#15 Pick - Rodney Stuckey

When Hot Rod is on the floor he is the one that brings the ball up and usually handles it longer on each possession than any other of the other 4 players. When he is on the floor he is the one who sets up the plays. He is the one who has been passing into JMax or to Samb etc.

That makes him a point guard since he is not a forward, otherwise he would be a point forward. When Zeke first came up he was a shoot first and pass second point guard, but he was still the point guard.

The plan is for Hot Rod to be the main ball handler when he is on the floor. That is what happened in the first two SL games. He was on the floor very little with Jabeer who is also a point guard. Hot Rod was on the floor mostly with Afflalo and Mejia who are not point guards.

While Hot Rod may back up Rip I look for him to come on the floor to mainly replace C-Bill and play with Rip or occasionally with AA. It will be interesting to see who brings ball up when he is on the court with C-Bill. I would think that initially it may be C-Bill, but as the year goes on it will depend on who the opponents guards are that are on the floor at the time.

I think everybody is just nitpicking on the nuiances of the PG position and all that it entails. If stuckey is good he can be whatever type of PG he wants.

I think you hit the nail on the head on this one. Thanks for bringing forth the light of reason.

Saunders looks to Pistons' future

Beer:  Summer League Standouts and Disappointments | HOOPSWORLD.com | NBA News and Information | powered by Basketball News Services

Hot Rod could be the steal of this year's draft and make up for a lot of the sins of the Darko pick if not all of them and then some. However, one has to wonder how many titles we would have won over the last 3 years if Joe D. had taken Bosh or Wade instead of the "The "Serbian Slug".

I can't believe that I just called Darko "The Serbian Slug"

Krista Jahnke has an article on Stuckey's background.

ESPN - Vegas notebook: Stuckey getting it going, and more - NBA

Good article on Stuckey and the Summer League

All I can say is LOL. Kgreg, you know us pistons fans can rationalize stuff to death, we can smack it, flip it, roll it around, sit on it, toss it, then put it on a rope and run it up the flag pole and watch it fly.

The point is (no pun intended) is the boy can flat out play. He was drafted as a combo guard and that speaks for itself.

Good post.

ESPN - Vegas notebook: How the big names fared in Vegas - NBA

Its a surprise to see Joe being basically blatantly clear on his intentions and still getting them done... Everyone knew we were going to pick Stuckey, but nobody considered picking him early, Chauncey came back for money his agent said he wouldn't go for, and Amir came back despite a mysterious Spurs bid... kudos

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=vegasnoteswrapuphttp://

Top Over Hyped Rookie:

Durant - Played barely good enough at times throwing up shots at the rate of one of minute, to maintain the front page hype coverage

I have nothing against Durant as a person off of the court. I have already posted my position on the situation twice. I am asking you to please read all my posts before you make an offhand inaccurate comment regarding them.

For the third time.

My complaint is with

1. His mother who should have kept him in school which in the long and even short run would have been better for him.

2. The networks who need a player to hype and in choosing him choose the wrong player. AJ is better than Durant and they should have chosen him as this year's new hyped player. Sadly, once they have selected that player they have to go with it because of the time and money invested in him regardless of whether he is worthy. This leads to him getting favorable calls on the court. Durant did not choose to be that person.

3. The league and the Player's Association who have sold out to the networks

4. Companies like Nike who throw $40 million at a player putting pressure on the league to make sure that that player gets hyped and gets favorable calls on the court.

5. The fact that AJ is better and that by hyping Durant rather than the better player the Pistons lose out on calls that they deserve for having a player like AJ.

That is my complaint. None of which is against him personally. If I have a complaint against his game so what. That is what fans do and that is talk about players in the news. Durant is in the news. My comments about his game go toward his strengths and weaknsses.

Strengths
-------------
1. Can and will score
2. Has a very good outside shot
3. Can finish at the rim if no one is there to bump him
4. Pretty decent free throw shooter.

Weaknesses
------------
1. Avoids contact at almost all cost. (This is a disgusting quality in an NBA player). A player who avoids contact will never be a winner in the NBA.

2. Will be a very weak rebounder for his size

3. Shoots too much. He averaged almost a shot a minute in the SL and the Supersonics were 0 - 5, despite also having Jeff Green on the team.

4. Doesn't pass near enough. I haven't seen him play enough to know if can pass and just is selfish or just can't pass and is a deep hole once a pass goes to him.

Have a nice day

Feel free to rebut my comments on him.

By the way. You are a Supersonic fan. Is that not correct?

I think when he said you didn't like Durant that it was a joke. This will be happening a lot I think since jokes are all we really have left to talk about since we are in the summer doldrums.

I'm wondering how high Joe would have picked Rodney. In other words, if we would have had the #10 pick, would he have still gone with him?

I definitely would have picked him over Thorton, Jianlian, and Law, but #10? Tough call.