O'Bryant Working With Cliff Ray

[pp34isthe1]

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/53954/20080811/bostons_obryant_working_with_cliff_ray/

Not much but its always good to know that o'bryant is actually showing some work ethic

[hwangjini_1]

well, if anyone can turn Obryant into a decent NBA center it would be Ray. obryant has physical talent but wasnt in a system that played to his abilities in golden state.

maybe the wakeup call of being jettisoned by GS combined with Ray and a new team system will do the trick.

if obryant turns out to be a decent nba center, it would be a steal for the celtics and make the center position much stronger.

[JR Giddens]

Awesome!

If either J.R. Giddens or Patrick O'Bryant can step up we'll be the title favorites in every Celtics fans mind. We still have one roster spot to sign a veteran 3 or 5 if we need too!

I also hope Gabe Pruitt can get sum time next year!

[billysan]

If Clifford Ray can get a decent backup center's game out of POB in spite of all the negative predictions on this site, I think we should oficially dub him the "Miracle Worker".

If anyone can get POB to realize even 10% more of his potential it is Clifford Ray IMO.

I kinda wish we had given Kwame Brown a shot just to see what C-Ray could do with him.

[cdif911]

if obryant turns out to be a decent nba center, it would be a steal for the celtics and make the center position much stronger.

if o'bryant turns into an NBA center who can go 3 minutes without fouling it'll be a steal for the celtics...

[zerophase]

well, its hard to stay motivated when you know your not going to get much playing time. 4.1 mpg...

[cdif911]

well, its hard to stay motivated when you know your not going to get much playing time. 4.1 mpg...

great athletes don't accept that they'll play 4 minutes a game, they earn their time in practice

[PRIDE]

I hope he is getting in the weight room too. He needs to gain some lower body strength to be effective. I hope Cliff Ray has him on a good program. He should come into the season with a few solid post moves. If he can bang with our bigs in training camp and show he wants to compete then I think he has a chance.

[Roy Hobbs]

well, its hard to stay motivated when you know your not going to get much playing time. 4.1 mpg...

Chicken or the egg?

I think players that have a true work ethic stay motivated no matter what their playing time is.  Yes, everyone has the potential to get discouraged, but I think the players with top-flight determination just use the lack of playing time to motivate them to work even harder.

What's done is done regarding O'Blount.  Let's hope he puts his (admitted) immaturity and lazyness behind him.  So far, so good.

[Robb]

If anyone can get POB to realize even 10% more of his potential it is Clifford Ray IMO.

I don't remember him having a lot of potential.  I remember him being seven feet tall in a mid-major conference and a weak draft.

The only thing I expect from him is fouls.

[CoachBo]

If anyone can get POB to realize even 10% more of his potential it is Clifford Ray IMO.

I don't remember him having a lot of potential.  I remember him being seven feet tall in a mid-major conference and a weak draft.

The only thing I expect from him is fouls.

Yup. Seven feet tall and outplayed on a regular basis in a mid-major. I disagree - strongly - that potential is some sort of automatic. Not everyone has potential, and it has to be displayed at some point.

If Cliff turns this guy into any kind of a contributor whatsoever, Cliff is the best big man coach in the game.

Roy's right. What's done is done with O'Blount. Now, let's see if Cliff can figure out a way to make this kid care for the first time in his life.

[Chris]

If anyone can get POB to realize even 10% more of his potential it is Clifford Ray IMO.

I don't remember him having a lot of potential.  I remember him being seven feet tall in a mid-major conference and a weak draft.

The only thing I expect from him is fouls.

7 feet tall, good athleticism and mobility, plus a decent shooting touch equals a ton of potential for a big man.  Doesn't mean he will realize it, but the potential is there because of his tools, not his production in college.

[moskqq]

Clifford Ray turned a very mediocre player (Perkins) into a serviceable center.  Perk routinely had his shot blocked because he had little elevation and poor shielding of the ball at release.  Ray taught him to create space (offensively) by first "bumping" his defender  off-balance  and then to elevate without the telltale "windup"..  Cliff also taught Perk that the same move won't always work and so he showed him how to fake elevation and then step sideways for his shot release.  Thus was born the short hook-shot and the opposite side layup (using either hand).

On defense, Perk was taught not to jump into the offensive player but to elevate "vertically" with either hand to block or contest a shot.  In order to establish good position Perk was taught to keep close contact with his man so as to reduce opportunities for spin moves and to bring his defensive hands closer to the point of ball release.

Ray also coached Perk on help defense and reduced Perk's forays to the perimeter (Perk was too slow to retreat re Harter's system).

The same formula should work for O'Bryant and perhaps work even better (in time) because Patrick has better athleticism, size, lateral mobility, offensive capability etc.  The big question mark is whether Patrick has a similar work ethic and the necessary determination.

[footey]

Perk still has the tell-tale windup, unfortunately. However, his stellar defense and rebounding makes up for some of his perpetual sins on offense.

O'Bryant potentially is a good complement to Perk as a 5.  Ideally their minutes will get split up evenly in a year or two.

[Cassidy122690]

Exactly, I know all the bigs sing the praises of Cliff Ray, but why can't he stop Perk from repeating his most glaring offensive bad habit - namely, getting a rebound or post pass then making hmself the size of Herve Villechaize by touching the ball to his shoe laces?  He got better, but he still did it consistently.