I agree that Flip Murray is a true blessing.
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I agree that Flip Murray is a true blessing.
:mccosky:
Quote:
Stuckey has troubles adjusting to the point
Injury has left the rookie behind in NBA development, but it isn't quitting time just yet.
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Pistons knew there would be plenty of dark days during the process of acclimating rookie Rodney Stuckey to the rigors of playing point guard in the NBA.
"With him getting hurt and not having practice time, we knew we would go through this," coach Flip Saunders said. "But there is no other way. You can't just throw away his rookie year because he doesn't have it right now."
Seeing an assortment of zones and traps, Stuckey has been rendered tentative and uncomfortable over the past couple of weeks. In the last seven games, including the loss Monday, he made more turnovers (7) than baskets (6). He has made just six of his last 23 shots.
Saunders has tried to walk the line between allowing the rookie to play over his mistakes and shattering his confidence, which is partly why he has reduced Stuckey's playing time the last three games.
On Monday, Saunders used Arron Afflalo before Stuckey. Stuckey still played 13 minutes, and despite two early turnovers in a rough second quarter, he settled down in the second half, contributing a driving layup and an assist in the fourth quarter.
"I think he's strong enough as a person to fight through it," Saunders said. "All he needs is one or two breakout games and his confidence will come back."
Stuckey has been leaning hard on his veteran teammates, especially veteran Lindsey Hunter.
"We need to help him more when he's on the court," Hunter said. "We can't have him out there depending on other guys to put him in the right position. We have to put some calls in his head and give him some plays where he can be aggressive and create off of so he won't be tentative. He can't be on the court second-guessing everything."
Assistant coach Terry Porter, a former All-NBA point guard, said Stuckey's biggest adjustment is learning when and how to attack against a zone.
"He was having some success and then teams made an adjustment to him and he's struggled," Porter said. "He has to find out how he can attack out of a zone set. It's more difficult, but he just has to keep believing in himself and continue to be aggressive when he has his opportunities."
Porter said Stuckey will learn to find creases in zone defenses, just like he does against man-to-man defenses.
"He will learn once you swing the ball and get the zone moving, there will be creases he can attack," Porter said.
"He's got a lot of vets talking to him and that's going to help the learning curve."
That's the point. We've had a good first round pick and a good 2nd round pick (that isn't here because we couldnt' afford him) and that's it. I agree, you can't go out and sign Barbosa and Manu. But guess what, SA didn't go out and sign him either. The Suns didn't go out and sign Barbosa either (they traded for him on draft day I believe). That's my point. If we had drafted depth correctly then we wouldn't have to keep bringing guys in off the scrap heap.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hermy
I'm not trying to bag on Joe for being a bad GM. I just can't give him a free pass on all the bad draft picks. If even one of them had panned out the Pistons might be in the same breath as the Patriots in dynasty talks.
-we blew the White pick when most people I know wanted Joe Johnson or RJ
-we blew Cleaves when most people knew Mo Pete was the better pro (not sure who we would have taken)
-we blew Darko and didn't even work out Melo or Bosh
yes, we did good with Prince and Max. The problem is that we got zero depth outside them. Great teams in a cap system have to be able to develop their own depth. It's why the Wings keep winning, it's why the Spurs keep winning, it's why the Patriots keep winning.
We're good enough to keep winning in a weak east, but we could be dominant. And Flip Murray is just another example of us grasping at straws.
I sure hope Stuckey is the answer off the bench, or we'll be grasping again pretty soon.
I seem to recall that Bosh came and worked out for Joe even though they told him they were picking Darko.Quote:
Originally Posted by WTFchris
I might be wrong, though, getting old.
Perhaps you are right. We did not work out Melo and we did not work out Wade either I think. At any rate, the next 3 players are all all stars. I wasn't a Melo fan then, and I'm still not. I just hate that we passed on Bosh. Oh well.
Anyway, we should get back to Stuckey talk.
Does anyone think it would be benefical to send Stuckey to Ft. Wayne to let him build up some confidence?
Can't do that with "Murray".
I think it would have helped him right after he got back from the injury. Get himself into playing shape down there. Its probably too late for that now though. It would probably hurt his confidence.
I think it was more they blew us off because it was assumed we were taking Darko. Semantics, I know.Quote:
Originally Posted by WTFchris