Tracking the Preaux Career of Orien Greene

[JMV JustMyView]

Best of luck Mr. Greene.

[DaddyCajun]

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 CAJUN

[NewsCopy]

Orien Greene catches up with his Gator contemporaries in the NBA

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.

The rest of the story

Kevin Brockway
(352) 374-5054
brockwk@gvillesun.com

[RaginFan2]

"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.

[NewsCopy]

Ron Brisoe of Southeast Regional Basketball Report and serbb.com is reporting:

Former Ragin Cajun basketball player, Orien Green, has signed a one year guranatee contract with Boston. The deal was done before O.G. was drafted by Boston. After working out for several teams Boston had O.G. in to workout for them two times. After the second workout his agent Jason Levein based out of Green's home town in Florida, was told by Boston, that they would pick him as the 53rd player in the draft, if he did not workout with another team and sign him to a one year contract.

That's what happen and look for O.G. to make the Boston roster for the season. O.G. is right now working out in Las Vegas.

[Jeaux]

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.

[JMV JustMyView]

How can a player sign a contract and not even know if the team will draft him?

[BrockMeaux]

Apparently, it's a good thing he's got a guaranteed contract...he's not on their summer league roster because he just had surgery on something in his foot, which isn't usually good for a 2nd round pick trying to make his way into the league.

[NewsCopy]

Surgery won't keep Greene from getting foot in door

Maybe it was a sign when Celtics coach Doc Rivers called Gerald Green by his first name during summer league practices. Rivers probably figured using the 18th overall pick's last name would cause confusion. After all, when training camp starts the Celtics will be seeing more green than usual with Gerald Green under contract, and 53d overall pick Orien Greene expected to follow soon.

With surgery to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot two days before summer league began, Greene became an afterthought in Las Vegas. But that was anything but the case inside the Celtics' organization. In fact, although Greene could have played through the injury, he underwent surgery, which was performed by team doctor Brian McKeon, because he essentially was assured a place on the 2005-06 roster.

''The procedure on the foot was something that was necessary," said Greene's agent, Jason Levien. ''There was no need to play in the summer league because the Celtics felt very comfortable in his abilities. We're hopeful that we'll solidify a deal in the next two to three weeks. He brings something to the table. It's likely he'll be contributing this year."

Expect Greene's contract to be similar to the one signed by second-round pick Justin Reed last season. The Celtics will likely guarantee Greene's deal for next season, then hold a team option for 2006-07. But Greene should see more playing time than Reed did during his rookie year, if not in the NBA then in the NBDL. As part of the new collective bargaining agreement, teams can send young players to a developmental league affiliate, where minutes will be more plentiful, though Greene and his agent believe he can earn playing time with the Celtics.

In some ways, Orien Greene represents the flip side of Gerald Green, who entered the NBA right out of high school. After earning McDonald's All-America honors in high school, Greene opted to attend the University of Florida. The 6-foot-5-inch point guard never fit in with the Gators, and was forced to play small forward on occasion. He transferred to Louisiana-Lafayette and had a successful, yet injury-riddled college career.

To his credit, Greene reached the NCAA Tournament four times. Long and athletic, Greene should prove to be a defensive asset as he can guard multiple positions.

The source of the story

[Frontrow Fan]

Celtics second-round draft pick Orien Greene underwent surgery to mend a fractured fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot yesterday at New England Baptist Hospital and will miss the team's summer league games in Las Vegas.
Greene, the 53rd overall selection, is a 6-foot-4 guard out of Louisiana-Lafayette. New Celts physician Brian McKeon performed the operation.

M&R SPORTS Basketball - Game Box Score
DALLAS MAVERICKS vs. HEAT
Date: 07/14/2005 Time: 3:00 Site: LB STATE/SUMMER PRO LEAGUE Attendance: Unknown

Visitors: HEAT
## Name P FG 3 Pt FT PTS ORB DRB TR PF AST TO BS ST MIN
31 TIRAS WADE 3/7 1/1 0/0 7 2 2 4 2 0 0 0 0 21:00

[JMV JustMyView]

Hope Orien gets better soon...

[Corndog308]

I know. I'd love to see him in a highlight on ESPN in a Celtics uni!!