Comments on: To nobody’s surprise, the Pistons extend Rodney Stuckey a qualifying offer

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:37:51 +0000

You can read more about restricted free agency here: http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q37 If you still have questions, comment again, and I'd be happy to answer them.

By: tarsier

tarsier — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:11:16 +0000

Isolations are bad because they yield low percentage shots. Prince shot 47.3%. That’s not incredible, but very respectable. He took under 13 shots a game. Sure it was above his career average, but the other shooters on the team had horrible percentages. And if he was ball-hogging, it should have turned up on his turnovers, which were as low as ever.
Sure, Prince played a little bit more “me-ball” than he has in the past, but that almost always happens when someone is on a worse team. And his stat padding wasn’t hurting the team. Monroe’s play gave the Pistons the most to be excited about because he will be in the league and on the Pistons a lot longer. But he wasn’t the best player on the team last year.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:32:20 +0000

Based on stats? Prince was a ball hog, isolation heavy player this year – hence the “Isolayshaun” moniker he was given this season. He was padding stats, preparing for Free Agency. Where did that get us? I’m not looking at individual stats when i say someone was the “Best Player”, im talking around.. Ethic, professionalism, stats, hustle, improvement, etc. All across the board, Monroe was the Piston who put in the most effort, and improved steadily as the season progressed. That’s my definition of the team’s “Best Player”.

By: Travis

Travis — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 03:11:37 +0000

How long does he have to accept or decline the offer? Or get other offers?

By: tarsier

tarsier — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 23:27:57 +0000

As you said, you can’t ask for anything more from a rookie. However, Monroe was not our best player last season. For the second half of last season, maybe. But over the entire year, the Piston who performed best was definitely Prince. Granted, it was just probably the normal uptick of a contract year, but still.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:57:05 +0000

Stuckey isn’t a bad player, he just hasn’t lived up to the hype we all had hoped for. The problem with just sliding him over to SG is simple, we have enough of those. BG and RIP are still on the books, and just so happen to be our 2 highest paid players. Sure, one could get traded, but that’s no guarantee. We’ve been hoping one has been moved for quite some time now, and it has yet to happen.
On top of that, we have Terrico and Daye who arguably could be considered SG’s as well, so its clearly not just as easy as “Sliding him over to SG.”

I will agree with Patrick however that should he accept the qualifying (Which he won’t), then he would surely be a bargain. I’d have no problem keeping him around as a combo guard, with time at both spots for that kind of money. My biggest concern is overpaying the guy.

Our best player this year, hands down – was Greg Monroe. To get that kind of production out of a rookie, you can’t ask for anything more. Stuck may have looked good on paper, but that’s because he was padding his own stats, in attempts to warrant a nice raise.. Problem is that his style of play held the team back. I will note that towards the end of the season, Stuck showed some glimpses of PG ability.. Maybe a better, more respected coach can bring this side of him out on a consistent basis, but i’m not holding my breath..

By: danny

danny — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:32:16 +0000

This is a good move guys. Stuckey can and will get better. He has to work on his J and his passing, but hes still good at penetrating which is a great quality in this league. He is without a doubt a #2 and not a point, and with a better team around him, he can flourish. Worst case scenario is Stuckey develops into a top 6th man, IMO.

By: rick

rick — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:51:00 +0000

I have to agree with this man simply because he gets what is there but everyone else seems to deny. When Stuckey was given the keys it was thought that the team as whole would improve,but slowly and surely they declined. I would go out and say that the Michael Curry debacle was the ending. For him to be as close to those players as he was and to not be real with them was very forthcoming in my opinion. Joe should never allow a rookie coach and pretty much a rookie point guard start off their careers together. Its a coach killer unless you have a pretty good veteran group surrounding you and at that time Detroit was fragile. I think Stuckey is better than any of the guards currently on the roster and if he walked to the right team then we would see how good he really is in a structured system(key word structured), kinda like Billups when he got here. Then everyone will just blame it on Joe when everyone was not willing to give him time considering all the circumstances surrounding the team.

By: DSV

DSV — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:38:17 +0000

Potentially savvy move by Dumars? Eh? Maybe? Eh? Don’t overpay an inconsistent/underproducing yet still for some reason intriguing guard? Eh? Savvy? Beginning of some smart decisions by Dumars? Eh? Hopefully? Maybe?

By: gordbrown

gordbrown — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:21:32 +0000

I perfectly well understand the reaction to Stuckey even if I don’t share it. The assumption is that Billups was traded mostly because Dumars believed Stuckey was ready and the main reason the team has tanked since then is because “Stuckey is not a true point guard” (whatever the hell that is, remembering that once upon a time people criticized Isaiah Thomas because he wasn’t a “true point guard). And it is true that Stuckey is not the point guard Billups was in 2004 (although he is more than a passing resemblence to Billups in 2011 but people don’t see that). A dispassionate examination of the evidence tells a different story however. The team has tanked because Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace got old real fast. Especially because Hamilton and not Stuckey is the player that this team is supposed to be built around and he has mostly just mailed it in over the past two seasons (when he hasn’t been hurt or ejected). Of course this has led to the bizarre assertion that Hamilton’s performance has suffered because of the “rotation of the ball” when Stuckey passes it to him. I contend this is absurd on its face and that Stuckey is part of the solution and not part of the problem. But the only thing that is going to bear that out is if Hamilton is moved and the team improves as a result (we wait in hope, do it Joe D.) The alternative is to let Stuckey and Prince walk for nothing, tank the next season and pray for lottery balls. Ask the Clippers or the Wizards how well that strategy works.