Many hoop fans are also big time football fans. Rodney Stuckey has a bit of advice for new quarterback Matt Stafford. Rodney wants Matt to know there will be days and there will be days. In other words the ups and downs will be normal for the first year.

Toss the rookie into the cauldron. He’ll get burned often. He’ll look spectacular occasionally. But more often, he’ll look overmatched by the game’s speed, contributing to moments of internal doubt and the inevitable public lament that the novice may never live up to the hopeful expectations.

Stafford will have those days.

Stuckey had that year.

“I was overwhelmed and confused,” he said Monday during the Pistons’ media day.
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Rodney is ready for year two when things begin to appear to slow down and you do not have to just rely on natural instincts.

Rodney S

With new coach John Kuester devoted to the running game and new teammates Charlie Villenueva and Ben Gordon giving the team more firepower and running ability, it could be a banner year for Rodney. At the very least he will get to show off more of his natural abilities like his ability to run, find the open man, and penetrate with the ball.

There will be plenty of talent and experience surrounding Stuckey, but it will remain to be his ability to harness and direct that talent and experience that will determine if the Pistons are to go anywhere this season.
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The Detroit Pistons are the Joe Dumars Pistons and Joe Dumars has kept the Pistons at the top of the heap for a long time, until last year and the Allan Iverson cap clearing deal led to an eighth place finish and quick sweep by Cleveland in the playoffs.

Next year will be different, because Joe Dumars wanted it to be different. He already had traded Chauncey Billups for Allan Iverson, and then he released Iverson. Rasheed Wallace signed with Boston and had very little left in the tank. Antonio McDyess signed with San Antonio to clear more cap money for youth. In a final blow, Coach Curry was let go to convince free agents to sign with Detroit.

Rodney Stuckey will have a new cast for support

Joe struck quick with the long shooting Ben Gordon and multi talented Charlie Villanueva. Rodney Stuckey, the future star at point guard was already there.

If this was everything, Piston fans would have been hopeful, but disappointed. More is expected of Joe Dumars and more there was. The draft came and the Pistons were rewarded richly.

With their three selections the Pistons invested in Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, and Jonas Jerebko. At the time it was thought of as a solid draft for the Pistons, but after summer league it was evident that it was even better than that.

Daye was a curious pick for the Pistons because he’s so undeveloped physically and really struggled during pre draft workouts. Everyone realized what the Pistons saw in him though after he averaged 17 points and eight rebounds in Las Vegas. Daye was by far one of the best players at the camp and what’s most intriguing is the fact that he’s so far away from maximizing his potential. Come three years from now it would be no surprise if Daye is one of the top ten players from the class, but he’s probably only going to help in spurts during his rookie year.

Summers on the other hand looked ready to contribute now and his coaches said as much. He’s got a lot more strength than Daye does at this point and just as much versatility. Rather than settling for the long ball like he did at Georgetown Summers was aggressive, always looking to attack. When it was all said and done in Vegas he was thought to be the biggest surprise and an absolute steal for the Pistons.
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Watch out, the Pistons are on the rise and may surprise!

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Ben Gordon had no home in Chicago to speak of. How is it a player can literally dominate the playoffs against the mighty Celtics and still not be wanted on the team? What are the Bulls thinking? Sure Ben has some defensive liabilities including not being that tall, but he can get off his normal shot in the playoffs and compared to other shooting guards, it is quite the amazing shot coming from downtown with pinpoint accuracy.

Speak to Derrick Rose about how much Ben Gordon helped his game and you will immediately see why Rodney Stuckey of the Pistons is excited to have Ben Gordon playing alongside him.

The addition of Gordon has the potential to fully unlock Stuckey’s abilities. For proof, look at the impact on Bulls rookie point guard Derrick Rose.
Rose was the runaway winner for rookie of the year and got better and better throughout the season, culminating in a spectacular performance in the first round of the playoffs when the Bulls pushed the Celtics to seven games.
A major reason for his success was the outside scoring ability of Gordon. His deep touch — as reflected by a career 41.5% from beyond the three-point line — demands attention, so his mere presence draws defenders away from the paint.
That created driving lanes to the basket for Rose who, with his athleticism and nice touch around the basket, flourished.
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Ben Gordon and Rip Hamilton will try to help Rodney Stuckey become a star!

With Gordon gunning from outside, it could prove to be a banner year for Rodney Stuckey!

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Allen Iverson doing what he does best

So with Rip Hamilton coming back, who will it be? Allen Iverson or Rip Hamilton in the starting lineup?

Will it be Hamilton, guard Allen Iverson or power forward Amir Johnson?

After practice, Curry said a decision hasn’t been made but his comments seemed to indicate where he was leaning.

“We’ve seen just from the data in our games that we know defensively … it’s no secret when we got two bigs and (Tayshaun Prince) at the three-spot we’re our best defensively and at the end of the day that’s normally what’s going to drive most of our decisions,” Curry said.

If he keeps that line of thinking that would mean either Hamilton or Iverson would come off the bench.

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Allen Iverson has been a surprise to many, as he has played well and the Pistons have been able to win with him in games.

One can’t help but notice that when the younger Pistons, Amir, Maxiell, Stuckey, and Afflalo are in the game the Pistons are much faster and play well with Iverson. When the older Pistons, Prince, Hamilton, and Rasheed Wallace are on the court, it is a much more half court game and the pace is noticeably slower. Iverson does not fit quite as well with that group.

The real question is not who should be starting, but how do you mesh both players into the lineup. The Pistons need the relentless scoring of AI and his up tempo game, but come playoff time the game goes more half court and the curl plays for mid range jumpers by Hamilton become very important to winning.

Coach Curry has to find a way to get both players involved.

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Allen Iverson gets a Michael Curry hug after game winner against Clippers

Allen Iverson a Piston.

Say it over slowly. Aaallleeennn IIIVvveerrsssoonnn aaa Pppiiiissstttooonnn. There, does that feel better?

Yeah, he is trying to fit in and be a good teammate. The Pistons are all about the no star concept. Joe D realized he could win with a bunch of good players or near great players without the superstars. Did he not want superstars? Heck no, he wants them bad, but they are hard to come by and even harder to harness.

Bring in Allen from stage left or Denver. AI wants a title. He can taste it. What better way to go for one than to fit in on a team that goes to the conference finals every year.

This team is the future for Rodney Stuckey, but the present for AI. Joe D may not give him a future in Detroit. His contract is worth too much. AI must win now, so no sacrifice is too great.

If Iverson is less spectacular, he’s also more intriguing than he’s been in a while. For a while he became so wrapped in controversy that we forgot about what he did right. He’s the shortest player among the top 10 career scoring leaders. He was picking himself off the floor and signing up for more punishment long before Dwyane Wade made an ad campaign out of it.

Allen Iverson is now just one of the guys.His presence also makes the Pistons a more compelling story. They aren’t just the same cast of characters we’ve been watching since 2004, give or take a Ben Wallace. And Iverson is trying to do what so many have said he could not: sacrifice for the good of the team. That presents a paradox: To get his place in history, he’ll have to give up his place in history.

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LeBron James with two hands raised

What are you talking about? The Cavaliers and LeBron James are in 1st place, 5 and one half games up on the streaking Pistons.

Oh, not that. The Cavaliers are 2nd in the ESPN Power Rankings by Marc Stein. How does LeBron do it? Other than Mo Williams, there is no one on LeBron’s team of any merit.

This is a big deal, because they had to push out the Boston Celtics to do it and that just does not happen, but the Celtics are slumping or something.

Rajon Rondo says the Celtics are absolutely, positively “not in a slump.” And he’s right. After a 27-2 start, I’d say losing four out of six for the first time ever in the KG-Pierce-Allen era ranks as more than a slump.
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Speaking of my Pistons, they are on a roll with AI and Rodney Stuckey in the starting lineup.

Detroit’s return to the top 10 is the other rankings headline this week, after the Pistons — now 13-3 since moving Rodney Stuckey into the starting lineup — uncharacteristically spent five straight weeks in the teens, ranging from No. 13 to No. 17.

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What do you think?

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As a follow up to the Part I of Rodney Stuckey is candy and a Rose blooms – Part I, your intrepid author would like to show you some interesting comments by Coach Michael Curry of the Detroit Pistons.

Keep in mind, Joe Dumars hired Curry in part because he is such a great student of the game and the players of the game.

This comment came after the Pistons beat the Bulls.

After the game, Pistons coach Michael Curry described Phoenix’s Steve Nash, San Antonio’s Tony Parker and Denver’s Chauncey Billups — who started the season with Detroit but was traded, in part, because of Stuckey’s development — as the gold standard of NBA point guards.

Next, Curry identified New Orleans’ Chris Paul, Utah’s Deron Williams and New Jersey’s Devin Harris as a trio who have “separated themselves … as a young group of guards pushing Nash and Parker and Billups.”

Then he mentioned his own guy.

“I think Stuckey is in a group with Derrick Rose and (Boston’s Rajon) Rondo as the up-and-coming next group of guards,” Curry said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how they all continue to mature and grow as players. All three have different skill sets, but all three have the kind of demeanor that it takes to be very successful in this league.”
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Rodney Stuckey

If you read this column at all, then you realize that your intrepid author is a huge Detroit Pistons fan. There is no reason to hide it and let’s hope it does not turn off any readers. All of you have your favorite teams out there.

That being said, it was a special night when the Pistons played the Chicago Bulls. Derrick Rose would be playing. Rose is excellent. It would be fun to see him play against the powerful Pistons. The Bulls would be outmanned and the defense on Rose and his teammates would be ferocious.

Well, that was what your intrepid author was looking forward to, but that is not what happened. Rodney Stuckey stole the show. Rodney is going to be a great player some day, but it seemed like he was there already.

The second-year guard caught fire early and stayed hot throughout the game as he torched the Bulls for a career-high 40 points in the Pistons’ 104-98 victory.

Stuckey, whose previous career high was 27 points in April at Minnesota, was 15 of 24 from the field, and he made nine of 11 free throws. Stuckey has averaged 18.4 points and 7.4 assists in the seven games since he became a starter.

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Stuckey seemed to be everywhere doing everything. He would drive to the hole and score. He would fake a shot and drop the ball off to Rasheed for a 3. He would fake a drive and fire a pass to Prince for a long range bomb. He would patiently dribble up top until Rip Hamilton became open on the curl play for a mid range patented jumper from Hamilton. If all else failed and the shot clock wore down, then Rodney would go to the hole with a slashing drive and score over Nocioni or some other outmanned Bull.

It was supposed to be about Rose and instead was about Stuckey.

Still my intent was to watch Rose and what he could do. It would be easy to say that Rodney fouled out Rose (and Ben Gordon), but that would miss the point.

Derrick Rose is tall, strong, and oh so quick. He can run the floor and can short jumpers and he can hold up the ball and spot the open man. There is little to work with on the Bulls, but you could tell that Rose is, in Vitale language, a dandy. His quickness is most evident, because he is so big. If you face him as a small guard, then you would expect to at least be quicker, but that would not be the case. Rose is quick, period.

There will be other Rose vs. Stuckey battles and Stuckey will not win them all, but on this night it was all Rodney.
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