RosterNO. PLAYER POS HT WT COLLEGE/COUNTRY NBA EXP. NBDL EXP.9 Arron Afflalo G 6-5 215 UCLA None None18 Olimpio Cipriano G 6-4 180 Angola None None8 Eddy Fobbs C 6-11 240 Sam Houston State None 1 year7 Ibrahim Jaaber G 6-2 170 Pennsylvania None None25 Amir Johnson F 6-9 210 Westchester HS (Los Angeles) 2 years 2 years54 Jason Maxiell F 6-7 260 Cincinnati 2 years None17 Sammy Mejia G 6-6 195 DePaul None None19 LaRon Profit F 6-5 204 Maryland 4 years None5 Walker Russell Jr. G 6-0 170 Jacksonville State None 1 year23 Cheikh Samb C 7-1 195 Senegal None None3 Rodney Stuckey G 6-5 205 Eastern Washington None None30 Ali Traore F 6-9 240 France None None14 Joah Tucker G 6-5 220 Wisconsin Milwaukee None NoneCOACHES:Terry Porter, University of Wisconsin-Stevens PointDave Cowens, Florida StateMichael Curry, Georgia SouthernIgor Kokoskov, Belgrade UniversityBill Pope, KansasATHLETIC TRAINER:Mike Abdenour, Wayne StateASSISTANT STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACHave Boyer, Wayne State Previewhttp://www.nba.com/pistons/news/vegas_070702.html<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>AUBURN HILLS, Mich. ? First-round rookies Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo, two-year veteran forwards Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell and 7-foot Senegalese native Cheick Samb highlight the Pistons? roster for the Las Vegas Summer League as finalized Monday.The Pistons will play five games in Las Vegas starting on Saturday. Pistons assistants Terry Porter and Igor Kokoskov and newly added Michael Curry will make up the team?s coaching staff.Johnson, a restricted free agent, can?t officially re-sign with the Pistons until July 11 and is expected to miss the first two games.Among the other intriguing names on the roster are Ali Traore, a 6-foot-9 power forward from France who some thought could sneak into the late first round, and Walker Russell Jr., son of ex-Piston Walker D. Russell and nephew of former NBA star Campy Russell. Russell played at Rochester High School and attended junior college before finishing his college career at Jacksonville State.Traore, 22, is a native of the Ivory Coast. Though still pretty raw offensively, he?s got an NBA body at 240 pounds and is reported to have a wing span of 7-foot-5. He?s considered a good athlete with good footwork who can score with either hand around the rim but has very little in the way of a mid-range repertoire at this point.Samb has been working out at the Pistons? practice facility for a week since arriving from Spain, where he played professionally this past season. He?s added about 30 pounds since playing for the Pistons last summer after they traded Maurice Evans to the Los Angeles Lakers for his draft rights. The Pistons will use the summer league to evaluate Samb?s progress and determine if they have a roster spot available for him.Maxiell was not expected to participate in this year?s summer league, but he asked the Pistons if he could and they gladly agreed. Also on the roster is second-round draft choice Sammy Mejia, a swingman from DePaul.The Pistons will get their first feel for what they can expect from Stuckey and Afflalo in Las Vegas. They?ll see about Stuckey?s ability to handle both guard positions and gauge Afflalo?s ability to score against athletes with size while looking for both to flash a special skill or two that would complement the play of the starting backcourt.</div>You can watch all the games on nba.com. I'm really excited to see how Samb looks. I really hopes he can make the roster. Not only that, but hopefully he can have an impact.
First game tonight at 6:00 against Philadelphia. Will anyone else be watching? I haven't got the first two games yesterday to work, but hopefully I'll be able to see this one. I can't wait to see Samb+the rookies play.
Detroit wins in overtime 91-89 on the Sammy Meija 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left. Good game, very enjoyable.
Stuckey played real well in the 4th quarter, and they wouldn't have won without a couple of his big shots..
Anyone else watch it? We won 91-89 on Sammy Mejia's() game winning three from the corner with .4 seconds left. Here's a little info on how our guys played(I'm not going to talk about the other guys who most likely won't make the team):-Maxiell was a beast, scoring 22, and showing a much improved jumper, IMO. Easily the MVP for us.-Stuckey-He was alright, nothing special, 14 points on 4-9 shooting, 3 assists, but had six turnovers. He hit two free throws to send the game into OT. Didn't look too well defensively, but looked like he has the tools to be a solid defender. Also had 9 fouls. -Samb-Looked MUCH different than last year(in his size not how he played), but looked pretty raw. He did have 7 rebounds, and shot 3-4, even hit a jumper.-Afflalo- He was solid, hit a three in OT, shot 5-13, played OK D.That's pretty much it, the next game is Monday against Memphis at 6:00 again.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>-Maxiell was a beast, scoring 22, and showing a much improved jumper, IMO. Easily the MVP for us.</div>He should be a beast out there. He doesn't really need to be in the summer league. The Pistons weren't planning on sending him to summer league this year but he asked if he could.
Stuckey looked solid out there, Maxiell should dominate summer league so I'm not surprised, but I was impressed with Samb. I'm pretty sure this was the first time I've ever seen him play, and he did a pretty good job defensively. He's pretty mobile for a 7 footer as well. I thought Afflalo played well, despite his shooting woes early on. He played good defense and someone said above, he made some big plays late in the game. I liked what Jaaber did out there though, he looks like he's a pretty heady player. It's not every day you get to see an overtime thriller in summer league.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ Jul 7 2007, 11:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Stuckey looked solid out there, Maxiell should dominate summer league so I'm not surprised, but I was impressed with Samb. I'm pretty sure this was the first time I've ever seen him play, and he did a pretty good job defensively. He's pretty mobile for a 7 footer as well.I thought Afflalo played well, despite his shooting woes early on. He played good defense and someone said above, he made some big plays late in the game. I liked what Jaaber did out there though, he looks like he's a pretty heady player.It's not every day you get to see an overtime thriller in summer league. </div>Yeah, he impressed me. He ran the offense well in when he played. He had 5 assists in only 15 minutes. He also played pretty good D, IMO. I doubt he'll make anyone's roster, but he still had a nice game.
Last 2 games in Pistons SUmmer LeagueAfflalo - 31:01 - 8/18FG - 2/5 3PT - 1/2FT - 5Rbd - 3 TO - 19ptsStuckey - 26:42 - 6/14FG - 1/3 3PT - 5/5FT - 2Rbd - 3Ast - 1 TO - 18ptsS.Mejia - 32:12 - 4/10FG - 9Rbd - 3Ast - 8ptsA.Traore - 13:42 - 3/6FG - 3Rbd - 4 TO - 1Blk - 6ptsSamb - 20:03 - 4/8FG - 1/2FT - 4Rbd - 3Blk - 9ptsMaxiell -DNP--------------------------------------------------------Stuckey - 28:36 - 7/16FG - 2/2 3PT - 3/4FT - 6Rbds - 2Asts - 1Stl - 19ptsAfflalo - 25:19 - 3/10FG - 1/1FT - 3Rbds - 2Asts - 2to - 7ptsMejia - 29:54 - 7/10FG - 1/1 3PT - 3/4FT - 7Rbds - 1Ast - 5PF - 4to - 18ptsJohnson - 34:23 - 7/12FG - 3/5FT - 12Rbds - 1Ast - 8PF - 1Stl - 5to - 3Blk - 17ptsMaxiell - 11:11 - 1/3FG - 1/2FT - 1Rbd - 2Blks - 3ptsSamb - 15:59 - 1/3FG - 4/4FT - 0Rbd - 4PF - 6ptsJavaris Crittendon scored 28 points against our young guards, damn. I have to believe the Pistons are looking for a decent backup SF out there, but I wonder if they'll give Mejia a chance to win the job. He seems to be playing pretty well.
