let me preface this - if you guys have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

Game Location: UMass-Boston, Clark Athletic Center

The game was general admission, held at the above location.

First off, that meant that I had court-side seats. The first baller I met wasn't a baller at all, but guess who? Scott Layden. I took a photo with him, shook the guy's hand, and told him nice draft. (towards the end of the game, I wanted to tell him about my idea to swap Eisley for Erick Dampier of GS, but it never happenned).

Little did I know I was dead wrong. First of all, let me preface this by stating that SummerLeague play is somehow distorted from actual year play, for whatever reason. Some guys are summer-L stars, others are summer-L busts, and for whatever reason, they do 180's come veteran's camp and/or the regular season.

Let me just tell you guys, I was surprised that the Knicks led for most of the game.

You think Clarence Weatherspoon has the most blocked shot in the NBA? Wait until Sweetney joins the team. The guy is a legit 6-7 or 6-8, but is NOT a big leaper (like Dyess or Barkley were). Sweets was usually double teamed when he got the ball deep in the low post. He got his shot blocked - OFTEN. He also got fouled on his way up, often - or at least the refs called it - which are not calls that he'll get in the NBA, as a rookie. This guy simply put, is not the solution at PF, period. He's not overweight, as I thought he would be, he's just not able to get the job done around the basket. However, he has a great free-throw shot. Really nice.

Sweetney did sink a shot at the buzzer before halftime, which was really nice, 18 ft out, but might have been luck as much as anything else. His defense wasn't that great, and he wasn't that fast in the game. He also likes hanging out at the top of the key, and is really passive sometimes.

Nesby - it made no sense that he was there. He didn't play like a "vet" - when he was on the court, he was almost invisible. I would have prefered to see Postell, or even Lee Nailon.

Some of the bright spots were: Jonathan Kerner was not on this year's summer-League team. Billy Keys did not outplay Frank Williams - although, I went up to Keys and told him that I wanted to see him throw down a serious dunk like last year's summerL game.

Frank Williams, where to start. This guy was on FIRE. First of all, the only reason why he didn't have more assists is because everyone on the Knicks messed up his dimes. He was surrounded by SCRUBS by the names of Andy Panko, Amal McCaskill, Cantrell, and Carroll.

Frank outplayed Ford in my opinion. Frank had great poise, Leadership, passes, and was in good shape. Frank seemed like he could not miss, especially at the shot-clock buzzer. He hit big 3's, played good defense, and is beginning to look like he will be the best point guard from the 2002 draft, since Jay Williams is out of commission for a little while (sad, but true).

The other players of importance? Oh yes - Vranes and Lampe. Vranes first: Vranes is big. 7-5 / 7-6, whatever. Vranes missed point blank layups/layins with no defenders on him. Vranes couldn't defend or rebound, period. He's not awkward out on the court, which is great, and he looks like he can bulk up, muscle-wise.

Lampe. First of all, the new tat he got, is not on his "ankle" as the papers have reported, but his side calf. He also recently got his ear pierced. Anyway. He was horrible. He missed open shots, got abused and destroyed by Haislip and Dan Gadzuric. They Dunked on him so hard, I thought I saw him crying during the game. SERIOUSLY. He played the 3/4/5 spots almost interchangably, and got destroyed at each spot. He turned the ball over. Looked lost. Didn't play in the post. Didn't do anything from the outside. Simply put, the guy looked like he had never seen a basketball before in his life. Frank Williams didn't even want to pass the guy the ball, that's how bad he was. No D. Spanish League? I know it was second division, but this is nonsense. Insider? Hogwash. Either this is a scam to prove how little value Lampe has to Real Madrid, or Lampe has a lot of learning to do. Lampe didn't show off any fancy dribling. Nothing. I didn't even want to get this guy's signature. It was embarrassing. I felt ashamed for even showing up to see this guy play, that's how bad it was.

Marcus Haislip tore it up, with some acrobatic dunks and pure out embarrassed and demoralized Lampe. Gadzuric missed a couple of dunks and was rejected by the rim and back iron a few times too, but still made Lampe look like a chump.

TJ Ford, my first impression of the guy - jeeez, can he be any shorter! Not as fast as everyone is claiming, and got LOCKED down by Frank Williams pretty much all game.

I also saw the ATL vs. Wiz game. Met Kwame Brown - big kid. Can tell he's from down south. Met Boris Diaw's mom. She's like Scandanavian or something, doesn't speak much English. Boris Diaw is like a passive Scottie Pippen. He's really a point guard, great passer. Kwame Brown was horrible as well. Dan Dickau has a great shot, he's really small though. That's about it, period.

Good info Caseloads, but be a little harsher on guys who just came together for a few practices and for A GUY WHO JUST CAME TO THE TEAM a few days ago AT 18, 19 YRS OLD.Everybody will get better , just not in a "NY MINUTE"

Hopefully he bounces back.

Posted by Caseloads:

i saw postell there too, but didn't say anything either...

yeah, funny, I heard he was in a Mav's uni. See ya Postell.

Case, did the Bucks use any pressure on FWill bringing up the ball? If so how did he handle it?

Its funny how harsh people are on a 18 year old kid, just turned 18! who never played a game in the NBA... The kid will be fine, all this Haislip shyt and him dunking on Lampe is pointless, haislip is more of a project than Lampe, I have seen haislip in college a lot at Tenn, he has no shot at all, no moves and no Jumper, he is though a athletic machine. That is fine but in 3 years when haislip will a role playing aaron williams type of player, Lampe has the ability to be much more than that.....

Lets not jump the gun yet fellas...

Posted by tkf:

Its funny how harsh people are on a 18 year old kid, just turned 18!

... tkf, it's called totally unrealistic expectations... expressing the heartfelt disappointment by some at the forum... and if they argue otherwise... they are in denial.

I must admit, I've watched too many IBM commercials.

yet, Lampe and Vranes are just the kind of guys we should be drafting. Projects with meaningful upside potential. Williams is looking good and both he and Sweetney should be ready to make significant contributions now... the others, down the road.

It's the most encouraging news out of Knicks camp in some time. Hopefully, for the first time since I can remember, the Knicks will indeed have a BLEND of veterans as we play and develop youth... something we should have been doing YEARS ago!

[Edited by - Pike on 07/15/2003 13:44:29]

Posted by Andrew:

C. Ford's take on the first game

No one was more impressive on Monday than the Knicks' Michael Sweetney. Sweetney was a beast in the paint, clawing and grabbing for offensive rebounds (he had five) and finding clever ways to put the ball back in the basket. He finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists and, judging from the smile on Scott Layden's face, earned a warm place in the heart of the Knicks. Second round pick Maciej Lampe, on the other hand, struggled mightily in his first game. He shot just 1-for-7 from the field, had three turnovers and just looked frustrated the entire time he was on the floor. "I played terribly," Lampe said after the game. Of course, not every 18-year-old can be like LeBron.

Chad Ford was not at the game - at least in the stands or press area.

Hopefully Williams can use the Summer Leahue to earn a spot in the rotation.... It would help solve things @ PG and we can unlkoad some of those contracts (read: Eisley and Ward and the 6 Mil each they are getting this year).