Check out this link for a nice selection of game photos from the Vegas Summer League:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/det/photos?pg=1∩=0

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

———

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:
Continue Reading »

Today the Pistons announced that former first-round pick and MSU legend Mateen Cleaves has been added to the team’s Vegas Summer League roster, replace guard Frank Williams.

In addition to his one-season stint with Detroit in 2000-01, Cleaves played 10 games in the NBA Development League last season with fellow roster mates Alex Acker and Amir Johnson. He averaged 20 points, 7.2 assists and 3 rebounds in the D League.

Even if Mateen is only playing to attract interest from other teams, this sizes up as a good move.

Unselfish point guards are rare in the every-man-for-himself lifeboat drill that is Summer League, but a guy who helps everybody get good touches and stay enthusiastic ultimately creates more learning opportunities for young pros. Throw in Cleaves’ familiarity with Alex and Amir, and the results should be considerably more entertaining for Pistons fans than watching Chauncey Billups’ midget brother airmail jumpers over the backboard. Good luck, Mateen.

A warning to you Pistons fans who are already jonesing for a little Bad Boys skinny from the Vegas Summer League: plopping down a tenspot for the league’s Courtside LIVE downloads won’t scratch your itch. No indeed.

This dross, to be frank, makes the surveillance video above your favorite liquor store counter look like “Citizen Kane.”

Footage jerks, starts, blurs, buffers, hiccups and mostly shows crowd shots or guys standing during shootaround. Game footage is obscured by a foreground watermark, and sometimes the shooter scores from outside the frame. Good luck trying to figure out who did what, especially without useful screen titles or narration.

In other words, it’s like “Blair Witch Project” if the witch was holding the camera. On the positive side, most of it is in blissful silence, except for the occasional gurgle of crowd noise or a bouncing ball. But — and this is a JLo-sized one — on some clips there is an awful honking, whining background audio track that sounds like the Georgia Satellites channeling a bandsaw. So we’re not talking prime multimedia here, which is odd given that the Vegas Summer League is sponsored by Toshiba.

But I digress. Don’t waste your dough, is what I’m saying.

This is just proof, once again, of something we used to say at Langley before I was pensioned off with my 30 and a golden colostomy bag: there’s no substitute for HUMINT (human intel) in the field. Fortunately, we’ve got assets on the ground in Vegas.

Starting with the Pistons’ first game against Washington on Saturday, we will be giving you the straight dope while answering all vital questions (How did Amir look? Who’s better, Acker or Blalock? Did Cheick Samb really give an opposing center a paper cut?)

In the meantime, keep checking in. We’ll file additional game results at the VSL as they happen.

For all of us who couldn’t make it to Vegas, there’s good news: the online game recaps appear to be much better this year. Here are a few quick hits on the four games during Day 1:

Sacramento 90, Minnesota 83
A good debut for Randy Foye, with 23 points in a losing effort. Kevin Martin led the victors with 20, and Louis Amundsen chipped in 16. Ron Artest was a no-show, but the Kings expect to see him in Las Vegas for future games.

Houston 88, Portland 82
John Lucas tallied 22 and Houston got 20 each from Pat Carroll and Marquette sharpshooter Steve Novak (6-8 from 3 point land). Martell Webster was high man in defeat with 29 points. Brandon Roy had 12 points and 8 assists.

Denver 113, Dallas 85
The Mavs came up snake eyes in this one, trailing by as much as 30. MSU product Maurice Ager scored 17 in defeat, while Casey Jacobsen led the Nugz with 20.

Toronto 93, Washington 85
Number-one pick Andrea Bargnani looked good for the Raps, scoring 20 including 16 in the first half.

Other action
Former Piston Mike James was busy in the stands according to ESPN’s Marc Stein, “conducting face-to-face negotiations with the three teams chasing him: Houston, Dallas and Minnesota. After a meeting with Rockets officials, James could be seen in a far corner of the gym, engaged in an animated discussion with Mavericks owner (and fellow Pittsburgh native) Mark Cuban.”

If only Mike wasn’t so shy, eh? We’ll be back soon with more coverage of a distinctly Pistons flavor.