A lot of practice talk lately.  Here’s a video via the Rocky mountain News from Chauncey’s (#7) first practice with the Nuggets.

The video itself would have been a lot better if not set to the cheesy studio music.

It’s gotta be weird feeling going from being “the man” to being the new guy trying to learn on the fly. You can also see lanky Cheikh (#35) in the vid.

You can check out Chauncey’s first game tomorrow at 10:30 est on ESPN when the Nuggets take on the Mavs. (HT: DBB)

(!)UPDATE: Video of Chauncey’s Nuggets’ presser where Billups says he ended up picking #7 because of Broncos great John Elway. Thanks to PN reader Dave for the heads up!

HOT DAMN!  Chauncey and Dice (and Samb) for Iverson…

Wouldn’t you know it.  I planned on not blogging today to spend time with my Mom on her birthday, a milestone birthday at that.  Then I get a call from a friend asking me what I thought about the news and asking if I was joking when I replied “what news”?  But, I guess I can’t call myself a Pistons blogger and let the biggest news in quite awhile go unmentioned.  So, here are some initial reactions I’m having…

First off, I’m shocked.  When I made mention of this trade yesterday from the Boston.com article I was under the assumption this was something discussed over the summer and not something immanent.

Does this make the Pistons better?  Gosh, I really can’t say for sure at the moment.  It does for the free agent market this summer, that’s a given.  But, are we as much of a title contender as before the trade went down?  That’s what I’m not quite sure about.

If winning the whole thing is still the goal and Joe doesn’t want to make any lateral or regressive moves from that goal, is this trade concomitant with that?  We’ve seen how poor our offense can be when C-Bill is not running the show.  I’ve never seen A.I. as much of a PG.  Iverson needs the ball and he needs minutes.  Can this offense flow with two shooting guards on the floor with Rip and Iverson?

How are we going to get over when Denver could not with A.I. ?  In Denver teams could not key in on him because of Melo.  We don’t have that luxury.  This is a team concept squad we’ve got going on here.

Does Iverson have Piston DNA?  He’s certainly not the first guy I’d point to and say “that dude’s a Piston”.  He’s tough, no doubt about that.  He’s got that whole pound-for-pound thing on lock.   But I’ve never seen him as a real good defender.  There’s been a question or two about the guy’s character.  Then there’s the “practice” thing.  We know what a stickler Curry is for preperation.  Ironically I mentioned Iverson when we were reading about the importance Curry has placed on having good practices.

What about Dice?  I feel for Dice.  Who doesn’t love Antonio McDyess?  The word is he’ll retire before suiting up for Denver.  I feel for the guy.  He’s put everything he’s got into trying to get a ring here since joining the team in ‘05.  He’s been down since day one.  He could have gone anywhere and chased a ring, but he came back year after year to try and get that ‘Ship with his band of brothers.

There is talk that Denver will buy out Dice and he’ll return to Detroit (ala Lindsey Hunter in ‘04).  Hopefully that’s true.

I wish I had more time to get into this trade.  Cruel, cruel fates.  If any of you want to weigh in on the plethora of things I haven’t gotten into feel free to hit up the comments.

Should be interesting tonight against Charlotte.  We’ll be at it again tomorrow morning to figure this thing out.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:

Less than 48 hours after leading the Mad Ants to their second straight NBA D-League win, 7-foot-1 center Cheikh Samb was recalled by the Detroit Pistons.

Kind of an interesting move, I’d like to hear the Pistons reasoning for bringing Samb up.  (Thanks to PN reader Chris for the heads up.)

With the Pistons pushing towards the playoffs and possibly the top seeding in the East if they can over throw the Celtics it’s easy to forget about the 7′1″ center down in Ft. Wayne. Out of sight out of mind right? Well let’s take a sec to update some of Cheikh’s progress.

Cheikh’s currently averaging:
Min 25.7 FG% .477 FT% .756 Rbs: 6.9 Blks: 3.8 Pts: 10.5

In the Mad Ants last game, a 119-108 loss to the Austin Toros, Cheikh scored 15, collected 7 boards and blocked 8 shots.

There’s been some highs and lows for Cheikh so far. Samb got a triple-double (12 pts, 12 rbs, 11 blks) in his second game back with the Ants after getting a couple of his teeth knocked out (which he now wears a protective “Rip” mask for). Unfortunately the Ants lost that game which has been a theme for them as they currently sit at the bottom of the D-Leagues Central Division at 12-21.

Cheikh’s first coach, Kent Davidson, stepped down on Feb. 5th to take a coaching gig overseas. The team is now headed by Davidson’s assistant Jaren Jackson.

Fouls have limited Cheikh at times and forced the Ants to go small, ironically enough that’s led to a couple of their wins. In a game against the Utah Flash back on February 24th Cheikh fouled out in just 15 minutes of play. In a game against the Colorado 14ers on Feb. 2nd Samb had four fouls in less than four minutes in the first half and was fouled out before the fourth quarter.

Samb has started all twelve games he’s played in for Ft. Wayne.

Teeth back in skull….check, clear up passport issues…check. Back down to the D for Mr. Samb…check.

Via: InsideHoops.com

The Detroit Pistons announced today that they have re-assigned rookie center Cheikh Samb to their NBA Development League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.The assignment will be Samb’s second this season. He was originally assigned to Fort Wayne on Monday, December 10. In two games (both starts) during his first stint, Samb averaged 13.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in 31.5 minutes with the Mad Ants.

Samb was acquired by the Pistons on draft day from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Maurice Evans on June 28, 2006. Drafted by the Lakers with the 51st pick in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft, Samb spent the 2006-07 season playing overseas with WTC Cornella in the Spanish LEB2 League.

The 7-foot-1, 215-pound center made his NBA debut with the Pistons at the L.A. Lakers on November 16, scoring two points with four rebounds and two blocks in 15 minutes. In two NBA games this season, Samb is averaging 1.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 10.5 minutes per game.

No timetable has been set for his return.

ALSO…

Sammy Mejia, who was Ft. Waynes leading scorer (19.5 ppg) is leaving the Mad Ants to go play in Europe with an Italian ball club.

“Fort Wayne wasn’t the problem,” said Mejia, who missed the first 10 games of the NBA D-League season with a leg injury. “It’s hard to be in one spot, and everybody’s goal is not to be there. It’s a different kind of comfort being over there. Nobody who is part of the Mad Ants wants to be in the Mad Ant uniform. I got comfortable in a different kind of way.” (Via: Ft Wayne Journal Gazette)

Mejia was named D-League performer of the week for the week of December 24th

Inside Hoops:

The Detroit Pistons announced today that they have recalled Cheikh Samb from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League.

In two games (both starts), Samb averaged 13.5 points, 9.5 assists and 4.0 blocks in 31.5 minutes with the Mad Ants.

Are they going to put him on the active list (once his teeth heal)? Otherwise, I don’t see the point of recalling him to have him sit and watch when he could be getting game seasoning with the Mad Ants.

That sucks for the 3-6 Mad Ants. They lose the D-League’s top scorer, Jeremy Richardson, to the Grizzlies and now Samb who was solid in his short time down there. He could have probably helped them win a couple of games.

Check out some highlights from Cheikh Samb’s debut with the Mad Ants from 12/13 (Pistons Night). Cheikh still speaks limited English but he did say a few words after the game, which he didn’t do after his coming out game vs. the Lakers. Unfortunatley we’ll not get anymore Samb highlights for awhile as he’ll be recovering from having his two front teeth knocked out.

Today Cheikh Samb is headed 216 miles southwest of the Palace to the Piston’s NBDL affiliate team in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, the Mad Ants, which the Pistons share with the Pacers. There’s no time table for how long Cheikh will be with the D-League Mad Ants.

Cheikh’s first game will come on Thursday Vs. the Dakota Wizards. Dakota is the affiliate to the Washington Wizards and the Memphis Grizzlies, who the Pistons will playing on Tuesday. Ironically enough Thursday the 13th will be also be “Pistons Night” in Ft. Wayne where, among other things, the players will be wearing Pistons uniforms.

Cheikh surprised the Pistons coaching staff and fans alike when he got some unlikely minutes Vs. the Lakers back on November 16th because of various injuries to Piston big men. Cheikh appeared to be ahead of everyone’s perceived learning curb for him displaying a shot blocker’s timing and a real center’s presence in the paint that had me envisioning him and Amir Johnson being the fearsome front court of the future.

This move is in no way a demotion as Samb never figured to be in the rotation in the first place. The Pistons are hoping that the extended minutes will do for Samb’s confidence what it did for Amir Johnson’s last season when he was assigned to the then Pistons’ affiliate Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Flip Saunders (via: Detroit News)

“It’s an opportunity for him to play and develop,” Saunders said. ” I’m anxious to see him playing a lot down there, with extended minutes. I think he’s got an opportunity to improve everything — offense, defense, shooting.”

ON A SIDE NOTE…

It looks as David Stern’s baby, the synthetic ball, has resurfaced in the D-League. I wonder if it’s some sort of contractual thing with Spalding that kept it around and how do the D-Leaguers like it? You notice the seems are like a light blue-ish color. That’s kinda cool, I guess?

A show of hands for all of those out there weren’t surprised to see Cheikh Samb enter the Friday’s game. Even with McDyess’ injury, I really didn’t expect him to even be dressed for the game. Most of us probably thought we’d only see highlight clips of Cheikh down in Ft. Wayne, IN playing in the D-League.

We’ve been told all along that Cheikh is a project or the gentler term “raw”, which he is, but not to the extent we’ve been led to believe. As poorly as the Pistons played against the Lakers I still found something to be encouraged about in the form of a rail thin Senegalese rookie. (Not to get off subject but between Cheikh, Tay, and Rip we’ve got market cornered on skinny ball players.)

Samb was credited with 2 blocks and was called for a goal tending on a third. It was a pleasant surprise to see the shot blocker’s timing he displays. He also grabbed 4 rebounds while helping lock down the paint with Amir Johnson. He already has a good center’s presence and knows how to fill up the lane. Also, who knew the big fella had such a silky jumper? He only attempted the one shot that he hit all nets. It just isn’t what I expected to see from a foreign born player who has been said to have picked up basketball as a teenager. It’s pretty apparent that Samb, 23, is a natural athlete.

I’m not sure the Lakers know what they gave up back in 2006 when they traded us Samb’s draft rights for Maurice Evans. To me Samb was intriguing, but in the same way Andreas Glyniadakis was, (you remember, the 7′1″ center from Greece the Pistons drafted in the second round of the 2003 draft?) he was a 7 foot foreign mystery. Now, after seeing Samb’s first 15 minutes of regular season NBA play I think with 15-20 more lbs. and some seasoning in the NBA’s Developmental League he can possibly emerge as a Dikembe Mutombo type talent with more offensive upside than Deek. If that happens Joe Dumars can take another step further away from being rapped as the guy who took Darko Milicic over Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh etc. etc.

I can’t wait to see more Cheikh Samb. Maybe tonight against Sacramento since Pistons.com is telling us not to expect to see McDyess at least until the Pistons return the the Palace on Wednesday to take on the Knicks.

Watch your back Nazr, there’s a rookie with 36″ tall throwback socks gaining on you!