Eglseder, others added to Pistons’ Summer League team

Ridiculous Upside has a great list of this year’s summer league rosters, including much of the Pistons’ squad. Names not already mentioned include: point guards Edgar Sosa and Marquez Haynes; and centers Jared Reiner and Jordan Eglseder.

Many fans are hoping most for a big man to latch on to the team as a designated rebounder and defensive stopper. At 28, Reiner is a man, not a boy, and has been floating around various professional leagues since 2004. Last season in the D-league he ranked eighth with 15.3 boards per 48 of players that played at least 10 games on the JV circuit.

Michigan State fans should remember Eglseder as a member of the ninth-ranked Northern Iowa Panthers, whose run as a Cinderella in the NCAA tournament was stopped by the Spartans in the Sweet 16. What the bald-headed Eglseder lacks in a hairline, he makes up for in size as a legit 7-footer and a beefy 280 pounds. He seems to have been quite the rebounder at Northern Iowa and takes up a lot of space in the post. In his senior season in 2009-10, he ranked third in the nation in rebounds adjusted for pace and second in defensive boards, according to Draft Express.

He also enjoyed a quality NCAA tournament playing against the big boys. In just18 minutes in the first round he almost got a double double, snaring 10 rebounds to go with nine points on 4-9 shooting. In an upset win over Kansas in round two, Eglseder had five rebounds and 14 points, including 2-3 from the 3-point line and in the loss to MSU, he grabbed five more boards and scored nine in 22 minutes of action.

I definitely think the Pistons will have room on the end of the bench for a wide-bodied rebounding specialist.

Former Pistons playing in the summer league are Trent Plaisted with the Chicago Bulls, Will Blalock with my new favorite Western Conference team, the Golden State “we’ll pass on Monroe for Udoh” Warriors, Deron Washington with the Milwaukee Bucks, and Ronald Dupree with the Toronto Raptors.

Other invitees of note include former Michigan Wolverine Manny Harris going to Cleveland and former Michigan State Spartans Maurice Ager getting a look-see from the New Olreans Hornets and Raymar Morgan with the Washington Wizards. Speaking of the Wizards,  Javaris Cittenton is hoping to not fall completely out of the league following Arenas-gate by going back to the Los Angeles Lakers, the team that drafted him 19th overall just three years ago.

Add mark your calendars for July 12, when the Pistons most interesting summer league game will go down. It will be a battle of rookie big men as Detroit and first-round pick Greg Monroe  face off against Sacremento and slightly higher pick  DeMarcus Cousins.