# Maciej Lampe



## toiletscrubber (Sep 22, 2002)

I know this is been mention before, but I haven't heard a good explaination about this yet.

Why has Lampe felt all the way to the second round?

Before the draft, there was a hige hype about Lampe being the next Dirk Nowitski, and his stock is as high as the five pick of the draft, and his name are in the lottery of every single mock drafts. 

My impression about Lampe is him being only a 17 years, is all potential, and it will take time for Lampe to develop his skills before he could become a real player, and I thought that's the reason that team GMs wouldn't want to draft him in the first round.

But now, after seeing what he did in the summer league, Lampe looks like a player that is absoultely ready to be in the league, and more important, he looks like a player that is indeed, should be drafted in the lottery. 

One explaination I heard is that teams doesn't want to pay Lampe's European team money to get him, what? Most of teams are owe by billionaires, and even if the NBA restricts the amount of money you can pay, I think most teams are willing to take a player with such potential, even that means they have to wait for couple seasons to get his service.

When I look back at the draft, except for some teams that is drafting for their needs instead of best players available, I don't see why Lampe wouldn't get selected in the first round.

First Seattle: They want a power forward, I don't know whether they have committed to Collinson or not, but Lampe looks like he will be the best players. This pick is still reasonable since Collinson is a player that could help immediately.

Then New Orlean: Here is a team that definately wouldn't need the service of a first round draft pick and is willing to wait. But they jump for David West, yes, a good player, but if they want a power forward, why not Lampe?

The one that confuses me the most is Utah, they go for Pavlovic, who is also an Europe prospect, is almost as unproven as Lampe, and it looks like Utah is drafting best available there too, because they already have Hapring and Kirilenko at Small forward, and they got a third small forward with this pick. Remember, they dont' have any power forward and they should know Malone will be leaving at that time, so why not take Lampe who is a obviously better player?

Then there is the Lakers could go for Brian Cook, as could use some of Lampe's skills.

I just really don't get why a talent like Lampe have been pass by 29 teams, and the Knick have probably the best draft coz now Lampe is definately playing better than their first round choice Mike Sweetney.


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## Triskill (Jul 18, 2003)

They are billionaires but the Cap is the reaseon


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## toiletscrubber (Sep 22, 2002)

I believe they have to sign a first round player anywaz, they have no choice unless they trade him. And paying money to the European team doesn't count in cap space I think, but I am not sure.


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## RahMan (Jul 23, 2003)

the nba has a limit on how much u can spend on european players salarys from europe thats why but somehow the knicks got around it and since i live in ny im happy we got a potetial lottery pick in the 2nd round


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

I don't think he is a guy that is going to contribute next season. I am pretty sure he will never be Dirk Nowitski. Could be wrong though. But he looks pretty slow and I think the reports about his non-athleticism were pretty accurate. He does not appear to jump very well. I think there was way too much hype on this kid going in the Top 5. He looks more like a mid-first rounder, but I guess contractual problems dropped him. 

One of the big things is a lot of teams expected him to go higher so they didn't scout him or bring him in for workouts ... so a lot of times when a guy like that drops, teams are hesitant to take him over the guys they have scouted and they like.


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## rainman (Jul 15, 2002)

probably dropped for a few reasons,he isnt the next coming of dirk,rick sund of the sonics likened him to a young bill laimbeer.i doubt all the teams had him on their board because they figured he would be gone before they picked,when he wasnt because of a contract scare they all pretty much panicked,i would think if he were a potential super someone would have grabbed him fairly early no matter,i think the knicks got a steal in the second round but it remains to be seen how good he is.lets keep in my mind he is basically a kid at 18.


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## RP McMurphy (Jul 17, 2003)

Dee Bo: exactly.

I think it is funny how big stiffs get lots of hype before the draft saying they have lots of "agility" or "athleticism" and then they turn out to be stiffs who can't play basketball. Examples:

Shawn Bradley and Raef LaFrentz who are at least decent basketball players, Chris Kaman will be this type of player

Then there's people like Travis Knight and Michael Doleac who are complete stiffs. Maciej Lampe and Slavko Vranes will be this type of player. For some reason they all end up on the Knicks. :laugh:


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## toiletscrubber (Sep 22, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>ArtestFan</b>!
> Dee Bo: exactly.
> 
> I think it is funny how big stiffs get lots of hype before the draft saying they have lots of "agility" or "athleticism" and then they turn out to be stiffs who can't play basketball. Examples:
> ...


Dee Bo's explaination is the best I got, but ArtestFan, u really need to check the boxscores of the Knicks summer league games, Lampe is playing very very well.


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## Triskill (Jul 18, 2003)

I heard that it counts on cap room, my friend was probably joking o well.


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

Lampe is going to be good. His overall game is very polished. He is a better player than Sweetney, even though Lampe is not fully developed and Sweetney probably is.

Lampe actually has very quick feet for a guy who is almost 7 feet tall, and his hops are fine. His problem is strength, but that is because he is just 18 years old. He needs to spend some time with a good personal trainer.

The folks who say he can't dunk, etc. are just pulling other people's chains or haven't seen him play.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Big John</b>!
> Lampe is going to be good. His overall game is very polished. He is a better player than Sweetney, even though Lampe is not fully developed and Sweetney probably is.
> 
> Lampe actually has very quick feet for a guy who is almost 7 feet tall, and his hops are fine. His problem is strength, but that is because he is just 18 years old. He needs to spend some time with a good personal trainer.


He might, but he hasn't shown any of that in the summer league games. Of course, he could be out of shape ... but he is a 7 footer and I saw multiple times he got the ball right at the basket and put up very soft layups with no one around. Playing PF in the NBA, where there is more talent and athleticism than anyone other position in the NBA, he will get eaten alive.

Maybe I am not seeing what some others are, but he appears to me to be a very mediocre athlete. He can shoot though. We'll see.


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## onetwo88 (Jul 16, 2002)

Look at Lampe's stats in the last few summer league games: http://insidehoops.com/summer-league-utah.shtml

I know summer league games don't mean crap, but considering he's only 18 and a rookie, he's doing VERY well lately.


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

Some very effective inside players use the glass instead of jamming the ball. Pilas Silas is one who comes immediately to mind.


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Dee Bo</b>!
> 
> 
> He might, but he hasn't shown any of that in the summer league games.


Say what? I saw Lampe play twice at UMass-Boston. That's how I know he's good. I had never seen him play before.


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## knickstorm (Jun 22, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Dee Bo</b>!
> I don't think he is a guy that is going to contribute next season. I am pretty sure he will never be Dirk Nowitski. Could be wrong though. But he looks pretty slow and I think the reports about his non-athleticism were pretty accurate. He does not appear to jump very well. I think there was way too much hype on this kid going in the Top 5. He looks more like a mid-first rounder, but I guess contractual problems dropped him.
> 
> One of the big things is a lot of teams expected him to go higher so they didn't scout him or bring him in for workouts ... so a lot of times when a guy like that drops, teams are hesitant to take him over the guys they have scouted and they like.


he's friggan 7 foot what kind of vertical do you want him to have?? he's got some pretty smooth post moves though, gasol isnt the most athletic euro, he still a quality player.


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## Knicksbiggestfan (Apr 29, 2003)

To compare Lampe and Knight is just silly, Artestfan. You remind me of one of those people from the show " snaps" who lost. I can only imagine that this is some kind of cry for attention. They have totally different styles of play and Lampe is barely 18. He runs the floor much better than knight shoots better and just plays different. It's readily apparent you have never seen him before or travis knight play.


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Knicksbiggestfan</b>!
> To compare Lampe and Knight is just silly, Artestfan.


Yes, Lampe has a cross tattooed on his ankle and Knight doesn't lol. Seriously, as others have suggested, Lampe is much closer to Pau Gasol than to Travis Knight.


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## Hitman (Jul 16, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>ArtestFan</b>!
> Dee Bo: exactly.
> 
> I think it is funny how big stiffs get lots of hype before the draft saying they have lots of "agility" or "athleticism" and then they turn out to be stiffs who can't play basketball. Examples:
> ...


Have you ever seen Lampe play? I would guess no, and you just get a kick out of making silly predictions on the internet. Good job!

I saw Lampe play three times in the summer league and I can tell you that while he is not Nowitzki, he is most certainly not a stiff. The guy is playing great as an 18 year old. He is 7 feet tall, with a big body and a big shot. 

Congratulations on making silly assumptions!


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## shazha (Nov 20, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Big John</b>!
> Lampe is going to be good. His overall game is very polished. He is a better player than Sweetney, even though Lampe is not fully developed and Sweetney probably is.
> 
> Lampe actually has very quick feet for a guy who is almost 7 feet tall, and his hops are fine. His problem is strength, but that is because he is just 18 years old. He needs to spend some time with a good personal trainer.
> ...


Fine post, sweetney definately shouldnt have been drafted that high.

I think a reason that most people passed on Lampe was the lack of info on the guy. At that time teams had little to no live game footage on the guy.

He dropped to the second round for reasons i dont know. Most probably because it was a risky pick. If he were to be drafted in the first round they would have to guarantee him money and then buy him out. very risky


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Hitman</b>!
> 
> 
> I saw Lampe play three times in the summer league and I can tell you that while he is not Nowitzki, he is most certainly not a stiff. The guy is playing great as an 18 year old. He is 7 feet tall, with a big body and a big shot.


Aside from his individual skills, he is a good passer who knows how to play five-on-five basketball. He is very intelligent for a player his age. 

If you like slam dunk contests, go see one. I prefer to watch team basketball. Guess I'm old fashioned.


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## rosenthall (Aug 1, 2002)

The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to believe that Lampe was just very overrated to begin with. 

I have a hard time believing that a contract buyout would cause him to drop out of the first round entirely, if he really was a top five talent like he was touted to be. Practically every european player that comes over has some sort of buyout that costs millions of dollars. If I'm not mistaken, Pau Gasol had a 3.5 million dollar buyout AND he was in the euroleague playoffs up until the time of the draft, so no team got to work him out, and he still went third. And for all the talk about the horrendous contract that Lampe was under, it certainly seem like it was that hard to get him over here.

I think the whole bit about other teams not scouting him is bogus too. These days, everyone gets scouted. There aren't any secrets anymore. Half of the euro's that get drafted now don't get to work out for their teams either. 

Bottom line is, I think if Lampe was really as good as he was touted to be, the teams that wanted him would have been able to get him. My best guess would be that teams basically saw him as a jumpshooting big man, who did not have the strength to be an effective interior player, and not enough athleticism to be a KG/Dirk hybrid type of player, meaning more than anything, he is closer to being the next Matt Bullard/Pat Garrity than anything else, and those guys are not incredibly useful, and are usually deserving of a second round pick.


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>rosenthall</b>!
> These days, everyone gets scouted. There aren't any secrets anymore.


If so, then some of the scouts must be really dumb. Why was Sweetney drafted at #9? How could 27 teams pass on Brandon Hunter TWICE? How could Keith Bogans have slipped so far? There were huge mistakes make in this year's draft-- and those are only the ones we know about so far.

Lampe slipped because teams were afraid of legal problems with his buyout. His agent blew it but so did the teams. The Celtics had a good draft, but if they had taken Lampe at 28 instead of Perkins they would have had a monster draft. Lampe should have gone no lower than #20.


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## rosenthall (Aug 1, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Big John</b>!
> 
> 
> If so, then some of the scouts must be really dumb. Why was Sweetney drafted at #9? How could 27 teams pass on Brandon Hunter TWICE? How could Keith Bogans have slipped so far? There were huge mistakes make in this year's draft-- and those are only the ones we know about so far.
> ...


I think it's a little premature to say which rookies will be successful this year and which ones won't based on four or five summer league games. 

All I was trying to say when there aren't any secrets anymore, is that with the NBA being so global now, I would be surprised if every team had not seen Lampe play atleast once or twice, and if he really was a top five talent like he was touted as, I have a hard time believing that twenty-five teams or so would have let him slip through their fingers, buyout or not. Especially a team like the mavericks, which invests so heavily in european scouting and has money to spend. And I'm sure that his buyout did give teams a scare too, but I think it was that coupled with the fact that he was not as good as everyone said he was, which led to his downfall. And like I said, for as tough as his buyout was reported to be, it didn't seem like New York had any trouble getting him to play over here. Of course I'm not an expert when it comes to legal matters, so the fact that he was a second round pick may have had something to do with that, no? 

Regardless, I still tend to believe that the primary reason why Lampe fell so much was because GM's felt that a.) He was too much of a project or b.) his game just did not translate that well to the NBA, since, with the exception of a few, jump shooting big men who do not like to go inside are not incredibly useful, although they can be trendy sometimes. And combine this with the supposedly nasty buyout that he had, and I think that best explains why he fell so much.

But again, I'll reiterate that I think Lampe was just severely overhyped in the first place, judging from what took place. If he was really the player that the media made him out to be, a team would have found a way to get him over. Afterall, New York certainly did.


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>rosenthall</b>!
> 
> 
> I think it's a little premature to say which rookies will be successful this year and which ones won't based on four or five summer league games.


Sometimes you can tell right away, sometimes you can't.


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## Petey (Aug 23, 2002)

I'm inclined to think he will make alot of teams sorry.

-Petey


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## TMOD (Oct 12, 2002)

Lampe dropped because...

1. He wasn't expected to declare for another year or two, so he was not scouted prior to declaring much at all.
2. He didn't get a ton of workouts in, and still was playing for his team during some of the time after declaring.
3. No teams after the lotto really worked him out.
4. How many teams after the lottery were looking for an 18 year old seven footer, who isn't a banger? None.
5. Some dumb rumors.
6. Teams dropped the ball and got scared.
7. Buyout issues.

He wasn't overrated or overhyped but some people were expecting Dirk, which he is not.


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