Sunday Shootaround: Draymond Green is on the edge

OAKLAND -- Here’s a mildly bold statement: Draymond Green was the best player on the floor in Game 1 of the Finals. While Green didn’t offer the gaudy shooting numbers of reserve hero Shaun Livingston and he didn’t draw the primetime defensive assignment against LeBron James like Andre Iguodala, Green had the largest impact on the outcome. His numbers were strong: 16 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists, but they too went largely unnoticed.

What Green did in Game 1 is what Green does. Much has been made of his playmaking role -- he’s a kind of Anthony Mason point forward for the modern age -- but it’s on defense where he made his name and it’s on defense where he showed up huge in the opener. That was particularly true in the smallball death lineup where his work was stellar.

"Usually in the small lineup I’m the rim protector," Green said. "That’s also being the guy who’s vocal talking to everyone because I’m usually the last line of the defense. Sometimes that means switching out on the guards. It also means holding the paint down and coming up with rebounds."

And yeah, Green did all of that. Not only did he hold his own on the boards, he also challenged shots at the rim, offered help on LeBron James post-ups and isolations and raced back to chase shooters off the 3-point line. He was a prime reason why the Cavaliers missed 28 attempts in the paint and shot just 33 percent from behind the arc. There are very few players who can do what he does.

Side note: The smallball lineup machinations are the best tactical subplot of this series and the Cavs have a decision to make. There are two schools of thought here. One is to try and match Golden State with speed and skill and the other is to essentially try and make them pay for going small by pounding them with size. The Cavs did that a bit last season in the Finals but couldn’t sustain it. Timofey Mozgov has been a non-factor during the postseason, which may also play a part in Ty Lue’s thinking. Other teams have also tried this tactic to little avail, but size does play a part in Golden State’s thinking.

"It’s really physically draining to guard bigger people," assistant coach Luke Walton said. "If it’s a true center we don’t want to do it for too long because Draymond’s already playing 40 minutes as it is. If we have him wrestling with someone bigger than he is for a lot of the time we’re wearing him down too much. We know how potent our small lineup is, but we try to use it in spurts to take advantage of them."

The Cavs came into this series with a possible antidote, that being Channing Frye, a stretch five who lit up the postseason with his long-range shooting. The Warriors had a plan for that and here again Green was an integral component of another undersized unit, the one that took the court at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters. Green effectively chased Frye off the court. How the Cavs decide to attack that lineup will go a long way toward defining this series. That’s what having a player like Draymond Green does to opponents.

His Game 1 performance was the kind of all-around performance for which he first made his name and in that it wasn’t much of a surprise. His play in last year’s Finals helped turn the series around and the Cavs offer a more different if not more favorable matchup for Green than, say, Oklahoma City with its length and athleticism. If Golden State is going to repeat as champs, the Warriors are going to need their situational superstar to control the situation. Even if his work is less noticeable.

Staying under the radar is a good place for Green to be these days because there isn’t a media availability that goes by without someone bringing up The Thing from the last round. At this point it’s more like an accumulation of things: the leg-kick, the technical fouls, the takedown, et cetera et cetera. If he accrues one more flagrant foul he’s subject to an automatic one-game suspension. If Green picks up two more techs, the same penalty applies. He’s essentially on probation and everyone knows it.

"I don’t worry about those things," Green said. "Whatever happens is going to happen. I got a big enough task with the Cleveland Cavaliers and all the guys I have to check and the things I have to do on the offensive end to focus on, rather than focus on that."

Green’s manic energy and unhinged emotion has gotten the better of him at times, but the Warriors also need that to thrive. It’s a delicate line he needs to walk, especially for a player who possesses all the outward subtlety of a swift quick to the groin. For their part, the Warriors more or less encourage Green to be Green, within limits.

"We love it," Walton said. "Obviously sometimes it goes too far and we tell him that and he knows it. It’s good for our team, it’s good for him. It gives him his edge. But there’s times it gets the better of him. Whether that comes out in technical fouls or flagrants or him forcing up a bad shot because he’s mad, he’s got to learn to always be in control of those emotions. But the emotion he plays with, we encourage that."

Has any player gone through more revaluations and interpretations over the last few years than Draymond Green? From second-round steal to viable rotation player to situational star to legit All-Star, Green’s career has already run the gamut during his four years in the league. Now he finds himself in a slightly different position, as the face of the Warrior backlash.

Green offers no apologies and no regrets. What you see is what you get, which is part of his charm or a searing indictment, depending on how you look at it. Here’s a player who can rattle off the name of every player of chosen ahead of him in the draft. He can suss out opposing playcalls and sets with the sharp mind of one who is blessed with instant recall, which he told me in January that he has. He remembers everything and forgets nothing.

"Every player needs to motivate himself however he needs," Kerr said. "So Draymond finds any little sleight to get himself going, and that's great. He's our emotional leader. He's our slightly-crazy, gives-us-the-edge type guy that you need to compete at the highest level, and whatever he needs to do to motivate himself, he does."

That crazy edge belies an incredibly smart and attuned basketball player whose ability to read and diagnose opponents is a big part of his value both as a player and a teammate.

"People have no idea how intelligent of a basketball player he is," Walton said. "It’s really impressive. There’s plays that we bring out of the archives that we haven’t run since last year and we’re a little rusty on them and he’ll start pointing people in the right direction."

So, which Draymond Green will we see in Game 2: the one who is in control of himself and the situation at hand, or the one who lets his emotions get the better of him? The Warriors need the former and Draymond Green needs to be that player, as well. His value has never been greater and his presence has never been more needed than it is right now.

We’ve had two days to think this through so here are the five things to watch as we get ready for a pivotal Game 2 tonight at Oracle.

Play with pace: The Cavs want to play faster. That was the message that Ty Lue repeatedly reinforced over the last few days. It’s not only a matter of getting out in transition, although that’s obviously a factor. It’s also getting into sets quicker, ball movement, spacing, all the elements of a good offensive flow that were rarely apparent in the opener. To be sure, the Warriors had a lot to do with that. They only turned the ball over nine times. Golden State’s defensive strategy of switching just about everything also plays into this since it invites one-on-one opportunities, but the Cavs played right into their hands. That needs to change.

Game 2 LeBron: Much was made of LeBron’s record in Finals openers, but he’s also had an impressive streak of answers in the next games. The Warriors need no reminders given that they experienced a 39-16-11 Game 2 from James just last season. Given the offensive threats he has at his disposal this time around, the temptation to take over must be tempered by the willingness to get everyone else involved. That’s when James is at his most dangerous and that’s what the Cavs need most from their superstar.

Kyrie Irving’s floor game: The Cavs guard can get his shot whenever he wants it, but while his 26 points led all scorers in Game 1 he was hardly a model of efficiency. Too many times, Cav positions devolved into the Kyrie Show and that is a very tough way to beat Golden State. Again, a faster pace and more decisive sets are the answer.

Curry and Klay and role players redux: It’s highly unlikely that the Splash Brothers will shoot 8-for-27 again, but the Cavs deserve credit for focusing their defensive attention on the ace shooting duo. That part was good, but Golden State found the openings in the defense and exploited them time and again. That’s what makes defending the Warriors so difficult, but there were obvious breakdowns in communication that need to be rectified for the series to turn around. The opportunities are there for Green, Iguodala and Livingston to feast again. Something has to give here.

No rebounds, no rings: The Cavs grabbed 15 offensive rebounds in Game 1 and technically won the battle of the boards. But they also surrendered nine offensive rebounds and that won’t do against Golden State. This is one area they need to win decisively if they are going to have a chance at a split.