Here's The Low's report on Summer League Game 3. As usual, this report is also at BadBoySummerCamp.com.

July 11, 2007
DET vs WSH – VSL Game 3
Well the deeper we get into VSL you typically get one of two things:

1. Guys either start to figure it out and dominate their competition or…
2. You get some same ol’, same ol’ kind of stuff with nothing spectacular.

So, with that in mind, there’s a good chance the final few games don’t have much new or exciting material to share with you all. However, today’s game was just the opposite. After some of the worst play this group has put together, they managed to pull this one out in the 4th.

Points of note:

1st Qtr
DET looked very ineffective on offense to start this game. There was little to nothing coming out of their offensive sets. On the other end, DET was giving up way too easy dribble penetration to the WSH guards, and they were all too happy to take advantage of DET’s lax D. I will say, however, that will all the drives they surrendered, they did manage to get some blocked shots. This qtr also saw very little production from the reserves.

2nd Qtr
This qtr started with DET taking way too many jump shots to be effective. There were some questionable calls from the officiating crew that made the 2nd start to drag on tediously. WSH wasn’t necessarily shooting the lights out, however, there were knocking down enough from time to time to be in control of the action.

3rd Qtr
DET started the 3rd by not defending particularly well and giving up some easy drives to WSH. Another thing that stood out, is the fact that Samb was not reacting very well to being pushed around by the big bodies the Wizards threw in there with the obvious intent of bumping Samb around. On offense DET looks to only take the ball half-way to the basket and are not coming up with much in the way of pts due to their lack of commitment. By the end of this qtr, DET was just looking haggard. They were not closing out on open shooters, not containing drives, and not crashing the boards. Very ugly.

4th Qtr
This qtr WSH goes ice cold from the field and really stops attacking the basket with the same effort and determination that they’ve shown through 3 qtrs. After some back and forth, Stuckey and Maxiell have apparently had enough and begin to individually dismantle the Wizards scheme. By the end of this game DET had seized control and pulled away for the victory.

Individual Notes:

Stuckey
It was nice to see Rodney and JMax take this one over being much more aggressive than in the 1st 3 qtrs. It almost appeared as if they got tired of fooling around and hit the “switch” (Cover your ears and say your prayers).

Afflalo
Afflalo was steady today, but seemed to pick his spots and didn’t really push the issue.

Samb
Samb was average defensively today, but really didn’t react well to the physical play. I think if he hits the weights and gets comfortable with the extra bulk, he could improve significantly.

Mejia
Sammy seemed to be pretty aggressive when no one else was interested. A good sign.

Maxiell
Maxiell playing in summer league is like taking candy from a baby and then kicking the baby. He essentially does what he wants when he wants. It gets to be funny after a while. But, he does pick stretches where he doesn’t really seem to exert himself too much.

Those that know me, are well aware that I hate games that result in DET lagging behind for 3 qtrs, then turning on the juice and getting the win. But, it’s summer league…who REALLY cares?

Good stuff, Low. Keepin' it real for us East Coasters.

Great stuff Low!

Enjoy!

YouTube - 2007 Vegas Summer League - Game 3: "Two Minute Warning"

Thanks for the coverage Low. Nice piece by Mo too.

Maxiell's jumper looks pretty sweet.