cpawfan

Stephane Lasme is a 6 foot 8 inch, 225 pound PF from UMass. He is still raw, but in his senior season he averaged 13.5 PPG, 9.5 RPG and 5.1 BPG (second in the nation). He had 4 triple doubles last season.

He played in the PIT and impressed some scouts there with his man and help defense and demonstrated some ability to score in the post. With his size, he'll need to demonstrate some ability to guard SF's in order to get drafted, but I believe he'll be able to stick with a team as a training camp invitee.


nbadraft.net profile
draftexpress profile

DE has him undrafted right now and nbadraft.net has him at 43.

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RebelSun

His height hurts almost as much as the fact he's 34 years old, lol. Athletic shotblockers are always intriguing, though. My guess is he goes undrafted but will get plenty of summer league invites and may make a training camp. Reminds of Deng Gai, a ridiculous college shotblocker with similar size that amounted to very little professionally. Who knows, though. Many are infautated with Tyrus Thomas, who's an undersized leaper/rebounder/shotblocker as well. A little bulk and an outside shot could do Lasme wonders.

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Teezy's GM Draft:
Lineup: Chris Paul/Manu Ginobili/Loul Deng/Dirk Nowitzki/Pau Gasol
Bench: Shaun Livingston/Gerald Green/Marvin Williams/Al Jefferson/Sam Dalembert

Nimreitz

What makes him different from Jason Maxiell? Serious question as I've never seen Lasme.

cpawfan

Muscle mass, strength and offensive skills. For a point of comparison, both played in the Portsmouth Tournament and while Max dominated and was considered the MVP, Lasme "only" managed to increase scouts' interest.

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Ninerballin

Lasme is a stud that will only continue to improve while in the NBA. He broke Camby's shotblocking record at UMASS and he will be an immediate contributor on defense for any team. He possess excellent timing and moves his feet exceptionally well.

He also knows how to work on the help side late (indicated by the # of blocks he had in his career @ UMASS.)

His offensive game is underrated and improved every year he was at UMASS. This past year I could tell a good improvement from last year as he worked on his footwork and post moves.

He is not a perimeter player, but a true PF. You can look at the nationally televised game vs. Alabama in the NIT and see how he schooled Jamario Davidson in that game. While the A-10 didn't have elite post players (outside of Lasme/Freeman), he faced players like Ian Vouyoukus in conference and players like Randolph Morris, Davidson, and BC's set of big men.

UMASS fans can tell you more and they have seen him a good bit more than I have in person.

ktabz16

during the season he outplayed aaron gray from pitt, davidson from bama, and everybody in the a10.

obviously there are two things working against him, his height and his age. regarding his height, he plays well above the rim and has grabbed rebounds at the top of the box many times. his timing and lateral quickness in the post i think will help him match up inside on a taller 4. he's 24 years old but still has tremendous upside, improving unbelievably in his 4 years in amherst, probably more than anyone else in the country (he didn't even know that he had to check in at the scorer's table before subbing in when he first got here, he just ran on the court) his strongest points besides his shotblocking are the intangibles. he was a tremendous leader this past year, and you can tell he works very hard on his game and in the weight room.

best case scenario: he'll develop into an NBA 7-8th man who will come in the game mostly for defense and rebounding.

worst case scenario: he'll make a ton of money starring overseas

cpawfan

Thanks to the A10 and UMass fans.

Do you see him being able to gain another 20-30 pounds and still remain effective, or since he is already 24, will he remain a pogo stick?

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MinutemenDynasty

Lasme's potential may be the deciding factor on whether or not he gets drafted. At 24 years old, many scouts and organizations may think he has reached his full potential, but at UMass he dramatically improved each year. In my personal opinion, he has the ability to get much better, and the NBA coaching and weight room staff will only make this process go faster.

In response to the post above me, I doubt that Lasme will put on 20-30 pounds. 10-15 is more likely. He has gained a good 25 pounds of muscle since his freshman season and has been visibly stronger on the court. He is an athletic freak so 10-15 more pounds should not take away from his athleticism.

In my opinion, he is an NBA player. By the end of the season it was clear that he was the best player on the court 9 out of 10 games. He had 21 points, 6 boards, and 9 blocks on Jermareo Davidson and Bama, but being at that game I can tell you that he completely dominated Bama's frontcourt. He has obtained a pretty good first step when facing the basketball from foul-line distance, and has shown some ability to hit a 12-15 jump shot. If he can improve these two skills to a point where he is comfortable with them at all times, he should develop into a solid NBA player.

Priest

Man im so mad at myself. I always heard about this guy but i decided not to watch him cause umass wasn't really that good. So I decided to watch the NIT and I was really impressed. His offensive game isnt great but he seems like a work horse. he is 6''8 but he has to have a elton brand type wingspan IMO. I feel anyone can get better especially lasme cause he is athletic it all depends on how hard he works. I hope he gets drafted or atleast a try out. IMO is balkman can get drafted in the first round then he lasme should have a shot at hte league