ERICK DAMPIER, THE NEW HEAT'S ACQUISITION

MIAMI, November 23 – The reasons for the Miami HEAT signing Erick Dampier Tuesday were very, very simple. With Udonis Haslem undergoing surgery the same day on a torn ligament in his left foot, deemed out indefinitely, the team that had been beaten on the boards in two consecutive losses needed one thing: size.

“We needed a big presence in the middle,” Dwyane Wade said. “More so to rebound the ball, to do the little things in our offense, help us screen.”

The 6-foot-11 Dampier has been doing all those things for 14 years, leading the league in offensive rebounding percentage three times, and total rebounding percentage once. And though he only played in 55 games last year, his offensive rebounding percentage of 11.6 would have been Top 10 in the NBA.

Considering that the HEAT are currently ranked last in the league, grabbing 22 percent of all available offensive rebounds, the areas in which Dampier can help the team are cut and dry.

“It gives us size and rebounding, that’s what he’s always done throughout his career,” Erik Spoelstra said. “And now, with UD out indefinitely, that he’ll be able to bolster our frontline and probably give us some things that we’ve been lacking so far in the 14 games.”

Spoelstra said he will not start Dampier right off the bat, leaving Zydrunas Ilgauskas in with the regular starters. But he appreciates how the differences between the two might compliment one another.

Dampier is more rugged, Spoelstra said, more of a shot blocker – Dampier has blocked more than two shots a game throughout his career – but the greatest difference will be in the pick-and-roll, where Ilgauskas routinely pops out to the wing for open jumpers while Dampier dives to the rim, where he can make tough catches, and finish, on the move.

To make room on the roster, the HEAT had to waive Dampier’s teammate from the 2006 Dallas Mavericks squad that lost to Miami in the Finals, Jerry Stackhouse. But just like Stackhouse, who was signed just before the start of the regular season, Dampier arrived ready to do anything he was asked.

“Whatever the team needs,” Dampier said. “Obviously I’ve been in this league going on 14-15 years now, I know how to play the game, been to the Finals, had experience. Definitely going out there to give a defensive effort and get all the rebounds I can.”

And with the sort of game Dampier plays, working hard without requiring the ball to have a major impact, plugging him into the lineup will be a relatively simple procedure, especially given that he needs only learn the team’s terminology for various sets, as he’s familiar with most things that the team runs.

It will not be an immediate transition, though, as even though Dampier has been working out for the past two months, waiting for the right opportunity to arise, there’s no way to replicate game situations.

“Obviously when you miss training camp the first month of the season and first 13 games, you’re not going to be in game playing shape,” Dampier said. “But I’m not out of shape so I just got to continue to work and try to work myself into playing shape. It should take a little time.”

However long it does take, its clear that this is the opportunity Dampier was waiting for and, in his words, he plans to make the most of it.

Miami, FL., USA
11/24/2010