Jeff Green benched for second half of Rockets game
Jeff Green's shooting has fallen off this season, an unfortunate but apparent symptom of living in Memphis. Now, though, one of the Grizzlies usual starters is getting the worst kind of treatment for it.
During Tuesday night's loss to the Rockets, during which Houston dropped in 18 threes, Green sat for the entire second half. He wasn't hurt. It wasn't a disciplinary issue, so said coach Dave Joerger. No, Green just got benched because Joerger thought it was the right basketball decision at the moment.
From Geoff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal:
"Coach's decision," said Dave Joerger. "He was not injured."
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"It wasn't a disciplinary decision at all," he said. "I just thought that Vince was giving us a little bit of a spark."
Carter was minus-13 on the night.
"I thought Courtney had some fresh legs and I wanted to go in that direction."
Green hits free agency at the end of this year, so this story is certainly something to follow. If Joerger found a matchup that was specific to Houston which he preferred and Green is back in the starting lineup for the Grizzlies' game against the Pistons on Thursday, then maybe this is all forgotten. If Green continues to sit, though, there could always be some sort of deal on the horizon. With Memphis sitting at 21-19 and outside contender status, getting back some value for an impending free agent having a down year wouldn't be the worst idea in human history.
