I couldn’t attend last night’s open practice at Oakland University, but DBB reader Diablo was there. Just like last year, he was gracious enough to share his impressions in the comments, which I’ve re-published below:
2nd Annual Pistons’ Open Practice @ Oakland University.
One word: Impressive.
[…] Walter Herrmann and Walter Sharpe stole the show. Both guys can play some serious ball (offensively) and would be nice additions coming off the bench to rest the legs of Tayshaun Prince. Unfortunately, both play the same position. So I can expect both these players fighting tooth and nail to get every minute that the Prince leaves behind.
Positive: Sharpe is surprisingly taller than I expected, can shoot the 3, evidence to the unexpected shoot-out between him Herrmann. He also showed signs of athletism with attempts to throw down missed shot attempts and trying to dunk on 7′1 Cheikh Samb. And like mentioned above, the guy is confident with his shot (very shocking), even with a man and a hand in his face. Also, yelling out for the ball with Herrmann all over him in the post, shows you he really wants to be apart of offense.
Negative: Walter Sharpe struggled defensively getting to spots late and leaving people open. Having a defensive coach like Mike Curry should help him along the way but if he wants to be taken seriously this year as a rotation player, he needs to pick up the defense quickly.
Positive: Herrmann. Wide open or covered, the guy was just lethal. Hitting 3s when given any room and when covered well, he took it to the hole fearlessly. Back and forth, him and Sharpe really battled it out. I feel like Herrmann is taking some serious steps to get every minute Tayshaun leaves behind and maybe some at the 4. And if I had to pick between Herrmann or Sharpe, it would be Herrmann by a hair, he was just a tad more consistent.
Negative: He just could not get a good defensive grasp on Walter Sharpe’s offensive style. Don’t know why but it seemed like Herrmann never seen Sharpe play before today. Whatever it is, I know Herrmann can be a solid defender and I’m not too worried about it, since he answered on the other end with something of his own, most of the time.
“Competition brings out the best,” lets hope this is the case between Herrmann and Sharpe.
Positive: The emergence of Rodney Stuckey. Easily, Easily…EASILY, could take over a starting spot at the 1 or 2. Last year, I talked about how Stuckey wasn’t that great of a jump-shooter. Let me tell you, the jumpshot looks to be coming around which was a main concern for most Piston fans. No long-range shooting attempts tonight but why need to, when you are nailing almost every mid-range jumper and cutting through the defense to the hoop with ease. Simply put, Stuckey looked great and consistent, scary.
Negative: No. 3, had no 3s. Nothing to worry about, he is showing he is trying to perfect a certain part of his game (which it shows) before he extends out to other parts of the floor.
Positive: Amir Johnson. Active. Rebounding. Blocking shots (most notable, the one he threw half way across the court on Alex Acker). I’m still not sold on Amir getting the starting spot but he looked comfortable and well controlled with Rasheed next to him. He had a couple big dunks, one from a turnover and I believe the other one from being left wide-open in paint.
Negative: He didn’t create too much offense for himself but never really had a chance. With Rodney Stuckey, Rip Hamilton (somtimes), Rasheed Wallace, and a surprising Walter Sharpe on your team, he was bound to be left out of the offensive play calling.
Positive: Alex Acker, another confident shooter. Wasn’t as consistent as Herrmann and Sharpe from long-range but he showed he will take the shot given the opportunity. The guy can also play a little PG, which is nice to know, since he is a bigger guard we might be able to use that in certain situations.
Positive: Will Bynum, a “Lindsey Hunter clone” as far as being the smallest guy on the court and willing to get in the face of bigger guards like Billups and Stuckey on defense. Not as crafty as Hunter but will stick to his man, unfortunately, his height is a disadvantage because Stuckey really took advantage of it. If not aware, the guy is pretty fast, has a good handle of the ball and can naturally take it to the hole. Ask Rasheed what he thought of trying to defend the circus shot Bynum put up over him with the foul. He will probably say “it was Lucky” but it was still nice. 
Negative: Both Acker and Bynum will probably be 15th and 14th men but knowing most of you, this would be a positive.
Positive: KWA-MAY Brown! (Stephen A. Smith style) With a reduced role and reduced minutes, holds less responsibility than being considered the next KG. I can see him fitting in well, filling in as a 5th big man for defensive purposes. He guarded Rasheed and anyone that was put on him well. As long as no one expects him to explode on to the scene (like the other organizations he was with) I think he will do just fine.
Negative: Passes too much. Most of you might see this as a positive but when you have good position in the post I wish you would make an attempt to make a basket. He even has some good post moves but doesn’t use them to his advantage. He will make a good post move but when you think he would put up a shot, he would awkwardly pass it out to the perimeter or Mcdyess (who was paired with him). I hope he grows out of this, quickly.
Also, shame on those who booed the guy when he was introduced.
Positive: Cheikh Samb, rebounding, knocking down some jumpers, and being a big body were his advantages.
Negative: Didn’t seem to enforce his will on offense but the team he was on was usually the weakest offensively. So the offense really didn’t set up plays for him. Not too disappointing for me because I’m not a person who has his hopes up on him.
Negative: Arron Afflalo. Where were you man? I felt defensively he did his job as best as a second year player could do. But offensively, it just wasn’t his night. Missed open shots, caught traveling, and missed a couple free throws. The season hasn’t started yet, let’s hope Aaron finds his groove somewhere from now and October 29th.
I didn’t want to evaluate Maxiell because we already know what to expect from him (I consider him a starter). But he did what I expected from him and that was solid D with some thunderous dunks. And if it wasn’t for a hard foul by Rasheed Wallace, Rasheed would of got eaten alive.
Matt W. I would of took some pictures but I forgot my camera and my phone’s camera kind sucks. I had a couple friends with me and they were taking pictures, I will see if they have any pictures I can share with all you.
Any other questions or concerns about the Open Practice, just ask and I will answer.
“Herrmann by a hair”! Too good
Thanks for this Diablo, being out of state it’s nice when I can find info like this on the Pistons.
Very nice work Diablo. To answer our guessing from another thread between which squad would look the best, did any stand out as superior to you?
Shinons-
The Rodney Stuckey, Walter Sharpe, Rasheed Wallace, and Amir Johnson group was definately on point the whole night.
But any group Walter Herrmann was on was also good because offensively he carried the loud most of the time. Most of the time, he was teamed with Mcdyess, Kwame Brown, Aaron Afflalo, and sometimes Chauncey Billups.
A decent enough summary of what is known already except for.
1. MC has already stated that now is not yet the time for Amir to be aggressive offensively so if he was it would going against coaches orders which Amir does not have a history of doing.
2. Diablo is cleary biased when it comes to Stuckey. Stuckey’s biggest problem is replacing Billups is not his outside shooting but his ability to make the other 4 guys on the court with him better. Stuckey did not do this last year as evidenced by his plus/minus among other things. My guess is that if Stuckey can ever do this successfully it will take 2 - 3 more years.
It takes most guys who play PG in college at least 2 - 3 years before they become an effective NBA PG (CP3 was the exception) Zeke and Billups were not.
I like Stuckey’s potential a lot but to me he has a long way to go before he can lead an NBA team into the playoffs.
“2. Diablo is cleary biased when it comes to Stuckey. Stuckey’s biggest problem is replacing Billups is not his outside shooting but his ability to make the other 4 guys on the court with him better. Stuckey did not do this last year as evidenced by his plus/minus among other things. My guess is that if Stuckey can ever do this successfully it will take 2 - 3 more years.”
I am biased only because Stuckey is the type of player the Pistons have been missing for years. He can be a Superstar, there is no doubt in my mind. Maybe he can’t take over Chauncey’s spot this year but IMO, I don’t think he is far off. Just give him the ball let him do what he can do, he WILL make plays. You forget there is other veterans on this team other than Chauncey, they will help him through the rough times. He wasn’t playing erratically and wasn’t turning the ball over. I think he was playing very smart last night WHILE keeping an uptempo game and then slowing the game down for his teammates. On top of that, he was very good defensively, jumping on traps right away and pressuring the ball handler. I’m seeing great improvements in Stuckey’s game, just watch this season (because he is guaranteed starters minutes), there will be times he WILL outshine Chauncey and Rip together. Guaranteed.
Diablo, thanks for the extended write up.
I think the fact that Amir and Rasheed have been paired together consistently is a pretty telling sign.
Mike, you’re freaking crazy. How easily you forget how awesome Stuckey looked in the playoffs. He is most certainly going to be a superstar. How many rookies could step up and perform the way he did. He carried us for long stretches in the ECF. Do you have eyes, man, or do you only look at stats? Stuckey was the catalyst for that huge comeback that fell short. That does not happen without him. He’s going to be a star, and it might start happening as soon as this season.
Wow. Big expectations for Stuckey. I’ve been on the verge of typing this a couple times, but always find myself remembering his poise in the playoffs and backspacing - but might we be going a little Amir (used as an adjective) on Stuckey? He’s got some great skills, but isn’t it a little early to figure him a can’t-miss. I mean, I’d put my money on him going 14 ppg and getting his fg% up around 45 or so and the day when he’s a 20 ppg scorer is not far away - but superstars are a select few: Kobe, God James, are definitely on the list, maybe along with Garnett, Duncan, and Paul. That’s some pretty hefty expectations for a guy who shot 40% from the field last year and only 37% in the playoffs.
Not meaning to be a devil’s advocate, just asking.
Personally, I’m a bit worried about the league/media-wide Stuckey hype. The kid is great, I’m excited to have him on our team. But until his shooting gets better, I’m going to be a little concerned. In the playoffs, he shot 37% from the field, down from 40% in the regular season. I’ll root for Stuckey and hope for the best, but I’ve got a critical eye for that part of the box score in the coming season…
We’re definitely going a little Amir with Stuckey. I fully admit that. However, that performance in the playoffs doesn’t lie. I actually thought his shooting improved as the season wore on, I’m not going to look up a game-by-game log and figure it out, though. He’s got the most important skill that we lack, he can get to the rim. I think you can improve your shooting a lot more easily than you can improve your ability to get to the rim.
Just wanted to chime in here. I am from the D, born and raised and have lived in Los angeles California for 12 years. I have a good friend that works pretty high up in the Laker’s and he told me that the league wide management vibe on Stuckey is that in 2 years he will be a all-star. Probably like D-Wade a true combo guard not really a 1 more of a 2.
I should clarify, I think his jump shooting improved, he definitely struggled to finish around the rim at times.
Play with the hot spots chart and see for yourselves.
@Other Matt:
As always, I totally agree. If we see 45% out of Stuckey (a tall order, 43% would be a solid improvement), I’ll be floored. Your point about improving shooting from the field vs. getting to the hoop is right on.
I’m as big of a Stuckey fan as there is, and I do think he has the potential to be a superstar, but I think a more likely comparison once he hits his peak play is some one like Tony Parker. If you can ignore the physical differences, I think they have very similar games. Neither are your traditional pass first point guards, both can get into the lane any time they want, and both came into the league with suspect jumpers. As Tony’s career has progressed he has a developed his jumper to the point where it’s almost automatic inside the 3 point line. Stuckey has stated that he worked on his jumper a lot this year and early indications are it looks better then last year.
Mike, I think you should pay more attention to Stuckey’s +/- in the playoffs instead of the regular season…IMO it’s a better indicator for the future. Stuckey and Lindsey Hunter had by far the best +/- of any one on the team during the playoffs.
Just remember how much Stuckey improved from the beginning of his shortened regular season to the end of the playoffs. When you look at the circumstances he might make another big leap this year.
This season he knows he’s going to play about 30 mpg, he knows he’ll be a big part of the offense, he has identified an area in his game that needs work (his jumpshot) and he’s worked on it all summer. Plus he has added confidence due to last years performance in the playoffs as well as his selection for the USA Basketball Select team that scrimmaged the Olympians.
Diablo, I love your writing.
FREE STUCKEY!!!
“Just remember how much Stuckey improved from the beginning of his shortened regular season to the end of the playoffs. When you look at the circumstances he might make another big leap this year.”
And remember how much Dwayne Wade improved between his first and second year. This isn’t to say that he’ll be as good as Wade, but to point out that huge leaps in productivity can happen after your rookie season.
Jim: Parker is actually a pretty average jumpshooter, but the threat of an okay jumpshot combined with his ability to drive to the hoop at will make him incredibly difficult to guard. I think we’d all be happy if Stuckey developed into that kind of offensive threat.
While Stuckey had some good games against Boston and performed admirably filling in for Billups when he went down against Orlando, his play overall was uneven. He has to show more consistency as a shooter and finisher before I’d be willing to even hand him the keys to a starting position, much less tout him as a superstar. There is plenty of reason for optimism though.
Thanks, Diablo. I think Shinons’ take is a fair and balanced one. One should avoid throwing around terms like “superstar.” But it’s worth remembering that Stuckey doesn’t have to be a Top 5 player. On a team like the Pistons, he can be a difference maker just by bringing something new that other teams haven’t been prepping for the last five years. Not a DWade, but maybe a Vinnie.
RE: Kwame
“Negative: Passes too much. Most of you might see this as a positive but when you have good position in the post I wish you would make an attempt to make a basket. He even has some good post moves but doesn’t use them to his advantage. He will make a good post move but when you think he would put up a shot, he would awkwardly pass it out to the perimeter or Mcdyess (who was paired with him). I hope he grows out of this, quickly.”
This was his problem when I watched him in LA too. He would beat his guy with his first move because he’s so athletic. But, then he’d make another move back the other way right to the defender he just beat. He’s got great explosiveness. He just has to trust it.
Be on the lookout for the Pistonscast show from Open Practice next week on at http://www.pistonscast.com
I’ll link you Matt!
Thanks everybody, I appreciate the compliments.
That really sounds like fun, I’ll have to go to one sometime. Great writeup Diablo.
Hey Diablo, Matt, Other Matt and all other DBBers.
Pistonscast.com was live in the house at the Open Practice!
Checkout our Pistons Open Practice Episode.
http://www.pistonscast.com/podcasts/pistonscast069.mp3
Peace,
John W. Davis