Why? This is absurd....

[George O'Brien]

Who is that? Lampe's defense looked better in the last game or so of the summer league, but that hardly means he will be a solid, inside guy. I think Lampe could be a decent center/backup power forward, but I don't believe for a second that he will be anything more than barely adequate as an inside player. He is quick and has nice lateral movement. His vertical leap rivals Big Jake's though. He has no explosiveness around the basket.

Joe Mama

I would be the first to say I don't think he is ready to do much right now. So what. As you say, "He is quick and has nice lateral movement" - that's what I'm concerned about. How may guys who are almost 7 foot tall and 275 are "explosive"?

I get bored with claims that Lampe is another Big Jake. Big Jake had very little lateral movement before his back problems and none afterward. He has no offensive skills and couldn't shoot beyond 2 feet if his life depended on it. Jake has no passing skills and you use a calendar rather than a stop watch when timing his running. Jake's only real viture was that he could wrestle with other big guys in the paint.

Lampe has the physical ability to be solid inside guy. Hopefully he has the desire to do what it takes to get there, but it won't happen over night. None the less, if you compare Lampe to Pavel (the Mavs project), I am comfortable that Lampe will have impact long before the Ruskie does.

 

[elindholm]

Big Jake had very little lateral movement before his back problems and none afterward. He has no offensive skills and couldn't shoot beyond 2 feet if his life depended on it.

Hmm, if you say so. I thought that Tsakalidis had a credible face-up shot from the free-throw area. He is a career 65% shooter from the stripe, which is really pretty good for someone his size. Lampe is more fluid and his offensive skills better honed, to be sure. But, even as a rookie, Tsakalidis used his strength inside much more effectively than Lampe does now. There was never any question that Tsakalidis is a center, whereas Lampe plays more like a very poor man's Nowitzki.

Since Tsakalidis never panned out, I'd have to say that Lampe is the better prospect at this point in time. To imply that they are separated by miles, however, is just not correct.

 

[George O'Brien]

Big Jake had very little lateral movement before his back problems and none afterward. He has no offensive skills and couldn't shoot beyond 2 feet if his life depended on it.

Hmm, if you say so. I thought that Tsakalidis had a credible face-up shot from the free-throw area. He is a career 65% shooter from the stripe, which is really pretty good for someone his size. Lampe is more fluid and his offensive skills better honed, to be sure. But, even as a rookie, Tsakalidis used his strength inside much more effectively than Lampe does now. There was never any question that Tsakalidis is a center, whereas Lampe plays more like a very poor man's Nowitzki.

Since Tsakalidis never panned out, I'd have to say that Lampe is the better prospect at this point in time. To imply that they are separated by miles, however, is just not correct.

I still believe that Big Jake's back injury destroyed his effectiveness. He showed real promise suring 2001-02. (5.6 rpg in 23.6 minutes) During the first six weeks of 2002-03, he was totally lost in FJ's ill fated triangle offense experiment, but the Suns defense was not that bad. But then he got injured. When he cam back at the end of the season he was hopeless and continued to look hopeless during the summer games. That's why they dumped him.

I'm not really concerned if Lampe turns into another Dirk on offense. Dirk has a career 8.3 rpg and a career 46.4% shooting percentage. I could live with that.

Seriously, on offense the Suns don't need a classic low post center because they Amare. I see Lampe as more of a high post center and would love to see the Suns run some of the kind of plays that the Kings do. Obviously Lampe will need to become more disciplined and focus on his passing, but he has the physical tools to it very well.

Right now, I'm not sure that Lampe is much worse than Dirk on defense, buecasue at least Lampe tries. But clearly the Suns need a lot more if they are going to be a contender.

 

[Errntknght]

George, "I think the Suns will be making a lot of changes in their half court offense this season with the addition of Nash. Last season, no one seemed to be able to pass the ball to someone on the move, so everyone would stand still if they wanted the ball. That will change and I think Marion will begin moving without the ball -- finally."

The Suns had no stelllar passer last year but they had decent passers in JJ, Barbosa, Eisley, Zarko and Marion. Heck, even Jake made some good passes to moving guys back when the Suns ran the occasional set play. I'd give odds that Amare would be quite a decent passer if he was given the opportunity - he's certainly got the hands for it. IMO, what we saw last year on offense was a failure in the coaching ranks to devise a scheme that employed effective player movement - off ball screens were almost non-existent, and they are the cornerstone of effective movement.

I agree that Nash should help, especially if he takes over as the de-facto offensive coach. We also got a new assistant coach from Toronto who may contribute in that area. If D'Antoni remains as the chief architect of the offense I'd expect more of what we saw last year - meaning a team that was helpless against strong defense or any kind of a zone.

 

[George O'Brien]

George, "I think the Suns will be making a lot of changes in their half court offense this season with the addition of Nash. Last season, no one seemed to be able to pass the ball to someone on the move, so everyone would stand still if they wanted the ball. That will change and I think Marion will begin moving without the ball -- finally."

The Suns had no stelllar passer last year but they had decent passers in JJ, Barbosa, Eisley, Zarko and Marion. Heck, even Jake made some good passes to moving guys back when the Suns ran the occasional set play. I'd give odds that Amare would be quite a decent passer if he was given the opportunity - he's certainly got the hands for it. IMO, what we saw last year on offense was a failure in the coaching ranks to devise a scheme that employed effective player movement - off ball screens were almost non-existent, and they are the cornerstone of effective movement.

I agree that Nash should help, especially if he takes over as the de-facto offensive coach. We also got a new assistant coach from Toronto who may contribute in that area. If D'Antoni remains as the chief architect of the offense I'd expect more of what we saw last year - meaning a team that was helpless against strong defense or any kind of a zone.

Last season D'Antoni did not attempt to install a completely new offense in mid season. I can't say I blame him since he may have had no more than 15 full fledged practices in the last last three months of the season. So he kept in place an offense designed around Marbury.

I would be terribly surprised if he did not radically change the way the offense is run this season. I'm sure they will continue to some things the way they did in the past, but I expect it will be more different than similar. D'Antoni did not get a reputation for being a top offensive coach in Europe by only running pick and roll plays.

Also, I don't think teams will zone the Suns very much with Nash at PG. He is simply too good a three point shooter for opponents to simply pack the paint.

 

[Chaz]

George, "I think the Suns will be making a lot of changes in their half court offense this season with the addition of Nash. Last season, no one seemed to be able to pass the ball to someone on the move, so everyone would stand still if they wanted the ball. That will change and I think Marion will begin moving without the ball -- finally."

The Suns had no stelllar passer last year but they had decent passers in JJ, Barbosa, Eisley, Zarko and Marion. Heck, even Jake made some good passes to moving guys back when the Suns ran the occasional set play. I'd give odds that Amare would be quite a decent passer if he was given the opportunity - he's certainly got the hands for it. IMO, what we saw last year on offense was a failure in the coaching ranks to devise a scheme that employed effective player movement - off ball screens were almost non-existent, and they are the cornerstone of effective movement.

I agree that Nash should help, especially if he takes over as the de-facto offensive coach. We also got a new assistant coach from Toronto who may contribute in that area. If D'Antoni remains as the chief architect of the offense I'd expect more of what we saw last year - meaning a team that was helpless against strong defense or any kind of a zone.

I think the bolded parts are more accurate in relation to the early part of the season with Coach Johnson. I think D'Antoni made some strides in structuring the offense, considering he was taking over mid-season and had a very young team.
They did a much better job running an offense under D'Antoni and the PPG were up, even after the trade. They clearly still have a lot of work to do but I think the work started last year.

My hope is that a training camp under D'Antoni will help to develop more consistant offensive execution. I agree that Nash is also a huge aquisition to help the Suns in this area.
I thought to end last season, in addition to his numbers, Dice had added a calming veteran presence that helped the execution. I think Nash will have a similar effect, but McDyess didn't really provide the energy that I think Nash will provide, nor did he have the decision making opportunity that Nash will have as a PG.