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Lee Cummard was cut from the Phoenix Suns' summer roster before the Suns played their third of five games in Las Vegas Friday night; barring something unforeseen, his NBA dreams have been dashed. Cummard saw only three scoreless minutes of action for the Suns' entry in one game played.
Trent Plaisted, meantime, faded to the finish in Vegas, coming off the bench in the Detroit Pistons' last two games, after starting the first three. I'm not sure how much patience the Pistons will have with a former second-round pick who has now appeared in two summer league stints, but Plaisted's numbers were simply not promising.
In five games, he played 57 minutes, and ended up with more fouls (16) than rebounds (14), and even more fouls than points (15). For a player at his position, he shot it terribly, making 5 of 16 shots (31%), and missing five of his final six shots from the field. He had as many turnovers as blocked shots--two apiece.
It would appear that overseas basketball beckons for both players. Plaisted played a handful of games as a Pistons' assignee for a team in Italy last season before back troubles cut his year short.
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Speaking of transatlantic hoops, Jonathan Tavernari's Brazil suffered an upset loss to Angola in the semifinals of the Jogos da Lusofonia this morning in Portugal. JT scored only eight points as Brazil dropped an 80-71 decision, setting up a Bronze medal meeting with host Portugal Sunday morning.
It was the first subpar shooting day for Tavernari since international tourney play got underway more than a week ago; JT made one of three shots (all-three pointers), but did lead the team in free throws taken and made, going 5/7 from the stripe. He added three rebounds and an assist in a team high 32:59. As a team, Brazil had only five assists and 15 turnovers, in losing an 11-point halftime lead and being outscored by 14 in the final ten minutes.
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