Celtics sign O'bryant

[Gomesfan]

Look at it this way... The guys been in the NBA 2 season and played in 24 games his 1st with 7min a game and 16 games his 2nd with 4.1 min per game. IMO the guy has not even played half a season and has not even played enough minutes to gel on the floor, Let alone prove him self to Nellie. On top of that the guy is not even a "running system" player and thats what Nelson wants. I think giving time with are vets and staff he may fit perfect and is worth the risk as a back up center! Hey maybe  Powe won't have to give up a foot in games and play guys more his size instead playing the 5 backing up KP43. Just my opinion!

[Chris]

I am probably being naive here too, but I also put some stock in the whole "he was in a bad system for his skillset" thing.  Lets face it, Nellie hates true centers.  This kid should be in a system like the C's, where he can use his athleticism on defense, and then just stay out of the way on offense, and play off the better players.

[jdpapa3]

Not to mention that on a team with 3 all stars you need guys who can be targets and can finish around the hoop. Perk had some trouble finishing last season. POB is tall and athletic and will be able to finish, hopefully.

It's not like we need our centers to be 5 tool players. We need guys who are able to catch and dunk around the basket and can defend sufficiently in our team defensive scheme. Heck, Pollard dropped 10 in a game last year and hitting layups and decent strength were his only assets on the court.

[johnnyrondo]

..Well, the last time we plucked a fledgling center from the Warriors, as I remember, it sorta worked out ok..

Robert Parish's worst game with the Warriors was twice as good as O'Bryant's best game.

Watching O'Bryant's "highlight reel" I can't ever remember being less impressed by a highlight reel.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

Very interesting; nobody saw this one coming.

O?Bryant is a big body, a legit seven-footer that we desperately have needed off the bench. His work ethic and dedication has been questioned by Don Nelson, however, but he undeniably possesses some upside. In O?Bryant?s defense, he was never meant to succeed in an up-tempo system. Optimistically thinking, he could be a better fit in a limited role within a balanced system like ours. In addition, he now has some veteran mentors to look up to in Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins, which he never had in Golden State. Not to mention, Clifford Ray has worked wonders with each and every one of our young big men over the past couple of years.

I wouldn?t get too excited about this, but we could have done worse. Why not take a flier on a guy like O?Bryant?

I am, however, curious about the financial aspect of this deal. Was is the minimum or the LLE?

Side Note: I came up with a nickname for the big fella in 2006, and I now have the green light to use it - P.O.Box 26. Genius, I know.

Nice post and a TP for the genius nickname!

I don't see what everyone is getting so upset about.

I see a lot of talk about "better options" on this thread and it makes no sense to me.

What also makes no sense to me are people of this thread QUESTIONING DANNY AINGE!

I mean seriously. You are all the same people who must have questioned the Gomes/Powe signings as well.

I'd much rather have P.O. Box 26 than ANY currently available big men. Don't forget P.O. was a 9th OVERALL pick! He recieved the Darko treatment in G-State and had NOBODY to look up to/teach him. No chance Nellie ever encouraged his development.

We know Clifford Ray and Bryan Doo are going to work on the kid all summer long.

Truth is I think this opens the door for what we've all wanted all along...more PT for Powe and Big Baby! I'd consider P.O. Box as an insurance policy type of signing who has the potential to step in when called upon.

He's going to learn a TON from KG, Perk, and Cliff and WILL be a solid defender on the 2nd unit.

We for sure got him for the vet's minimum so no need to worry about the financial terms.

Remember: Ainge is a genius.

[Edgar]

with all due respect, i do not understand the rationale "he can't be worse than pollard."

just because a high school kid improves from an F to a D- does not mean you pat him on the back and say good job. i hope i am wrong, but this is a waste and it is a 2 year deal.

I hear you
But it WAS a waste with pollard too
And hes thrid string center as pointed who happens to be very very young
At worst hes kandi v 3.0
and that is enough for this team at garbage time
If he manage to be in the rotation he will be playing with better players that can only make him better
We just need a couple of big bodies to kick Bynum behind while perk is resting.

And for the D- , yes you have to pat the kid in the back if he does that after that he will go for the C

[KJR]

Terrific pickup.

He's here for defense against Dalembert/Brand, D. Howard, and Cleveland's bigs.  (Wonder if Ainge saw something in video of him against the Clippers.)

The primary rap against him seems to be strength and bulking up.  That is very fixable.

His primary benefit to Celtics may be defense.  GS plays no D, so he was worthless to them.  In our system, he may be much more valuable.

Big guys develop the latest of all.  Wonder what everyone was saying about Perk 3-4 years ago.

Being gassed in the workout is complete misdirection.  Of course the Celtics are not going to admit that they wanted him.

I'd wait to form a judgment until we've seen the guy play.

[johnnyrondo]

Wow I just got the "JOOMLA" page due to too many people on celticsblog due to Patrick O'Bryant!! We totally have the most diehard fans.

[Who]

Could Danny have been interested in a good weak-side defender to spell Perk defensively for 10-15 minutes a game? Has anyone ever seen him man-up on an opposing center?

He's a pathetic post defender that consistently gets muscled out of it in the post. He doesn't fight for position before the pass. He gets backed down easily. He's soft. He's passive. He's dumb. It feel embarrassed for him when I watch him pretend to be a big man.

[SShoreFan 2.0]

They had to have seen something in him.


Gotta love the late Friday announcement..........hmmm.


Was hoping for Andersen.

[johnnyrondo]

The primary rap against him seems to be strength and bulking up.  That is very fixable.

I thought the primary rap was that he didn't work hard and he sucked.

[EJPLAYA]

And yet Danny still offered this guy a contract... With his track record I think I will take Danny's opinion on this one...

Now paging Brian Scalabrine. 

Again, I'm sick of the "Danny Ainge is infallible" mantra.  Danny has made maybe two shrewd free agent signings since he got here that weren't absolute no-brainers:  Eddie House and Mike James.  The rest of his free agents have been either obvious moves for the money (Posey, P.J.) or pretty poor (Scal, Googs, everybody else).

I appreciate the "In Danny we trust" slogan, but his record in evaluating free agents has been a bit spotty.  I'm not criticizing him, because overall as a GM he's been good.  However, I'm not going to trust Danny's judgment on a free agent because of some imaginary tremendous track record.

That's fine. I agree Danny has some signing that turned out better than others. Here is the point though. Danny liked the kid enough to sign him over the other guys. Danny has played college basketball at a high level, nba basketball at a high level, coached at a high level, and been a GM at a high level winning championships throughout his career. WE are guys that spend way too much time on a blog. WE didn't see the guy workout. WE didn't watch tons of tape on the guy like Danny most certainly did.  I'll take his opinion...

[fan33]

His being given 5 minutes avg. in 64 games as a 20-21 year old was asking alot of shine for a virtual college player in a poor system fit.

Excellent specific coaching and mentoring and he very well may shine by 24... Yep, I'll give a wait and see vote on this one

[RebusRankin]

Hopefully its only for the minimum but I don't like this signing. Can't you sign a stiff like this in September?

[Chris]

By the way, I think anyone who was pining for Devon Hardin or Deandre Jordan should be very happy with this pick.  O'Bryant has every bit as much talent as either of them, and still is incredibly young for a center.

And there is a chance that the C's got him for less money, and less obligation than they would have if he was a draft pick (assuming they have options/buyouts).