Athlete (2003 . . . ) Orien Greene

[Jason]

let us know as soon as u can!! this could be HUGE!!

[BrockMeaux]

Be at the game tomorrow night to find out.will Greene play? And exactly what WILL the Basketball band be called? Bring all your friends.same Cajun time, same Cajun venue!

[CajunFanatic91]

Brother, are we going to see a basketball game or a soap opera tonight?

[Jason]

Greene's grade did count and he will be eligible to play as soon as all the paperwork is done. There is a chance that he will be able to play tonight, but we will have to wait and see

[NewsCopy]

Finally eligible, the Florida transfer reveals potential.

LOUISIANA La. — After so long away from the court, Orien Greene was tempted to try to do too much for UL on Saturday night.

Greene, the transfer guard from Florida who arrived with such high expectations, finally got the paperwork completed on a correspondence course and suited up for the Ragin’ Cajuns against the New Orleans Privateers.

“It feels real good to get into a game,” said Greene, who had 7 points, 3 assists and 3 steals in an 85-64 victory.

“At first, I was moving too fast. In the second half, I just slowed down and kept my composure, and I was able to get into the game.”

All of Greene’s points came after halftime as he settled down and let the game come to him, instead of maintaining a frenetic pace.

“Orien is a really fine player,” UL coach Jessie Evans said. “He plays within himself. He passes well, dribbles well and shoots the ball well.

“He’ll take what a defense gives him. The thing I like about Orien is that he’s a team player and is always looking to make you better. I’m sure the other players appreciate that — players like Brad Boyd, Laurie Bridges and Antoine Landry.”

“Basically, we came into tonight trying to play good defense,” said Greene, who helped hold the Privateers to 22-of-53 shooting. “If we do that, I think we match up with any team in the conference.”

The hunger for Greene to make his debut was heightened last Thursday when the Cajuns committed 20 turnovers — many of them crucial, two of them late — in a 76-73 home loss to South Alabama.

He didn’t hit the floor planning to solve all such woes, but his presence does change the equation for the better for the Cajuns.

“They played real well Thursday night,” Greene said of his teammates. “They just had a couple of mishaps at the end.

“We wanted to come out with intensity tonight and take good shots.”

The 28-minute maiden voyage is over. Greene is now ready to get on with the rest of the season.

“I’m happy it’s over and (that) I’m out there,” Greene said. “I’ve learned I need to take care of business, on and off the floor.

“I think I bring defensive intensity to the game. I just want to fall in and do whatever the team needs me to do.”

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Paint It Greene
Orien Greene may be the defining piece to the Cajuns'' basketball puzzle.

OK, so no one's running the Sun Belt basketball table this year. This comes as no surprise, especially if you paid any attention to the nonconference games in December. The Arkansas schools lost to Idaho State and Penn State, Middle Tennessee lost to Chattanooga, Western Kentucky went down to VCU, Denver stumbled at Eastern Washington, New Mexico State got hammered by UTEP twice, North Texas lost to Lamar and Southern, UNO was whipped by Hawaii and South Alabama lost to Jackson State. Meanwhile, Florida International is losing to everybody.

If there was any hope for table running, the kind that Western Kentucky did a few years ago, it lay with the Cajuns. University of Louisiana at Lafayette played Dayton tough when the Flyers were a Top 25 club and took No. 4 Arizona to the wire before losing by three.

But last Thursday sort of took care of that. Twenty turnovers and a few brain cramps turned certain victory into a three-point loss to South Alabama. Up by 10 with about five minutes to play, they launched five three-pointers among their final eight shots, made only one basket and, with a chance to tie in the last seven seconds, forgot what the score was and went for the lay-up instead of a tying three-pointer. Not a good night.

Saturday was a bit more like it. The Ragin' Cajuns jumped on New Orleans early and often and won going away. The game also marked the debut of Orien Greene, the University of Florida transfer who accounted for more ink by not playing than most other juniors do when they're in the starting lineup. Greene needed a correspondence course to gain his eligibility between semesters, but his status was so questionable (read: secretive) that UL's sports information department didn't even list him on the roster of the pre-game fact sheet. Maybe somebody figured if they didn't list him, the Privateers wouldn't notice. Hey, you never know.

The guy just oozes big time. Greene's impact was immediate: 7 points, 3 assists, 3 steals and 0 turnovers. That would be two less turnovers than the Cajuns had in the final minute alone against South Alabama. Paint Greene into the Cajun backcourt with Laurie Bridges, Brad Boyd, Antoine Landry and Dwayne Mitchell and the guard position is starting to look like an assembly line for All-League candidates. Coach Jessie Evans said afterwards that he expects Greene to be the squad's point guard as the season progresses.

You think?

Although the Cajuns' loss to the Jags was painful to UL fans, it wasn't fatal. After two weeks, every Belt member has at least one loss and even the home-court advantage has taken a holiday. The only SBC teams unbeaten at home are Arkansas State and UALR, and they've only played twice at home between them. Oh, UNO is unbeaten at home as well, but they haven't played any league games at the Lakefront yet. I figure their time's coming, too. Soon.

But if you're serious about winning a championship, you don't want to lose at home. If you do, that's one more game you have to steal on the road, and now you're pushing the envelope. Take New Mexico State, for example. The Aggies were picked to challenge Louisiana for the West crown this year but took a pair of hits in Las Cruces from USA and UNO last week. They're in Lafayette Thursday, at Western Kentucky Saturday and at Middle Tennessee next week. See the problem?

It's less of an immediate concern for the Cajuns. After the Aggies, UL goes to Florida International (once trailed Denver Saturday 37-4) and WKU before hosting North Texas and Denver. But five road games in a dozen nights await them after that before closing the regular season at home with the Arkansas cousins.

Moral? Homeland security. Nobody will sweep on the road from here on out - the league's too balanced for that. Protecting the home turf therefore becomes the priority.

That and getting Orien Greene at the point as much as possible.

Don Allen's Out of Bounds celebrated its 16th anniversary with The Times in September. Proof that you can fool some of the people all of the time. Catch his daily Out of Bounds radio show at 9 a.m. Monday through Friday, on KVOL-AM.


Posted on January 21, 2004

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Don Allen
The Times of Acadiana
timesedit@timesofacadiana.com