Rodney Stuckey joined the Pistons in San Francisco on Wednesday, but he's going to sit out Thursday's game against the Warriors to give him one more day to get his conditioning back. From Chris McCosky in the Detroit News:
"I am going to take one more day, get back into some running and try to get my legs back under me," said Stuckey, who won't play tonight at Golden State, but expects to return against the Lakers on Friday.
Stuckey underwent a series of tests in Detroit on Monday. All came back negative.
"It was just a freak accident," he said. "It ain't my heart. I am good. It was scary. Anytime something happens like that it's always scary. That's why we took every precaution and found out everything was good."
To be completely honest, the decision seems odd -- I'm all for playing it safe, but it sounds like he passed every test, no? I suppose it's a testament to just how conditioned these athletes are; if you're on the shelf for even less than a week, you're already too far behind to just suit up and play.
That said, I have a feeling the fine play of Will Bynum helped make this decision easier. And from Bynum's perspective, the timing couldn't be better: he spent his rookie year in Golden State back in 2005-06, playing 15 games in the big show between stints in the D-League. After they cut him loose, he left the NBA to play two years in Israel, so you have to believe he'll be aiming to show them what they're missing out on right about now.
That said, Bynum is mature enough not to hold a grudge, admitting he wasn't the same player back then he is now. From A. Sherrod Blakely in MLive:
"I understand the game a whole lot more now," Bynum said. "Going overseas for two years, playing at a high level, and understanding different defenses, different coverages ... I'm able to know where I'm supposed to go and where I'm supposed to be out there. When I was out at Golden State, I didn't know these things."
For what it's worth, Michael Curry indicated that he'll continue to find minutes for Bynum so long as he's producing:
"Our biggest challenge is, even with Stuckey, finding ways to make sure we still can get (Bynum) out on the court," Curry said. "Each night, he provides us better opportunities to get into the paint."
From DetNews:
"I said it about all our bench guys -- if you can come in with something you can provide to the team, it's on us coaches to put you in those situations," Curry said. "Against the Kings we used Will with A.I. and Rip. Can you do that every night for a lot of minutes? No. (But) when you play teams like Sacramento, Golden State, Indiana and teams that play small, maybe you can."