Rodney Stuckey was benched in today’s game against the Boston Celtics for refusing to re-enter the game Friday night against the Chicago Bulls. What else does Stuckey have to do to lose the respect of Pistons fans? Here he is, in his 4th year in the NBA and still acting like an immature young player in a season where leadership and respect is there for the taking.
I just hope the Pistons can get something for him this offseason when he leaves. I apologize in advance for not shedding the same virtual tears when Rodney leaves as I did when Chauncey and Stuckey’s draft mate Arron Afflalo left the team. Now Kuester doen’t get a pass either, each one of us has a better chance at winning a million dollars playing blackjack online than John Kuester has of returning to Detroit next season. Now on to the rest of the team, who are now playing out the string and earning time for next season:
- The Pistons won the 1st and 4th quarters – but they lost the game in the 3rd by giving up 33 points to the (currently) 2nd seeded Boston Celtics
- Shaquille O’Neal may have to hang it up this season after limping off badly in today’s game after only 5 minutes on the floor
- Charlie Villanueva’s numbers are deceiving – sure he had a solid offensive game, but his points were canceled out as he scored 15 and was a team worst -15 on the night
- Need4Sheed favorite Will Bynum started in place of Tracy McGrady, and ended up with 20 points and only 1 assist.
- Detroit got “Rondo’d” – Rajon Rondo finished with 14 assists and 5 turnovers.
- I hate to admit it – Boston is pretty deep. I know it’s hoping a lot that Jermaine O’Neal or Shaquille O’Neal stay healthy enough to give minutes but Baby Davis gives Boston a solid 6th man off the bench. Delonte West is a solid guard off the bench. This team can guard just about everyone on the perimeter, except maybe LeBron James – but we’ll see what Pierce and Jeff Green can do this postseason
- Austin Daye must be in the dog house somewhat – either that, or he’s not worth giving much time on the floor at this point. There’s really no excuse for him to play only 15 minutes when Prince and Rip play 30+
- Super rookie
Rodney WhiteGreg Monroe had a down night – 11 points and 5 rebounds to go with a tough matchup all night – KG and Baby Davis - Hell, with all the turmoil going on on the Pistons sideline even Jason Maxiell saw some decent run in today’s game. My how far this team has fallen in his time on the roster.
- Pistons coach
JKIAFIJohn Kuester referred to Stuckey’s benching as a “setback” in his “growth process” – aka “Stuckey is still immature, even in his 4th year in the league. On a team dying for a leader to step up.”
Stuckey: “Mentally, mentally, I’m mentally drained. Hopefully I can get through these six games and we’ll see what happens next year.” Via The Detroit News
Up next on “As The World Turns” the Pistons schedule are the young and peppy Wizards lead by newcomers Jordan Crawford and John Wall. Detroit will have their hands full if Ben Wallace does not play again because of the size the Wizards have on their front line with Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee.
I usually attend the Wizards game when the Pistons are town but this year, I’m going to save my money and watch it on TV. Stay tuned this week as rumor has it Natalie and I are going to pump out another podcast – I will be there ready to apologize to you all for saying the Pistons would go 9-3 to close out the season and they would make the playoffs. I’m sure we’ll also continue to talk about Rodney Stuckey, Coach Kuester, how Natalie’s dog saved her life, and more!
im going to say the reason stuckey didnt reenter the game was becuase he could clearly see that will was giving the team a boost and didnt want to go back in cuase that would have taken bynum out of the game. if that is what happened then maybe stuckey was showing leadership. but q didnt like it cuase we lost. i know tay has done that a number of times but if we win the game then its no big deal, we commend the player for being unselfish, if we lose then they are the “immature young player” being disrespectful to the fans. im not positive this is the case but i was there and will was bringing it towards the end when q usually brings in his closing players. will was the big reason for our comeback that fell a little short. hopefully this is the case, i really hope i am not wrong and this isnt the same thing like the early season misque (no pun intended). becuase yes boney even i am getting tired of defending one of my favorite players. we as fans shouldnt have to do that.
This isnt a defense of Stuckey, but I wouldn’t be so quick to assume Stuck is gone because of this. Rip berated Kuester and supposedly led a boycott against him, and is now starting and getting 30+ minutes a game…
+1
Q will be gone next year, but Rip will still be here. Stuckey too.
Who hasnt fallen out with Kuester this season? Going off his complete random rotation stuckey will probably start the next game and play 40 minutes.
It’s about time crazy Kuester benched monroe he’s started too many games in a row he must be due for a coachs dnp.
Ben Gordon.
Only player I could think of who hasn’t had a falling out with Kuester. I think he is one player who knows that he can’t criticize Kuester when he is playing as poorly as he is.
Honestly, Kuester is no great coach, but the only two players in my opinion who have earned the right to speak out against the coach are Tayshaun Prince and Greg Monroe. They are the only two who have consistently played at a high level. Sorry Stuck, Rip, CV, Daye, T-Mac et al, you guys haven’t played well enough to be able to criticize the coach.
I agree that Stuckey will be here next season.
Unless we get a new owner I think as dumb as Mrs. D seems to be I think Q will be the coach next season. Why? He’s cheap and she’s cheap and don’t have a clue what’s going on. . More drama coming next season unless a new owner arrives.
Yes I agree, Kuester is going to be gone, but why is what Stuckey did ok? How do you refuse to go back into a game because you’re mad at the coach? You let your team down and your fans because of selfishness.
Rip did the same thing.
It’s not cool no matter how you look at it.
What a mess.
see my comment above nat, that is the ONLY ecuse i can see that would fly. if its what happened, and i hope it is.
I think Stuckey will be gone. I think Joe is over the whole mini-me thing.
one more thing. you all think that this increases the chances that stuckey will be gone because detroit wont want him. . .
but other teams wont want him either, because he has a repeated history of insubordination. this means as a restricted free agent he will not be getting great offers, 4 year guy on a failed team with an attitude problem, he wont get great offers.
this means detroit is MORE likely to sign him because our problem is we got all our money tied up and normally would find it difficult to match offers.
just like rip, who thanks to mutiny, is receiving a lot less interest from the other GM’s and likely will now be back.
Stuckey’s “repeated history of insubordination” is a bit of a reach. It has happened this season, and teams won’t view him negatively for it. He hasn’t pulled a “T.O.” or an “AI” on the team yet. He has ability, he has talent.. it’s just evident he won’t be able to maximize it here because of how he’s been screwed around with here.
I think Stuckey still holds a lot of value – he is still somewhat raw. Does Stuckey return a superstar in a trade? No. Does he return a #1 pick and a player? yeah, I think he still has that value. He doesn’t have a “history”, he has this season.
boney, nicely said. but i do think he will be back next year.
Co-Sign!
I’m more willing to give Stuckey the benefit of the doubt, look he’s been here 4 yrs and who has his role models been? His 1st yr he had Flip as his coach who was being constantly disrespected by Ben and Rasheed, his 2nd yr he had Curry as his coach, who was being constantly disrespected by Iverson and Rip and the last 2 yrs he’s had Kuester as his coach who is being disrespected by Rip, Tay and others. So for him to react this way is not all that suprising at all. What we need is to get rid of Rip, Tay, Tmac and their attitudes, get a solid coach with a game plan that’s in the best interest of the core of this team going forward and that will impart some fair discipline on the players, and I think you’ll see a different Stuckey and a rejuvenated team.
Amen to that. Our veterans are a bad example for leadership and respect.
Nicely said edt, we’re stuck with Stuck and the rest of our hard working team…
Quester is lost, allways has been, but the players are bunch of losers, they should respect the authority of the coach and work on their game for a change…
players are only as good as their coach. ALL the players worked extremely hard on there game and their fitness in the off season, but q had no clue what he is doing didnt then still doesnt now, and i think we are playing worse now then when the season started. thats becuase you are right, q is lost. when the coach is lost so are the players. i dont blame players for questioning a coach that doesnt have a clue. do you? if my boss at work told me to do something and i knew it was wrong or wasnt going to work i would question them to or not follow thru with it. wlouldnt u?
To point out something different from the article, it certainly wasn’t a blowout loss. What did we lose by? 12? And we were within 10 for most of the fourth.
Remember those old experiments with rats in the ’60s. In order to drive a rat insane, the researchers would teach them that the right lever gave food and the left lever was a shock. then they would turn them around and watch the poor rats have a nervous breakdown. Somehow when I think of rotations, playing time and who gets to start under Q, that’s the image that came to my mind. Imagine that?
People always say Ben Gordon hasn’t had a fallout with Q yet, but I think he has, just quietly and behind the scenes.
Think about it, In 08-09 he was averaging 20.7 ppg and 36.6 minutes per game in Chicago (starting most games). In two seasons with Detroit he’s averaging 9 minutes less than 08-09 and 8 points less (and starting only 44 out of a possible 138 games so far).
He’s in what should be the prime of his career having career-WORSTS in ppg and having SLIGHTLY more minutes per game than he did in his rookie year, when he only started 3 games. It’s safe to assume he’s none-too-pleased.
But I guess a bright spot of news is that it looks more and more like Rick Adelman is going to leave Houston after this year. Hint Hint.
you guys are all mad Stuckey is awesome! You haven’t learned anything from the past? This team should not make trades ever, period. What other PG you’re going to have huh? dwarf Bynum? slower than me Tracy? or maybe 1/20fg Gordon? Every deal starting with trading Chauncey was horrible. Don’t believe me? Check how much money Gordon makes. I can’t believe Stuckey gets so much hate while Gordons 3 ppg average is all fine and dandy for you people. But most of all we need a coach and I’ll go to church if that will be Laimbeer. I can’t even look at Kuesters face anymore. You want a tough team? Then we need a tough coach.
Sorry for a double post but i forgot about Gortat. There were some guys saying we should go for him and now you can admire what you’ve lost. Athletic hard working center who was training with Howard for years. He doesnt even give a fuck when he broke a nose, he was still taking charges the very next game. For sure Ben Wallace would teach him something about blocking too. Thats the type of guy Detroit should go for. We would at least be double teamed from time to time bc the roster now is so pathetic that opposing teams can just play man to man the entire game and our guys cant shoot for shit.
Wait just a minute… Rip, the champion and our leading scorer for the past decade, has a stomach virus and you so-called Detroit FANS call it insubordination, call him a whiner and a loser… and now, Stuckey, who has not proven ANYTHING in Pistons uniform, refuses to get back in the game and you’re giving him a chance and the benefit of the doubt?!
Come on man, u cant be serious Rip’s been a punk all season in fact ever since the whole AI and Rip bench situation, to be fair the players have underminded the coaches for years, once rip, prince and ben go we’ll see who becomes the leaders, tho’ we probably stuck with rip a while longer.
kevin that’s an excellent point.
In my opinion, Stuckey has no excuse. This behavior is just not to be tolerated.
That said . . . Looks like we’ll have the same players back next year.
Not only has Karen lost control of the process, she’s greedy, and the NBA doesn’t want this team sold for less than $420. The value of the team is $350 million tho, so Karen gets another year.
2011/12 pistons
rip
ben gordon charlie v
jason maxiell
will bynum
rodney stuckey
greg monroe
ben wallace
austin daye
jonas jerebko
terrico white
& 2 draft picks
I think that Kuester will def be gone, even with such a dysfunctional team, next year is the last year of Q’s contract, so it’s not expensive to buy him out.
Don’t be shy, Danny. Just go right ahead and say it. JKIAFI! I’ve been saying it all season. I wish this ownership thing would be resolved so that we can finally spend some money on a decent coach.
if we get another lottery pick is it possible to pick a coach? I still think with the right coach and guidance we can be a playoff team thats capable of making it out of the first round.
I agree daddy, look at Philadelphia, last yr they had the same record as the Pistons did and this yr they are solidly in the playoffs; the only major difference from last yr to this has been the coach, Doug Collins is a good coach, Kuester is not; get us a good coach, clear out some excess baggage and this could very well be a playoff team next year
should have been one this year.