Tag Archive for 'Will Bynum'

Stuckey will miss one more game

Published by Matt Watson on November 13, 2008 in From the news and Injuries. 4 Comments

Rodney Stuckey joined the Pistons in San Francisco on Wednesday, but he’s going to sit out Thursday’s game against the Warriors to give him one more day to get his conditioning back. From Chris McCosky in the Detroit News:

“I am going to take one more day, get back into some running and try to get my legs back under me,” said Stuckey, who won’t play tonight at Golden State, but expects to return against the Lakers on Friday.

Stuckey underwent a series of tests in Detroit on Monday. All came back negative.

“It was just a freak accident,” he said. “It ain’t my heart. I am good. It was scary. Anytime something happens like that it’s always scary. That’s why we took every precaution and found out everything was good.”

To be completely honest, the decision seems odd — I’m all for playing it safe, but it sounds like he passed every test, no? I suppose it’s a testament to just how conditioned these athletes are; if you’re on the shelf for even less than a week, you’re already too far behind to just suit up and play.

That said, I have a feeling the fine play of Will Bynum helped make this decision easier. And from Bynum’s perspective, the timing couldn’t be better: he spent his rookie year in Golden State back in 2005-06, playing 15 games in the big show between stints in the D-League. After they cut him loose, he left the NBA to play two years in Israel, so you have to believe he’ll be aiming to show them what they’re missing out on right about now.

That said, Bynum is mature enough not to hold a grudge, admitting he wasn’t the same player back then he is now. From A. Sherrod Blakely in MLive:

“I understand the game a whole lot more now,” Bynum said. “Going overseas for two years, playing at a high level, and understanding different defenses, different coverages … I’m able to know where I’m supposed to go and where I’m supposed to be out there. When I was out at Golden State, I didn’t know these things.”

For what it’s worth, Michael Curry indicated that he’ll continue to find minutes for Bynum so long as he’s producing:

“Our biggest challenge is, even with Stuckey, finding ways to make sure we still can get (Bynum) out on the court,” Curry said. “Each night, he provides us better opportunities to get into the paint.”

From DetNews:

“I said it about all our bench guys — if you can come in with something you can provide to the team, it’s on us coaches to put you in those situations,” Curry said. “Against the Kings we used Will with A.I. and Rip. Can you do that every night for a lot of minutes? No. (But) when you play teams like Sacramento, Golden State, Indiana and teams that play small, maybe you can.”

AI finally wins as a Piston

Published by Matt Watson on November 12, 2008 in Games and Kings. 64 Comments

The first two games of the AI Era didn’t exactly impress, so when the Pistons opened last night’s game by falling behind 14-2 early in the first, I expected the worst. As it turns out, my pessimism was completely unjustified: the Pistons actually clawed their way back to a tie by halftime before pulling away for good in the fourth quarter.

Who said Allen Iverson can’t fit into Detroit’s system? He led both teams with 30 points and nine assists. With Rodney Stuckey still in Michigan, Iverson spent all of two and a half minutes on the bench (all in the first half) yet still had enough left in the tank in the fourth to score nine points, grab three boards and collect both of his steals. A lot of guys played well down the stretch, but none so in the final frame than AI. In case the first two games left you confused, this was the type of performance that convinced Joe Dumars to pull the trigger.

But if we’re going to heap praise on Iverson for his big game, Tayshaun Prince deserves an extra helping, himself. Prince finished with 26 points and 11 boards, and through seven games he’s averaging 18.7 points and 7.7 boards, both of which would represent career-high marks by a wide margin were he able to maintain that production all season. With over 90% of the season left to play, it’s silly to overreact about a nice start, especially since Prince has teased us over a series of games in the past before reverting back to his career norms. Is there any reason to think this time will be any different?

Call me a sucker, but I think there might be. With Billups gone, Prince is being asked to step up as a playmaker and, presumably, fill a void in the locker room. And to steal a point made last night by George Blaha and Greg Kelser, perhaps spending his summer winning a gold medal with the Redeem Team made him realize he has star potential no matter the opponent and can be more than just a reliable glue guy.

My biggest problem with Prince in the past has always been his tendency to fade into the background and defer to his teammates, but he’s really taken Curry’s team-wide mandate to be aggressive to heart. From the Freep’s Vince Ellis:

“For us to be successful, he (Prince) has threes he has to defend who are really good and really aggressive,” Curry said. “We want him to be able to go back at them, as well.

“We want that mind-set to be developed for Tay the whole year. So when we do get into a series against those elite threes in the league, he can push them, as well.”

Maybe he won’t continue topping 20 on a nightly basis, but there’s reason to think it’ll be more than the once-or-twice-monthly occurrence we’ve seen from him in the past. And if that’s the case, maybe Curry’s All-Star prediction will come true.

I mentioned Will Bynum in the previous post, but I’ll reiterate: good things happen when he’s on the court. I’m literally amazed at how well he’s able to knife his way through the lane, and his disruptive defense hasn’t been bad either. This isn’t the case of “aw, look at the tiny guy keep up! let’s subconsciously overrate his contributions” praise, either — the numbers bear out what my eyes are seeing: he’s posted an impressive 20.0 PER through his first four games. That’ll almost certainly decline with a more legitimate sample size, but it’s on Curry to let Bynum keep dancing until he turns into a pumpkin. From the same Freep article as above:

“Regardless of the team, he can find a way to get into that paint,” Curry said. “He probably runs the mid pick-and-roll as well as anyone. He’s a very strong finisher. He’s been ready every time we’ve called upon him.”

Rip Hamilton had another off night but finished on a high note: after missing his first eight shots (that’s 16 bricks in a row, dating back to the New Jersey game), he went 4-8 from the field the rest of the night. I’m going to give him a pass, especially considering he finished with 17 points, thanks largely to going 8-8 from the stripe. His track record is far too consistent to think he won’t can’t work his kinks out.

Speaking of Curry, he deserves credit for sticking to his guns and refusing to let the Kings dictate his rotations. Sacramento essentially started three centers (Brad Miller, Mikki Moore and Jason Thompson) and a fourth (Spencer Hawes) saw significant action. Most coaches would see a trio of seven-footers on the court and panic, but Curry stuck with his handy three-guard lineup with Tay at the four. Let’s be honest, Bynum and AI are barely six-feet-tall in shoes, but they were both in the backcourt in crunch time against a pack of roaming giants — that just doesn’t happen. From the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky:

By going to a small lineup, featuring Bynum, Iverson and either Afflalo or Richard Hamilton, Curry also forced the Kings to alter their attack. They had been killing the Pistons with pick-and-roll plays. Once the Pistons went small, Kings coach Reggie Theus decided to abandon the pick-and-roll for straight post-ups.

“We felt better about defending the post-ups than the pick and rolls,” Curry said. “This one worked out in our favor.”

Had it backfired, Curry would have been roasted, so he deserves a little credit for making an interesting decision that paid off.

Pistons 100, Kings 92 box score / NBA.com
Game Flow / PopcornMachine.net
Game Thread / DBB

Stuckey cleared for action

Published by Matt Watson on November 12, 2008 in Injuries. 1 Comment

No word on what kind of tests he actually underwent, but whatever they were, he passed. From the Freep’s Vince Ellis:

After not traveling with the team and undergoing tests Tuesday, Stuckey was scheduled to fly to the Bay Area on Wednesday.

[…] “As far as I know, everything has been good,” coach Michael Curry said. “We should be expecting him soon.”

Depending on when Stuckey arrives, he could practice Wednesday and play Thursday against Golden State, Curry said.

Good news all around. Curry’s task now, though, is figuring out how to keep both Stuck and Will Bynum in the rotation, since every single time Bynum has taken the court he’s impressed. As DBB reader UTEP2STEP said last night:

Bynum is like the guard version of Maxiell. Explosive, but I think he might be most useful in spurts. A baby, baby-eater if you will.

Yes, I will. Maybe it’s because the opposition is suffering from the same “who is this guy?” factor as most of us watching at home, but the guy has been able to get to the rim at will while playing tenacious defense. Until that stops being the case, he deserves to play.

Previously: Stuckey stays home

Iverson’s home debut leaves fans wanting

Published by Matt Watson on November 10, 2008 in Celtics and Games. 48 Comments

Allen Iverson got the rousing ovation he craved before the game. Sadly, the Pistons followed with a performance that turned the cheers to boos and had many fans heading for the parking lot with a quarter and change left to play.

I attended the game for FanHouse and wrote up a couple of long-ish pieces, one focusing on Iverson trying to fit in and another on how badly the team misses Antonio McDyess. Read those in their entirety at your leisure.

Instead of dwelling in negativity (pick your own reason why: it’s still early, Iverson hasn’t had many practices with the team, games like this happen, it’s the freaking world champs, etc …), I’d like to point out an encouraging comment made by Doc Rivers before the game, lifted from the first link above:

“With Chauncey, they didn’t turn the ball over, but you could pressure them and make them eat up clock in possessions,” said Rivers. “Now with Allen, you can’t pressure Allen because [if] you pressure him, he’ll beat you off the dribble and go to the basket. In some ways it may help them get into their offense earlier. That’s been something we’ve done against them pretty well — we were able to pressure them up the floor, make them use clock. They were starting their offense in the playoffs last year at 10 and 11 [seconds left on the shot clock], and that was huge for us.”

Granted, the early returns weren’t promising, but I think part of that was because the regulars (except Tayshaun Prince, to my surprise) are still a bit tentative. Iverson doesn’t seem to know if he should take over, and the Pistons aren’t sure when they should create on their own. There’s no real flow yet (they had two assists as a team at halftime), but that should come with time. Plus, and this shouldn’t be understated, the Celtics make a lot of teams look silly.

Random side note: Will Bynum was once again kind of awesome. Granted, it was in garbage time after the game was decided, but in 12 minutes he scored 11 points (3-4 FG, 4-6 FT), good for second-most behind Tay’s 23. I don’t know how he’s supposed to get more minutes so long as everybody is healthy, but man, he’s making the most of things.

Also, speaking of health, Rodney Stuckey is fine. He was lightheaded and dizzy at the end of the first half but apparently felt fine after retreating to the trainer’s room for the second half. He’s not expected to miss any more time.

Celtics 88, Pistons 76 box score / ESPN

Pistons tame Bobcats

Published by Matt Watson on November 4, 2008 in Bobcats and Games. 9 Comments

The Pistons were shorthanded, but no matter, they still cruised to a win over the Bobcats [game thread, box score], a truly awful team that had just one quarter of fight in them before laying down for a 101-83 loss. Some quick thoughts in Need4Sheed-style bullet-point form:

  • In his first game in post-Chauncey era, Rodney Stuckey looked like a work in progress, shooting 3-of-7 for nine points with only three of the team’s 23 assists. I’m big on his future, but anyone who thinks Stuckey is ready to replace everything Billups brought to the table right now is kidding himself. Stuckey can drive, yeah, but he’s not nearly the distributor that Billups is. He was okay on Monday, but I wasn’t surprised to see he was “only” +7 on the night whereas every other starter was +14 or or more.
  • Will Bynum, on the other hand, looked like a guy desperate to prove he deserves minutes, and not only because my expectations are so much lower for him. You know those comparisons to Lindsey Hunter? Throw them out the window, because when Bynum drives the lane, there’s no need to close your eyes in fear. He finished with 12 points on 6-9 shooting with four assists in a shade under 23 minutes. I have no freakin’ clue how the backcourt minutes will be distributed once AI joins the team (he’s used to 40+ minutes a game, which almost certainly won’t happen here), but I wouldn’t mind seeing Bynum get 10 minutes now and again in the right matchup.
  • Amir Johnson led the Pistons with a +21 plus/minus rating, scoring a dozen points with six boards in 23 minutes, but better yet, he set the tone by aggressively going after rebounds that he actually got the benefit of the doubt on a few whistles. (Of course, he still finished with four fouls, but when a guy is +21 in 23 minutes, it doesn’t matter how many fouls he commits.)
  • Jason Maxiell chipped in 10 points (but only two boards) in 23 minutes, going 4-4 from the line. In hindsight, Maxiell signing his extension was really the precursor for the AI deal, no? Just like Dumars was sure to lock up Hamilton the moment Billups left town, there’s no way Dumars would have moved McDyess had he not already signed his replacement to a contract that’s looking better and better every day.
  • Kwame Brown had a rough go of it from a shooting standpoint (1-6), but c’mon, the guy had nine boards and a pair of blocks in 17 minutes. Job well done.
  • With Chauncey Billups gone, will Rasheed Wallace have more freedom to drift outside? After all, Stuckey and AI, two slashers, will likely score most of their points in the paint. Just something to keep an eye on. In his first post-Chauncey game, Rasheed shot 3-5 from three-point land.
  • Walter Sharpe’s first two NBA points came on a reverse jam. If you missed it, watch it.
  • Walter Herrmann was a little quieter on Monday than he was in the first two games, but he was still the subject of one of my FanHouse posts. Also, this old school pic of Herrmann is pure 100% awesomeness.
  • As for the Bobcats, I have little to say except it was weird to see a clean-cut Adam Morrison running up and down the court. He finished with 10 points on 4-6 shooting.
  • Last but not least, Bobcats point guards Raymond Felton and DJ Augustin combined for exactly one assist in 39 minutes. Larry Brown eats his point guards alive even when they do well, so you have to figure he has something special planned for each of them at Charlotte’s next practice.

That’s about it. This was a weird game to watch — the team is stuck in an awkward limbo without Billups but before Iverson. It won’t last for long: the word during the telecast was that Iverson was expected to join the Pistons in time for Wednesday’s game in Toronto. Needless to say, the entire NBA will be watching to see how he fits in.

Notes from the open practice

Published by Matt Watson on October 3, 2008 in Guest Writer and Preseason 2008-09. 25 Comments

I couldn’t attend last night’s open practice at Oakland University, but DBB reader Diablo was there. Just like last year, he was gracious enough to share his impressions in the comments, which I’ve re-published below:

______________________

2nd Annual Pistons’ Open Practice @ Oakland University.

One word: Impressive.

[…] Walter Herrmann and Walter Sharpe stole the show. Both guys can play some serious ball (offensively) and would be nice additions coming off the bench to rest the legs of Tayshaun Prince. Unfortunately, both play the same position. So I can expect both these players fighting tooth and nail to get every minute that the Prince leaves behind.

Positive: Sharpe is surprisingly taller than I expected, can shoot the 3, evidence to the unexpected shoot-out between him Herrmann. He also showed signs of athletism with attempts to throw down missed shot attempts and trying to dunk on 7′1 Cheikh Samb. And like mentioned above, the guy is confident with his shot (very shocking), even with a man and a hand in his face. Also, yelling out for the ball with Herrmann all over him in the post, shows you he really wants to be apart of offense.

Negative: Walter Sharpe struggled defensively getting to spots late and leaving people open. Having a defensive coach like Mike Curry should help him along the way but if he wants to be taken seriously this year as a rotation player, he needs to pick up the defense quickly.

Positive: Herrmann. Wide open or covered, the guy was just lethal. Hitting 3s when given any room and when covered well, he took it to the hole fearlessly. Back and forth, him and Sharpe really battled it out. I feel like Herrmann is taking some serious steps to get every minute Tayshaun leaves behind and maybe some at the 4. And if I had to pick between Herrmann or Sharpe, it would be Herrmann by a hair, he was just a tad more consistent.

Negative: He just could not get a good defensive grasp on Walter Sharpe’s offensive style. Don’t know why but it seemed like Herrmann never seen Sharpe play before today. Whatever it is, I know Herrmann can be a solid defender and I’m not too worried about it, since he answered on the other end with something of his own, most of the time.

“Competition brings out the best,” lets hope this is the case between Herrmann and Sharpe.

Positive: The emergence of Rodney Stuckey. Easily, Easily…EASILY, could take over a starting spot at the 1 or 2. Last year, I talked about how Stuckey wasn’t that great of a jump-shooter. Let me tell you, the jumpshot looks to be coming around which was a main concern for most Piston fans. No long-range shooting attempts tonight but why need to, when you are nailing almost every mid-range jumper and cutting through the defense to the hoop with ease. Simply put, Stuckey looked great and consistent, scary.

Negative: No. 3, had no 3s. Nothing to worry about, he is showing he is trying to perfect a certain part of his game (which it shows) before he extends out to other parts of the floor.

Positive: Amir Johnson. Active. Rebounding. Blocking shots (most notable, the one he threw half way across the court on Alex Acker). I’m still not sold on Amir getting the starting spot but he looked comfortable and well controlled with Rasheed next to him. He had a couple big dunks, one from a turnover and I believe the other one from being left wide-open in paint.

Negative: He didn’t create too much offense for himself but never really had a chance. With Rodney Stuckey, Rip Hamilton (somtimes), Rasheed Wallace, and a surprising Walter Sharpe on your team, he was bound to be left out of the offensive play calling.

Positive: Alex Acker, another confident shooter. Wasn’t as consistent as Herrmann and Sharpe from long-range but he showed he will take the shot given the opportunity. The guy can also play a little PG, which is nice to know, since he is a bigger guard we might be able to use that in certain situations.

Positive: Will Bynum, a “Lindsey Hunter clone” as far as being the smallest guy on the court and willing to get in the face of bigger guards like Billups and Stuckey on defense. Not as crafty as Hunter but will stick to his man, unfortunately, his height is a disadvantage because Stuckey really took advantage of it. If not aware, the guy is pretty fast, has a good handle of the ball and can naturally take it to the hole. Ask Rasheed what he thought of trying to defend the circus shot Bynum put up over him with the foul. He will probably say “it was Lucky” but it was still nice. :D

Negative: Both Acker and Bynum will probably be 15th and 14th men but knowing most of you, this would be a positive.

Positive: KWA-MAY Brown! (Stephen A. Smith style) With a reduced role and reduced minutes, holds less responsibility than being considered the next KG. I can see him fitting in well, filling in as a 5th big man for defensive purposes. He guarded Rasheed and anyone that was put on him well. As long as no one expects him to explode on to the scene (like the other organizations he was with) I think he will do just fine.

Negative: Passes too much. Most of you might see this as a positive but when you have good position in the post I wish you would make an attempt to make a basket. He even has some good post moves but doesn’t use them to his advantage. He will make a good post move but when you think he would put up a shot, he would awkwardly pass it out to the perimeter or Mcdyess (who was paired with him). I hope he grows out of this, quickly.

Also, shame on those who booed the guy when he was introduced.

Positive: Cheikh Samb, rebounding, knocking down some jumpers, and being a big body were his advantages.

Negative: Didn’t seem to enforce his will on offense but the team he was on was usually the weakest offensively. So the offense really didn’t set up plays for him. Not too disappointing for me because I’m not a person who has his hopes up on him.

Negative: Arron Afflalo. Where were you man? I felt defensively he did his job as best as a second year player could do. But offensively, it just wasn’t his night. Missed open shots, caught traveling, and missed a couple free throws. The season hasn’t started yet, let’s hope Aaron finds his groove somewhere from now and October 29th.

I didn’t want to evaluate Maxiell because we already know what to expect from him (I consider him a starter). But he did what I expected from him and that was solid D with some thunderous dunks. And if it wasn’t for a hard foul by Rasheed Wallace, Rasheed would of got eaten alive.

Matt W. I would of took some pictures but I forgot my camera and my phone’s camera kind sucks. I had a couple friends with me and they were taking pictures, I will see if they have any pictures I can share with all you.

Any other questions or concerns about the Open Practice, just ask and I will answer.

Get to know Will

Published by Matt Watson on September 29, 2008 in Around the Internets. 20 Comments

PistonsNation has an interesting interview with Will Bynum:

[PN] After a pretty good college career with George Tech you kinda bounced around a little bit, how good did it feel to sign that guaranteed contract with the Pistons?
–-(Will signed a two-year deal, The first year is guaranteed, and the second year is a team option)

[WB] I really don’t consider it “bouncing around” at all. I was on high level teams where I learned a lot which gave me the opportunity to mature as a person as well as a player. The paths of my career is one that I think can be an inspiration to a lot of young people who have to go different routes to achieve their goals in life. Never be discouraged and never give up.

As far as signing that guaranteed contract….it feels really good to know that all my hard work has paid off.

Bynum reminds me a little of Mike James. He’s a couple of inches shorter but is quite strong, and at least from what I saw in summer league, plays defense with a great deal of intensity. I’m guessing he won’t see regular minutes in the rotation, but I’m curious to see if he can reprise Lindsey Hunter’s old role as a spot defender, someone who comes into the game looking to get into the ballhandler’s face and disrupt the passing lanes.

In any case, kudos to PN for scoring the interview.

Pistons sign Will Bynum for two years

Published by Matt Watson on July 22, 2008 in Summer League and Transactions. 56 Comments

While NBA players left and right are heading overseas, Will Bynum will be staying put for once. After playing in Israel last season, he impressed the Pistons with a solid performance in summer league to earn a two-year deal. A. Sherrod Blakely has the details:

“It’s pretty much a done deal now,” Bynum said.

Bynum’s agent, Mark Bartlestein, confirmed Monday night that his client has agreed to a two-year deal with Detroit, which includes a team option for the second season.

“He’s very excited about it,” Bartlestein said.

[…] Bynum, who played for Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel the past two seasons, said one of the turning points for him came after Detroit’s second summer league game when he and Pistons president Joe Dumars had “a long talk.”

“He (Dumars) just sat me down and said, ‘just relax and do what you do.’” Bynum recalled. “I really needed that.”

Also, kudos (again) to DBB tipster Ohad, who alerted me of the news when the Israeli papers reported it last night. Ohad has watched Bynum play the last two years for Maccabi Tel Aviv and hasn’t been overly impressed:

I still think this wasn’t a smart move. I know this player. I’ve seen him play for 2 years straight. Playing in the summer league where players try to show mostly their offensive skills doesn’t tell you how a player will react when the other teams watch his moves and prepare in advance to take advantage of his weaknesses. When crunch time will come, and with this team it will come, Bynum will break. He has to work on his his passing skills so he reduces the amount of TOs he has and he has to work on getting the ball up court under a full court press where he tends to freak out and get a TO. I only hope that since the pressure will be off him, seeing as he won’t need to lead the team, [he’ll] just play his position when asked will perform better than he did for [Maccabi].

I trust Ohad’s evaluation — he’s seen a lot more of him recently than most fans — but I’d like to add a disclaimer. First, we’re talking about a third point guard. The Pistons don’t need a guy who’s the complete package at that role (and if such a player existed, he’d be starting somewhere), just someone who can bring a lot of defensive energy and has the ability to make a few plays.

From what I saw of Bynum in Las Vegas, he’s absolutely fearless despite giving up several inches to just about everybody on the court (he’s listed at 6-0, which may be overly generous). He shot 63% from the field by getting into the paint and making things happen. He averaged as many turnovers as assists (3.2 per game), but was also a pesky defender with a pair of steals per game. In all likelihood, there will be a lot of DNP-CD’s coming his way regardless of how well he performs in the regular season, but he showed me enough to justify earning one of the last spots on the roster.

Secondly, I’m guessing Bynum’s presence on the roster can only help instill more intensity. He knows he’s a fringe NBA talent, and considering his second year isn’t guaranteed, he can’t afford to take a single play off, whether it’s in the game or during practice. I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael Curry sees a little bit of himself in Bynum.

Granted, Curry managed to go his entire career keeping his nose clean, something Bynum couldn’t do last year in Tel Aviv: he was accused of hitting a man with his car following an altercation in a nightclub last January. Maybe he has character issues, or maybe he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. His side of the story sounds believable, though, and Joe Dumars is apparently unconcerned. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Update: I should have digged deeper into the story above before posting it. As it happens, Bynum was in fact cleared of all charges:

The hit-and-run investigation against Will Bynum has found him innocent of any wrongdoing, the Tel Aviv district attorney’s office announced yesterday. The D.A. and police are convinced they proved beyond doubt that Bynum “could not have behaved otherwise” when he ran over Ben-Natan Bronson January 5 outside a Tel Aviv nightclub and was therefore is not guilty of any crime.

The D.A. explained yesterday that Bynum was unequivocably facing “clear and present danger, so he acted reasonably to get himself out of this situation.” Beyond any doubt, said the D.A., his intention was to drive away immediately when he found his vehicle was being pelted by large rocks. Under pressure and fearing they would lynch him, he hit Bronson while “trying to flee the place.”

One of the investigators in the case said that although Bynum clearly injured another person, in light of the circumstances of the situation, he was innocent of any crime.

Amir bulks up, Cheikh draws interest

Published by Matt Watson on July 8, 2008 in Summer League. 59 Comments

A. Sherrod Blakely has a brief update on Amir Johnson and Cheikh Samb in his summer league preview:

Johnson, who appeared in 62 games last season, appears to have bulked up some this summer for what the Pistons anticipate will be a breakout season for him.

[…] “We think he can be an X-factor type player, a guy that can make plays above the rim, athletically on the defensive end and the offensive end,” Dumars said. “He’s a young guy that has more athleticism, more speed and energy than anything we have up front. Where we are as a team right now, it’s imperative that we have a player on the floor like that right now.”

How much has Amir bulked up? We’ll find out on Friday when Detroit kicks off the summer league with a televised game against the Lakers on NBA TV. I’m just as curious, if not more, about Cheikh Samb’s progress, especially after reading this high praise from Dumars:

Dumars has similar praise for Samb, a player he acknowledges has progressed at a rate quicker than the Pistons anticipated.

Dumars said some front-office executives have reached out to see if he was willing to part with Samb.

“This kid can stroke it; I mean really, really stroke it,” Dumars said. “I know I got a 7-foot-1 guy who is coming, in a hurry. He is a guy that I think, in certain situations, can help us this season.”

I love the fact that Samb has a nice jumper, but he needs to keep drinking milk and eating spinach if he’s even going to dress this year, let alone get into any games. That said, he’s definitely a guy to keep an eye on in Vegas this year — it’s his third trip out there since being drafted in 2006.

ASB’s article also talks about some of the other lesser-known guys on the roster, and suggests that journeyman Will Bynum has the best chance at actually making the Pistons’ roster as the No. 3 point guard behind Chauncey Billups and Rodney Stuckey.

(Also, quick question: are any of you planning on attending the summer league? I know there were some rumblings in the comments a while back about possible plans, but did any of those come together? If so, leave a note in the comments. I’ll be out there July 16-21, and while this is a working trip, I always have time for loyal DBB readers.)

Summer league roster set

Published by Matt Watson on July 2, 2008 in From the news and Summer League. 17 Comments

The Pistons announced their summer league roster a few days ago — it’s mostly what we thought it’d be (absolutely stacked with the likes of Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo, Amir Johnson and this year’s rookie class), but a few of the lesser names have been switched around.

For one, Dee Brown has been replaced with Will Bynum. DBB reader Ohad, who lives in Israel and saw all of Bynum’s games for Macabi Tel Aviv, emailed the following scouting report:

I think it is a total waste of time to let him play for the Pistons’ summer league. He played this year in Macabi Tel Aviv and I saw all his games. He is a short, very athletic, fast (watch his first step - amazing) guard who makes really bad decisions with the ball. Was supposed to play point and he actually did but really unsuccessfully. Plenty of TO to go with those assists. Another thing I found weird is how easily he is trapped when doubled teamed with a full/half court press. He just freaks out and desperately looks for someone else to handle the ball and then turns it over. I’d take Stuckey any day of the week. An assist/TO ratio of 3:2.3?! I don’t think so!

For what it’s worth, Ohad was equally as disenchanted with former (and future?) Piston Alex Acker, who averaged just 5.5 points a game in the regular season and playoffs last year for Barcelona. In Acker’s defense, he was apparently playing through a knee injury.

If you remember, Keith Langlois said Acker actually has a chance of sticking with the Pistons. I’ll believe it when I see it — it seems clear to me this is simply the Pistons extending a courtesy to a former draft pick.

If you want info on some of the other guys rounding out the roster, check out MLive.com’s Full-Court Press — Dave Dial has done an excellent job rounding up info on the likes of Kentrell Gransberry, Ryvon Covile, Marcus Stout and Derrick Allen.