Dampier -- Back Into A Pumpkin?

[Bricklayer]

This offseason one of the most hotly pursued free agents in the market was Erick Dampier. And why not right? He averaged 12pts 12reb 2blks a game -- in the modern era huge numbers for a center.

But there was always a cautionary red flag that many people stuck on him -- namely that it was his contract year, and the only other good year he'd had in his career was during his previous contract year. Was he a guy who only came to play when it came time to get paid?

Well results so far say maybe Yes and that perhpas Dallas got screwed and may still not have that inside presence they have been seaching for:

Dampier 03-04:
32.5min 12.3pts (.535 FG%, --, .654 FT%) 12.0rebs 0.8ast 0.5stl 1.9blk 1.8TO

Dampier 04-05 (this year):
27.9min 8.3pts (.505 FG%, --, .509 FT%) 7.4rebs 0.9ast 0.2stl 1.0blk 2.1TO

In fact his numbers in 04-05 look suspiciously like what his numbers looked like during all those years when it WASN'T a contract year for him. Almost feel sorry for Dallas on this one -- yes, they ignored the warning signs when they signed him, but still, they were at least TRYING to fix the problem this year.

P.S. as an aside, it never fails to amaze me how the Great Stonehands manages to rack up such an atrocious number of turnovers every year. If it weren't for Olowakandi, Dampier's A/TO ratio would be about the worst I'd ever seen year in and year out.

 

[KingKong]

Hey, atleast his assists are up.

 

[Evenstar]

i figured that might happen.

 

[Heuge]

Well, they are winning. Right now they may not be too shaken up on the deal.

 

[Bricklayer]

Well, they are winning. Right now they may not be too shaken up on the deal.

5-5 in their last 10.

And winning really isn't the point with them -- Dallas has been winning for years. They were looking for something to put them over the top in the playoffs. And when you spend a gadzillion dollars on a center, you'd probably like him to lead you in rebounding mor ethna 3 times in 18 games.

 

[NME]

That's a real shocker.

 

[VF21]

And what does Mark Cuban do to address this problem?

Simple!

He goes out and gets ANOTHER guard.

 

[albeitrue]

Thanks for the analysis Brick. I like the informational work you do here. I try to analyze numbers, but I've finally conceded that I am just not numbers oriented (which has always frustrated my better half, hehehe) I did check Patricia Bender for Dampier's salary, suffice to say that at 73 mil for 7 years he'll be a long term disappointment if he continues the way he is going.

Hey VF21, maybe the Mav's and Lakers can help each other out with some trades?

 

[SacTownKid]

i figured that might happen.

Its not happening b/c he sucks. He was on the the Warriors last season which meant more offensive and rebounding opprotunities. He isn't in Dallas to match the numbers he put up last season he is there to be a big body. Besides Dirk doesn't miss much so there's less rebounds to get . Also Dallas has never looked for anybody in the low post before so they have to get used to that idea. What they are more worried about is their awful passing.

 

[4cwebb]

I don't think the ppg is too big of a concern in Dallas, but the fact that he's not even pulling down 10 boards per game when the only other guy on that team that really focuses on the defensive glass is Dirk.

And he might still be slowed from the effects of the hip flexor injury he suffered early on this season. He's still better than what the Mavs had prior to this season.

 

[KingKong]

He's still better than what the Mavs had prior to this season.

....which was absolutely nothing.


They are still one of the better rebounding teams in the league but don't really outrebound their opponents by much. With Nash's departure they lost out on any semblance of a passing game and that seems to be their biggest concern at the moment, they are -4.0 in assist differential and are the second lowest team in the league in assists. Their point differential ain't too shabby though at +4.05, which is the 6th best in the league.

 

[mcsluggo]

While there is no question that he was horribly overpaid (that was clear before the season started)... I think his stats under-state his effect on the game. Between him and the new pg (forgot his name) they actually have something they haven't had in the entire Dirk era, both an interior and exterior defensive presence.

The mavs look TOTALLY different this year. On the one hand they really miss nash on the O end <uh… duh>. But they are actually a decent D team thus far (as opposed to two years ago when they put up decent D numbers but EVERYONE knew it was smoke and mirrors). This team actually has some real promise, imho. I figure they’ll likely be able to sharpen up the O end because they just have too much damn offensive firepower, and that is Nellie’s specialty. At this point they are decent on O, in spite of the fact that they just run up the court and then play 5 individual games of 1-on-1. If they can keep up the D and turn the O back on to some extent, they’ll be one of the 3 or 4 elite teams in the league; something that in spite of all their gaudy numbers in the past they have never achieved before.

Damp is grossly overpaid, but he actually has something to do with this change. If nothing else, given his salary and brouhaha Nellie HAS to play him, and having an actual center in the game makes a difference.

btw- they are 5 and 5 in the last 10 games because just about the whole team is injured

 

[mcsluggo]

EH, reading my post I have to say:

they have promise this year, but they’ll figure out a way to kill it.

I love that about the Mavs