Do-It-All Danny

Danny Green isn't sure that he is a different player at North Carolina this season, just a smarter one.

Three seasons of experience have proved invaluable for Green as a senior. He made a smooth adjustment to a major change in moving into the starting lineup and ditching his role as sixth man, and is putting together his finest season.

Today Green, a 6-6 forward, will try to help UNC post its 20th win of the season and build its ACC winning streak to six games when Maryland visits the Smith Center for an 8 p.m. game.

Maryland will have to worry about stopping Tyler Hansbrough inside, Wayne Ellington outside, and Ty Lawson speeding down the court on the break. It will also have to be concerned with Green doing a little bit of everything.

"Now every game I try to bring energy from the start," Green said. "You can't control what goes on or what the referees call. I try to tell the young guys you can't control your minutes, but you can control your play. When you get in the game, you've got to produce."

Green has had a tough assignment all season in replacing Marcus Ginyard, who is recovering from surgery on his left foot to repair a stress fracture. Green isn't the defensive stopper that Ginyard is when healthy, but his contributions have helped UNC to a 19-2 overall record and 5-2 in ACC play.

Last Saturday, in a game at N.C. State, Green helped stop a rally that had chopped an 18-point lead to eight. He came back into the game with 11:53 left after sitting for several minutes after drawing a third foul, and 23 seconds later nailed a 3-point shot from just off the right baseline for a 63-52 lead.

Center Ben McCauley of N.C. State thought that the basket was the most important of the game because of the deflating effect it had on his team's comeback.

Green was mostly a shooter in his first two seasons. He said that fearlessness is an accurate judgment when assessing his approach to shooting.

"I'm the type of guy who likes the tough games," Green said. "When it gets physical, I like to get physical back. My energy and adrenaline get going. Somebody's got to step up. So why not it be me?"

Coach Roy Williams of UNC isn't sure that fearlessness is the right description of Green's outside shooting.

"He may not have fear; I have fear," Williams said, breaking into a laugh.

The shots find the basket regularly, but Williams is more satisfied by watching Green make better decisions this season. In a game at Florida State last Wednesday, Green helped UNC build a 13-point lead in the second half and then storm back after falling behind 68-63 for an 80-77 win.

Hansbrough struggled mightily at FSU when held to eight points. With just more than a minute left and UNC down three points, Green stole Toney Douglas' pass, sped for a layup, drew a foul and made the free throw to tie the score and set the stage for Lawson's winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Green is contributing in so many ways that Williams has taken to calling him a stat-sheet stuffer. With the exception of free-throw shooting, all of Green's offensive production is better than his career averages after three seasons. His 32 blocked shots and 40 steals each rank second on the team.

"Danny's the original; I don't know that I've ever seen a player go through so many games and not have any zeros," Williams said. "He's always got something up there. Whether it's good column or bad column, he's got something up."

Green makes mistakes, but fewer than before. Williams scolded him recently for not accepting responsibility for a poor shot.

"The other day in practice I ripped him from (one) side to the other around the gym," Williams said.

"He shoots an airball. (He said), ‘God, that ball was slick.' I said, ‘That's right, Danny. It wasn't your fault. It was that ball's fault. That ball rolled through that puddle so it could come up and get to your hands.' "

Williams said that he and Green laughed about the incident. Both admit that this season is going a little easier on each of them than previous seasons because each knows the other better after three years of learning what makes the other tick.

Green described his way of playing as smiling and having fun. Williams is accepting more readily what he calls ‘Danny being Danny.' Sometimes the process will include an infuriating shot, a blown defensive assignment or a sloppy pass.

Yet Williams knows that in the next instant Green can run down the floor, smack a layup off the backboard with a block, or grab a rebound and stick in a follow shot.

Green said his relationship with Williams is stronger this season, with more understanding on both sides.

"My freshman year and sophomore year, it was more of a yelling type thing to get through to me," Green said. "He would try to get me mad so I could play better. I usually play better when I'm mad. I think he knows that. It was more a love-hate situation. Now it's more laid-back.

"I don't know how to explain it. We're more comfortable with each other now and we understand each other a lot better now. I know what he's looking for and what he wants."

■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.