Rodney Stuckey, Austin Daye jockey for regular-season playing time against Cavs
Essentials
- Teams: Detroit Pistons at Cleveland Cavaliers
- Date: Dec. 20, 2011
- Time: 7 p.m.
- Television: Fox Sports Detroit
Records
- Pistons: 0-1 preseason
- Cavaliers: 1-0 preseason
Probable starters
Pistons:
Cavaliers:
- Ramon Sessions
- Anthony Parker
- Alonzo Gee
- Antawn Jamison
- Anderson Varejao
Las Vegas projection
Spread: Pistons +3
Over/under: 188
Score: Cavaliers win, 95.5-92.5
Three things to watch
Stuckey is reportedly in good shape, and tonight should give us an idea of how rusty he is after missing the start of training camp during his contract negotiation.
2. Austin Daye at shooting guard
Daye will start at shooting guard, according to Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. Like Patrick, I think Daye’s best long-term position is shooting guard. After an up-and-down preseason opener, Daye could show he deserves a spot in the rotation – at shooting guard – with a strong performance tonight.
3. Surprise minutes
With this being the final game before the regular season, this will be Lawrence Frank’s last chance to audition the players he doesn’t already have a firm grasp on. That means borderline starters, borderline rotation players and borderline roster keepers should see extended minutes.
Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva will miss the game for personal reasons, and Prince will rest the second half, according to Goodwill. That will free more minutes for Frank to dole out to the unknowns.
Leave a Reply
Dec 20, 2011 • 7:22 pm
by vic
this is a very good sign – smart coach
Dec 20, 2011 • 7:23 pm
by vic
(playing Daye at 2)
Dec 20, 2011 • 7:28 pm
by detroitpcb
i heard we traded Gordon & Cv to Atlanta for Josh Smith.
Daye looks great at the two. Knight is looking for him and it is obvious that Frank has confidence in Daye’s offensive game. This is great. daye got a block and a steal so far too.
Dec 20, 2011 • 8:03 pm
by gmehl1977
Don’t mess with my emotions like that pcb. I would do that trade a million times over :-)
Dec 20, 2011 • 9:47 pm
by detroitpcb
just joking. Though Jodi Jazz might be on-line.
Daye had a bad game. Lost his composure a little and made some really stupid turnovers by looking his pass. And he still had 19 points and 6 rebounds. if Frank uses this kid right, Daye should average 17 and 5 this season.
Dec 20, 2011 • 10:37 pm
by gordbrown
Let’s see. Stuckey clearly the best player in the game for Pistons. Maxeill played 22 minutes and had 0 (as in not a one) defensive rebounds. Macklin played nine minutes and had 4 defensive rebounds (5 overall). Otherwise very similar performances. Who deserves PT? Knight clearly a work in progress but again showed flashes. Daye and Jerebko up and down as starters. Monroe needs more touches. Prince very rusty. Bynum somehow hits two key three pointers, otherwise his stats would have been a horror show. Good free throw shooting offsets horrendous turnover number. Just a thought, lets play Stuckey with first team (not Maxiell and Bynum) and I bet the team looks better. Did I miss anything/