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Knicks Draft Sweetney, and Some Size
By STEVE POPPER
As fans streamed into the Theater at Madison Square Garden for the N.B.A. draft l
ast night, they were handed orange flyers proclaiming the availability of Knicks
season tickets. It seemed like a safe bet that those who passed through the doo
rs weren't buying any on the way out.
A half-hour before the draft, a steady chant of "Fire Layden" sounded through th
e Theater, and it rose again during a lull. But when N.B.A. Commissioner David S
tern stepped to the podium to begin the proceedings, the fans almost drowned him
out as he tried to laugh them off.
The chant, directed at Knicks General Manager Scott Layden, overpowered the chee
rs for LeBron James when he took the stage as the first overall selection, and s
urfaced again as the Knicks' selection at No. 9 drew closer.
But what the crowd and maybe even the Knicks didn't know was that the ninth pick
would not reverse the reaction. When the Knicks chose Georgetown power forward
Michael Sweetney, the chant was replaced by a smattering of cheers but mostly st
unned silence.
The loudest chant of the night came at the start of the second round. With the c
rowd begging, "We want Lampe!" the Knicks brought the fans to their feet by taki
ng the Polish 7-footer Maciej Lampe with the 30th overall pick. Lampe played to
the crowd as well as Patrick Ewing ever did, acknowledging cheers that only grew
louder.
If the Knicks raised questions with their first-round selection, they raised hop
es by snatching Lampe, who had been projected as high as No. 5 in the days befor
e the draft. And with the 39th pick, the Knicks obtained the tallest player in t
he draft, 7-foot-4 Slavko Vranes from Serbia and Montenegro.
Lampe may have the most potential. Asked how a player with Lampe's promise had d
ropped so far, Layden said: "I don't know and I don't care. I think it's great t
hat he's in New York. Sometimes guys slip in the draft for whatever reason. Good
for us."
Lampe, who has a buyout in his contract with Real Madrid worth about $1 million,
may spend another season overseas. The Knicks' best hope from last year's draft
, Milos Vujanic, is also obligated for at least one more season in Europe. Vrane
s, 20, is years from contributing.
Then there is the matter of Sweetney, the first-round choice.
The Knicks can speak of the Georgetown background of Patrick Ewing, who carried
the team for more than a decade. Others will point instead to another former Hoy
a, Othella Harrington, and wonder why the Knicks chose to add another power forw
ard, giving them six on the roster: Sweetney, Harrington, Clarence Weatherspoon,
Travis Knight, Kurt Thomas and Antonio McDyess, who was obtained in a draft-day
deal with Denver last year but has yet to play a regular-season game for the Kn
icks.
"It's a good feeling to have guys to work with," Coach Don Chaney said. "I'm jus
t happy to be able to add players who can post, who have size, and I'm just look
ing forward to working with them."
The Knicks sent a contingent down to Georgetown last week to watch the 6-8, 262-
pound Sweetney work out. When he was in town on Wednesday for news media session
s, the Knicks interviewed him at the Garden.
Nevertheless, Sweetney was as surprised as the fans when the Knicks called his n
ame.
'"I had no clue, I mean, no clue at all," Sweetney said. "I knew that I had a wo
rkout with them and an interview with them, but a lot of teams did that and they
didn't pick me. It was a good shot. I'm pretty happy where I am."
So is Lampe.
"Everybody thought I was going to go high; me myself, too," Lampe said. "I'm jus
t thankful for the opportunity the Knicks gave me. I'm going to try to prove tho
se teams wrong that didn't pick me."
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