# Lampe makes strong push for increased court time



## azirishmusic (Feb 25, 2004)

Lampe makes strong push for increased court time 

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 16, 2004 12:00 AM 

It may have seemed like a mirage when Maciej Lampe leaped to aggressively rip down the first of nine rebounds in Wednesday's Suns preseason opener.

The sleeker Lampe proved it in Friday's practice. Lampe had an open baseline with only Amaré Stoudemire defending under the basket. They went up and Lampe jammed over Stoudemire, prompting teammates' whooping and assistant coach Alvin Gentry's chest bump for Lampe.

Order was quickly restored. On Lampe's next touch, he put up a 6-foot air ball with Stoudemire closing. In a blip, Stoudemire was at the other end filling a lane for a slam. 

The series typified how far Lampe has come since arriving in January and how far he is from starting, something the 19-year-old wanted this season.

Lampe went from 290 pounds to 265 in 10 months. He still looked like he could fall out of the rotation once Phoenix signed center Steven Hunter and drafted power forward Jackson Vroman. But Lampe returned to the mix in the post with a strong camp and preseason debut.

"He told me he was going to start," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I'm not there yet. Right now, he's definitely earned some time. It's an evolving situation. He's impressed the coaches and is doing well."

Lampe worked out daily this summer with assistant Marc Iavaroni and played in summer leagues before a trip home to Poland. 

"I feel a lot quicker," Lampe said. "I have more energy. I can run better and it shows.

"I've just got to do it every night. I'll do whatever it takes for my team to win."


No movement on J.J.


Contract extension talks with Joe Johnson have not progressed this week with his agent, Arn Tellem, in China for exhibition games.

Johnson will become a restricted free agent next summer if an extension is not hammered out this month.

"Obviously, Joe is a big priority," Director of Basketball Operations Rex Chapman said. "He's playing extremely well. He's worked his butt off the past couple seasons and gained a ton of confidence. We're hopeful he's going to be a Phoenix Sun for a long time."


Kobe exaggeration


Excerpts from Phil Jackson's upcoming book on his final season with the Lakers mention that he sought to trade Kobe Bryant for Shawn Marion and Jason Kidd during the 1999-2000 season. 

"There was never any discussion between the two teams," said Suns President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo, who was "quickly rebuffed" on Bryant inquiries.


Free throws


Steve Nash did not join the team on the trip to play Seattle tonight. He will stay home to be with his newborn twins, Lourdes and Isabella, and to recover from a groin injury.


• Marion practiced Friday after missing two days with an upper respiratory infection.


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## Arclite (Nov 2, 2002)

Hard to believe he's 19.. with his offensive skills, I think if he was in Stoudemire's position as a rookie (he's the same age now that Amare was then) he could have had an even bigger season than Amare did because he'd have been playing with Marbury and getting a ton of open mid-range looks.


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## azirishmusic (Feb 25, 2004)

I think Lampe when teamed with Amare will get a lot of open looks. Nash got him the ball several times in last Sat. scrimmage and his outside shooting looked very good. If Lampe can add in the threat of going to the basket and passing to Amare - they could become one of the top scoring inside duos in the NBA (perhaps better than Webber and Miller).


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## Amareca (Oct 21, 2002)

Webber and Miller? Amare and his shadow are a better INSIDE scoring duo than those 2.


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## azirishmusic (Feb 25, 2004)

It depends on Webber's health. Webber has a career scoring average of 22.0 ppg on 49.1%. Last season Miller averaged 14.1 ppg on 51.0% shooting. In theory, this is one of the more potent inside scoring combinations in the league but it remains to be seen if it will work. It is hard to imagine they can get 36.1 ppg, but not out of the question they will combine for 30

Some of the better combinations include:

Spurs: Duncan averaged 22.3 ppg while Radoslav Nesterovic averaged 8.7 ppg - total of 31 ppg.

Cavs: Zydrunas Ilgauskas 15.3 ppg and Carlos Boozer at 15.5 ppg. (his replacement, Gooden averaged 11.8 ppg in 27 minutes a game). With the extra minutes for Gooden, they have the potential of doing over 30 ppg on the inside.

Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki 21.8 ppg and Erick Dampier career 8.9 ppg for 30.7 ppg.

My guess is that Stoudemire will average just over 20 ppg since the team will have so many offensive weapons. This means that Lampe would have to average over 10 ppg to get the Suns combination to have a shot of being the best inside combination.


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## Scinos (Jun 10, 2003)

Seems like consistency is his biggest problem. 9 boards against the Clips in the opener, then 1 rebound against the Sonics. Still, if he can give you guys 15-20 mpg at center, then it would be a big help. He's already a better option than Steven Hunter, IMO.


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## JazzMan (Feb 26, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Amareca</b>!
> Webber and Miller? Amare and his shadow are a better INSIDE scoring duo than those 2.


Not the most surprising post I've ever seen.

I have a gut feel that Lampe is going to be good. If he can become a better than average center the Suns could be great. Iv'e yet to actually see him play, but I reckon he will be better at his peak than Darko Milicic.


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## azirishmusic (Feb 25, 2004)

Lampe went 4 o 8 against the Spurs playing late in the game.

The consensus is that he is probably a year away from being a consistently solid starter, but Lampe's ability to shoot means that if he can play even average on defense he will get a lot of minutes.


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