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.
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?
[poll id=”3″]
I honestly think it’s on the coach. Stucky has shown he can handle point guard duties…but we all know he is not a natural point guard. when he does go to the hole and try to get fouls without looking for his open teamates, i think Q should pull him aside and tell him he is missing opened teamates. I never see that. Q must think everyone has the same b-ball IQ as Lebron cause in Cleveland, the coaches just let the players (Lebron) do what they wanted..you can’t coach this team like that..haha Stucky is only playing the only way he knows how and that’s to attack. if they want him to be the PG of the future, then they need to teach or show him how to be it..other then that, we will contine to start two shooting guards. That’s my opinion.
I Lol’d at the Flip Murray choice, haha
Bench you’re number 1 player ansd playmaker who makes even a scrub like Wilcox better and bring in a SG who makes noone better.
Stuckey is a new breed PG , the new defensives rules have made a tremendous change on the type of player that could succeed in this league
Slashing PG are taking over this league
Stuck has he best tool in Detroit todays roster to make an impact in a near futur
Please let’s not forget Chauncey Billups averaged 3.9 assists/G in his first year in Detroit.He also was (at first) a naural 2 guard
Seeing how well T-Mac has played lately doesn’t make me believe Stuck should be bench; It makes me think THEY BOTH should start, Stuck bringing the ball up the court & the team could still run the play through T-Mac…
Great works on this site Mrs Sitto
They both should start…interesting. I haven’t heard anyone suggest that yet. Possibly because we have that pesky issue with Ben Gordon and Rip.
Thanks
I realize it is almost impossible with our today roster to start both Stuck&T-Mac but I would realy love to see
Not only it makes a very versatile backcourt but of all the SG on the roster T-mac is the only one who doesn’t need a “great” playmaker in order to be effective…so playing him next to stuck makes even more sence…
A lineup of Stuckey, Gordon, McGrady, Moore and Wilcox (you could use Tay and Wallace too of course) might be fun. Note we haven’t seen this yet this season (for any number of reasons). But I think it would work better than anything we’ve seen yet.
Who the hell is Moore?
hahahhaha it’s MONROE!!!
Oops, fingers moving faster than eyes. Moral, don’t post when you’re supposed to be working I guess.
Stuckey shouldn’t lose his starting spot due to injury, especially when he is having his best year so far. Tmac should either get large minutes playing backup pg and backup sf, or if we trade tay, then start tmac at sf and he can still be a great playmaker. I dont think there is any way Tmac starts at sg, with both rip and bg coming off the bench.. Ideally I would start Stuck, BG, Tmac, CV, and Ben. Also, I think Stuck needs more time to play with BG now that he is starting, since thats what we’ve wanted all along
Does it really matter who the starting point guard is unless the entire team plays with more effort behind either one of these guys??
First: Stuck will start. (like it or not)
Second: Why is Q still putting BG as a starter even when he has proven to be a better reserve? He needs his confidence back, and playing alongside T-Mac might help him. So bring ’em both off the bench
Third: Q needs to go… players do not respect him and he has no pants to make tough decisions.
Fourth: My ideal thing to do is this… Start Stuck, Rip, Tay, CV and Ben
bring of the bench T-mac, BG, Daye, Wilcox and Monroe
(if someone is playing badly you have Bynum, Maxiell and maybe Terrico and Jonas)
LOL Flip Murray
So by my count our record is no better when T-mac is running the point. So does it really matter?
This is a tough one, Natalie. I definitely think that the Pistons have looked better on court when McGrady is on court. If the Pistons still want to make the playoffs, then I think they have to play McGrady meaningful minutes.
BUT, what good will it do us to play McGrady these minutes, and then have him leave us at the end of the season anyway? It really depends on what the Front Office is thinking past this season. Do they want – probably more like can they get – McGrady back? If not, then do they want Stuckey back next season? If Stuckey is still viewed as the future, then, whether right or wrong, we have to start him.
…still trying to figure out what retrun means 🙂
If Stuckey starts he needs to be paired with Gordon, who will run more with him. Starting Charlie will also help, and if were going to be critical of Rodney’s assist numbers, then give him Monroe as the starting C since Big Ben is a black hole on offense. I could see Stuckey running it up and down with all those guys, and Daye would work in that sense too, but I still think Tay deserves to start. Tay’s just going to have to follow suit for once.
Can we start the bring back LB whispers now? LB did wonders with Chauncey, and I could only imagine what he might be able to do with a young Stuckey. Plus, LB could corral these players way better than Kuester has shown.
Im with you Man!!!
I vote for TMac
t-mac & stuck should be starting, we got ben gordon for his 3 shot but look at the stat line, charlie V is much better. Ben Gordon hesitates every time he has the ball, come on man what is wrong with your head? He needs to quit worrying about whether he has a high shot percentage and shoot it nonstop.
Charlie V has filled the shooter shoes, so we dont need ben gordon. Charlie V also doesnt need to have a shot created for him. Austin Daye also is better at the 3 percentage wise than Ben Gordon, so I keep coming back to the idea, what the heck do we need ben gordon or rip hamilton for?
We are filled top to bottom with shooters, we have austin daye, charlie V, Prince, t-mac all can shoot.
We do not need shooters, what we need is a point guard, and some trees.
Anyway, as our team is now made, we need someone who can drive to the basket, that means stuckey and Bynum, both of which as has been said have a style which is required with the “no hand check” rules for guards driving to the basket.
We keep trying to make Will Bynum work with Rip & ben gordon, and then Stuckey work with rip & ben gordon, and now t-mac working with rip & ben gordon.
We dont need either of them, we got shooters. Just sit rip & bg on the bench from now until eternity, and run a trio of guards, t-mac, stuckey & bynum.
Stuckey is really good at putting fouls on a player. We need that. When you go up against Howard, Gasol, Garnett, you have to drive right at them and put fouls on them, this will take them out of the game, so you play against the backup center.
It’s just the nature of the game as it is played today, if you are all perimeter shooting, their guards will put fouls on your bigs and your rotation will suffer.
The nba today is made up so that you want to run at the guy, force the ref to call a foul and put the opposing bigs on the bench.
Without Stuckey in the lineup we dont have that option and we need to start putting the fouls on their bigs right away. That’s just how the game is today.
i think joe dumars just overexaggerates what this teams and tries to make those role players fit into more under the disguise of “the league is changing” the truth is the league hasnt changed much, the same kind of teams are still winning the championship. I think joe d is trying to build a team that gets to the second round of the playoffs, and is happy with that. Thats why he got ben gordon, who will win you some games but will lose you a lot to. And he was so sure we needed a big guy who can shoot 3s so he got charlie v, but name the last championship team that won BECAUSE they had a big man who could shoot 3’s? Sheed and robert horry could shoot 3s but that isnt what made or break the teams
stuckey is a pointguard and t-mac is a forgotten star ,so stuckey should assist tmac in able tmac to be remembered…
tmac is getting better so dont put him in the bench again and let him get back on track.
I tink stuckey should start at the two but he is not a point gaurd. he hurts the team every game wheb you all these scorers on the team and he doent give up the ball I would understamd if he was making those baskets but hes not he just rushes the basket and doesnt look for options and yells hey! in hope of getting a foul call. i think we should be trading for a point gaurd a real true point gaurd. they should work the trade to get a center an billups back .. Go Pistons.
All I have to say is, #whowantsQ
Anybody who has said trade Ben Gordon, thank you. We need that while he still has value. Rip is a consistent scorer, when he’s in his element and is getting good offball screens, remember, that is his game.
Tmac, love him, so happy to see him here, Fav player in the league, but if he goes next year (I think he will) he should only go to Portland. Really, he would fit so so well in that system.
Oh, and whoever wants to start Ben Wallace as a 5, cmon! He’s getting up there, he really should be muscling around 4’s ala Charles or Rodman, while we try to start Chris Wilcox and make him into something resembling a poor mans Joakim Noah.
You know, we should holler at Minn, Bill works there, and see what we can get for Ben Gordon. They could stand to lose a Big, honestly. Such frontcourt depth.
not a single erson on here, and im surprised edt didnt mention this. has said anything about tmacs turnovers. ya in those four games he had 27 ast, but he also had 14 turnovers. if stuckeys great at one thing it is taking care of the ball. he doent turn it over. check those stats. ast to turnover ratio. thank you. great point edt i totally agree with you.
Last I watched him go 7ast and 0 TO.
6 and 6 v Lakers, 13 and 1 v Jazz,
How doesn’t he take care of the ball again? Numbers only tell half the story, in every game I’ve seen him in it’s only when he gets doubled and the defense adjusts to him that he starts turning it over. When he does, he doesn’t go and make it worse, he gets hockey ast’s.
Rodney, who started and played excellent in my opinion, went 4 and 2 last night, 2 and 2 v Lakes, and 3 and 0 v Utah.
Does that put it in perspective? I like Stuckey, we only have a couple players with a good transition game and he is one of them, but he is really Combo guard, a great combo guard, but still a combo.
Wade isn’t point guard, Ben Gordons not a point guard, seeing the pattern?
Now I want to keep Stuckey, because for a combo he does play more like a point then a true 2, but he’s still somewhere in between.
He could be very good in a 3guard roto in my opinion, but I wouldn’t want him as my teams main playmaker at this point in his game.