Orien Greene

[...] Beijing's other imports have been guards, but they have not been successful. They started with Steve Francis, in a saga best explained here. As the numbers can attest to, it didn't end well. Francis was replaced by perennial NBA-cusper Joe Crawford, but he too struggled, and has been released, replaced by ex-NBA player Orien Greene. Greene has yet to make his debut.

Orien Greene - Greene is having the best offensive season of his career. Playing shooting guard alongside Kevin Kruger, Greene is averaging 21.8 points per game for the D-League's Utah Flash, alongside 4.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.4 turnovers per game. Combine all that, with all this, and all of this, and see how you feel.

Ex-NBA guard Orien Greene was suspended for two years (with one year considered already served) after trying to avoid a doping test by using a team mate's urine at the end of the 2008/09 season. (Don't know the ins and outs of how he did this, nor do I want to know.) The team mate, Teddy Gipson, was also suspended for six months. The team they were both playing for, ABC Amsterdam, have not yet been sanctioned but may be soon. Both players had long since left the team; Jannero Pargo's friend Gipson averaged 16.2 points and 5.3 assists to lead fallen French giant Pau Orthez back to the ProA, and Greene spent the year in the D-League with the Utah Flash before going to Venezuela for some summer money. He'll have to make that D-League salary stretch quite a long way now.

- Orien Greene

After spending last year in Holland, Orien Greene has returned to America and is playing for the Utah Flash of the D-League. His numbers there are very Orien Greene like; 15.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.7 steals and 4.1 turnovers per game. Utah run a bizarre three point guard lineup with Greene, Gabe Pruitt and Kevin Kruger (it used to be a four point guard lineup until Dontell Jefferson got injured) and yet even with all that help with running the offense and bringing the ball up - two things Greene was never that good at - he still can't stop turning the ball over. Greene has 36 turnovers in his last 6 games, and that comes as a starting shooting guard. It's tough to explain.