Stephane Lasme

[Chris]

I think Chris's point, which is quite valid, is that even though we like to throw out extremes, like "TA, Bowen, and Moute have NO Offensive skills," it's just not true. Relative to other NBA players they have less offensive skill, but they would be awesome at offense if they dropped back into D-league/College. There's just a gulf. Compared to the "No Offense" NBA defensive specialists, most D-Leaguers have Negative Offense. It's all relative, and it's that much harder to score in the NBA than D-League, so "No Offense" in D-league is way worse than "No offense" NBA.

A guy like Quinton Ross was a 20ppg scorer in college! Now he's "No-Offense" player.

Could Lasme end up like Moute or Ben Wallace or Ross or Bowen? Absolutely. But there's a vast gulf in offensive abilities if you are "All-D/No-O" in the NBA vs. "All-D/No-O" i the D-League.

Well, my real point is that Lasme is a PF offensively (actually, he is closer to a center), and if they are going to ask him to play SF, like some are suggesting, he is going to significantly worse than those other players, because as bad as they are, they are still better perimeter players than he is.

Basically, Lasme's offensive repertoire is similar to Leon Powe's, except less refined (Powe was an exceptional offensive player in college, Lasme never was).  Put them on the post, and let them put down layups off dishes and rebounds, they can hold their own.  But ask them to play on the 3-point line, swing the ball, dribble the ball, make passes into the post, and hit the open shot, it simply doesn't work.  

Last night he was productive because he was playing Center (against a rookie), and was not asked to go outside of his skillset.  If they want him to be a SF, it is going to be a completely different story.

[Mencius]

This guy is a power forward, plain and simple.  He does not have the skills to play the SF.  So unless he can be an excellent PF defender (which I don't see, but its early), he is not making this team. 

Doc thinks differently, as you can see in the clip above where he says he does what Tony does, and that he can play the 3 and the 4.

I have no idea whether he'll make the team, but if he did, he'd definitely be defending some 3s.

[Chris]

This guy is a power forward, plain and simple.  He does not have the skills to play the SF.  So unless he can be an excellent PF defender (which I don't see, but its early), he is not making this team. 

Doc thinks differently, as you can see in the clip above where he says he does what Tony does, and that he can play the 3 and the 4.

I have no idea whether he'll make the team, but if he did, he'd definitely be defending some 3s.

Well, I will hold out judgement until Doc actually shows the trust in him to play him at the 3.  For now, I will put that down as Doc doing what all coaches do in the preseason, giving some nice soundbites for the fluff piece about the local kid making good.  I am sure if you look back you will see plenty of glowing endorsements of many other guys who are now tearing it up in Europe.

[Mencius]

This guy is a power forward, plain and simple.  He does not have the skills to play the SF.  So unless he can be an excellent PF defender (which I don't see, but its early), he is not making this team. 

Doc thinks differently, as you can see in the clip above where he says he does what Tony does, and that he can play the 3 and the 4.

I have no idea whether he'll make the team, but if he did, he'd definitely be defending some 3s.

Well, I will hold out judgement until Doc actually shows the trust in him to play him at the 3.  For now, I will put that down as Doc doing what all coaches do in the preseason, giving some nice soundbites for the fluff piece about the local kid making good.  I am sure if you look back you will see plenty of glowing endorsements of many other guys who are now tearing it up in Europe.

Agree about hearing nary a bad word spoken about any camp invitee (pretty much from any organization).  I know practically nothing of Lasme.  I was just arguing a general principal about specialist defender guys.  Like I said before, if he did make the team as a defensive specialist, his being in the game would be situational, and you could not have him and Rondo on the court at the same time.

His making the team is a long shot though, as I'm sure the team would like a guy who can at least hit an occasional J, and he was doing his garbage-time superman stuff mostly against Kapono.  He's still a very long shot at this point, and it appears he's battling for that 15th spot with Wafer and MWest.  I'd have to say that Wafer still has the inside track at this point, in spite of him playing poorly last night.  Doc and Danny continually say they want outside shooting.

[clover]

Let's just hope he plays well again today, Doc rewards him with more than 7 minutes, and we can go from there.  This is an important month of basketball for Mr. Lasme.  I hope he sticks.

[Chris]

This guy is a power forward, plain and simple.  He does not have the skills to play the SF.  So unless he can be an excellent PF defender (which I don't see, but its early), he is not making this team. 

Doc thinks differently, as you can see in the clip above where he says he does what Tony does, and that he can play the 3 and the 4.

I have no idea whether he'll make the team, but if he did, he'd definitely be defending some 3s.

Well, I will hold out judgement until Doc actually shows the trust in him to play him at the 3.  For now, I will put that down as Doc doing what all coaches do in the preseason, giving some nice soundbites for the fluff piece about the local kid making good.  I am sure if you look back you will see plenty of glowing endorsements of many other guys who are now tearing it up in Europe.

Agree about hearing nary a bad word spoken about any camp invitee (pretty much from any organization).  I know practically nothing of Lasme.  I was just arguing a general principal about specialist defender guys.  Like I said before, if he did make the team as a defensive specialist, his being in the game would be situational, and you could not have him and Rondo on the court at the same time.

His making the team is a long shot though, as I'm sure the team would like a guy who can at least hit an occasional J, and he was doing his garbage-time superman stuff mostly against Kapono.  He's still a very long shot at this point, and it appears he's battling for that 15th spot with Wafer and MWest.  I'd have to say that Wafer still has the inside track at this point, in spite of him playing poorly last night.  Doc and Danny continually say they want outside shooting.

Yeah, I just think if any offensively challenged perimeter defender is going to make it, it will be West.  While he sucks offensively, he still has a much more developed perimeter game, both physically and mentally.  I think people just underestimate how hard it is for an unskilled big man to make the transition to the perimeter, and how incredibly skilled you have to be to be even remotely passable in the NBA. 

I do think Lasme could have a chance to catch on with another team as a poor man's Leon Powe type player, or maybe a homeless man's Ben Wallace.  But he just has a long way to go to be a SF in this league.

[mgent]

I think Chris's point, which is quite valid, is that even though we like to throw out extremes, like "TA, Bowen, and Moute have NO Offensive skills," it's just not true. Relative to other NBA players they have less offensive skill, but they would be awesome at offense if they dropped back into D-league/College. There's just a gulf. Compared to the "No Offense" NBA defensive specialists, most D-Leaguers have Negative Offense. It's all relative, and it's that much harder to score in the NBA than D-League, so "No Offense" in D-league is way worse than "No offense" NBA.

A guy like Quinton Ross was a 20ppg scorer in college! Now he's "No-Offense" player.

Could Lasme end up like Moute or Ben Wallace or Ross or Bowen? Absolutely. But there's a vast gulf in offensive abilities if you are "All-D/No-O" in the NBA vs. "All-D/No-O" i the D-League.

Well, my real point is that Lasme is a PF offensively (actually, he is closer to a center), and if they are going to ask him to play SF, like some are suggesting, he is going to significantly worse than those other players, because as bad as they are, they are still better perimeter players than he is.

Basically, Lasme's offensive repertoire is similar to Leon Powe's, except less refined (Powe was an exceptional offensive player in college, Lasme never was).  Put them on the post, and let them put down layups off dishes and rebounds, they can hold their own.  But ask them to play on the 3-point line, swing the ball, dribble the ball, make passes into the post, and hit the open shot, it simply doesn't work.  

Last night he was productive because he was playing Center (against a rookie), and was not asked to go outside of his skillset.  If they want him to be a SF, it is going to be a completely different story.

A limited offensive player is a limited offensive player period.  If he's on the floor with 4 other capable offensive players/shooters (Nate, West, Baby, JO) it doesn't matter as long as he does what's asked.  If he defends and rebounds well enough then he doesn't hurt us as much on offense as say Von Wafer would on the other end.  And if he gets some garbage/hustle points without us running any plays for him that's just a bonus.  We're talking about 15th guy injury insurance, not a rotation player.

[Bingbangbarros]

He averaged over 5 blocks per game in college. There must be an open spot on the somebody's bench if not ours

[Edgar]

He averaged over 5 blocks per game in college. There must be an open spot on the somebody's bench if not ours

this is exaclty what tommy or mike say yesterday, and i concur.

[Celtics18]

Say what you want about his offense, but I'm pulling for this kid to take Von Wafer's spot as the 15th man on this roster.

[LooseCannon]

I could certainly see Lasme as the kind of guy who, under the new rules, you send to the D-League to work on a shot, with plans to call him up if Wafer or Delonte go nuts and become a liability that you just have to cut.

No one can reasonably object to a plan like that, right?  For all of the talent he seems to possess, Wafer is basically a headcase who has had exactly one good NBA season, coming off the bench.  You give him a chance while West serves his ten-game suspension and, if he fails, you look into trading him and, if not, replace him with someone like Lasme or Mario West sitting in the D-League before the date on which his contract becomes fully guaranteed.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

At the college level (UMass), Lasme was a very good rebounder and defender, and was of course always a big-time shot blocker.  His numbers playing very limited time for the Heat, and then in the Euro League, are respectable, but I haven't seen him play since his UMass days.

One of his big problems is that he's undersized for an NBA power forward, and doesn't have the speed or scoring ability to be a SF.  As Who said, he's always seemed to be more of a shot-blocker / team defender, rather than a one-on-one lock down type of guy. 

In a way, he's sort of like Sean Williams without the antisocial personality.

Well, by that standard, BBD is then out. Lasme has better leaps than bbd, is quicker, and can score inside better. I think he will pass bbd if given playing time...He is more in the Leon Powe mold.  BBD is slower, no jump, no repeat jump, no inside stuff....all i have seen bbd do is take advantage of not being covered. I'd like to see a lot more of lasme.

[vinnie]

Stephane Lasme was the A10 defensive player of the year and A10 player of the year in 2006-2007. I have no idea whether he can play the three, but he probably lacks the outside game to really be successful. He is, however, a good defensive player. And, he is only one of four NCAA players in the history of the game to have 4 triple doubles in one season -- and his were points, rebounds and blocks. He may not make this roster, but he is a good defensive player, and he is extremely active.

[Roy H.]

Stephane Lasme was the A10 defensive player of the year and A10 player of the year in 2006-2007. I have no idea whether he can play the three, but he probably lacks the outside game to really be successful. He is, however, a good defensive player. And, he is only one of four NCAA players in the history of the game to have 4 triple doubles in one season -- and his were points, rebounds and blocks. He may not make this roster, but he is a good defensive player, and he is extremely active.

There's a big difference, though, in the defense you have to play against 3s, rather than 4s, isn't there?

I think that's the big question, that none of us can answer.  Now, maybe Doc already gave us a partial answer, because Lasme stuck around longer than Gaffney, who probably *can* guard 3s.  If Lasme was playing better, he was probably doing pretty well matching up with perimeter players in practice.

At the same time, though, it's Marquis Daniels -- rather than Lasme -- who is guarding Pierce in practice, for whatever that's worth.

[Dolomite133]

So far I give Lasme the edge over Mario West and Von Wafer. Wafer has picked up two techs and hasn't aggressively looked for his own shot and West has looked like a decent defender but I'm not wowed by his performance.

Meanwhile Lasme looks like he could develop into a nice role player. He's always playing in the paint, likes to get his hands dirty, plays taller than he is, has the makings of a good help defender and has the quickness to close off the baseline.

He might not be a great offensive rebounder but he has a knack for knocking the ball away from opposing players and tipping it towards a teammate.

He's not a classic three. He's small for a four. But I'd argue that he's a better fit for this roster than Harangody.

In two preseason games Gody has three rebounds and six fouls in about 27 minutes. Lasme has six rebounds and one foul in about 13 minutes.