BREAKERS LAND NBA TALENT
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
The Harvey Norman NZ Breakers have slam dunked their search for a replacement for injured American import Wayne Turner, securing a three-season NBA player who was with the Sacramento Kings a fortnight ago.
Towering 1.93m point guard Orien Greene, 25, has played 128 NBA games for the Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers and the Kings, but became a free agent on 15 November.
Breakers general manager Richard Clarke said the club worried that the player market would be bare given that the key European and American leagues are into their new seasons.
“We knew we were facing a tough task to replace a guy like Wayne Turner, and were a little nervous about who would be available in the market,” Clarke said. “If we had been looking even a week earlier Orien wouldn’t have been available. But we got lucky with the timing, and our US based scout alerted us to Orien’s availability and was able to convince his agent to take a look at the opportunity. As a result we will have a pretty good player arriving here Friday.”
After a stellar high school career Greene originally attended the University of Florida, his hometown college. After becoming disenchanted with being played out of position he sat out a season and transferred to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
He became renowned for his aggressive play, winning the Defensive Player of the Year award for the Sun Belt Conference in his senior season.
Greene was taken as a second-round pick (53rd overall) by the Boston Celtics and played 80 games in his first NBA season, averaging more than 15 minutes per match.
Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis is delighted to land a player with such impressive credentials so quickly and he’s certain Greene will be a great fit with a Breakers team that is having its most successful season in the NBL, currently sitting 4th on the 13-team ladder.
“Given our team philosophy we don’t want a superstar,” Lemanis said. “We’ve talked about Orien coming in and complementing what we have and he’s comfortable with that.
“One of the things I really like about him is that he’s a very good defender and that generally means you’re an unselfish player and prepared to put in the effort for your team mates.”
Lemanis said Greene has only ever played in the NBA since leaving college. “This is his first overseas experience so there’s going to be an adjustment period and it’s up to us as a team to help him settle. We are fortunate in that we have someone with the experience of Wayne Turner to help Orien in that process.”
The Breakers’ next assignment is against the South Dragons from Melbourne at the North Shore Events Centre on Thursday night.
www.nzbreakers.co.nz
Very good signing. I've seen some footage of him in the NBA.
