Congratulations Orien Green
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Congratulations Orien Green
What is this ? A UL player drafter ? What ?
HELL YEAH! UL Sports baby!
Good luck to Greene... show them we can play ball.
Goooooooooooooooooooooooo Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaajuns!!!!!! ..O.. .~.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORIEN!!!!!! ..O.. .~.
Good pub none the lest......
Best of luck Mr. Greene.
..O.. This is great both for Greene and UL. Greene you've made me happy of course, my parents are happy(big Celtics fans), and my son thinks this is so cool as Orien wasone of his favorite players!
DADDY :ms02: CAJUN
<BLOCKQUOTE><P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><b>Orien Greene catches up with his Gator contemporaries in the NBA</b>
Orien Greene was once dubbed the best pickup player at Florida, when he routinely beat Mike Miller and Matt Bonner one-on-one in their years on campus.
Miller and Bonner are now in the NBA. Greene moved a step closer to joining them after the Boston Celtics took the 6-foot-5 Gainesville native with the 53rd overall pick in the NBA Draft.
That Greene, a senior who began his college career at Florida before transferring to Louisiana, was drafted was a notable achievement, considering he wasn't invited to the Portsmouth predraft camp in April. He's the first player from the Sun Belt Conference to be drafted since the Portland Trail Blazers took Arkansas State center Jason Jennings in the second round in 2002.
Greene, who was traveling to Boston to be introduced by the Celtics today, could not be reached on his cell phone Wednesday. He watched the draft in a Clearwater hotel room with his mother, Poinsetta Greene, and family friends.
Greene sealed his draft status in his second workout with the Boston Celtics. The defensive player of the year in his conference, Greene shut down Georgia Tech guard Jarrett Jack and Croatian guard Roko Ukic in private workouts.
That was enough to convince Celtics general manager Danny Ainge, who altered his draft strategy to take a point guard in the first round when high school wing player Gerald Green was available at No. 18.
"We think with his physical talents, being 6-5 and long and athletic and playing the point guard in college, he's just a different player with a lot of potential, a tall long point guard," Ainge said on the Celtics team website. "He's a terrific player, he can handle. He's not a great shooter but his shot isn't bad. He's a guy who has played the point and has been a distributor."
Historically, players drafted in the second round have a 25 percent chance to make an NBA roster, but Greene has the advantage of going to a team that could potentially be thin at his position. Starting point guard Gary Payton is a free agent and backup Delonte West projects as more of a combination (point/shooting) guard than a pure point guard.
"There were other teams interested, but we felt like Boston was the best opportunity for him to make the 12-man roster," said Greene's agent, Jason Levien.
Greene spent the previous six weeks before the draft working with a personal coach, David Thorpe, in Clearwater to prepare for his workouts. Greene worked on the mechanics of his shot and his leg strength. Greene broke his leg before the start of his senior season, and the injury hindered his ability to get off the ground.
<center><p><a href="http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050630/GATORS02/206300324/-1/sports">The rest of the story</a>
Kevin Brockway
(352) 374-5054
brockwk@gvillesun.com <!--
"He went from having poor mechanics as a shooter to passable mechanics," Thorpe said. "His legs also were a priority. He came here with a 36-inch vertical leap and at the time of the draft, he was jumping 42 inches."
Thorpe said that Greene showed good work ethic during the six-hour work sessions that were designed to make him a more well-rounded player.
"Orien has really turned the corner in that regard," Thorpe said. "He hasn't crossed the finish line yet. He knows nothing is guaranteed. But I think he realizes the mistakes that he made and that if he worked as hard earlier in his college career, he would have stayed at Florida."
At Florida, Greene's problems were well documented. He sometimes showed up to practice without his sneakers. There were class attendance issues.
Gator fans remember Greene infamously when he failed to get the ball in bounds in time against Creighton in an double-overtime loss in the opening round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Florida had three time outs available, but Greene didn't burn one.
Playing close to home was a heavy burden for Greene, who at Gainesville High led the Hurricanes to consecutive state titles. Greene earned Mr. Basketball honors in Gainesville his senior year.
Anthony Long, who coached Greene at Gainesville before moving on to Orlando Dr. Phillips High, said Greene used to allow players to drive by him on purpose in practice so he could turn around and practice blocking shots.
"He was so long and athletic," Long said. "He's probably the best player I've ever coached or ever will coach.
"When he transferred from Florida and went to a smaller school, a lot of people probably wrote him off. He continued to work hard and it's paid off."
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"Orien has really turned the corner in that regard," Thorpe said. "He hasn't crossed the finish line yet. He knows nothing is guaranteed. But I think he realizes the mistakes that he made and that if he worked as hard earlier in his college career, he would have stayed at Florida."
At Florida, Greene's problems were well documented. He sometimes showed up to practice without his sneakers. There were class attendance issues.
Gator fans remember Greene infamously when he failed to get the ball in bounds in time against Creighton in an double-overtime loss in the opening round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Florida had three time outs available, but Greene didn't burn one.
Playing close to home was a heavy burden for Greene, who at Gainesville High led the Hurricanes to consecutive state titles. Greene earned Mr. Basketball honors in Gainesville his senior year.
Anthony Long, who coached Greene at Gainesville before moving on to Orlando Dr. Phillips High, said Greene used to allow players to drive by him on purpose in practice so he could turn around and practice blocking shots.
"He was so long and athletic," Long said. "He's probably the best player I've ever coached or ever will coach.
"When he transferred from Florida and went to a smaller school, a lot of people probably wrote him off. He continued to work hard and it's paid off."
Nice to see the respect they give to UL. :( Oh, well, it is a Gainesville newspaper. Best of luck to OG with the Celtics. I hope he makes a BIG splash in the NBA. Come back to visit us, Orien.
Ron Brisoe of Southeast Regional Basketball Report and serbb.com is reporting:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron Briscoe <a href="http://forums.delphiforums.com/ragincajuns/messages?msg=17996.1">*</a>
So he was signed before the draft? Then what is the purpose of having the draft? If it was just for show then why not stop after the lottery picks. Great new for Orien. Would love to see him in action some more.