POB article

[TheHeemyMonster]

doesnt make POB look too good here...

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Patrick-O-Bryant-did-not-feel-Kevin-Garnett;_ylt=AjY68oP6cY8TYvbLZyjSoz.8vLYF?urn=nba-276384

[Da Coach]

A somewhat ridiculous article. POB's problem with the Celtics had little or nothing to do with not listening to Kevin Garnett. If POB had moved in with Garnett, and spent 24 hours every day listening to him, it would not have likely changed a single thing. He was inexperienced, and was never given a chance.

[BradleyBrave]

A somewhat ridiculous article. POB's problem with the Celtics had little or nothing to do with not listening to Kevin Garnett. If POB had moved in with Garnett, and spent 24 hours every day listening to him, it would not have likely changed a single thing. He was inexperienced, and was never given a chance.

And he's not an NBA-caliber player. I don't think being given a 'chance' would have changed that.

[Da Coach]

And he's not an NBA-caliber player. I don't think being given a 'chance' would have changed that.

I don't know how anyone could be sure he couldn't develop into a decent NBA big-man, since he virtually never played. There are and have been a lot of big stiffs who have played in the NBA through the years who were not as skilled as POB.
But here are a couple things that are fact-
He was good enough to be drafted in the lottery (#9 overall) in 2006.
The Golden State Warriors were not the only team that had POB on the draft list, so there were others who thought he was an NBA-caliber player.
He was among the leading scorers and rebounders per minute played in the preseason games with the Celtics in 2008 when he was briefly given playing time.

[tornado]

Hasheem Thabeet, widely renowned as a top college player and drafted #2 overall...hasn't really shown any more skill to date than POB did...

whether POB would have made it in the NBA under any circumstances can be debated....but....
POB's rookie and career averages of about 2ppg, and 2 rpg, ain't a whole lot different from Thabeets, considering Hasheem was given 883 minutes opportunity to play as a rookie, while POB got just 199 minutes..
In fact, in his four seasons in the NBA, POB has played a total of only 480 minutes and scored 171 pts, while Thabeet's already played twice as much and has just about the same number of points and rebounds...

BUT -- as a #2 draft pick Thabeet is gonna get that chance to play and develop because of the monetary investment the team has in him. POB didn't get that chance and the coach he had didn't want to play him.

[Missouri Brave]

I wish POB the best but he is in China for one big reason: his work ethic stinks. I don't think it's an accident that many of the articles about him talk about desire and the like. If he had focused on being a decent NBA player, instead of enjoying the trappings of being in the NBA, things might've turned out differently. Shame on him for not learning all he could from KG.

[BradleyBrave]

I personally don't care what he becomes as far as a pro basketball player, but if a player wants it bad enough someone will give him a shot. He didn't end up in China by accident. If it was just a matter of 'not getting a chance', he'd have a contract in the US or Europe right now.

[Dallas Brave]

I've always felt that if POB's primary interest was to have the longest NBA career possible, he would have stayed in school 2 more years and have been better prepared to play in the NBA when he graduated. He instead took the money at the earliest possibility, which many posters believe was the right thing to do even though I think most would agree he was physically unprepared for the demands of NBA.

I wish him well in China.

[ER3]

I've always felt that if POB's primary interest was to have the longest NBA career possible, he would have stayed in school 2 more years and have been better prepared to play in the NBA when he graduated. He instead took the money at the earliest possibility, which many posters believe was the right thing to do even though I think most would agree he was physically unprepared for the demands of NBA.

I wish him well in China.

POB made a great choice to leave for the NBA when he did. His stock was at its peak, it was a down year for big men in the draft...it was a classic 'right place, right time' thing for him. He ended up as a lottery pick and got 3 years of great money out of it.

Selfishly, I wish he would have returned to BU...but it would have been a terrible decision for him...he likely would have been exposed for what he is, a guy that clearly isn't good enough to play in the NBA with a suspect work ethic to go along with it. He's had 4+ years now to develop physically and to improve his game without the responsibilities of college there to split his focus, and he's gone from the NBA to the D-League to the China Basketball League...That makes it pretty difficult to support the notion that a couple additional years in college would have given him a chance to be in a better position entering the NBA...

He caught lightning in a bottle, he was a lottery pick and made millions when he came out for the draft early. I'd say there's a 99.9% chance that the story would not have ended nearly as well for him if he would have stayed at BU for an additional year or two...