Two Minute Warning, by Wrecktangle Productions

July 9, 2007

DET vs MEM – VSL Game 2

Before I get started, I would like to send special thanks to this ****:

Who graciously sauntered into the row in front of me, promptly headed to the group of four empty seats and decided to drop his giant blackberry using head directly in front of me, blocking ALL of my filming efforts while pretending not to see me sitting there and remaining there for the entire 3rd qtr. I love people.

Points of note:

1st Qtr
DET started this game playing pretty good defense while getting considerably better execution from their offensive sets as opposed to game 1. Afflalo looks very aggressive to start the game and also like the fact that Stuckey looks to be more under control as things get under way.

Samb started today’s game much quicker on his defensive rotations and really wasn’t getting beat too bad on defense today. I did notice, however, that he’s picking up a lot of fouls. He’s maybe just a step slow.

I didn’t really notice much early from Mejia and Maxiell is business as usual with his aggressiveness

2nd Qtr
The 2nd unit didn’t look very effective today. The starters had clearly maintained control and the reserves didn’t do much to maintain that lead. There were a lot more turnovers, but at points when the starters returned, they managed to keep up the pace when MEM looked as if they would take control. DET traded baskets for the latter part of the qtr and did surrender much of their lead.

3rd Qtr
There was a pretty standard start to the 3rd, nothing spectacular, as far as I could see around the giant scalp in front of me. DET spent a lot of the 3rd picking up fouls as MEM was being very aggressive driving the lane. DET’s offense wasn’t much to speak of as they resorted to a lot of jumpers in the 3rd and they weren’t very proficient at that point.

4th Qtr
By the fourth, both teams were trading baskets inconsistently and not looking as if either really wanted to win the game. However, MEM seemed to hit some what of a dry spell and DET took advantage by getting some timely buckets, although inconsistently. As the qtr wore on DET got exceedingly aggressive driving the lane and were doing a great job of attacking the basket. At this stage, DET took the lead for good, although, they did cause themselves some unnecessary sweat by picking up a few fouls that put MEM on the line with the opportunity to get back in control. However, DET held on and picked up a nice win in the 2nd game of this year’s VSL.

Individual Notes:

Stuckey
I must admit, Stuckey looked much more under control and aggressive today. He wasn’t so much dominant as he was consistent through today’s game. He attacked at the right moments and was quite successful when he did. Overall, he turned in a pretty nice performance today.

Afflalo
Afflalo was very aggressive to start today’s game. He attacked when he had opportunities and defended well throughout the game. He wasn’t a standout, but was very steady.

Samb
Samb did a much better job on his defensive rotations today. He still needs to get a grasp on when to challenge so as not to pick up needless fouls, although, I felt he picked a couple that he really didn’t deserve. The officials seemed very selective.

Mejia
Sammy was somewhat of a non-factor today. Not in a bad way, but there just wasn’t much to gauge from his play today. He did knock down a shot or two, but really didn’t have a major imprint on today’s game.

Maxiell
Again, Max was Max. He was aggressive as usual and I think he has figured out how to maintain his consistency, so it should be very interesting to find out how well he does with consistent minutes (fingers crossed).

Today’s game wasn’t mind-blowing; however, it was a very good display of execution, consistent effort, and aggressive play. This game showed us that the top 5 or 6 guys on this SL roster learn relatively quickly and adapt/adjust well to new concepts. They looked like 5 strangers in game one and managed to gel very well by game 2. That should be an encouraging sign for anyone wondering if this year’s crop will be able to adapt to the nuances of the NBA level of play.

Good showing today.

Dre just sent me an email, the previous attempt disappearing someone into the abyss of the internet, or perhaps such a tasty email was lost forever into the stomach of Oliver Miller.

Two great photos from Game 1.

The first photo is of the starters, Ronald Stuckey, Arron Afflalo, Sammy Mejia, Jason Maxiell, and Cheikh Samb. Is any other VSL squad fielding 5 players that are all signed or rights held by their franchise? I haven’t had a chance to look.

And the second photo is Sammy Mejia with the Dre Family after the game. Dre writes,

I spoke with Sammy Mejia after the game, congratulated him on hitting the winning shot and advised him that Pistons fans, particularly the worldwide fans at PF would be following and supporting him.

From Pistonsforum.com, courtesy of LA Dre

Good report from The Low as I noticed he was doing his game report with his laptop in tow just like the other beat writers. Met he and his ladyfriend and brother and we exchanged our game observations. Enjoyed the game much more so than the games on Friday, but then again I had more of an interest this one.

There were three empty seats in the second row behind a bench where Pistons trainer Mike Abdenour was talking, so me, the Mrs, and my nephew grabbed them. Much to my chagrin, I chose wrong and was actually sitting behind the Sixer bench where I heard their assistant coaches and braintrust discussing whom is whom and who do they like. One of those was Mo Cheeks who sat there silently through most of the game observing at the scorers table, but in the end, he moved to the row in front me and had to say that his guard Louis Williams is getting better and they need to play him more and more to get him ready to be the principal back-up to Andre Miller. Cheeks also marveled how active JMAX was. Looks like former Piston, Aaron Mckie has finally hung up his sneakers as he was one of sixer summer assistant coaches…..

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Two Minute Warning, by Wrecktangle Productions