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The NBA's summer leagues provide an underappreciated and amazingly inexpensive opportunity to go see the league's up-and-coming young talent up-close and personal.  Friday, I sat courtside -- literally a foot from the court, right next to the NBA TV announcers -- and watched eight teams in action: Pistons vs. Celtics, Raptors vs. Cavaliers, Wolves vs. Hornets, and Clippers vs. Suns.  I arrived at halftime of the Pistons-Celtics matchup, so I'll pick up from there.

Detroit Pistons vs. Boston Celtics

I arrived to find the Pistons leading the Celtics 49-34 at the half.  Entering the Vegas league, the Pistons' lineup had looked like one of the stronger summer rosters, featuring 2005 draftees Jason Maxiell, Alex Acker, and Amir Johnson, along with old standbys (Mateen Cleaves) and Piston siblings (Rodney Billups, the one in the headband).  On the final day of summer league action, it looked like the Detroit squad was in good shape with its fifteen-point halftime lead.

Whatever happened in the first twenty minutes, however, quickly turned out to be history.  From the start of the second half, the Celtics looked like the more aggressive team, repeatedly getting out on the break for dunks and easy layups. 

The Pistons' offense looked a lot more labored (shades of the '06 playoffs), as the ball was pounded into Jason Maxiell and Cheikh Samb in the post.  Maxiell had his struggles, shooting 4-for-14 with 3 turnovers,
 

but Samb -- despite his slight build -- did surprisingly well, shooting 5-for-7 on the afternoon. 


Don Zierden and the Detroit staff decided it would also be advantageous to put Samb's 7'1" frame to defensive use in the paint -- though he's a long ways (and 50 pounds and four All-Star appearances) from replacing Ben Wallace.


With Boston making a run, Mateen Cleaves took it upon himself to singlehandedly keep the Pistons afloat.  The results of his efforts were decidedly mixed, as his successful possessions


were offset by his obvious reluctance to distribute the ball.  Apparently, someone told Cleaves that the best way to parlay a summer-league appearance into an NBA return is to utterly dominate the ball.  His 17-point, 1-assist afternoon meant a LOT of possessions that looked like this:


Needless to say, signing Cleaves to back up Chauncey Billups in '06-'07 would be a VERY bad idea for the Pistons. 

With Maxiell misfiring and Cleaves as the shoot-first point guard for the Pistons, the Celtics clawed their way back into the game, reducing the deficit to single digits at the start of the fourth.  The combination of Gerald Green, Allan Ray, and Rajon Rondo provided no shortage of difficulty for the Pistons' defense.


Detroit tried to counter, but the momentum had already shifted.  With the jumpers no longer falling,


the Boston comeback continued.  Watching its offense stagnate, the Detroit staff sent Cleaves to the bench, bringing back 2006 pick Will Blaylock.  With the Pistons reeling, the Celtics looked poised to make a game of it. 

A few seats down from me, Doc Rivers took in the action, evidently excited by the potential of his young stars:


With 3:30 left, the Pistons' lead had been shaved to four.


At the 2:37 mark, Ryan Gomes scored to pull Boston even for the first time in the second half, 81-81.  After a Gerald Green bucket put the Celtics up by a deuce, Samb scored to tie matters up once again with 1:48 remaining.


Acker hit two free throws to give the Pistons an 85-83 advantage with 0:58 to go.  On the next play, however, Rondo hit a three from the right corner, giving Boston a one-point lead.  After turning the ball over on the ensuing possession, the Pistons were forced to foul.  Green nailed a pair of free throws,


putting the Celtics up 88-85 with four seconds left to go.  Detroit called timeout and advanced the ball to halfcourt.  Needing a three to tie, the Pistons set up a play


and here's how it went down:


Johnson got a good look at the tying three, but it fell a little short -- giving Boston the 88-85 come-from-behind victory.  The Celtics did a good job of turning a potential blowout loss into a closely contested fourth quarter, and their efforts paid off; with the victory, Boston concluded the summer league with a 3-2 record, just ahead of Detroit's 2-2 finish. 


Toronto Raptors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

Next on the docket was a matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors, headlined by the final summer league outing for Andrea Bargnani, the #1 pick in the 2006 NBA Draft.  The Italian seven-footer looked good for the Raptors in early action, hitting nothing but net on his first three-point attempt.  He missed his next shot from downtown


but did manage to show good quickness and mobility for a player of his size -- the same traits that have drawn some early comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki.  Here, Bargnani drives the right baseline
 

and earns himself a pair of free throws (he missed both).

Unfortunately, after displaying this early aggressiveness on the offensive end, Bargnani -- for reasons unbeknownst to those in attendance -- checked out after just four minutes of play and headed for the locker room.  He did not return in the first quarter, leaving his Raptors teammates to pick up the slack in his absence.  As the first-quarter action continued, Toronto looked up to the task, with newly acquired Kris Humphries helping keep Cleveland at bay.

After one, Toronto led 20-15.  Early in the second quarter, Bargnani made his way back to the bench; he checked back into the game, but his earlier activity and energy were noticeably absent, and he was a complete non-factor.  After spot minutes, he was again pulled and off to the locker room.  During a timeout, I overheard the NBA TV announcers mentioning something about a back injury -- and, as it turned out, this would ultimately keep him out for the rest of the game, a sure disappointment for those wanting to see more than eight minutes and three points from the #1 overall pick. 

This time, the Cavaliers made sure to capitalize on Bargnani's absence; behind contributions by a variety of role players,
 

Cleveland clawed its way back into the game, knotting the score 30-all by halftime.  This momentum carried over in the second half, as the Cavs went on a 22-14 third-quarter run to break the game open.  Especially effective was first-round pick Shannon Brown, whose smooth jumpers fueled the Cleveland run (and could make him a great sidekick for LeBron):
 

It should be noted that NBA summer leagues are used by teams as an opportunity to evaluate their young talent -- a chance to identify what skills rookies and other young players can contribute to a roster.  Few established players participate, and there's usually a reason when they do (Amare Stoudemire's rehab, Ron Artest's all-around insanity).  Virtually no reasonable NBA team will stash a veteran on their summer league roster in place of a younger player.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I looked up and saw, dressed in Toronto's black uni, none other than SAMAKI FREAKIN' WALKER.

For those who don't know, Walker was drafted back in '96, and he's played every season since.  That's TEN SEASONS of horrible, horrible underachievement.  With the exception of 2001-02 -- when he played a starting role in the Lakers' third consecutive championship run -- he has had the most minimal of roles for every team that's had the misfortune of employing him (there have been six).  There is good reason for his sparse contributions; he is an undersized power forward who cannot shoot, rebound, or pass, and players like that tend to get marginalized in the NBA.  It is a wonder he's lasted in the league as long as he has, and it's an even bigger wonder that any team would go as far as to put him on their summer league squad.  With Samaki, you know exactly what you're going to get: nothing.

But that's not all.  With Bargnani out and no shortage of young big men on the roster, the Raptors would obviously give some extra minutes to the young guys, right?  Wrong.  Walker played no less than 23 MINUTES in this game, missing his only field goal attempt, scoring zero points, and accumulating five fouls.  That's right.  Instead of watching Bargnani show off why he's the #1 pick, fans were treated to an hour and half of him on the bench and Samaki Walker bumbling around on the court:

For this reason alone, I would say that Toronto deserved to lose this game.  Fans go to summer league games to watch the NBA's next generation, and teams participate in those games to find out more about their young players.  When you play Samaki Walker 23 minutes, neither of these goals is accomplished.  So maybe it's just cosmic justice that, with Walker in the game, Cleveland pulled ahead in the third and fended off one last Toronto run in the fourth.  The final score: Cavs 70, Raptors 65, Fans Lose.  Thank you Samaki.


New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves

One of the best things about attending NBA summer league games is the proximity you get to so many of the league's luminaries.  I've already mentioned sitting a few seats down from Doc Rivers.  Now I was in for an even bigger surprise: as the Hornets and Wolves took the floor for warmups, none other than Rookie of the Year Chris Paul walked over to within feet of where I was sitting:

He spent a few minutes chatting with Lakers play-by-play announcer Joel Meyers, the man who currently holds the unenviable task of attempting to fill the shoes of the legendary Chick Hearn.  You can tell that Meyers isn't quite a legend, because apparently he spends his offseasons calling summer league games.  After chatting with Paul, he and Clippers color commentator Michael Smith assumed their spots at the broadcast booth (next to which I sat the entire day -- I had the fortune of watching the games courtside AND being close enough to the announcers to hear their commentary).

But the real action, of course, was not just on the sidelines.  The Wolves' squad featured Randy Foye, the electric first-round pick who was leading the summer league in scoring, and Paul Shirley, the former Suns backup center who is known more for his blogging than his basketball ability.  The Hornets featured a few couple familiar faces as well: Chris Hernandez, the former Stanford point guard who went undrafted and will now have to fight to make an NBA roster, and Marcus Fizer, a six-year NBA veteran who's had some recent trouble holding on to a roster spot. 

This may sound like it should go without saying, but NBA players are ABSURDLY tall.  It's one thing to see the big seven-footers on TV or from the stands, but when you're sitting courtside and on the same floor with these guys, it really strikes you.  I'm pretty sure Fizer's arm was almost the width of my waist.  It was hard to believe.

After warmups, it was time for the game to get underway.

The first half was a closely contested affair, with the Wolves maintaining a slim margin over the Hornets.  The most intriguing storyline (for me, at least) was the matchup between Randy Foye and Chris Hernandez.  Stanford fans will be disheartened to learn that Foye absolutely DESTROYED Hernandez, blowing by him at will and holding him in check defensively (Hernandez ended up shooting only 1-6 for the game).  The lack of foot speed that kept Hernandez from getting drafted is going to hurt him if/when he makes it to the next level.

Helping offset Foye's dominance was Marcus Fizer, who was easily the best player on the court for the Hornets.  Here, he bails out a stagnant offense -- on a play where I was nearly run over by the sideline referee: 

At halftime, it was Wolves 41, Hornets 38.  A production crew temporarily bumped me from my seat, and Rick Kamla took to the sideline for the NBA TV halftime report. 

After being poised to break the game open throughout the first half, the Wolves finally made a run in the third.  Foye, along with 2005 pick Bracey Wright, led the charge; although he missed this jumper
 

his overall game showed that his self-proclaimed status as "The Next Dwyane Wade" may not be as far from the truth as it sounded on draft night.

However, while Foye played brilliantly, not every Minnesota player showed star potential.  Although he's already played "three seasons" in the NBA (a total of 18 games over three years), Paul Shirley faces long odds at making another pro roster.  For the game, he shot 1-7 -- and had this sort of look on his face for much of his 26 minutes:

This may be the closest we ever get to seeing Hernandez and Shirley together on the court in an NBA game:

By the end of the third, the Wolves had amassed a double-digit lead, and the Hornets -- who scored just six points during the entire quarter -- were looking cooked.  While New Orleans/Oklahoma City picked up the pace in the final stanza, outscoring Minnesota 21-19, no amount of floor leadership from Hernandez could make up the deficit.

Final score: Wolves 73, Hornets 65.  After the final buzzer, Foye took center court for the presentation of the Vegas Summer League MVP trophy:

Considering his 24.8 PPG on 53.0% field-goal shooting -- along with 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals per contest -- it was a well-deserved honor.  Foye may very well prove himself as the first worthy sidekick for KG in a long, long time -- which is a promising prospect for Timberwolves fans.

Los Angeles Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns
What should have been the most star-studded game of the day turned out to be the least.  After appearing in three games earlier in summer league, the rehabbing Amare Stoudemire decided to skip out on the Suns' closing pair of contests; for the Clippers, point guard extraordinaire Shaun Livingston was also a no-show for this final game. 

Here, Meyers and Smith lament the absence of the teams' marquee players:

Without its floor general, the Clippers' fate was left to James Singleton, Daniel Ewing, and Boniface Ndong. 

Singleton actually played very well, showing the tenacity that earned him major backup minutes for the Clippers in 2005-06.  One person in attendance who must have been very pleased to see this was long-suffering (until recently, at least) Clippers GM Elgin Baylor, who walked literally inches in front of me en route to his seat:

Unfortunately for Baylor and his club, Singleton's play was one of few bright spots for the Clippers in the first half.  Point guard Ewing had a tough night, shooting 3-10 from the field and repeatedly getting stifled by the Suns' defense:

For Phoenix, 6'0" Lionel Chalmers had a monster first half, erupting for a pair of highlight dunks and connecting on an alley-oop lob to Britton Johnson, who shot a perfect 9-for-9 on the evening.  Sadly, I do not have video of any of these plays -- but I can tell you that Chalmers looked like he was on a mission to prove a point to the Clippers, the team that drafted him.

My last photo from Summer League '06 is not a particularly poetic one -- it's just a blurry shot of crazy-haired Jeff Varem pulling up for a midrange jumper.  

Behind Chalmers' play, the Suns jumped out to an early lead it never relinquished, going on to pull out a convincing 96-81 win.  For this fan, it was time to go -- after six consecutive hours at courtside, even the most hardcore NBA follower will get a little tired and hungry.  But, if my blog has made any point clear, hopefully it's sent the message that summer league is a great way to experience NBA basketball.  You definitely won't be paying $25 to sit courtside at any other NBA-sanctioned event featuring top-flight young talent (and legendary spectators).  For some teams, it looks like a handful of those young players could be the key to a bright future in coming seasons.  The chance to see those guys play before they become full-fledged NBA stars is well worth the price of admission.