Article: Despite offensive shortcomings, Dampier will go high in draft

If Mississippi State junior center Erick Dampier enters the June draft as expected, he likely will be among the first five or 10 players selected. Wake Forest's Tim Duncan and Massachusetts' Marcus Camby are at the top of the NBA's most-wanted big man list, with Dampier close behind.

What separates Dampier from Duncan and Camby are his shortcomings on offense. Dampier's game is limited largely to dunks, layups and follow shots. He also has a small variety of low-post moves that produce soft bank shots from close in.

Through 16 games, he was averaging 15.3 points on 62 percent shooting. Perhaps unselfish to a fault, he was averaging fewer than 10 shots per game.

What Dampier does best is ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!