Gerald Green gets it. He knows that all his talent will go to waste if he doesn't change his ways. Or at least he's saying all the right things.

A 6-8 guy with his athleticism and shooting touch should sign a megabucks contract entering his fourth NBA season. Green, however, comes to the Mavericks for a minimum salary, hoping to prove he can harness that talent and become a legitimate NBA player.

The Mavs were willing to give him that chance because Green is only 22 years old and has tons of untapped potential. It's up to the folks with offices at the AAC to repair the damage the AAU system did to Green's game.

Green is a world-class dunker. He's a pretty good 3-point shooter. And he can't do anything else at an NBA level. As Rick Carlisle says, the Mavs will try to convert him from showman to basketball player.

The AAU system is all about flash, not fundamentals. Green's game reflects that.

Green's coach at Houston Dobie tried to give him some discipline, but Green resisted and took the easy road. His AAU coach hooked him up with Ken "Juice" Williams, who basically ran an AAU program at Houston Gulf Shores Academy. Follow the jump to read a story I wrote about the Gulf Shores program Green's senior season.

Green has paid for listening to the coaches who told him how good he was instead of the ones who tried to make him better. He's a phenomenal talent who has no clue what he's doing on defense and doesn't understand how to get his shots in a structured offense.

"He had to learn that there's a big difference between being AAU famous and NBA famous," said John Lucas, who started working with Green after his humbling release from the Rockets, which ended a four-minute stint with his hometown team.

Green has showed flashes of brilliance with the Mavs' summer squad. However, he still looks lost on defense at times and shot only 37 percent in Las Vegas. His game is a work in progress that is just getting started.

The good news is that Green seems to understand that. And he couldn't ask for a better situation to save his career than the one in Dallas, where he has a chance to earn playing time and a coaching staff eager to work with him. Jason Kidd's passing ability will accentuate what Green does best (dunk), and Kidd's knowledge and experience should be invaluable tools for the kid.

Green's ego from his days as an AAU legend is apparently gone. He's been humbled by a grown man's game.