Rodney Stuckey will return as the Pistons starting point guard on Saturday when they take on the Sixers at the Palace.

You either love the idea or you hate it, but let’s face it Pistons fans Rodney Stuckey is this team’s point guard, period.

I haven’t shied away from the fact that I think Stuckey would be better suited as a shooting guard.  Hell, a lot of the time he’s  on the court for Detroit he assumes the role of the two.

It’s not like we didn’t see this coming.  We knew Rodney would resume his roll, but what does the team lose with his return?

They could possibly lose the best basketball play from T-mac since his injury.  Sure McGrady might just come of the bench for Detroit and play just as well as he had when he started in place of Stuckey, but that’s a big what if.

Look at T-Mac’s numbers in the past four games (click chart to enlarge)

It doesn’t take a basketball genius to see what the offense has looked like with McGrady running things compared to how it flows with Stuckey at the reigns.  Aside from the Phoenix game,  T-mac has been stellar.   I’m giving him a pass on that one considering that the Suns trapped McGrady at the top of the key on just about every possession when he was running the offense and Kuester made no adjustments to remedy the situation.

Photo/Getty Images editing Need4Sheed.com

The only reason I would want things to go back to the way they were is if T-mac’s body (knee) couldn’t handle the minutes. But as of right now it seems that Arnie Kander is working overtime and McGrady is getting stronger by the day.

I have heard just about every side of the Stuckey argument and I understand them. Dumars made it clear that Stuckey was his guy. It’s been shoved down our throat that he’s the guy this team is building around. He’s their starting point guard.

If it wasn’t clear enough when he moved the heart of this this team to Denver, it should be now. And just because Stuckey didn’t get an extension means nothing. With the Collective Bargaining Agreement change, very few players got extensions.

I’m certainly not a Stucky basher, in fact I think he’s a great player. I just don’t like him as the Pistons starting PG. Many waited for him to “turn the corner” but is seems as though he is who he’s going to be.

I know assists aren’t everything when it comes to a PG in the league, but it’s very important.

If you look at Rodney’s stats compared to other guard’s in the league you may be surprised.

Rodney is currently 28th in the league amongst all guards in the league in the assists category. In 2009-2010 he finished 32nd, 2008-2009 32nd and in his rookie season 2007-2008 he was 70th (and also injured).

For those of you who would rather him score…look at the guards at the top of those lists and look at how their teams finished those season.  A good point guard does wonders for a team.

Sure Rodney has gotten better with distributing the ball to his teammates, but there are still plenty of times when he takes the game into his own hands and drives the lane looking for a basket and a foul regardless of who’s wide open.

Then there is also the question, Is T-mac a better leader?

Do you want Stuckey back at PG?
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Here is the latest Need4Sheed Podcast. Danny and I were lucky enough to have a couple of special guests this week. Dave and J.P. from The Palace/Garden Podcast joined us in our “Pistons Round Table” to talk about what we are all talking about today.

The Pistons meltdown at the Palace against The Raptors.

We commiserate about our misery that is this team right now, as well as talk about why we think it’s happening. Is it the Coach? Is it the Players? Is it management? Is it Hooper?

And why does Danny want to trade Ben Wallace?

Dave also posed a question during the Podcast that we want to put to a vote. What is the Worst Pistons loss this season? Cast your vote at the bottom of this post.

Take a listen and by all means give us your feedback and question for the next show.

New Need4Sheed.com Detroit Pistons Podcast – The S@#$ Storm

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Thanks again to Dave and J.P. of The Palace/Garden Podcast for joining us, it was like Pistons therapy.
VOTE
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Seven is a lucky number and that’s what the Pistons are counting on in this year’s draft.  So they didn’t land a top three, but there were some quality player picked in the number seven spot and below.

Past number 7 picks.

2009 Stephen Curry PG
2008 Eric Gordon G
2007 Corey Brewer G/F
2006 Randy Foye G
2005 Charlie Villanueva F (TBD)
2004 Luol Deng SF
2003 Kirk Hinrich PG
2002 Nene Hilario PF
1999 Rip Hamilton SG

It’s also not so much the seven spot either.  If you take a look at the past drafts you will see that some quality players were drafted below the spot.  Guys like Dirk, Amare, Rondo,  Andrew Bynum, Danny Granger, Iguodala, David West, Joe Johnson, and our very own Rodney Stuckey fell below the spot Detroit will be picking in come draft time.

Now this doesn’t mean much if Dumars and his team doesn’t do their job.  Do they pick the best player that is available at seven, or do they fill the Pistons needs?  I’m all for them serving up a quality big man on a plate, but only time will tell what happens.

I know who I would like the Pistons to pick….who would you like to see in Pistons red, blue and white come November?

I’m going with Chad Ford’s rankings just as a guide for the vote.  Let’s go from 4 to 15 and just assume Detroit’s pick will be one of these players.

4		Wesley Johnson	22	SF	6-7	198	Syracuse	Top 5
5		DeMarcus Cousins	19	C	6-11	260	Kentucky	Top 5
6		Cole Aldrich	21	C	6-11	245	Kansas	Top 10
7		Al-Farouq Aminu	19	SF	6-8	205	Wake Forest	Top 10
8		Ekpe Udoh	23	PF	6-10	240	Baylor	Lottery
9		Greg Monroe	19	PF	6-11	250	Georgetown	Top 10
10		Ed Davis	20	PF	6-10	215	North Carolina	Top 10
11		Daniel Orton	19	C	6-10	260	Kentucky	Lottery
12		Luke Babbitt	20	SF	6-9	220	Nevada	Mid to late first round
13		Avery Bradley	19	SG	6-3	180	Texas	Late lottery to mid first round
14		Hassan Whiteside	20	C	6-11	225	Marshall	Lottery
15		Gordon Hayward	20	SF	6-8	200	Butler	Late lottery to mid first round

Also take a look at the Pre-Draft Video via Pistons.com before you cast your vote.

VOTE- Take into account that it’s highly doubtful that Cousins or Johnson will be available at 7.

Via Chris McCosky of The Detroit News

“On a day when the Pistons signed all three 2009 draft picks, they also reached an agreement with one of their former all-stars.

Ben Wallace, the four-time defensive player of the year, agreed to terms with the Pistons on a one-year deal worth $1.3 million. Wallace is expected to sign the deal next week.

Wallace’s role in Detroit, however, is expected to be a far reduced one than when he left for Chicago in 2006. He will be the fifth big man and serve as a much-needed leader on a team whose average age is 25.”

I wasn’t really in the market for an older Ben Wallace but him on the roster for 1.3 million…..BAM! I’ll take him.

We are unable to FEAR THE FRO anymore unless Ben’s hair grows really fast.

Question of the Day….Does Stuckey give up the #3 for Ben?

With all the new Pistons acquisitions I have been a tooning fool lately. I had the most difficult time with the Charlie V toon and didn’t really like how it turned out even though @CV31 told me he liked it..so I made another one…which I’m not too happy with either.

I figured I would get your input…
Charlie V 1.0

Charlie V 2.0

Ultimately I think I have to give Charlie the final decision.

UPDATE Charlie V has SPOKEN…the Winner is!

Charlie V 1.5

The Pistons host the Bulls tonight in a battle for playoff position. Chicago comes into the Palace tonight on a four game winning streak a game ahead of Detroit for the 7th seed in the playoff race.

Pistons.com

“Simply put, a win Monday would give the Pistons a leg up on Bulls, whether they’re settling matters for the sixth or seventh seed, provided each team takes care of business in its regular-season finale. A Pistons victory sets up an interesting rundown through the playoff tiebreakers. First, it ties them at 40-41 overall, and win at The Palace would also knot the season series at 2-2, with the home team winning each time. That takes you to the No. 3 tiebreaker – higher winning percentage within the division – but a Pistons victory would give them identical 8-8 records in the Central. The fourth tiebreaker is higher winning percentage in conference games, and that would go to the Pistons, who currently have 26 wins in the East to Chicago’s 23. Keep in mind the sliding Sixers, whose ongoing five-game skid has dropped them to 40-40, could muddle up the mix as well.”

A lot of things to consider with just two games to go in the season.

At this point it’s most likely the Boston or Cleveland in the first round (but Orlando is still a possibility), and it seems plenty of you are ok with facing the Cavs.  Me, not so much, so I thought I would put this one to a vote (taking the Magic out of the vote for obvious reasons).

Tip off is at 7:30 PM and will be locally broadcast of FSN Detroit and on NBA.TV Nationally. If you can’t catch the game on television, you can listen live on WDFN 1130 AM or follow the game online at NBA.com.

This one is important, leave them in the comments or feel free to chat live during the game.

Forget the ESPN trade machine, forget what your friend said he heard, noting is really solid until someone makes a deal.  Dave Dial (always good with the numbers) confirms that maybe, just maybe a deal is forthcoming for the Pistons.

“A couple of things bear mentioning. Marc Stein’s numbers are different that Chris McCosky’s, and when checking the Pistons salaries I have something in between both of their figures. The terms of player contracts are not released, officially, by teams. But the media does get this information from either team sources or player agents.

{Update}: The failure to mention that if Stein’s numbers are correct and the trading of Alex Acker to the Clippers does not put the Pistons below the luxury tax threshold, the Stein’s scenario suddenly becomes more likely.

Nevertheless, Stein offers an interesting scenario where the Pistons end up with Amare Stoudemire. Conspiracy theory or not, we will know for sure in a few days. The trading deadline is Thursday, February 19th.” Via MLive

So with that lets give this a vote:

“NBA sources said the Nuggets have inquired about obtaining Denver native Chauncey Billups from the Pistons for Allen Iverson. Because of Iverson’s lucrative contract ($20.8 million) it would take more than Billups ($11 million), though .” Via Boston.com

I am curious to see what you think about the “rumor”. Like mentioned, you would need to ship someone else with Billups in order to make the deal work. I personally don’t think Iverson has it anymore and is really the guy to get this team over it’s hump. DBB makes some good points that are worth thinking about. I’m leaving the comments open to you as well as a poll for percentage sake.

Detroit will take on the Cavs tonight at The Palace. Tip off is at 7:30 and unfortunatly won’t be broadcast locally, but we found out from members of Team Need4Sheed in the comments that it’s going to be broadcast in Ohio.

TDP: Wednesday’s game against the Cavaliers will air on both FSN Ohio and FSN Cincinnati; DIRECTV channels 660 and 611, respectively.

For the rest of us it means a blackout, but as always we can follow the action on NBA.com or on the 1130 AM WDFN The Fan. Look for the starters to get heavy minutes in preparation for the 2008-2009 season that is just around on the corner.

And if you so choose, Need4Sheed.com is up for the Best of Team Blog award in The Pistons category against some stiff competion. So vote for N4S or any of your other favorites.