Draymond Green was the first to admit that he hasn’t been playing like himself over the past few weeks since returning from a lower back injury. After the Warriors’ loss to the Washington Wizards on Sunday, Green told reporters he’s been feeling terrible and playing terribly, and that the team is worse off with him on the floor at the moment.
The hope is that with more time, Green will work himself back into the All-Star form he was playing at before his injury. Count General Manager Bob Myers among those supporters who believe that will come to fruition.
“The first part of change is acknowledging the truth, and he’s the one saying it,” Myers said on 95.7 The Game on Monday. “He’s saying, ‘I've got to be better.’ I think he will. I would bet on him. I don’t think slowing him down or pulling him back … I think he actually needs to get more time and more minutes to get acclimated.”
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Since returning on Mar. 14, Green has been averaging 4.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists in six games, though he hasn’t played over 30 minutes in a game yet. He played 26 minutes on Sunday before resting Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies on the back-end of a back-to-back.
Myers isn’t concerned yet, and he knows that as the heartbeat of the Warriors, Green’s performance usually coincides with how the team is doing.
“He was playing extremely well and we were playing extremely well,” Myers said. “He still can be that guy. I believe he will be that guy before the season’s all said and done. But it’s going to take a minute to work himself back into that, and thank goodness we’ve got this time. He’s going to be a lot better a week from today.”
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The good news, according to Myers, is that Green isn’t claiming that he’s been playing well during the Warriors’ recent rough stretch. Myers didn’t think that the back injury has been limiting Green from playing up to his potential, but it was simply a matter of playing more and getting his conditioning back.
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Myers also chalked up Green’s frustrations – such as when he was ejected against the Spurs last week after picking up two straight technicals – to his desire to win and Green’s personality. But Myers cautioned that down the stretch, every point is going to matter as the Warriors jostle for playoff seeding.
“Sure, I think channeling that in a better way would be better,” Myers said. “I think he knows that. I don’t need to tell him that. The reason why those things matter now is that our margin is thin. We’re not playing so well that we can make mistakes and overcome them. We need to play smart, disciplined … You’d like to get every edge you can and not give any edge away. That’s probably coming from his own personal frustration with not being the player he wants to be right now. That’s where some of that’s bubbling out.”