Norristown’s Roy Green is back in business

WEST NORRITON >> Even though it lost in its home-court matchup in the Triangle Club Tournament Monday, Norristown basketball does have at least one thing going for it: senior forward Roy Green is back.

He’s been out most of the year with not one, but two injuries — to different legs. He thought he had a meniscus tear in his right knee, but though the MRI came back clean, he’s also been working through the dreaded high-ankle sprain in his left foot.

Even with the injuries, the wiry forward looked mostly like himself.

“It’s hard,” he said. “I’m still not 100 percent on the floor, but as you can see, our record’s not too good, so I’m trying to work back and play as much as I can.”

“It’s hard getting back and not being able to produce quite as much as I want to,” Green said. “I do hesitate to make certain moves I would make otherwise.”

The Eagles got off to a 3-4 start without Green, and while they lost in his first contest back, having him will finally allow the team to function as it was designed to from the season’s get-go.

“He adds 20 points per game,” Eagles head coach Mike Evans said. “He brings a fire to the guys out on the floor. He’s a leader. He brings a lot to our team.”

Against the Hatters, it wasn’t quite 20, but he did lead the gym with 15 points on the evening and helped out with five boards. It was a little rough going at times—he mishandled a handful of passes — but that goes along with finding his basketball legs again.

“He tried to force it a little bit,” Evans said. “but that’s just his passion for the game. Once he gets back into a rhythm, we’ll work out fine.”

He’s one of the focal points of Norristown’s offense (fellow senior Darryl Carr is the other), so even with a not-quite-100-percent Green, Evans has got to be thrilled to have his third-year starter back.

“It’s good to have him back,” Evans said, “but now we’ve just got to gel.”

“We need to get in sync,” he went on. “It’s nice to have the starting five as we projected it, and now everyone can start playing together.”

Having Green on board goes a long way to that notion. He himself put it best.

“I think that the way we play when I’m on the floor is totally different,” he said. “I try to bring up the energy level. The team just goes out and plays basketball. They don’t act scared.”

That’s not to say they’re perfect, though.

“I think it makes a big difference,” he went on, “but we’ve definitely got a few kinks we need to work out.”