The Toshiba Vegas Summer League officially kicked off this weekend, and Bad Boys Summer Camp has an excellent recap of the Pistons' first game on Saturday, breaking down the performance of each player quarter-by-quarter. Some highlights from the second quarter:
Maxiell: I did notice one thing, if Maxiell gets consistent playing time this year, we WILL have some points in the paint. He is consistently attacking the basket when he receives the ball within 8 ft of the hoop. He has, however, missed a few dunks by holding on to the ball a bit too long (trying for extra power it seems).
Acker: He is making defenders look silly. They can’t keep up with him off the screens, but he’s not able to finish because he’s simply being fouled at the end of the play. He isn’t forcing anything out there.
And here's a note on Chiek Samb from the fourth quarter:
Samb: Cheikh did start the 4th qtr with a couple of nice blocks at the rim. He also knocked down a couple of 10 ft jumpers. He really doesn’t resemble the type of player who looks out of place in his body. He just doesn’t have the body of a strong NBA big man. He needs to go on the Oliver Miller diet.
It sounds like Maxiell was extremely active the entire game, which is really great to hear considering there's a very real chance he could emerge as the final guy in the rotation this year. And Acker's performance was a nice surprise -- I know Joe Dumars thinks highly of him, but I wasn't expecting him to emerge as perhaps the best player on the court, even if it is just summer league play.
In any event, be sure to check out Bad Boys Summer Camp for in-depth coverage, which to be honest completely blows the doors off the minature recap featured in Sunday's Detroit Free Press. Mind you, this isn't just a couple of guys analyzing a box score -- the Summer Camp crew actually has "guys on the ground" attending the games out in Vegas. Tough gig, I'm sure, but I'm glad they stepped up to the plate -- these guys are seriously providing coverage you can't find anywhere else. Keep up the good work, fellas!