Celtics sign O'bryant

[Roy Hobbs]

Why are people doging this guy. 

Because of his work ethic, which Nelson, Chris Mullin, and even Danny Ainge called into question.  O'Bryant himself admitted he was "immature" when he came into the league and didn't handle himself correctly.

Now, this is fixable, of course.  However, I'm not going to get too excited when the lazy, stiff (meaning upright) young guy who has accomplished exactly nothing is signed to be our backup center.

Also, for those making the comparison:  the difference between Wright and O'Bryant is that Nelson hasn't publicly called Wright out and talked about how disappointed he is in him.  There's a difference between not playing a young guy, and publicly trashing him and not picking up his third year option.

[Chief]

I'll call Wright out. "Hey boy, you look like Mark Blount and you stink!!!!!!"

[johnnyrondo]

I don't know if it was the Herald or Globe, but in Saturday's paper Ainge said he was done with signing big men. This is it. What scares me is O'Bryant in the playoffs. I can't imagine one time when an opposing big has the ball down low that they won't call a foul on O'Bryant. People say he gives us 6 fouls, well he also puts the Celtics over the limit (foul wise). Without PJ, we don't win game 7 against Cleveland, and most are bashing Ainge for giving up Al and lottery picks in consecutice years just to get to the 2nd round. Ainge is seriously misjudging the contributions of Posey and PJ. I know PJ wants to retire. Fine, but sign someone adequate for this year then. And they'll only offer 2 years to Posey? Ridiculous.

[Edgar]

I don't know if it was the Herald or Globe, but in Saturday's paper Ainge said he was done with signing big men. This is it. What scares me is O'Bryant in the playoffs. I can't imagine one time when an opposing big has the ball down low that they won't call a foul on O'Bryant. People say he gives us 6 fouls, well he also puts the Celtics over the limit (foul wise). Without PJ, we don't win game 7 against Cleveland, and most are bashing Ainge for giving up Al and lottery picks in consecutice years just to get to the 2nd round. Ainge is seriously misjudging the contributions of Posey and PJ. I know PJ wants to retire. Fine, but sign someone adequate for this year then. And they'll only offer 2 years to Posey? Ridiculous.

Maybe hes done ...for now
and waiting to sign pollar or PJ at break
just to keep them fresh
or maybe a buyout at C
Veterans bite when we talk about World Champions and Best Record
Kurt, Theo, The Kandi man ...lol to this last one
theyre all posibilities

[Chief]

If the Celtics are contenders at the end of next season, I'd guess Danny will sign a big that is being bought out of their contract. These names would be my guess:

Brad Miller
Jerome James
Dan Gadzuric
Eric Dampier
Mark Blount 

[MVP]

I don't expect Danny to sign any other big man this off season. Remember, we got the best record last year with Big Baby/Powe as our backup big men, and they should be even better next year. We'll go into the season with our big men as is, see how Big Baby/Powe have progressed and see if O'Bryant can give us anything. If our current big men don't cut it, I'm sure there will be an option out there whether it will be from getting someone out of retirement or from a buyout. It's not like there are veteran big men out there right now who are that appealing, aside from Kurt Thomas.

[rondofan1255]

I think there aren't any big men out there that he wants to bite on and sign just yet. He probably has something in mind, and might even wait till shortly before preseason to make a decision.

[Andy Jick]

I'll call Wright out. "Hey boy, you look like Mark Blount and you stink!!!!!!"

well, you could always look like greg kite...

[Fan from VT]

convincing stats fan from VT - the minutes per block are interesting - I'm not sure of our sample size of O'Bryant, as you'd expect a guy to perform at the top of his game when fresh (which is why per 40 or 48 minute stats are often misleading) but there's some optomism there, and the fouling helps explain a lot

good work, TP

Yes, take them for what they are worth. But it's interesting that we have Perk on our team, a player who's per-minute blocks, rebounds, points, and shooting all remained very steady as his fouls per minute decreased and his minutes went up. Let's hope the same for O'bryant.

[Cman]

If the Celtics are contenders at the end of next season, I'd guess Danny will sign a big that is being bought out of their contract. These names would be my guess:

Brad Miller
Jerome James
Dan Gadzuric
Eric Dampier
Mark Blount  

I think you raise a good point -- there could be big men available towards the Feb trade deadline as players get bought out.  Add PJ Brown and Pollard to that list, and there could be others.

As MVP notes, there just aren't that many big men available to sign.  In addition to Kurt Thomas (who is really a PF) there is Brian Skinner and Francisco Elson.  I actually like both these players, but other than these two, no one else out there excites me.  Would one of these two be willing to come to the Cs for little money?  We'll see.

[wdleehi]

If the Celtics are contenders at the end of next season, I'd guess Danny will sign a big that is being bought out of their contract. These names would be my guess:

Brad Miller
Jerome James
Dan Gadzuric
Eric Dampier
Mark Blount 

Blount, no
James, no
Dampier, why would he be available?
Miller, again, why would he be available
Gadz, quickly becoming awful.

[Chief]

If the Celtics are contenders at the end of next season, I'd guess Danny will sign a big that is being bought out of their contract. These names would be my guess:

Brad Miller
Jerome James
Dan Gadzuric
Eric Dampier
Mark Blount 

Blount, no
James, no
Dampier, why would he be available?
Miller, again, why would he be available
Gadz, quickly becoming awful.

Maybe because their teams are not going to make the playoffs and at their age they will ask for a buyout. I'm not saying all will be available, but I bet 2 on that list will probably be. If I were to guess, it will be James and Miller.

[Triboy16]

I'll call Wright out. "Hey boy, you look like Mark Blount and you stink!!!!!!"

well, you could always look like greg kite...

they do look the same and both play lazy

[Andy Jick]

wright has that smirk on his face, like he knows something the rest of us don't...

blount's gum stuck his mouth together, so i guess that's why he's not smiling.

[Brendan]

Mark Blount plays lazy now, but when he was properly motivated before his pay day, he was a decent player and put up a good effort. If O'Bryant was the player Blount was, then this deal would be considered a steal.

I'm okay with Powe as our primary big man off the bench, and BBD's "girth" for when more size is needed. I understand its not ideal, but very few teams are perfect, and both Powe and BBD are quality players. (Hopefully BBD can up his intensity about conditioning and Powe can get better at the defensive rotations.)