Bulls’ draftee replaces Bunn

Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao isn’t taking any chances in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Samsung Governors Cup. The Thunder must beat Purefoods twice in the quarters to advance to the semis and that’s a tall order.

Guiao didn’t only bring back Tony Lang ahead of schedule but also signed up Sean Lampley, the Chicago Bulls’ second round draft pick last year, to replace Joe Bunn. Lampley will make his PBA debut against Purefoods on Saturday.

Lang led Red Bull to the Commissioner’s Cup title last year and wasn’t supposed to be back until the next conference. In fact, he was in the middle of a month-long vacation after playing in Japan when Thunder import Julius Nwosu hurt his back and couldn’t continue playing. Guiao asked Lang to report earlier than planned. Like a good soldier, Lang cut short his break and flew in to take over from Nwosu. Lang will stay up to the end of the Second Conference and his family is due to join him here next week.

Bunn left town Tuesday morning on a Northwest Airlines flight. Red Bull assistant team manager Andy Jao explained that while Bunn’s offensive skills were not in question, the problem was he couldn’t defend against bigger imports.

Lampley, 22, is a perfect complement for Lang, noted Jao. He’s comfortable playing three or four. He’s young, athletic, and highly-motivated. He can post up, has long arms, and is a team player. Most of all, Lampley’s a leader. During his four-year career at the University of California at Berkeley, Lampley was the coach’s extension on and off the court — he took care of his rookie and sophomore teammates and was a counselor for two summers at Michael Jordan’s camps.

Jao said Lampley has "good vision of the floor" and is "well-built" at about 225 pounds. He’s listed 6-7. But he’s expected to measure less than 6-5 under the PBA’s strict yardstick to easily join Lang within the combined height limit of 13 feet.

Lampley averaged a double-double in points and rebounds in his last two years at St. Francis DeSales high school in Chicago. His single-game highs included 38 points and 19 rebounds. He recovered from a broken foot as a prep senior to be rated No. 15 among the top small forwards in the US in 1997. In four years at California, he hit at a 14.4 clip and grabbed 7.2 rebounds a game. As a senior in 2000-01, he averaged 19.5 points and shot 50.2 percent from the field. Lampley was the MVP of the National Invitation Tournament in 1999.

Lampley is the youngest of five brothers who all played college ball. A brother Lemone suited up for DePaul University, the NCAA Division I school that produced Mark Aguirre and ex-PBA import Stephen Howard.

This past season, Lampley averaged 16.2 points and 8.9 rebounds in 20 games for coach Bill Klucas’ Saskatchewan Hawks in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). He shot 47.9 percent from the floor and 80.2 percent from the line. Among the PBA imports who saw action with Lampley in the CBA were Damian Owens, Terquin Mott, Brian Green, Victor Page, Darryl Johnson, Henry James, Dez Ferguson, Tony Massop and James Head.