2010 Summer League Rosters: Detroit Pistons
July 18th, 2010
Patrick Christopher
Christopher is a streak shooter out of Cal who doesn’t do a whole lot else. If he’s hot, he can score 30; if he’s not, he can go 3-15. Regardless of whether he’s making them, he takes them, which could be interpreted as a good or a bad thing. He’s athletic and strong, but he doesn’t do much with them other than take jump shots. Had he done so, he might have gotten drafted.
Austin Daye
In spite of the disappointment of the Pistons season, Daye didn’t play over 1,000 minutes. This is partly because he didn’t do very well, particularly defensively. Daye can block shots, but he’s too thin to do much else on defence, and his effort there wasn’t particularly good either. He was better offensively, but made quite a lot of rookie mistakes and didn’t show a dribble-drive game, taking only jump shots and dunks that other people set up for him. This will be fine in the long run, but only if he ups his tree point percentage from 30%. And puts on weight. A lot of weight.
Jordan Eglseder
Eglseder is a freshly graduated senior from Northern Iowa who made his legacy by owning Cole Aldrich in NI’s upset win over Kansas in the NCAA tournament. He was a good player before then, averaging 11.9 points and 7.2 rebounds on the season in only 21 minutes, but that was the game that made his legacy. Eglseder really has nothing in his favour other than that game, his 7 foot 280lbs frame, and his turnaround jump shot. But as Aldrich will testify, it’s a hard shot to stop.
Marquez Haynes
6’3 scoring guard Haynes averaged 22.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game for Texas-Arlington last year, but had an assist/turnover ratio of only 1:1. He scored incredibly efficiently, however, shooting 48% from the field and 40% from three point range, while also getting to the line eight times a game. Texas-Arlington only play in the Southland Conference, which is to the NBA what this blog is to Ric Bucher, but it’s a lot of points and a lot of efficiency. Must count for something.
Jonas Jerebko
Bumpy Jonas does not need to be here. Especially since he’s nursing a hamstring injury. And since Sweden are currently having to play without him.
Mac Koshwal
Koshwal has been the only good thing going for DePaul over the last two years, so it was a bit of a scrote kick when he left early. He was slated to be drafted for much of the year, but fell out of the second round later on, although staying at DePaul for another year of Big East embarrassment probably wouldn’t have changed that. Koshwal has an uncanny knack for getting steals when playing pick-and-roll defence, mainly through standing still and sticking his hands out, and he has a decent if not terrific post-up games. He turns it over a huge amount, but you probably would too if you had to kick the ball out to Mike Bizoukas.
(That’s the one thing that was hardest to adjust to when I first got into college basketball. Everyone in basketball is supposed to have a role, but on not-very-good college teams, some guy’s role is to eat up minutes without making mistakes. You wonder what they’re good at, when the truth is they’re good at nothing. Their strength lies in not being disruptive; their weakness lies in having no other strengths. Mike Bizoukas, with his averages of 4 points/2 rebounds/2 assists/2 fouls in 20 minutes per game, is one such player. It’s not meant pejoratively to Bizoukas, although it can’t help but be interpreted as a slight on DePaul. Anyway, I’ve tangented again.)
Elijah Millsap
Elijah is the younger brother of Paul and John. Paul, I’m assuming you know about; John can be found here. Elijah is the youngest and smallest of the three, with a great frame for a shooting guard (6’6, 210), but the skills of a forward. He does not have a good outside jump shot and turns it over a huge amount, an undersized face-up power forward in an undersized small forward’s body. For that reason, he’s going to take John’s career path, not Paul’s.
Greg Monroe
Monroe doesn’t exactly add the rugged physical play that a frontcourt featuring Chuck Newhouse and Chris Wilcox could use. But he’s good, which was always more important. I have no problem with the unconventional way that he plays, but for it to really work, he’ll have to add a jump shot. And I have much more confidence in his ability to do this than I do in his ability to start playing primarily on the interior on offence.
Jared Reiner
28 year old Reiner is working on a streak of seven consecutive training camp contracts. Looking for his eighth, he comes to the Pistons, one of the few teams he hasn’t been with before. Reiner started to develop a three point jump shot last season, hitting sixteen of them in 8 games in the Puerto Rican SN (making four), and somehow managing to attempt only 3 free throws to 107 total field goals. He had not hit a single three pointer in his entire collegiate and professional careers combined, over a span of ten years. It would be a stretch, though, to say that he’s now got a three point stroke.
A.J. Slaughter
Slaughter played almost every minute of every game for Western Kentucky last season, finishing with averages of 17.5 points, 4.3 assists and 2.7 turnovers per game. He is not a full time point guard, nor is he big enough (6’3) to be a two guard. And while the three pointer accounts for half of his offence, he makes them at only 36%. Worse still, this is his idea of dress sense. That’s basically a skirt, A.J.. There’s baggy, and then there’s emasculating.
Edgar Sosa
Sosa did nothing significant for his first three years at Louisville, except get told to transfer. Then, in his senior season, fashionista and ritual sodomizer Rick Pitino ran out of NBA talents and had no choice but to give Sosa the ball. He did OK, but was wildly inconsistent, and particularly on defence (which was so bad in his early years that Pitino wanted him gone). Sosa is quick and has a decent jump shot, and has just about enough size for the NBA level, but not the talent. He’s not a half court point guard, he fancies himself as a scorer way too much, and he’s not capable of consistently getting to the rim except in the open court. That’s not NBA material, not even this year.
Should be pretty solid in the D-League next year, though.
DaJuan Summers
Summers was not good in his rookie year, shooting 35% in 44 games and putting up a PER of only 7.5. He shot 36% from three point range in minimal attempts, which is good, since this is probably how he’s going to have to make his name. Unless he learns to dribble, rebound or defend.
Terrico White
White will play point guard for the team, something he’s had some experience of doing at Ole Miss. But if any team should understand that trying to make a natural shooting guard into a point guard is an idea that has its flaws, you’d think it’d be the team that’s spent years trying (and failing) to have Rodney Stuckey make a similar conversion. Why not just get an actual point guard?
