Freshman Jordan Green picked up his defense to help A&M men

Freshman Jordan Green must've thought he'd never get on the court after discussing playing time with new Texas A&M head men's basketball coach Billy Kennedy.

Before the season, Green went to Kennedy's office and asked how he could get on the floor, knowing veterans Khris Middleton, Elston Turner, Dash Harris and Naji Hibbert would chew up many of the minutes on the perimeter.

"I didn't want to be one of those freshmen that sits on the bench all the time, maybe contemplates redshirting because I wasn't sure I was going to get any playing time," Green said. "So I was like what does this team need? And he said when you get out on the court, you need to play defense."

It sounded like a foreign language to the Aggie newcomer.

"I played zero defense," Green said of his high school career at Flower Mound. "I was the most offensive guy you ever met. I didn't think twice about defense. In high school I would guard one of the least athletic people on the other team."

But Green took Kennedy's words to heart, at times spending entire days working solely on his defense, including watching hours of video.

The wiry 6-foot-4 Green had the benefit of practicing against Elston Turner, one of the better shooting guards in the Big 12.

"What helped me out a lot was the practices before Europe [in August]," Green said. "Those couple days they taught a lot about defensive principals and I talked to [former player and graduate assistant] Dominique Kirk and he and coach [Glynn] Cyprien helped me out. Obviously I'm athletic enough and have a long wing span to distract shots, get in the passing lane."

Green's diligence paid early dividends, and he joined the starting lineup when Middleton suffered a injured knee in the opening half of the season opener.

He was really tested when A&M's best on-ball defender, Dash Harris, went out with an injury last month. He began to share time guarding some of the league's better guards, including Oklahoma State's Keiton Page, Texas' J'Covan Brown and Missouri's Marcus Denmon, all of whom average at least 15.8 points a game.

Green's best work came against Page. He held the senior sharpshooter to nine points on 2-of-13 shooting in an Aggie home win.

"We're trying to develop a defensive team, and [Green's] athletic enough and long enough to be a good defensive player," Kennedy said. "But as freshman seasons go, he's either been real good or real bad. Against Oklahoma State I thought he did a great job defensively. Against Kansas State and [the Texas] game I thought he struggled defensively, took himself out of plays, but that is part of growing up."

Offensively, Green is still finding his way, averaging 4.0 points a game. He has one of the better shooting percentages on the team at 44 percent but has struggled from the outside.

He has bettered his average in the last three games, including a career-high 14 points against Missouri on Saturday after setting personal highs in rebounds (five) and minutes (32) the previous game against Texas Tech.

"The game is going to slow down for me," Green said. "I'm focusing in on getting to that rim at practice every day, absorbing that contact and finishing, so I can help my team."

He's been a substantial help for Kennedy, starting 12 games and averaging nearly 18 minutes for the injury-riddled Aggies.

"Jordan the last couple of games has played both ends as well as anybody on our team," Kennedy said. "He's got a great attitude and is a great team guy and somebody we are going to be able to do some special things with in this program for years to come."

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NOTES -- A&M is 0-7 vs. Kansas at home. ... The Aggies have faced a team in the Top 5 five times this season. A&M's previous high for a season was three. ... A&M is No. 1 in the Big 12 in scoring defense, and Kansas is second. ... A&M assistant coach Kyle Keller spent the previous three years on Kansas' staff under head coach Bill Self. ... DoubleDave's Pizzaworks is sponsoring a promotion for fans to get a pair of tickets to the game for just $10. For information, fans can visit any of the three DoubleDave's locations in the Bryan-College Station area or order a pizza for delivery.

Who: Texas A&M (13-13, 4-10) vs. No. 4 Kansas (22-5, 12-2)

When: 8:05 p.m., Wednesday

Where: Reed Arena

TV/Radio: ESPN2/WTAW-AM 1620

Line: Kansas by 9

Kansas (22-5, 12-2)

Pos Name Ht. Class PPG RPG

G Tyshawn Taylor 6-3 sr. 16.6 *6.0

G Elijah Johnson 6-4 jr. 8.6 *3.8

F Travis Releford 6-6 jr. 9.1 4.3

F Thomas Robinson 6-10 jr. 17.7 11.8

C Jeff Withey 7-0 jr. 9.5 #3.4

Texas A&M (13-13, 4-10)

G Elston Turner 6-5 jr. 14.3 3.5

G Jordan Green 6-4 fr. 4.0 2.0

F Khris Middleton 6-7 jr. 11.8 5.1

F David Loubeau 6-8 sr. 10.8 4.6

C Keith Davis 6-10 jr. 1.4 3.8

*assists     #blocks