Draymond Green was the hot topic of discussion after Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics. Many felt Green’s antics during the game put off the Celtics players, and they didn’t quite look the same, thanks to it.
It all started with Green and Jaylen Brown getting into an altercation, and Brown later stated that Green tried to pull his pants down. Whatever the case may be, it seemed like he had gotten into their heads, and the Celtics can’t afford that to happen again. Coach Ime Udoka was later asked how he wanted the Celtics to react to the Warriors trying to shake them up a bit, and he gave an interesting response on how he’d have dealt with it.
“If I was a player, I’d probably get a double technical immediately”
Ime Udoka on dealing with Draymond’s physicality in Game 2 pic.twitter.com/jeS0345SKd
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) June 7, 2022
“I say be who you are. If you want to ignore it, ignore it. If you engage, engage. Do what you do. Be who you are, and the main thing is to continue to stay composed. With us, I don’t think it’s the talking as much as the physicality that they brought. That was noticeable at times.”
“We know obviously that’s what Green does. Kind of bleeds over into the team. For us, it’s to be who you are. I told them if I was a player, who I was, I would probably get a double technical immediately. But that’s not everybody.”
It is good to approach it on a case-by-case basis, but it differs from Jeff Van Gundy’s opinion on the matter, with Van Gundy stating that the Celtics should either completely ignore Green or confront him every single time. You can see both perspectives here, and it will be interesting to see how the Celtics react in Game 3.
They did ever so well to steal home-court advantage in the Finals by winning Game 1, and they now need to hold serve as the series shifts to Boston. Staying composed, as Udoka said, is going to be key to that.
