Tag Archives: Willie Green

Former Clippers guard Willie Green, now with Orlando, misses old teammates

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Willie Green

Former Clippers guard Willie Green misses his former team/Photo courtesy of Orlando Magic, NBA.com

 

Journeyman guard Willie Green spent the two previous seasons with the Clippers before signing with the Orlando Magic during the off-season. Apparently, they were two fun seasons because Green – though happy in Orlando – is longing for those days.

After the Clippers routed Green and the Magic 114-86 on Wednesday at Staples Center, Green was asked to talk about returning to face his former team.

“It’s bittersweet,” Green said. “It’s bitter because you obviously would love to be with your teammates and with an organization that, for me, had some great years. But on the other hand, I’m in this (Magic) locker room with these guys and we are battling together. It’s a young group and we are building something here. I think it’s going to be special in a few years.”

Green, 33, is averaging 4.1 points and 16.1 minutes for Orlando.

Veteran guard Willie Green is waived after two seasons with the club

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Willie Green

Willie Green/photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers on Sunday announced they have waived guard Willie Green.

Green appeared in 55 of 82 games during the 2013-14 regular season. He averaged 5.0 points and 15.8 minutes.

Green, 32, is a veteran of 11 NBA seasons. He has a career scoring average of 8.5. He averaged a career-best 12.4 points in 2007-08 with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Green played two seasons with the Clippers. He averaged 6.3 points in his first season with the club in 2012-13.

Clippers guard Willie Green content with his limited role

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One of these days veteran guard Chauncey Billups will be sound enough to return to the Clippers’ starting lineup and Willie Green will take a seat on the bench. If all goes as planned, Billups will play significant minutes and Green will be a cheerleader.

Green won’t say a word in anger. He won’t complain about his reduced role.

That’s simply not his method of operation.

“We all have to do our parts,” Green said before scoring nine points Thursday in the Clippers’ 106-77 beat-down of the Boston Celtics when asked about the inevitable move from starter to backup when Billups recovers from ankle tendinitis. “Great teams become great because everybody knows their role.”

Green was something of a surprise choice to fill in for Billups, who suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon tear last February and didn’t make his 2012-13 debut until Nov. 28. Billups started three games and Green didn’t play a minute in any of them.

When tendinitis flared in his ankle, Billups returned to the sideline and Green became a starter again. Green’s production isn’t what the Clippers expect to get from a healthy Billups, but somehow he and the team have made it work en route to a league-leading 22-6 record going into Thursday.

“There is something special going on here and we all have to do our parts,” said Green, who went into Thursday’s game averaging only 5.9 points and 1.5 rebounds. “There’s still a lot of room for improvement. It’s still early in the season.”

There’s no timetable for Billups’ return to the active roster, which means Green will continue in his role for the immediate future. Green has played with damaged knee cartilage, something Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro takes into account when assessing the veteran guard’s production.

“Willie’s a pro,” Del Negro said. “He’s solid on the court and off the court and in the locker room. He gives us what he can. I think that’s one of the reasons we wanted him (in a trade last July 30 from the Atlanta Hawks). No one knows when Chauncey’s going to be back.”

So, Green has the job until Billups does return to the lineup.

Chauncey Billups sits out because of an ankle injury

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After scoring 22 points on 5-for-15 shooting and adding seven assists in 60 minutes in his first three games of the season, veteran guard Chauncey Billups had to sit out Wednesday night’s game against the Dallas Mavericks at Staples Center.

Billups said his surgically-repaired left Achilles tendon was fine, but he’s suffering from peroneal tendinitis in his left ankle. His ankle was so inflamed and weak that he couldn’t jump or change directions adequately during the Clippers’ victory Monday over the Utah Jazz.

The two injuries are unrelated, Billups added.

“It’s something I’ve been dealing with for a couple of weeks, actually, even before I played my first game,” he said. “It was something I really wanted to get checked out because I just feel like I’ve worked way too hard to get back to play hurt, you know what I’m saying?”

“Honestly, in that Utah game it was really painful. I couldn’t really push off my left foot. It was just really weak. I couldn’t explode off it. I couldn’t cut. So, everything I was doing I was just getting through it. I should be better than this.”

Billups underwent a battery of tests, including an MRI exam Tuesday, which revealed the ankle injury. Willie Green started in place of Billups at shooting guard against the Mavericks. Green started the Clippers’ first 14 games, but then didn’t play a second in the next three. He had four points in the Clippers’ 112-90 victory over Dallas.

The Clippers aren’t sure how long Billups might be sidelined.

“It’s up to Chauncey really,” coach Vinny Del Negro said. “He knows his body better than anybody else. …  It’s kind of day to day, how the therapy goes, how he feels. … When he’s ready to go, he’ll go. It could be this weekend. It could be two weeks or a month. I don’t have a time frame.”

Billups tore his Achilles tendon during a game last Feb. 6 against the Orlando Magic and underwent surgery Feb. 15. It was estimated that he would be sidelined for between nine and 12 months. He made his 2012-13 debut Nov. 28 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Del Negro planned to limit Billups to 20 minutes per game as he attempted to regain his fitness as well as his basketball form. Billups scored seven points against the Timberwolves, six against the Sacramento Kings and nine against the Jazz, never playing more than 22 minutes in a game.

“I think this is just part of the process,” he said. “Frustrating, of course. To come back and then sit back and wait … I know what it is and I respect the process. I don’t feel down at all. Of course I want to be out there. … It’s all about the marathon for me.”