End of Season grade: Rodney Stuckey

[Tahoe]

How'd Stuck do?

You can vote a grade of B and then vote whether he improved from last year or not. Meaning, I gave him a B last year and a B this year. He didn't improve much type of thing.

[Atticus771]

He improved a bit in some areas, but not quite as much as he would have had he not been subjected to a bull crap season.

[Tahoe]

After I voted a C, I thought maybe my expectations of him were too high. I listened to all the hype from JoeD, etc, and from what I expected to what we got, his grade is a C.

And he didn't improve much, imo, either. He could have grabbed this team by the short hairs, but he couldn't. He doesn't have that ability yet. Why'd you crown him so early Joe? You may have hurt his development.

[Uncle Mxy]

I would've given him a B this year, if he'd come off the bench.

Since he didn't, I'm giving him a C-. Overall, he had his moments, but was average at best. I'm giving him credit for dealing with a difficult situation with AI and Curry, but he's not where we need him to be.

[Fool]

After one season, I'm actually pretty satisfied with the kid. I assume he would have been helped by running plays most of the season instead of Curry's "go out there and do some stuff" offense, but I didn't imagine smooth sailing.

[DennyMcLain]

Agreed with Fool. You can't blame the kid, with all of the turmoil surrounding the team and a piss-poor coaching turn by Curry. Veterans can deal with insufficient coaching, but Stuckey isn't a veteran.

The kid needs direction. He's not going to get that with Blurry.

[GrantBell]

High B to B+ for Stuckey.

He's the real deal. I agree with the others in that the turmoil and questions surrounding the team took its toll but overall he performed as well as you can expect.

[Uncle Mxy]

Keep in mind that Stuckey is a starter.

At this moment, I'd take the starting PGs from ~15 teams ahead of Stuckey, and half those players are in their 20s with plenty in the tank --. Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Devin Harris, Jose Calderon, Derrick Rose, Deron Williams, Mo Williams for that matter...

There are 30 teams. Do the math.

There may be mitigating circumstances. I can't believe that Stuckey's gonna evolve into a playmaker under Binary Man's tutelage. But, let's not get our homer glasses too fogged up. We have a losing record. We have some big holes, and we have some marginal players. It's not all AI's fault.

[Pharaoh]

So, the 2nd year man gets a roasting....

Poor outside shot - just cause you have speed to burn doesn't mean you can rely on that for your career. Exhibit A = Iverson = shitty FG%. Work on your shot so that it opens up your drive.

Needs to improve his handle as good is not good enough for a starting PG on a team with plans to be a contender.

Needs to become more consistent. Some games he vanishes.

I think his conditioning is lacking - might be due to the long NBA season (only a 2nd year player/first year starting) so he needs to work on that this off-season.

Work on leadership "skills" - too young to lead the team, is the new guy on campus but there are courses he could take to benefit himself and the team. It would be time and money well spent IMO.

Overall I think he coped pretty well with the Season From Hell.

To recap:

It was announced he was untouchable, on a team with Billups, Rip, Prince, Sheed and Dice! No pressure for the kid, right?

Then we trade Billups for AI and make it known to all that Stuckey is the starting PG!!! Fuck - nothing like pissing off your team mate (Rip - who lost his running mate and his starting spot for a 2nd year pro). Again - no pressure

Then it becomes clear that AI + Pistons + Curry = SHIT and that locker room would have been the worst place to be for a young buck that had been annointed by "the office".

I don't think many people have considered that Stuckey could have been under the pump big time this season, at least behind closed doors. He had to move the ball to all these vets who want the ball, he had to handle the extra minutes and responsibility that goes with starting and he had to deal with the fact that he was the reason Richard Hamilton - All-Star fucking player and Detroit fav - is coming off the bench (and not keeping his mouth shut about it either).

Throw in the total fuck up that is Michael Curry and DAMN!

Here's hoping his 3rd season is a hell of a lot smoother than his 2nd.

[MoTown]

I'm going to be a little hard on Stuck. He has the tools to be a great player, I just don't know if he has the head for it. He can beat anyone to the basket at any time, but he panicks once he gets to the rim. He isn't the smartest player yet, but I can't see that improving unless you get a coach in here that can teach him how to play. His jump shot is solid when he trusts it, and he can score when he's in the mood. He's streaky, and that needs to improve. He flat out sucks on defense.

I need to see some major improvements by him for next season.

D+