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Sunday July 20, 2008 4:19 PM

Growing Pains


Donté Greene gets an early introduction to the up-and-down life of the NBA

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff WriterLas Vegas - It must have seemed so easy.

The shots were going in from everywhere, and the numbers just kept climbing. 19 points in the first quarter. 36 through three. Considering the locale, you almost expected to hear the ringing of the ubiquitous Vegas slots every time the ball trickled through the twine.

Donté Greene’s dazzling debut ended with the rookie from Syracuse scoring 40 points – the second-highest point total in summer league history. ESPN.com asked whether or not it was the single-greatest summer league performance ever. The numbers made a strong case: In addition to those 40 points, Greene hit five three-pointers, shot 60% from the field, and added three boards, three assists and 2 steals for good measure. And, oh yeah, his team won (Donté also assisted on the game-winning basket). If Greene came to Vegas as a bit of a mystery, it definitely didn’t last long. The secret was out. The only remaining question was: What would he do for an encore?

Turns out, not much; or at least nothing that has come close to approaching his scintillating pro premiere. Oh, Donté has continued to jack up shots as if his nickname were “Greene light.” But in the three games since he exploded onto the scene, Greene is an ice cold 16 of 51 from the field; that’s 31.4% if you don’t happen to have a calculator handy.

Mind you, none of this should really come as much of a surprise. The Rockets knew Greene was raw when they snagged him in this summer’s draft. They’re keenly aware of what he can do. And they also know what he can’t.

“He’s a talented offensive player, but he’s young,” says head coach Rick Adelman. “Right now he’s very undisciplined with what he does. He’s gotta learn how to be more disciplined, and he’s got to learn how to play hard. I don’t know if he understands what it takes to play hard; especially at the level he’s got to play at. So it’s going to be a work-in-progress with him.

“He can’t just fire it up like he’s been doing here. We’re just learning about him. We’re just watching him play right now, and we’ll deal with it later.”

The good news is Greene knows he’s got his work cut out for him. He seems to hold no delusions about his place in the Rockets’ pecking order. But if you think his recent struggles have adversely affected his confidence, think again.

“You gotta keep shooting,” he says. “You can never stop shooting; especially when you’re a shooter or a scorer – you gotta keep putting it up, but you gotta be smarter with it, too. I need to work on being smarter at times, I think.

“I’m feeling okay, I just haven’t had the games I thought I was going to have the last few games, so I’m looking to finish strong”

So perhaps this whole NBA thing wasn’t as easy as it initially appeared. But that’s okay. Even the best and brightest are eventually forced to learn that lesson. Might as well get it out of the way early.