This reminds of this boxscore I saw a few days ago... NBA.com: Jazz at Nuggets Game Info Camby had 11 blocks and his team gave up 109 points. As for the game, I watched the second half... It was definitely an up tempo game and Cheikh was the only guy on either team that was interested in playing D. FWIW, it was nearly a 40 point game until Samb went on a blocking tear in the 3rd which got it down to 20-30. He must have had 5 blocks in a span of 4-5 minutes. Offensively, Fort Wayne's guards were just freelancing to pad their stats most of the time. Samb was more or less uninvolved. He got the ball about 20-feet from the hoop wide open on one possession, and just as you thought he was going to let a jumper go, he rifled it in to a teammate for an alley-oop dunk. His conditioning obviously needs work. He was completely dead tired late in the fourth. His knack for contesting shots is impressive though combined with that jumpshot (which looked automatic again in this game).
If Samb has an automatic J - ala Dyess and can block shots the way he does, then it seems we have a very good prospective backup center. If you think about it, our starting C is basically a guy we depend on to hit open mid rangers, which seems to be Sambs best offensive attribute. Now, hopefully he can get a knack for crashing the boards like Dyess does.
Do you guys think that if Samb can improve his conditioning and add maybe 20 or 30 lbs of muscle we could actually have a pretty decent player in him? I'm starting to think yes... I don't think he'll be back on the team this year, but if he's smart he'll work out like crazy over the summer, like Maxiell and Rip do.
Here are his 2 games since the triple-double (this guy has some unusual box scores). 31:41 minutes 6 points (3-9) 8 rebounds 0 assist 2 steals 6 blocked shots 2 personal fouls 0 turnovers Last game- 7:49 minutes 4 points (2-2) 0 rebounds 1 assist 0 steals 4 blocked shots 6 personal fouls 1 turnover That is a weird game. 4 blocks, 6 fouls, and 0 rebounds in 7:49??? I'm not sure if there is any player currently in the NBA who would have put up that stat line if they were sent to the D-leage. We have a very unique player here, and I worry that his weaknesses are not correctable. It would take a creative coach to figure out how to use him effectively.
He is looking more and more like a slightly heavier and shorter version of Manute Bol who averaged 2.6 ppg over his NBA career. In 11.692 career NBA minutes Bol had 1,599 points 2,647 rebounds and 2,086 blocks. That is 13 rebounds and 10 blocks for every 8 points. Number of changed shots per 8 points is unknown. LOL Manute Bol Statistics - Basketball-Reference.com
Samb is very coordinated and has a nice jump shot + hook shot. But it is going to be tough getting enough defensive rebounds when he's in there. It would be fun seeing him in there against the other team's bench units this year. We could use him like we use the zone. Just as a change of pace to throw teams off a bit.
What do you see as his weaknesses? He seems to be on target for the strength and bulk plan - maybe a year or two away from being able to bang with the big boys, but still making good progress. And he seems, at least from the few minutes I've seen him play, (and as you say) far more coordinated and athletic than Manute who I saw play far more than I ever really wanted.
He doesn't have much natural bulk. It is hard for guys that tall to add significant mass. He seems to have Tayshaun's frame, except add 4 inches. Then the question becomes, will he lose quickness if he adds 30 lbs? Will he even be able to add that weight in the first place? If Flip Saunders is hesitant to use Amir because of his fouls, then a guy who commits 6 fouls in less than 8 minutes in the D-league doesn't have a prayer of earning time under Flip. In the limited minutes that I have seen Cheikh play, he seems to get pushed under the basket. He still gets a lot of rebounds and blocks from that weak position, but he also fouls a lot and gives up easy baskets when he falls on his butt. In the 20 minutes of court time he had this year, our team gave up 50 points... even though we blocked 11% of their shots! The reason was that we only pulled down 37% of total rebounds available and comitted 11 fouls.
we haven't seen samb play in a long time. dice said he was a lot harder to push around in practice and is working out like a beast. either way, he's a project who's going to need time, but has a lot of promise.
I still think he has usable skills. It's just that the coach would need to figure out how to use him well, and who to pair him up with to optimize. He'll be the primary shot blocker out there. That will take him out of position, so he needs somebody like Dyess in there with him (not somebody like JMax). My point is really just that since Amir is having a hard enough time getting PT, you're dreaming if you think Flip will ever go through the process with Samb.
Samb managed to foul out in 15 minutes in his last game. In game prior to that, he managed to stay on the court for 39 minutes with only 4 fouls while scoring 22 pts with 13 rbs 3 asst 1 blk and 1 steal. After 10 games his averages are: 25.9 mpg, 10.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 3.7 bpg
roughly 25, 15, 8 blocks per 48 mins from a 'raw' guy in a league where bigs probably aren't utilized well isn't pretty good numbers?
I think you have to be cautious using 48-minute stats for a guy who commits about 12 personal fouls every 48 minutes.
