28-year-old’s good games will outnumber the bad down the stretch, but that doesn’t mean he’ll raise his percentage. Last season, he made 40 percent in 27 of his 45 games after the Grizzlies acquired him from the Boston Celtics, but it still allowed him to finish at 42.7 percent for Memphis.
Also, even though Green is taking 11.5 shots per 36 minutes, the second-lowest rate of his career, he has his second-worst field-goal mark.
The Grizzlies aren’t counting on him to come through every game, since Gasol and Conley will get their share of shots and Zach Randolph will demand his when he returns from nursing a sore right knee. Green still goes for his own offense, and the results will be roughly the same as he has gained thus far.
Next: Not Super Mario for Long?