Rodney Stuckey: our starting PG?

[Higherwarrior]

i can't say, unless i know what deal we might get in trading billups. because unless we get a very attractive deal, we're not trading billups.

that being said, stuckey is probably the only untradeable player on the roster at this stage. he WILL NOT be traded at this point so that last option is NOT an option.

if i had to guess, i would say he will play starters minutes if billups is back (30-35 mins.) and probably will be on the floor in crucial situations at the end of games. maybe WITH billups if he's still here.

whether he officially starts or not is almost insignificant. he is potentially our best player and IMO it won't be long before he reaches that status. whether he starts or not he'll play a huge role for us.

[Black Dynamite]

I have no timetable, nor do i think to. Its whenever its needed. If Joe feels he's ready i'll roll with that. If Glenn thinks he'll play SG, Gleen is truly lost.

[geerussell]

that being said, stuckey is probably the only untradeable player on the roster at this stage. he WILL NOT be traded at this point so that last option is NOT an option.

if i had to guess, i would say he will play starters minutes if billups is back (30-35 mins.) and probably will be on the floor in crucial situations at the end of games. maybe WITH billups if he's still here.

I agree on both points. Stuckey is untouchable and will play big minutes whether its off the bench or not.

At this point I believe the three guard rotation is the pistons best asset and shouldn't be broken up. Everyone else is expendable but that's the core you build around.

[DE]

DREW SHARP
Everyone but Stuckey is on the block; Rip likely has the most value

By DREW SHARP • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • June 8, 2008

Rip Hamilton isn't an untouchable.

The only "sacred cow," as Joe Dumars phrased it last week, who isn't on the trading block is rookie Rodney Stuckey.

Hamilton will draw more in the open market than anybody else on that roster. He's 30 and a three-time All-Star, and it's always easier finding another scorer.

The idea of Chauncey Billups being more expendable than Hamilton because there's already a replacement point guard in Stuckey is gravely flawed, because when Dumars drafted Stuckey with the 15th overall selection, he envisioned a future backcourt of two big hybrid guards, both capable of running the point or working for shots off the ball.

Opposing playoff teams aggressively trap Billups at mid-court, forcing him to give up the ball before he can get the team into his half-court offensive sets. They do this knowing that Hamilton is incapable of setting up the offense. His strength is strictly away from the ball, running his defender through endless screens.

A backcourt of Billups and Stuckey effectively negates that strategy.

[metr0man]

(was Drew Sharp's comments that got snipped in quote)

In other words, Joe Dumars fixed what Flip couldn't, ie come up with a way to adjust to the other team trapping and pressing on Billups.