Very good observations from the game 3 by Justin Rogers of Full Court Press:

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- Cheikh Samb really struggled today just confirming that he’s still quite far from being able to contribute at the NBA level.

Full text is here

I still think that Samb would be better served by staying in USA and spending time with Arnie Kander and in NBDL to build up strength and get experience playing against tougher opposition. If he goes back to Spain, there is no guarantee that he would be able to make the majors. Playing in Spain in 2-nd or 3-rd tier league won’t get Samb anywhere since he will be playing against the extremely weak opposition.

Also, a bit worrysome that the “Junior Pistons” resembled the regular team sort of sleepwalking for the 3 quarters and then revving it up in the 4th to win the game. Hopefully it is really the reflection of Stuckey’s strategy of deferring in the beginning and getting more assertive as game progressed. Also, schedule and multitude of games and scrimmages with little breaks may have something to do with it. But it is something to watch for.

Lets begin with the home papers.

Krista Jahnke of the Free Press writes:

“…third-year forward Jason Maxiell is hungry. Perhaps both literally and figuratively. He volunteered to come to Vegas when he could have been vacationing. And he showed up some 30 pounds lighter than usual.

He led the Pistons in scoring with 22 points Saturday, and only four of those came on dunks. He went 8-for-11 at the troublesome free-throw line.”

And that is what we have expected from Maxiell all along. Now, if he could just keep making his free throws…

Full article is here: Maxiell, rookies play big in Pistons’ win

Our favorite writer Chris McCoskey has this take on the game:

“Pistons president Joe Dumars has a very specific to-do list for this summer league session.

He wants to see if center Cheikh Samb and swingman Sammy Mejia can win a spot on the Pistons’ 15-man roster next season and be candidates to play heavy minutes with their new D-League affiliate in Fort Wayne.

He wants to give first-round picks Arron Afflalo and Rodney Stuckey all the minutes they can handle to prepare for a spot in the regular rotation next season.

All four players gave a strong first impression on Saturday, helping the Pistons rally out of a 10-point hole in the fourth quarter and beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 91-89, in overtime.”

Full article: Stuckey gets first NBA lesson

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Last month, Matt Watson @ Detroit Bad Boys had an excellent piece on Cheikh Samb. In fact, I like to think it highlights the function of fan communities and blogs as being able to dig deeper on prospects, stepping outside the boundaries of the franchise practice facility or scheduled media appearances. Nothing beats first hand knowledge, and when a player is outside the USA, that type of appraisal is hard to come by. It’s a big reason why we run BadBoySummerCamp. Because a lot of news and perspective goes unreported.

If you’re interested at all in the seven foot shot blocker we traded Maurice Evans for last year, then Matt’s post is a must read.

As far as his progress as a player is concerned, Cheikh has managed to strive at gaining muscle and furthering his skills. Here, you have to take into account that he has been playing basketball for five years, a very short period of time. Considering his evolution, it is scary to imagine how far will be able to go as a player. During the course of this season, and using the idle time while he was injured, he added 12-15 pounds of muscle to his frame. His physical evolution is hard to miss when you look at the pictures from last year´s [Las Vegas] Summer League (left) and you compare them to the latest available images from one of his last games with Cornella (right).

Keith Langlois, the Pistons’ official scribe posted several insights about Cheikh yesterday,

“He’s like a sponge,” said Cowens, who worked out with Samb last week for the first time. “He’s got a lot of upside. He’s a pretty coordinated kid for a big and he moves well. The biggest thing for him now is conditioning and the strength in the core of his body.”

Samb was listed variously at 195 to 215 pounds a year ago, but since getting his first taste of the NBA he’s become a weight-lifting devotee.

“Last year when I come to Summer League, my first time, I see a lot of players, like, strong,” – and here he holds his hands well apart to display broad shoulders – “and I be like this” – and here he holds up a long, spidery index finger. “Skinny. I see I got to work on legs to get more big and come back to Spain this season. I have a little pain in my foot – I no play. I lift and lift and lift. I weigh now like 12 kilos more – I don’t know in pounds.”

There you have it. Cheikh Samb. No longer an enigma, and a possible Piston contributor.

Henry Abbott posted the following love on ESPN Truehoop today,

Chauncey Billups says it’s no secret that then Jason Maxiell gets the ball, he has bad intentions. He wants to dunk it even when he has no business dunking it. I support that. The Piston squad also features Rodney Stuckey who promises to be one of the most exciting guards in what is traditionally a guard’s league. Piston fans have been hanging their hopes on Amir Johnson for some time, who some have compared to a young Kevin Garnett. Former UCLA standout Arron Afflalo will be making his pro debut, too.

And Keith Langlois has written a nice piece on the Pistons practices in Vegas. Perhaps this year we get back to seeing our kids be competitive against the other squads in the VSL. With 6 legitimate Pistons prospects on the roster, it has to be one of the deepest squads in the Summer League.

“It’s always tough when you put a new group of guys together,” said Pistons assistant coach Terry Porter. “But the effort has definitely been there. I can’t fault the effort. The guys are giving me a lot of energy and now it’s just a matter of trying to go out and execute. We’ll tell more as far as where they’re at once they’re in competition. Sometimes it’s hard to go against each other. I’m sure these guys are sick of seeing each other and they’re looking forward to playing games.”

The same lovely people that bring you Bad Boy Summer Camp are also bringing you Human Victory Cigar.

With so many small details to account for, we feel safe saying tonight that this is close because, it is really all about the content.

The cause. The power of the typed word. The message and stuff.

First up, the Dharma Scribe brings us Transition Game. We’ve backported his previous work which can be found here.

Needless to say, Human Victory Cigar was inspired by the nickname of former Detroit Piston Darko Milicic.