Ok Pistons fans, time to head out into the heat, brave the fans at Cox Pavilion, and see who’s ready to make some noise in this year’s Las Vegas Summer League.

Now, granted the festivities have already started, but now is the time you’ve all been waiting for. The Detroit Pistons. So, are you folks ready to see who’s going to make an impact this season or who will be heading to Europe?

Now that the roster is set we can begin focusing on those fresh legs that may or may not get a chance to shine this coming regular season. Therefore, they are undoubtedly planning to make a bit of noise for themselves just off the Las Vegas Strip. The roster is as follows (per my main man roscoe over at PistonsForum.com):

• #01 ~ Rodney Billups - PG 5′10″ 165 lbs., Denver
• #05 ~ Rasheim Wright - SG 6′3″ 190 lbs., District of Columbia
• #06 ~ Alex Acker - SG 6′5″ 185 lbs., Pepperdine
• #07 ~ Frank Williams - PG 6′3″ 212 lbs., Illinois
  –Replaced by: Mateen Cleaves
• #08 ~ Sam Hoskin - PF 6′8″ 245 lbs., DePaul
• #09 ~ Wayne Wallace - C 6′9″ 215 lbs., Virginia Union
• #10 ~ Will Blalock - PG 6′0″ 205 lbs., Iowa State
• #12 ~ Nik Caner-Medley - SF 6′8″ 240 lbs., Maryland
• #17 ~ Marko Jovanovic - C 7′0″ 248 lbs., Serbia & Montenegro
• #18 ~ Cheikh Samb - C 7′1″ 195 lbs., Senegal
• #25 ~ Amir Johnson - F 6′9″ 210 lbs., Westchester HS (LA)
• #54 ~ Jason Maxiell - PF 6′7″ 260 lbs., Cincinnati

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Now as a rule, I’m not going to start off by regurgitating all of the hype that has been tossed about regarding these guys. No one cares and has probably heard it all already. What I will focus on, is the fact that we have “expectations” and what we really want to know is what these guys are going to do to live up to those same expectations. So, let’s get the ball rolling because come Saturday, it’s time for the newest Pistons to hit the hard wood. I think it’s much more important for you fans to get reports from me based on what I see on the court, not so much what a player’s “potential” or “hype” is. With that said, here’s the prep sheet:

1st up, let’s start with an old friend Mr. Mateen Cleaves. Now, I’m not sure about the rest of you Pistons fans, but I personally have been in no mood for all of the retro talk, what with Chucky Atkins’ & Grant Hill’s names being tossed about. However, I can understand tossing old Mr. MSU a bone. Keep in mind, the former NCAA champ has not managed to stick on an NBA roster in 6 full years, so I hardly think we are in danger of having #24 put back on the active plan. The VSL is just as much about garnering interest from ANY team as it is the team you are playing for. I don’t expect to see much from Mateen outside of running the offense and making solid, but not impressive decisions. Ho-hum if you ask me, but it’s nice to see the guy getting a helping hand every now and then.

Next up: Rodney Billups - Well, from what I saw from Mr. Big Shot’s smaller version in last year’s VSL, I would hope that he has a bit more to show this year. Extremely quick with excellent ball handling skills, Rodney should be able to again take advantage and get to the basket. If he’s improved his outside shooting, he should make a good impression this summer, although still undersized.

Next: Rasheim Wright - Honestly, I will have to admit to not knowing much about Wright. I will be using the VSL to make a solid judgement on what this guy can do for us or anyone else for that matter.

Next: Alex Acker - Well, anyone who read my VSL report from 2005 will know that I am very high on this kid. He played very well in last year’s league and made almost everything look effortless. The real test for Alex will be if he can maintain his calm, confident demeanor against first and second string NBA talent. I expect to see Acker do very well this year, but not to over exert himself trying to prove anything. If Acker senses he is much better than his competition I think he will dominate. Acker’s play mirror’s Tayshaun Prince in his ability to make people look silly for long stretches while the opposing team figures out how to slow him down. He did this in spurts last year at VSL and I expect more of the same.

Next: Sam Hoskin - Again, I will have to admit to not knowing much about Hoskin either. I will be using the VSL to make a solid judgement on this guy as well.

Next: Wayne Wallace - I seriously doubt the Pistons are looking for a more economical version of Big Ben although Wayne’s resume reads quite similar with a slight edge in the offensive skill department. It should be somewhat interesting to see what his game is like and how much or how little he resembles Ben. I don’t expect him to have much of an opportunity to make an NBA roster, but it will be a great opportunity to showcase himself in the short term.

Next: Will Blalock - Having selected Blalock this year should fill me with some optimism, but judging from his draft position and the fact that he’s another undersized (to some extent) PG, I don’t expect Blalock to get himself on to the active roster, but we will definitely hear periodic updates from his performance in the D-league. It will be good to find out if we should expect anything in the future.

Next: Nik Caner-Medley - I have very little previous information on Caner-Medley, so I will definitely be filling in the blanks for you starting tomorrow.

Next: Marko Jovanovic - I would think that the Pistons may have gone to the Serbia-Montenegro well one too many times. However, we have Marko Jovanovic. I haven’t seen the man play, but that won’t stop me from giving you all the goods on this big man from across the pond. Stay tuned.

Next: Cheikh Samb - Well, well, well, we’ve heard all the jokes and wisecracks on the commodity we received in return for Coach Saunders favorite go-to guy Mo Evans. Now it’s time to find out if this big man will give up something to cheer about or something to shake our heads at. It’s money time for Mr. Samb.

Next: Amir Johnson - Well, for all of the stories we’ve heard about the freakish talent and ability, the only thing that we have had to remember about this young man is that fantastic windmill dunk against the T-wolves this past season. I, for one, have been itching to see if this kid will get an opportunity to break into the active unit. Something that has been a bit of a sticking point between fans, coach, management, and anyone else with an opinion on the subject. A year with Big Ben and some PT in the D-league should give us something impressive to leave this year’s VSL with.

Next: Jason Maxiell - Last year’s VSL saw the NBA’s refereeing hopefuls take out their frustration on señor Maxiell. However, we saw enough muscle and hustle from “Max” to leave some of us salivating for more. Maybe, since we have said goodbye to Big Ben, we can get some form of the same work out of Mr. Maxiell. He made men look like boys last year so I expect to see more of the same in a warm up for Maxiell to head into the regular season.

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Well, fans, there you have it. I’m all set and ready to head down to Cox Pavilion tomorrow and see what these youngsters have in store for us. It should be lots of fun and we should learn a ton about what we can expect to see from this year’s crop. Stay tuned and we will bring you all you can handle about the young talent at the 2006 Vegas Summer League.

-Low