Getting to Know a Little More about Stephane Lasme

by Justin_Bobo on Oct 13, 2010 3:47 PM EDT

So it's been a little while since i've blogged on here, so I figured I'd step back into the scene with an article about a player i'm heavily in favor of.

As a few people who looked up the history of Stephane Lasme know, this guy was a beast in college. Playing with UMass and graduating in 2007, Lasme broke both Marcus Camby's single season and career blocked shots numbers (finished senior season averaging 5 blocks per game), and is also tied with Michael Anderson and Jason Kidd as the only players to record 4 triple doubles in one season. All of this was accomplished during his senior season, where he was accredited with Atlantic-10 Player of the Year and Atlantic-10 Defensive Player of the Year.

The now 27 year old Gabon-born power forward was originally drafted after his senior season by the Golden State Warriors at the end of the second round, and after a 4 game-stint, Lasme was waived. However, Stephane got a second chance that season by signing with the Heat in March and playing in 16 games, averaging 5 points and 3 blocks. Again, Lasme was waived soon after.

The last two seasons, Stephane has played overseas. In 08-09, he played with the Partizan Belgrade out of the Euroleague, and led them to a championship while averaging 10.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 1.5 blocks per game. The following season, Lasme signed with the Maccabi Tel Aviv out of the Isreali League, but his performance was hindered due to a foot injury.

Stephane Lasme's invite to training camp and preseason play with the Celtics has been his first return back to the NBA since being waived by the Heat in 2008. In my opinion, we may have found a diamond in the rough. While obviously the hype about Lasme has skyrocketed due to his dynamic ability to block shots and dunk over Andrea Bargnani, he has established the fundamentals to contribute off of the bench. Although our bench may be too full to keep him on our opening day roster, I hope we manage to store him away in our D-League until the time arrives where we need another big man on the court.

Worst case scenario, he is still going to perform better than Mikki Moore and Patrick O'Bryant.

Poll

Is Stephane Lasme worthy of an opening day roster spot?

Yes

253 votes

No

25 votes

278 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

+1

I hope DA does not make the mistake of taking Von Wafer – no need for a big shot guy with terrible tribblings and forced passes – we still need size – because I don’t get it that Shaq is healthy the whole season – as I watched him, he is still a force on the rim, but to slow outside as a defender – the result is: other guys like K.G. or JO will have their hands full on the defensive end and need a good backup WITH SIZE, that Lasme has. I love Harangodys work out there, but he won’t be as effizient as Lasme will be against bigger bodies. I hope DA and Doc don’t make this mistake – Lasme is a gem, I hope they know that too….

by greenmech on Oct 19, 2010 6:09 AM EDT reply actions

Finally a post in Lasme's favour

Now all there’s left to do is for someone to make a post about Mario West. (lol..)
Didn’t like Lasme when he arrived to Partizan, nobody did (god damn racists). But after a couple of games whole country fell for him, so… If we’re going to focus on Rondo + 4,5 and leave 2 and 3 to just… be there in case we really, really need them (and it looks to me like that’s the scenario for this season), then we could really use Lasme. Then we’d have a whole bunch of players who have only one thing in common – excellent D, but on the offensive end each player has something different to offer.

Irresponsible I stand...

by LeoMoreno on Oct 20, 2010 5:17 AM EDT reply actions