Any thoughts on the Pistons tanking this season for a better chance at the #1 overall pick in the upcoming draft were squashed last night as the Pistons turned back the clock a bit, and beat the Lakers 88-85 in overtime at The Palace. Games like this are the reason why I believe Lawrence Frank was the right hire for the job. This game was a guaranteed loser on the schedule under former Coaches John Kuester and Michael Curry, because of the negative response from the veterans to coaches they didn’t respect.
Rodney Stuckey was by far the star of the night, and the main reason why the Pistons were in it to win it at the end. Stuckey hit a big 3 pointer with 9.8 seconds left in the game to put the Pistons up 2, before Kobe came back to hit a clutch jumper to tie it up and send it to overtime. In overtime, Tayshaun Prince nailed a key 20 footer to put the Pistons up 1 before Stuckey stepped to the charity stripe to knock down the final 2 free throws which put the Pistons ahead for good.
- Rodney SssssssssssssssssssssssssTUCKey finished the night with 34 points on an efficient 13-20 from the floor. He also finished 1-1 from the long line, and not only was it a key 3 pointer that I referenced earlier but if you’ll notice, Rodney has improved from the 3 point line this season. He still doesn’t take a lot of 3s, but when he does he’s making them at a 35% clip – his career average is 28%.
- Ben Gordon showed some flashes off the bench, and while he had a solid night off the bench, he was mostly playing off of Stuckey’s hot hand, as he finished 7-15 from the floor with a team high +24 +/- off the bench.
- Jonas Jerebko finished a healthy 3-8 from the field with 2 key 3s – and a +10 on the night.
- As usual, skilled low post scoring big men gave the Pistons front court trouble – Andrew Bynum finished with video game numbers (34 points/15 rebounds) and Pau Gasol finished with 20 and 10.
- Greg Monroe held his own on the glass – he finished with 15 rebounds (8 defensive and 7 offensive). The Lakers’ size gave him fits on the block – he had a tough night offensively.
- Super Rookie Brandon Knight wasn’t so good in this game – 0 points, -14 +/-. The good news is he only turned the ball over 1 time.
- What happened to
Ron Artest?Metta World Peace? He looks like a totally different player these days. He and Tayshaun Prince have not aged well in their roles as starting SF on their respective teams. - Kobe, lose the black mask bro. Rip Hamilton wears a clear mask every game to protect his nose. It’s not about fashion, it’s about function.
- Former Michigan Wolverine standout guard Darius Morris received a DNP-Coaches’ Decision for the Lakers as he remains buried in the rotation.
- The Laker big men could not do anything to stop Stuckey from finishing in the lane. Stuckey, who has had his issues in the past finishing at the rack, settled in a nice groove by attacking both Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.
- Way to go
LakersPistons fans! Last night was the 3rd sellout of the season. - The Lakers are now 6-13 on the road. The Pistons are 10-11 at home.
And let’s not forget this highlight of the night – Stuckey taking old man Kobe to school.
Rodney Stuckey breaks Kobe’s ankles
MAY THE GORES BE WITH YOU!!! (seriously, I didn’t think anyone wore shimmery shirts anymore?). Gores should be a happy man – not only did the Pistons win a thrilling game against a team they’ve competed against 3 times in the Finals, but they did it in front of a sellout crowd that was reportedly 60% Lakers fans. Way to go Pistons!
Next up for the Pistons is Jeff Teague and the Atlanta Hawks on Friday at 7:30 at the Palace. The Hawks are 7-8 in their last 15 games as they’ve fallen a bit on hard times as the injury to Al Horford has finally caught up with them. Meanwhile on the other side of the court, the Pistons are on a bit of roll having pulled together wins in 9 of their last 15 games. The Hawks are currently sitting in the 6th seed spot in the East, while the Pistons are 5 games back of the 8th spot. The Hawks aren’t looking up too high though, as their playoff opponent (if the season ended today) the Orlando Magic are the 3 seed and they’re only up 1 game.
The Hawks have a lot to play for, whereas the Pistons are scraping together win after win and building confidence in their young core for the future. With the way this rotation has settled in a bit lately, and the roll they’ve been on, I don’t see where Charlie Villanueva fits in when he comes back unless he takes Jason Maxiell’s minutes. Maxiell has been providing solid numbers as the starting power forward since taking over for Ben Wallace.
Wow … only one mention (barely even, one sentence) of Maxiell with a double double and the clutch put-back dunk?
Stuckey had ONE GOOD GAME.
Still only 1 assist.
He got lucky.
No passing and forced shots may look good for one game, but just like the other 99% of the season so far, that’s Rodney Stuckey.
Two things showed you did not watch the game (or watch closely) and that you are sitting here playing armchair quarterback:
1 assist doesn’t indicate how often somebody passes. If you would have actually WATCHED the game, you would have seen that he found guys like Maxiell, Gordon and Prince for open shots several times in the game, and all of those shots happen to not go in — until Prince’s last one.
And second, if you would’ve watched the 4th quarter and overtime, you would have seen that his performance was anything but luck. Call it confidence, energy, skill, whatever you want except luck, because he was undeniably ON and clutch. I’d bet Kobe would agree.
So there you have it. We won the game even with the leading scorer getting one assist. Whatever we did, we did right yesterday. Be happy with it and move forward.
people be hating.
It’s true though. 1 ast, 1 reb in 42 minutes? AND he was supposedly playing point with Brandon on the bench. This is what Stuckey does. He’ll bull rush his way inside 99% of the time and force a shot. The shots just happened to be falling last night and everyone starts calling him Wade 2.0 again. Let’s wait and see, eh? And LA lost to the Wiz in Washington. They’re near invincible at Staples, but are the Bobcats on the road.
Stuckey was the Nightly notable on NBA.com for yesterday. Here’s a mix of his top plays: http://www.nba.com/video/channels/top_plays/2012/03/06/20120306_nn.nba
Who gives a shit if he had only 1 assist? He had 34 points n dominated the lakers, we won, and its not like the ball was stagnant. We had great ball movement stuckeys points came in the flow of the game. To prove that look at the assts the other players had. We had 17 asts. Gordon had 5. Its no diff than him having 14 points n 10 assists it still equals 34 points for the team. Who else u wqnt to shoot it? Knight 1-6 monroe 1-10? Stuck did what he had to do. Leave it at that n b glad we got soomeone who can put up that many points. Damn.
Stuck probably sought advice on how to win the game from… GANDALF… who eventually said….
YOU, SHALL NOT… PASS!!!!
As I’ve said before Lawrence Frank is the right coach for Stuckey because he knows how to use him. He is a true combo guard. Not too shabby at the point, but is much better (by far) at the 2. What he did against the Lakers is what he does best. No other Piston was shooting well even when he did pass the ball for a potential assist, which happens sometimes. He seems to give coach Frank what is needed and coach Frank lets him do what he does best, which is going to the basket. He might not be a consistant 3 point threat but he shoots it when needed. Stuckey as well as the whole team will grow into contenders sooner than later under coach Frank than any of the last two Piston coaches. If anyone would still would rather have Rondo on the Pistons than Stuckey then you are out of your mind! He won’t always have games like this but he gives the Pistons a different look at guard. They still have a way to go but a good draft and a trade or two will get them there. CASE CLOSED!!! Also BG has found a niche as an off the bench scoring boost but when CV31 comes back he will have to really bring it and put Austin Daye out of the mix (which he is at the moment), or he will be amnesty material for sure.
Wow. Stuckey basically wins the game for us and still gets criticized. I guess he’ll suck until he puts up 30pts 10reb and 10 assist every night.