Okay, so he didn’t exactly stick the landing. Pardon Stephane Lasme if he wasn’t too disappointed.

Lasme, who was supposed to be playing in Russia this season, is only participating in the Boston Celtics’ training camp because of a United States residency issue. He had to return to the States to remain with his family. (Read more about Lasme’s great story here. Chris Forsberg did a nice job.) He’s parlayed that family commitment into his best opportunity to make it in the NBA. Doc Rivers now says Lasme has “a great shot of making our team.”

“I like him a lot,” Rivers told ESPN Boston. “He just does everything — he has energy, he has a high basketball IQ, he’s athletic. He’s probably our most athletic player, him and [point guard Rajon] Rondo… He has a great shot of making our team. I think he’s terrific.”

Terrific, yes. So far, at least, and relative to expectations. But Lasme’s one fault is that he’s a natural power forward, while the Celtics could use another wing.

How does he plan to make up for that?

“I think I have a pretty good defensive mentality,” Lasme told the Boston Herald. “This team is based on defense and I like playing defense. I think I can help in that way.”

And dunks. High flying dunks. Gravity defying, who-the-hell-is-this-Stephane-Lasme-guy dunks.

(YouTube clip from MrTrpleDouble10)