Republic: Rookies Get Summer Homework

[George O'Brien]

Republic: Rookies Get Summer Homework

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 28, 2004 12:00 AM

A Suns ticket representative scurries around the perimeter of America West Arena's basketball floor. Cellphone in hand, he is placing names to seats for next season.

The three men working on the court are trying to keep their names off the seats at the end of the Suns bench.

Last season's trio of international rookies - Leandro Barbosa, Zarko Cabarkapa and Maciej Lampe - are getting a taste of what most players did in college. They are putting in two-a-day arena workouts to stay in the rotation.

If the roster gets a summer upgrade, playing time will not come so easily for players allowed to ride with training wheels last season.

Barbosa, Cabarkapa and Lampe have spent 2 1/2 hours of each weekday morning in May in the weight room and 1 1/2 hours on the court in the afternoon.

"It's difficult, but it's good," Barbosa, 21, said. "If it's hard, you're always going forward."

Their summer school morning teachers are Suns trainers Aaron Nelson, Casey Smith and Mike Elliott. The guy in section 223 could guess what the training goals were for the trio.

Barbosa needed to get bigger. Lampe needed to be leaner and more agile. Cabarkapa needed to be bigger, stronger and more agile.

To that end, Barbosa has added five pounds to get to 186. Lampe has lost 10 pounds to get closer to the 240 he was listed at during the season. He reported at 275 when he came to Phoenix in January. Cabarkapa has added 10 pounds to reach 231.

"This helps so much," Cabarkapa said after wrapping up a competitive one-on-one session with Lampe under assistant coach Marc Iavaroni's watch. "I've had three really good weeks. I just want to forget this first season. I broke my wrist, and after that, I stink so much. I want to play hard and like I know I can."

Cabarkapa leaves today for Serbia to try out for his country's Olympic team. He is likely to make it, but he will return for summer leagues in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City if he doesn't.

The player driving aggressively on Lampe this week did not resemble the timid player Cabarkapa became after he broke his wrist in November.

"When he plays low, he can use his skills," Iavaroni said of Cabarkapa, who turned 23 a week ago. "The key is he is committed in heart, mind and soul. He's committed to being a rotation player."

While Barbosa will go home to Brazil for a Basketball Without Borders outreach program, Lampe will train in the Valley all summer. Lampe, 19, mainly is working on footwork and finishing plays.

"It's not just for minutes," Lampe said. "It's for my whole life. I've got to do everything you can to make this team a winning team."

For Barbosa, work with assistant Phil Weber has focused on pick-and-roll plays and shooting. The staff had a quandary about Barbosa's unorthodox shooting style because he hit 39.5 percent of his three-point tries. That ranked 19th in the league.

Instead of an overhaul, Weber has tried to incorporate a midrange game into Barbosa's repertoire with runners and one-handed pull-ups.

 

[elindholm]

So much for Lampe's reputation on this board as a future brute. His goal is to get closer to 240, not farther from it. If he's in great shape at 240, that's fantastic, but it will hardly put him in an elite "weight class" among NBA so-called centers.

 

[Chaplin]

So much for Lampe's reputation on this board as a future brute. His goal is to get closer to 240, not farther from it. If he's in great shape at 240, that's fantastic, but it will hardly put him in an elite "weight class" among NBA so-called centers.

I was thinking the same thing. Seems like an overpriced center may be what we're looking at, but I'm still on the Kobe bandwagon, more than ever now, since I've changed a bit about Tmac.

 

[George O'Brien]

At first I came the same conclusion, but after re-reading the article it doesn't actually say that. It says he was 275 when when he came to the Suns and has lost 10 pounds. That's 265, not 240.

What Caro says is that it makes him closer to 240, but going from 300 to 280 is getting closer to 240.

Actually the weight is less an issue than strength. Some of the top power guys are only 255-260, but strong. It is only when dealing with Shaq that weight alone starts to matter.

 

[elindholm]

Yes, you are correct that it doesn't literally say that 240 is a target. But the article also could have said, "getting him closer to 75 pounds." It didn't. My guess is that there's a reason that they chose 240 as a "comparison" weight.

I agree with you that weight isn't everything, and it isn't even a terribly good indicator of strength (especially among the general population!). But after making such a big deal of Lampe's mass, I don't think you should back away from the issue quite so adeptly. If it was important then, it's important now.

 

[fordronken]

Yes, you are correct that it doesn't literally say that 240 is a target. But the article also could have said, "getting him closer to 75 pounds." It didn't. My guess is that there's a reason that they chose 240 as a "comparison" weight.

I agree with you that weight isn't everything, and it isn't even a terribly good indicator of strength (especially among the general population!). But after making such a big deal of Lampe's mass, I don't think you should back away from the issue quite so adeptly. If it was important then, it's important now.

They used 240 as a comparisson weight because it's what he was listed as in New York. I hope, however, that it doesn't mean it's a target weight.

 

[George O'Brien]

Yes, you are correct that it doesn't literally say that 240 is a target. But the article also could have said, "getting him closer to 75 pounds." It didn't. My guess is that there's a reason that they chose 240 as a "comparison" weight.

I agree with you that weight isn't everything, and it isn't even a terribly good indicator of strength (especially among the general population!). But after making such a big deal of Lampe's mass, I don't think you should back away from the issue quite so adeptly. If it was important then, it's important now.

I agree. If their goal is to make him 240, he might be effective but more like Camby or Ratliff than a more classic sized center. They LIST Camby at 225, which while obviously out of date, suggests he is still not 260. Theo Ratliff is listed at 235. Both are reasonably strong for their size, but their weight limits the way they play defense.

Marcus Camby
Denver Nuggets
Position: C-F
Height: 6-11 Weight: 225
College: Massachusetts '97
Player file | Team stats

2003-04 Statistics
PPG 8.6
RPG 10.1
APG 1.8
SPG 1.19
BPG 2.60
FG% .477
FT% .721
3P% .000
MPG 30.0

Theo Ratliff
Portland Trail Blazers
Position: C-F
Height: 6-10 Weight: 235
College: Wyoming '95
Player file | Team stats

2003-04 Statistics
PPG 7.9
RPG 7.2
APG .8
SPG .64
BPG 3.61 (4.41 blocks be game after going to Portland)
FG% .485
FT% .645
3P% .000
MPG 31.3