Greene ( B- ) -- respectable game most memorable for him bleeding all pover everything. Took a early shot to the nose from Monroe in the early minutes and never seemd to quit bleeding for the rest of the game. Had some nice offensive moments including working the post over scrawny Austin Daye, making a nice drive and dumpoff dish in traffic to Cousins, and adding a nice cut and reverse finish inside on t he pass from Casspi. Had several help blocks, but overall not overwhelming on defense against not terribly impressive competition of the Dajuan Summers level.
Whiteside ( B+ ) -- heh -- wow. In the early going he only did one thing well, but he did that one so ridiculously well that he was having a big impact anyway. Just flying over help blocking on everything. For all that I was a bit disappointed by Cousins defensive presence in there, Whiteside had every Piston looking over his shoulder by the end of the first quarter. Had 5 blocks, and probably at least that many not counted for various reasons (blocking continuations etc.). Offensively missed several of those little open 18 foot jumpers he is supposed to be able to hit, and in the early going looked like his scrawniness was letting him get bounced and bumped off the boards too easily. Took a big fall courtesy of Monroe (who seemed to be trying to shake his softness rep by thugging our guys), getting knocked out of the air trying to dunk and crashing onto his not terribly padded back. Just plucked the ball out of the air on one Detroit drive. Came on late offensively, got a post on Monroe, then a dunk inside, then we got to watch the commissioner tell us everything was hunky dorry rather than see anymore.
Cousins ( B ) -- The Good: it took all of one game for DeMarcus to prove that he's more than just a thug out there. He showed all kinds of skills all over the court. Droppped several nifty passes, hit jumpers, showed ballhandling. The Better: His best trait of the night? Looking like he could be a major defensive rebounder, and a big guy who snags the defensive board and then immediately turns and throws the outlet pass up the court. That can be a major trigger to a fastbreak, and he did it again and again. The Not So Good: for all the nifty stuff I would have liked to have seen more of the thug. He had one big power dunk in traffic, buit really otherwise seemed all too content to float around outside trying to dribble, pass and shoot jumpers. Nice to know he has those skills, but that was junky after a while. The bread and butter is inside, go there and show it to us big guy. The other issue I would say is his defense. Despite the bulk he was actually backed down by Monroe several times and really did not physically intimidate him the way you would have hoped. And as a help defense guy...just did not show anything as a shotblocker at all. In fact spent most of the night doing his best Mikki Moore imitatikon and constantly trying to run over and take charges. Given that he's maybe an inch shorter than Whiteside the difference in approach and effectiveness could not be more stark. Be interested in seeing how the rest of summer league goes, because these things have implications for the future -- if Demarcus is not a shotblocker, then you would like to start him next to one. Maybe even Whiteside. If he is a shotblocker, then his frontcourt mate is a lot more open.
Thompson ( B+ ) -- I was admittedly paying less attention here than I was to the frontcourt guys on the assumption that Thompson was just a scrubby token here as a favor to his brother. But while the assumption may still be true, RT got my attention early and often with an aggressive to the basket game. Did not do much else on the glass or with pasig, but he atacked the rim fast and hard, and was competitive on defense as well. I don't have any feel for whether that is normal for him, but he looked good in the early going.
Sloan ( C+?) -- had a couple of nice moments in the early going with a nifty behind the back escape dribble in the paint, and a nice slashing attack of the rim, then he just disappeared for the rest of the game and never made an other shot. You could see the strength and athleticism, but it was mostly oriented toward scoring, and we did not see much offense running from him. Boogie was actually making more hapopen than either of our PGs. Bumped his grade because i dod not really know what to expect yet, adn his couple of spectacular moments were more memorabel than the empty ones. Realistically by production its lower.
Casspi ( B+ ) -- came in off the bench firing. Actually I think it would be fair to say came in off the bench selfish. Was quick shooting and and playing the star. Looks better when you are converting, but his first wave of offense was mostly forced drives into traffic and turnovers. Settled in and heated up though, and began to dominate play as the half wore on. Made a nifty pass to Donte on the cut, hit a three, and as much as anyhing else was just outcompeting the Pistons on his way to being the leading scorer of the half. Drained another couple of threes and looked offensively potent against this competition before sitting down.
Rice ( B ) - early on I was not terrobly impressed. Hit a three, but looked largely the standard undersized quick scoring type guard, and was overdribbling. But in the late third began to really attack the rim with a vengeance, and came up with several spectacular finishes in there. Not sure if its sustainable, and I think it owuld be nice for a twerp PG to have a positive assist/wild drive ratio, but it was effective this time out, and to whatevr degree he might be competing with Sloan to be or designated doughnut retriever this year, worth watching next time out,
Chisolm ( B- ) -- solid effort from a big you would ahve to expect has almsot no chance to make the team. Not sure what he really does well off of this one, but he was solid on the glass, and went played within hismelf on offense, getting lcose to the hoop, setting picks, an generally looking like he understood how to play even if he does not have a great talent.
Atchley ( INC ) -- at least that's who I assume the tall white guy wws whoi briefly appeared in the first half. The rest of the garbagetime crew all got to play the final 4:19, but we did not get to see it because they deemed Stern must see TV. Atchley played 5:58, so I assume he was the cup of coffee guy in the fiurst half, then got 4:19 at the end. In the 1:39 I actually got to see him I had no notes.
Chrsitmas ( C ) -- did little to shake the reputation as a guy who can realy shoot, but not actually play basketball. Dropped a long jumper early, missed his only three, and critically for a guy who is trying to make the roster as a shooter, missed a technical in the 4th. The rest of his game was empty.
Whiteside ( B+ ) -- heh -- wow. In the early going he only did one thing well, but he did that one so ridiculously well that he was having a big impact anyway. Just flying over help blocking on everything. For all that I was a bit disappointed by Cousins defensive presence in there, Whiteside had every Piston looking over his shoulder by the end of the first quarter. Had 5 blocks, and probably at least that many not counted for various reasons (blocking continuations etc.). Offensively missed several of those little open 18 foot jumpers he is supposed to be able to hit, and in the early going looked like his scrawniness was letting him get bounced and bumped off the boards too easily. Took a big fall courtesy of Monroe (who seemed to be trying to shake his softness rep by thugging our guys), getting knocked out of the air trying to dunk and crashing onto his not terribly padded back. Just plucked the ball out of the air on one Detroit drive. Came on late offensively, got a post on Monroe, then a dunk inside, then we got to watch the commissioner tell us everything was hunky dorry rather than see anymore.
Cousins ( B ) -- The Good: it took all of one game for DeMarcus to prove that he's more than just a thug out there. He showed all kinds of skills all over the court. Droppped several nifty passes, hit jumpers, showed ballhandling. The Better: His best trait of the night? Looking like he could be a major defensive rebounder, and a big guy who snags the defensive board and then immediately turns and throws the outlet pass up the court. That can be a major trigger to a fastbreak, and he did it again and again. The Not So Good: for all the nifty stuff I would have liked to have seen more of the thug. He had one big power dunk in traffic, buit really otherwise seemed all too content to float around outside trying to dribble, pass and shoot jumpers. Nice to know he has those skills, but that was junky after a while. The bread and butter is inside, go there and show it to us big guy. The other issue I would say is his defense. Despite the bulk he was actually backed down by Monroe several times and really did not physically intimidate him the way you would have hoped. And as a help defense guy...just did not show anything as a shotblocker at all. In fact spent most of the night doing his best Mikki Moore imitatikon and constantly trying to run over and take charges. Given that he's maybe an inch shorter than Whiteside the difference in approach and effectiveness could not be more stark. Be interested in seeing how the rest of summer league goes, because these things have implications for the future -- if Demarcus is not a shotblocker, then you would like to start him next to one. Maybe even Whiteside. If he is a shotblocker, then his frontcourt mate is a lot more open.
Thompson ( B+ ) -- I was admittedly paying less attention here than I was to the frontcourt guys on the assumption that Thompson was just a scrubby token here as a favor to his brother. But while the assumption may still be true, RT got my attention early and often with an aggressive to the basket game. Did not do much else on the glass or with pasig, but he atacked the rim fast and hard, and was competitive on defense as well. I don't have any feel for whether that is normal for him, but he looked good in the early going.
Sloan ( C+?) -- had a couple of nice moments in the early going with a nifty behind the back escape dribble in the paint, and a nice slashing attack of the rim, then he just disappeared for the rest of the game and never made an other shot. You could see the strength and athleticism, but it was mostly oriented toward scoring, and we did not see much offense running from him. Boogie was actually making more hapopen than either of our PGs. Bumped his grade because i dod not really know what to expect yet, adn his couple of spectacular moments were more memorabel than the empty ones. Realistically by production its lower.
Casspi ( B+ ) -- came in off the bench firing. Actually I think it would be fair to say came in off the bench selfish. Was quick shooting and and playing the star. Looks better when you are converting, but his first wave of offense was mostly forced drives into traffic and turnovers. Settled in and heated up though, and began to dominate play as the half wore on. Made a nifty pass to Donte on the cut, hit a three, and as much as anyhing else was just outcompeting the Pistons on his way to being the leading scorer of the half. Drained another couple of threes and looked offensively potent against this competition before sitting down.
Rice ( B ) - early on I was not terrobly impressed. Hit a three, but looked largely the standard undersized quick scoring type guard, and was overdribbling. But in the late third began to really attack the rim with a vengeance, and came up with several spectacular finishes in there. Not sure if its sustainable, and I think it owuld be nice for a twerp PG to have a positive assist/wild drive ratio, but it was effective this time out, and to whatevr degree he might be competing with Sloan to be or designated doughnut retriever this year, worth watching next time out,
Chisolm ( B- ) -- solid effort from a big you would ahve to expect has almsot no chance to make the team. Not sure what he really does well off of this one, but he was solid on the glass, and went played within hismelf on offense, getting lcose to the hoop, setting picks, an generally looking like he understood how to play even if he does not have a great talent.
Atchley ( INC ) -- at least that's who I assume the tall white guy wws whoi briefly appeared in the first half. The rest of the garbagetime crew all got to play the final 4:19, but we did not get to see it because they deemed Stern must see TV. Atchley played 5:58, so I assume he was the cup of coffee guy in the fiurst half, then got 4:19 at the end. In the 1:39 I actually got to see him I had no notes.
Chrsitmas ( C ) -- did little to shake the reputation as a guy who can realy shoot, but not actually play basketball. Dropped a long jumper early, missed his only three, and critically for a guy who is trying to make the roster as a shooter, missed a technical in the 4th. The rest of his game was empty.
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