I like Rodney Stuckey. In fact, you could say I like Rodney Stuckey a lot. But Michael Rosenberg really, really likes Rodney Stuckey:
The key to the 2009 season – and really, the 10 seasons after that — is Rodney Stuckey. I don’t think people fully understand how good he can be, and how soon.
“The sky is the limit for that kid,” Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter said. “Once he gets his feet planted fully, there’s not many people who can do what this kid can do. He has such incredible upside. Physically, you look at Deron Williams and those types of guys, and he possesses some things that those guys don’t possess.”
Utah’s Williams, of course, is one of the best point guards in the NBA. He and New Orleans star Chris Paul are expected to define the lead-guard play for the next 10 years. University of Memphis star Derrick Rose should be that kind of player, too.
Several people in the Pistons organization, from the front office to the players, think Stuckey can be in that group.
Do you understand what this means?
In his second year, Williams was dominating playoff games. In his second year, Paul was already an elite player.
Rodney Stuckey can be the best player on the team — next year. He can be an All-Star –- next year.
That seems like a tall order for me, but holy hell do I hope I’m wrong. I think Stuckey will be good and I even think he could make a few All-Star teams later in his career, but the idea of him blossoming into an elite player in Year 2 shatters all my expectations. Either way, articles like this make the offseason slightly more bearable. Thanks to V for pointing it out.
Maybe it’s just me, but is it a good idea to put this kind of pressure on a 15th draft pick from a small school who is entering his second year?
Stuckey certainly is a window-extender. Someone pointed out that he, Rip and Chauncey could split 32 minutes a game in a playoff rotation next year. That’s pretty damn good. I like our back court for many years.
I’m not ready to call him an All-Star next year. People were saying that about Tayshaun and it didn’t happen. Some guys turn out to be excellent role players but aren’t full-fledged stars. But I do think he might well become the best third guard in the league. I don’t want to move any of our guards. Right now I see a backcourt of Rip/Chauncey/Stuckey as our trump card. Give them each 30-33 mpg and you’re talking about a backcourt that gives other teams fits all 48 minutes long. The frontcourt is where we should tinker.
To continue, we should let go of the idea of playing Rip/Chauncey as a unit and Stuckey/another guy as a unit. Just rotate the three guards with each other. No more “play Lindsey and try to survive the next four minutes with no offense” stuff. It’s not necessary.
Trade Chauncey now.
Love Stuckey, and the idea of he, Rip, and Billups in a 3 guard rotation. But all-star? That may be pushing it for next season.
If he can develop an outside shot, the sky’s the limit. I love everything else about his game. Being able to shoot the ball from 15′ and out consistently will determine how big a name he’s going to be. He’s grown up in such a short time.
If he hadn’t had those brass cojones moments in the playoffs, I’d just ‘lol’ and skip past this.
He’s really like the rest of the Pistons - hot one day, not the next. If he can be mostly decent to hot for consistency, then we got ourselves a bona-fide next-gen Pistons guard.
The outside shot development would help.
I agree (again) with V. An outside shot and improved ballhandling skills.
But, I would add one more thing. A good PR person. Stuckey has the type of game and looks that have the potential to make him the kind of star the Pistons have lacked since Grant Hill left.
Ben made for a great face for the franchise because he was about hard work and it gave the Pistons that identity.
Right now, Sheed is the face of the franchise and it’s a bad, bad thing. His foul-mouthed antics have become what NBA fans and the media think about when they think about the Pistons. And it’s no surprise that David Stern goes out of his way to not market this team.
More than anything, the disturbing thing about this playoffs was that in the Pistons 50th anniversary year, and after Isiah’s speech about how the Pistons were in the conversation of great NBA franchisees, the NBA Finals commercials featured clips of the Lakers (Magic), Celtics (Bird), Spurs (Duncan) and sometimes the Bulls (Jordan).
I’m sure much of this has to do with Isiah and Rodman having bad reputations now, but it’s clear that the Pistons ARE NOT in the conversation of great franchises. And I think an image overhaul is as important has anything else.
I think Stuckey could be the key to this.
That’s a really interesting point about the marketing. I hadn’t thought about it, but you’re right. The Pistons were NEVER in those commercials.
Define star…. ESPN darling, marketable, hype-machine type star? Meh. Maybe, but who cares. What matters is that the kid has got the tools to be an excellent starting guard for a long time to come. Speculation on young, still developing mid-first round or lower draft picks is a waste of time. First the kid needs to get 30+ minutes/game before he’ll even have a chance to progress to the “star” level.
We were in those ABC/ESPN deals, but Bird was stealing the inbound from our Pistons, LeBron was scoring the umpteenth consecutive point on the Pistons, Reggie Miller would have made the promo in an alternate universe if Tayshaun hadn’t made the block, you get my drift.
I declare war on the NBA.