<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">We have heard a solid "rumor" that Martinas Andriuskevicius has a deal with the Phoenix Suns. The Suns pick seventh in this draft and have a recent history of targeting and locking up players early with promises. Leandro Barbosa and Zarko Carbakapa both agreed to deals months before the draft. Andriuskevicius recently signed a long term deal with Italian team Rimini, so there will be a substantial buyout. The original idea was to wait a year and enter Martynas into the 2005 draft. However it appears someone (Phoenix) made them an offer they couldn't refuse. </div> This is from NBADraft.net, and it sounds pretty credible, considering Phoenix's history of deals with draft picks. What do you think he will do for the Phoenix team? Turn into a bust or a surprise?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">This is from NBADraft.net, and it sounds pretty credible, considering Phoenix's history of deals with draft picks. What do you think he will do for the Phoenix team? Turn into a bust or a surprise?</div> Has the draft lottery happened??? I sure must have missed it if it did.. I do think that Martinas would be a great fit for the Suns.. He's nasty enough to form a hell of a 1-2 front court punch with Amare.
Damn people! we have LAmpe. He's 275 and will be an offensive wonder. Jake is a good backup for energy and we should get a veteran in this spot of all places in free agency. This is weird. Unless Lampe is causing friction with his shoot first attitude I don't understand it. Jake is tied up til 2006. I guess we are skipping on the veteran or we will have 4 centers. I guess the rookie could be on the "injured" list. What we really need is a backup power forward to replace Dice (who we should resign) when we part ways with him. Argh. Management can be maddening. I guess there just aren't any enticing power forwards between the beginning of the round and the end if nbadraft.net and them are to be believed. I guess Biedrins will go before us. I got a good feeling about Tiago Splitter. Why do we commit so early. We're like high school sweetheart marryiers
This is pretty bad a move for the management. They do not need a player at this position. They should try to strengthen their PG spot.
We need dont need another center, but it would be nice to get someone that doesnt argue with Amare and think he's better than him at the same time. Maciej Lampe is a great player but is too cocky, and think's too much of himself saying he's better than Amare then saying a "negative" comment towards him to get himself a free knuckle sandwich. Maciej got drafted so late because he wanted more money but as you can see it didnt work out, and this guy 'Vicious' would be a good addition to the suns as long as there's no Lampe and they bring in another veteran front court specialist like 'Dice' so he can learn from them. All in all it would be a good draft choice if we got rid of Lampe.
The only reason we should get rid of Lampe is if he refuses to play team ball. I remember hoopshype reporting an anonymous teammate saying "Amare's crazy" when he swung at Lampe. I think everyone automatically thinks it's Lampe's fault because Amare is the star. Lampe may yet prove he has the right to be that cocky. He's posted good numbers in several games in limited minutes and he's got the moves and the shooting touch. I think I heard a couple things about him shooting the ball every time he got it and I'd bet that is the reason, if any, he is out of favor. Not some squabble with Amare. Another article said the teammates gave Lampe credit for standing up to Amare. What has everyone heard that was said? There was the occasion where Amare was talking gangsta crap all night and Francis took a shot at him... once again an anonymous player said Amare was at fault saying he had been obnoxious with his gangsta hype $#!%. Dunno. I don't like it. Lampe should be good enough, but mabe he doesn't fit. It WAS well known long in advance that we were going for Z... It's almost a foregone conclusion and Suns fans don't need to be excited about the draft unless we just happen to get the first or second and get Okafor or Howard to back Amare (I know, what a waste but we could trade him later). Bummer. I guess FA season will be the only interesting time... and Kobe's trial (though I STILL don't want him).
The only way for the Suns to rid themselves of Lampe is if they leave him unprotected in the expansion draft and Charlotte picks him. Otherwise, he'd have to be released or dealt further down the road.
"rid"? Is it really that bad? We don't even know for sure they have a problem. Anyhow everyone check out http://www.draftcity.com/martynasandriuskevicius.htm on top of just nbadraft.net and hoopshype. They tell a different story. I think Biedrins deserves the "vicious" nickname more than andriuskevicius despite the name. Sounds too scrawny to make an impact from this: He is very very skinny, almost rail thin, and unlike a lot of skinny Europeans his age, he is also very weak. This is probably his the #1 thing holding him back right now. He has trouble not being pushed aside in the paint, even against players his age who are 6 inches shorter then him. His rebounding and effectiveness around the basket on offense and defense suffers because of this. He just gets pushed out which often makes him drift towards the perimeter. He seems to have trouble being defended by smaller defenders, especially when he is being bumped around. This is a big one on the NBA level, he has to work on this. Lacks experience playing against the higher levels of competition. Has yet to dominate players in his own age group. Would probably struggle right now in a league like Spain or Italy or in the more physical ones like Greece of Turkey. In a perfect world, Andriuskevicius would be left alone to develop in Europe for the next few years. No would pay much attention to a guy that isn?t dominating 6-9 players on the same age level, that hasn?t even made a wrinkle on European basketball yet. He wouldn?t read all the superlatives people are throwing at him, and he would be able to decide what his potential is for himself. From what his agent has told us, he (most likely) has no intentions of sending him over to the States for private workouts. Whatever teams know about him right now is exactly what they get. Martynas has all the talent in the world, but that if the expectations from him are too high (like what is starting to happen with Darko Milicic) people are probably going to lose patience with him and they (fans/media/coaches) might kill his confidence and not let him reach his full potential. Sitting on the bench is not going to help him much. He could use at least another two years of regular playing time in a friendly environment, adding lots of strength to his body, learning to play like a true center inside the paint, and polishing his game. If he is drafted into the right situation (Portland with Sabonis anyone?), similar to the situation Nenad Krstic was drafted into, he has the chance to become an excellent player. If the situation isn't right he could just as easily be added to the list of 7 footers that never panned out. on the plus side: He is a versatile 7 footer plus with good agility, moves well up and down the court. Has a good wingspan, but doesn't use it enough quite yet. Offensively he is versatile, he can score from both inside and out. He has a nice shooting touch, and it's not a stretch to imagine him becoming a good midrange shooter in the NBA. He is a good passer, which lets his team dump the ball inside to him in the post and make things happen. He is good at using his height advantage to pass over smaller defenders to streaking guards. He actually is a good ball handler for a guy his size, although his dribble is a bit high. He can put the ball on the floor, going either left or right and finishing on either side. A good free throw shooter. Lots of potential to improve, especially on the defensive end because of his mobility and wingspan. Practicing in Sabonis' academy should certainly be helping his development. Best Case Scenario: A 20/10 center that changes and blocks shots in the paint. The popular comparison is either Sabonis (who he doesn?t really resemble but he practices with if we haven?t mentioned that yet) or Ilgauskas. These two just happen to be Lithuanian like Andriuskevicius. He is more mobile then Ilgauskas, with more potential defensively, but he is very skinny the way Z was when he was his age. Ilgauskas has great post moves, though, he?s extremely polished offensively, something that Martynas is really lacking right now. that's the bulk of the article. draftcity is really alot better than nbadraft.net in their analysis I think. MAybe if we left him in Europe a couple years? I doubt it'll happen though. He'll get hyped and crushed like they say most likely.
There is no truth to all the rumors that the Suns have a deal in place with 7-foot-3 18-year old Martynas Andriuskevicius of Lithuania. Andriuskevicius wants to stay in Europe for another year and his agent is saying that he has to be a top-five pick to stay in the draft. Plus he is too much of a project and the Suns just don?t need that right now. www.azcentral.com/sports/cheapseats/gambo/0531rant.html','591'
