Game on in 30. Washington have anyone that'll shut him down today?

hey guys, i posted a "How To" to watch the games via NBA.com video, if you're getting any "blacked out" error messages. this could apply for non-Pistons games.

it's in the first post of this thread:
http://wtfdetroit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9513

I've also put up a link to all the Vegas Summer League video recaps (of all teams) in the first post of this thread:

Summer League Video Recaps (http://videosearch2.nba.com/search/?sp_a=sp10038c44&sp_t=video&sp_q=%22/nbacom/summer_league/recap_summer07%22&sp_n=10&sp_s=postdate&sp_k=wmvasf&sp_p=phrase)

Today's game, Pistons vs Wizards. Hey, we get commentating, too:

http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia-live/nba/9936/500_nba-league_pass_washington_051201.asx

we get to see coulda-been Nick Young..

Nick Young got his shot stuffed and looks like he hurt his hand.

Nick Young vs Afflalo should be a good test of Afflalo's defensive skills.

Nick Young showing some real nice scoring moves with 6 pts.

Eddy Fobbs for the Pistons showed some good shot blocking and size.

Maxiell just FLATTENED nick young on a blind side screen. damn.

hey guys, i posted a "How To" to watch the games via NBA.com video, if you're getting any "blacked out" error messages. this could apply for non-Pistons games.

it's in the first post of this thread:
http://wtfdetroit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9513

works, thanks matt !

You can't stop Nick Young you can only hope to contain him.

That was an awesome dunk by Max. I witnessed it.

Double A is having a good game too. Outside, inside, FT line, it dont' matter.

Nick young is playing pretty well...

We just dominated in the 4th quarter... wow.

Yeah we did. I was wondering when Stuckey was going to start taking it to the hoop...

Unfortunately, i missed the second half and looks like i missed a dominant 4th quarter. uh-oh, maybe the rookies have adopted the Piston's "flip-the-switch-in-the-fourth" mentality?

just kidding.

i like Afflalo's aggresiveness from what i saw in the first half. it wasn't wasteful, blind aggression, but he was productive. i saw him miss his shot, get the off. rebound and make a quick move to the basket for a layup. nothing fancy, nothing out of control.

one thing i noticed about Stuckey. he's rushing his shot fakes. he needs to slow the fake down a little and let the defender bite. especially when the defender's running at him on the perimeter. i saw Stuckey catch the ball a few times and if he had sold the fake a little better, he would have had ample time to blow by his defender.

Nick Young looked damn smooth out there on offense. he got his shot off at will. i'm really hoping that Stuckey can shine, so we don't regret not taking Young.

Nick Young's ability to score was never an issue.

It's the fact he makes Yinka Dare look like John Stockton that disgusted many scouts with his game.

He's got maybe the worst floor vision I've ever seen in a guard that gifted offensively.

Notes from Pistons' third Summer League game

Posted by Justin Rogers (http://blog.mlive.com/fullcourtpress/about.html) July 11, 2007 19:43PM


Here are some notes and observations from Detroit's 84-70 victory over the Washington Wizards in Summer League play. As always, please comment with your own observations at the bottom of the entry. Click here for the final box score. (http://www.nba.com/summerleague2007/games/boxscore.jsp?gameId=1520700026)
- There's probably not a roster spot available, but Eddy Fobbs made Nick Young look silly on two drives in the first quarter, throwing one shot back to half court as the shot clock expired.
- Stuckey has an impressive knack for getting open for easy shots without the ball. That's a veteran skill and it's important to note how well he does it already.
- Washington may have gotten a steal selecting Dominic McGuire with the 47th pick of the draft. He shows nice hustle, great athleticism, way better court vision than I imagined and a decent jump shot. He should be a good energy guy off their bench.
- Sammy Mejia is making a case to make the 15-man roster and at this point I think he will make it. He probably won't see time with the Pistons unless there is an injury, but Mejia's all-round game, hustle and defense will be worth investing a spot for him on the developmental roster.
- Washington effectively closed off Stuckey's lanes in the middle of the court and along the baseline with double-teams in the first half. To his credit, Stuckey rarely forced a shot, usually finding a way to kick out to the open man. If an NBA team attempts this during the regular season, most of the players on the Pistons will welcome the opportunity to shoot open jumpers.
- It's nice to see Arron Afflalo getting to the line, but for the third straight game he's really struggled with his shot early. Afflalo was known as a great mid-range shooter with a quick release at UCLA, so you have to believe these struggles are temporary.
- Nick Young shows why the Pistons were considering him before the draft. The kid has serious hops and has just thrown down some massive dunks. That's just the exciting part. He's also shown that he has a very effective jumper. Still, I think Stuckey will prove to be more of a total package on offense in the long term. (I can't wait for this quote to get dug up three years down the road.)
- What looked like a tale of two halves really was a difference in Rodney Stuckey's approach before and after halftime. Stuckey was very conservative in the first half, rarely driving, deferring to teammates and with little help on the offensive end, the Pistons only scored 25 points in the first two quarters. The second half saw Stuckey taking it hard to the hole often and the Wizards couldn't do much to stop him.
I still wonder whether the Pistons are trying to make Stuckey fit like a square peg into a round hole at the point guard position, but I think with guys like Hamilton, Prince, McDyess, Wallace and Maxiell surrounding him, Stuckey will probably find a way to rack up quite a few assists. I remember what Chauncey Billups was like before Larry Brown molded him into a pass-first point guard, and I think Chauncey will share be able to teach Stuckey quite a bit from his own transformation as a player.
- Cheikh Samb really struggled today just confirming that he's still quite far from being able to contribute at the NBA level.

Yesterday's highlights:

Pistons vs Wizards (http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbacom/summer_league/recap_summer07_wasdet_26.asx) - Afflalo and Maxiell with 21 points each

Sammy Meija's behind the head pass to Max was sweeeeeeeeet

The Pistons win by 14 but we get to see all of 2 or 3 Pistons highlights. The rest goes to Nick Young.

Pistons vs Nuggets right now:

http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia-live/nba/11562/500_nba-liveevent_060611.asx

the old adage w/ summerleague ball is that you cant find out if someone can play but you can find out if they cant.

though im sure k-stat is writing his master thesis on how everyone who doubted aflalo's pick at #27 is an asshole based on three summer league games.

but the track record of summer league and nbdl legends is mixed. although, im thinking we should consider this darius rice kid: (http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20070429/COLDAK/recap.html), as 52 ppg off the bench would infact help.

I see Stuckey has 8 -- has he looked pretty good?

I've tried to watch these games with no commentary, and I just can't do it.

Luckily you die hards here have been doing a nice job filing reports.

The lazy man thanks you.

Stuckey just got schooled by Will Blalock.

Stuckey needs to sit down in his defensive stance better to keep up with quicker players.

Denver picked up Will Blalock?

Well, yes, I suppose they did.

Stuckey's going to need to flop more in order to make it in the NBA.

Max not playing today?

they asked him to sit out while they reinforce the now bent UNLV rims...

Samb is a ways off yet, but I still feel he'd be better served on our team/in the NBDL. I don't know how much more he'll learn in Europe.

Oooohh, Arron Afflautographs!

Afflalo's hitting some J's today, fortunately.

On a side note, it's funny listening to every player shout "And one!" on every play.

The race for Summer League MVP:

http://www.nba.com/summerleague2007/players/summer_league_rankings_071207.html

Our man, Hot Rod is #3. Mad Max is #6. Looks like it was written before today's games.

Ok, i officially dislike the name Hot Rod.

Amir Johnson should be playing in Saturday's game. Looks like we'll get a glimpse of the 07-08 Pistons bench (minus Dice).

So if they add AJ, does Max go home? I'd hate for Max to get hurt. Wait a minute, Max get hurt? How can King Kong get hurt?

i'll be in Vegas for the final Pistons summer league game, so hopefully we see some Amir highlights as well as a strong finish from Stuckey.

Vegas, baby!

Do they take alpacas in Vegas?

Marco is a player we should have looked at harder. He's playing so well in summer league but his highlights in the Euro league makes him look like Kobe. He has the sweetest jumper and is pretty athletic.

end-to-end, Amir is a sickeningly fast big man.

He can't handle the ball well enough to beat someone off the dribble, but put the ball in his hands in transition, and he's dynamite.

Stuckey has proven enough in summer league. Whenever he turns it on, he can score at will.

He just has to prove he can do it against NBA competition, but I love his skills.

I guess the most positive thing you can take away from Vegas is that our overall team speed is improved greatly this season.

Amir, Stuckey and Afflalo can all run like the wind.

And we are younger. I mean we know how good LH would be next season, Delfi wasn't going to have a bust out year. So they weren't going to be starters, imo.

If the kids improve, then JoeD has the ability to pull the trigger on a trade with one of our starters in the coming years, knowing he has someone on the roster that can start. Not this year but maybe next year.

Pistons win, they finish Vegas 4-1. Good job all around by our draft picks.

Stuckey made a really incredible shot with time running down. I wish I had the replay.

Mehia has a great shot to make the roster. The kid just looks and acts like a legit NBA small forward.

He can handle the ball, pass, shoot with NBA 3-point range, defend.

I just don't see us letting him go, unless something comes up we can't refuse.

Amir had 7 field goals- 6 dunks and a layup. About sums his night up. Got himself into trouble doing too much ballhandling, but I wouldn't bet on that happening in a real game. he was just trying to test stuff out.

And I don't want to hear anybody say Stuckey got torched. Crittenton did a lot of stat padding against our super-shitty backup PGs Walker and Jabeer...

BTW, how about Afflalo putting the blanket over Farmar? only 5 points on 0-8 shooting.

BTW, how about Afflalo putting the blanket over Farmar? only 5 points on 0-8 shooting.

both teammates in UCLA too

I guess the most positive thing you can take away from this offseason is that our overall team speed is improved greatly this season.



fixed

No shit, Walker Russell is on the Piston's Summer team. I played against him in high school when he was at Rochester High. He was on the same team as Paul Davis.

Small world.

Mejia has looked solid throughout summer league. He can pass, get to the lane and rebound well from the point guard position. In Saturday's 84-81 win over the Lakers, he had 18 points and seven rebounds. The Pistons might not have a roster spot for him due to a numbers game, but Mejia has proved he has NBA-caliber talent.


Afflalo needs to work on his jumper in order to be a solid NBA player. Some days it is falling and other days, like Saturday (when he shot 3-for-10 from the field), it is a disaster. If Afflalo wants significant minutes this season, he needs to shoot the ball better and more consistently.

fixed

Took me a while to find that edit. Nice work.

Mejia the PG? I thought he was a SF.

Stuckey the PG? Afflalo the SF? Mejia the PG?

Apparently these guys are whomever the Pistons want them to be.

Stuckey was terrific and should really help the Pistons as a rookie. He is very strong, enabling him to either post up or drive, and he has a good feel for the game. He's also very unselfish. Stuckey averaged a team-best 19 points a game, but his numbers this season will not be great because he'll play behind Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups. Still, down the road, he should end up being one of the top five players in the 2007 draft.


Fuck a yahoo summer league report

LAS VEGAS -- The word "sleeper" isn't applied all that often to players taken in the top half of the NBA draft. Most players are preceded by their reputation.

Enter Rodney Stuckey, a promising rookie guard taken at No. 15 by the Detroit Pistons, just one spot out of the lottery last month. He is what the Pistons have to show for Darko Milicic after they traded the former second-overall draft choice for the pick that became Stuckey. He may have been one of those oft-photographed faces who shook commissioner David Stern's hand on draft night, but lots of folks are still trying to find out more about him.

Such as: How he can run a team so well, yet tiny Eastern Washington didn't even make the Big Sky Conference Tournament last spring?

And: How can a guy who has a great-looking midrange jumper hit 31 percent from college 3-point range?

Perhaps those questions shed light on why, even when the word got out two weeks in advance that the Pistons were seriously considering taking him at their first opportunity, other teams didn't get serious about him.

"Once everyone heard [Pistons GM] Joe Dumars was high on him, we got more calls," said Aaron Goodwin, Stuckey's agent. "But I still don't think people know how good he is."

Stuckey closed an impressive Vegas Summer League performance Saturday with 18 points and six rebounds in a victory over the Lakers in which he had a nice battle with fellow first-rounder Javaris Crittenton, who had 21 points. In Detroit's summer games, Stuckey averaged 19 points and nearly four rebounds. As a combo guard, he spent time at the point and turned quite a few heads in doing so, running the offense effectively. He also showed off a good jumper at times and the ability to guard quicker players.

"I think there were a lot of teams that liked him. He was on our board, but there was a lot of uncertainty with him," said one Eastern Conference general manager. "I don't know exactly where he fits in his league, but he's shown here how talented he is."

"He's a tweener, not a pure point and not a classic wing so I'm not sure where he fits with the Pistons," said one Eastern Conference coach. "He's shown a lot of potential here  he's a gutty player."

With Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Flip Murray, Will Blalock, draft pick Arron Afflalo and perhaps Lindsey Hunter (if he does not retire), the Pistons are stocked at guard. That means Stuckey may have an uphill battle to get playing time as a rookie. Still, it would be unwise to overlook him.

Speaking of the Pistons' summer team, big man Jason Maxiell impressed some with his developing offensive game. Everyone knows he can dunk, but in Vegas he shot 54 percent and showed a nice touch on short jumpers. He also shot 76 percent at the foul line, a massive improvement.
"It looks like he's been working a lot with Rasheed [Wallace] to me," an Eastern Conference scout said. "He's developing a nice baseline turnaround."

IBGRMANO...

I normally like her writing, but she says the Pistons were not surprised, and then writes a quote from Hammond talking about how he was better than they thought (isn't that being surprised?):


BY KRISTA JAHNKE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
Pistons executives evaluate summer league play with a healthy skepticism. They're not going to jump to many conclusions after watching five games in one week.
"You learn not to get too overly excited or too disappointed," said John Hammond, vice president of basketball operations. "You look at it for what it is. But it is still an evaluation period, especially for the rookies."


So after the Pistons' summer league team went 4-1 behind good play from a variety of project players, those front-office decision-makers no doubt left Las Vegas last weekend feeling cautiously optimistic. The top performance came from rookie guard Rodney Stuckey, who averaged 19 points, 2.6 assists, four rebounds, 46.6% field-goal shooting and 90.3% free-throw shooting, earning him a spot on the league's first team.
The Pistons were not surprised by those numbers, nor by his ability to run the team's offense. That's what they expected when they picked him at No. 15 in the June draft. And after five games, they believe they made a smart decision.
In fact, Hammond compares Stuckey with other players who came to Detroit and exceeded expectations. Tayshaun Prince, Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton all jump immediately to his mind.
From the beginning, Stuckey has done a similar job wowing the Pistons' brass.
"We go out and watch him play in a game, and he's a little better than you thought," Hammond said. "We bring him in for a workout, and he's a little better than you thought. Now he plays in NBA Summer League, and you go, 'Better than you thought.'
"If you can keep saying those things about him, that's a real positive."
Fellow rookie guard Arron Afflalo averaged 14.4 points but struggled with his shot, making 37.1% from the floor.
The Pistons liked his overall game, defensive mind-set, determination and aggressiveness. They say his poor shooting will disappear when he gets to training camp and understands his role in coach Flip Saunders' offense.
"I think maybe his shooting was down because he was doing some things that were uncharacteristic for him," Hammond said.
Some of that was likely his desire to make a big first impression. Some of the struggles are to be expected -- if you can't work on your game in Summer League, where can you?
But Hammond said he thinks Afflalo will have no problem being himself, taking smarter shots and fulfilling a role in the regular season.
"I think he will be asked to defend, to make the open shot, and be asked to be a smart player, a guy we can put in and who will not hurt us," Hammond said. "... With our team as it is, we don't need him to break down defense with the basketball. We have four guys who do that. We will just ask him to do the little things, rebounding and making shots."
The two second-round picks -- one from 2006 and one from 2007 -- also helped their causes in summer camp. Center Cheick Samb, chosen last year, developed his strength enough to earn a spot on the roster, as the Pistons signed him to a two-year contract Monday.
Samb averaged seven points, 5.4 rebounds and 57.7% shooting, and he did so without being in great basketball shape. He spent at least a few weeks off the court with a stress fracture before coming to Detroit a week early to work with the Pistons' training staff.
He also suffered a hyperextension of his left hand the second day of practice.
"We were proud of him that he played through it," Hammond said.
They were most impressed with his ability to rebound, despite his thin frame. Samb is listed at 7-feet-1, 195 pounds.
"He showed he can rebound in traffic," Hammond said. "For a guy his size, with his body, to rebound in traffic with that lack of strength, that really impressed me."
No decision has been made on Sammy Mejia, this summer's second-round pick, but the most likely scenario is that he will get a partially guaranteed contract. The Pistons then have until mid-January to commit to him for a full season.
Mejia averaged 9.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 40% shooting in 30 minutes per game in Las Vegas.
"He has good basketball savvy," Hammond said. "He can make the open shot. The thing that impressed me is he led the team in rebounding."

Mejia the PG? I thought he was a SF.

I read he played the 1 at DePaul but can play the 3

But we drafted him to be a 3 (at least that was what we were told). Otherwise, what was the point of drafting him? We need a guy to guard SF's and knock down an open shot.

But we drafted him to be a 3 (at least that was what we were told). Otherwise, what was the point of drafting him? We need a guy to guard SF's and knock down an open shot.
He played 1-3 at Depaul, and it was only out of necessity. He's going to be a swingman in the NBA if he makes it.