I was wondering about that last night when Tay said he hoped to be back in a week. What does he really offer the team at this point? Best case scenario is Tay playing for a couple weeks to show he's healthy, which would allow use to trade him.
The trouble with the Piston personnel is that there are many good players but no great player. So no, Stuckey will not be the savior some had hoped for. And my guy, Gordon, can't carry a team, etc. Everyone's favorite has their flaws. Tay and Rip are very good but never could carry a team either. What the problem will undoubtedly be when the team is at full strength is the mix of players is not complementary. And, no matter how you slice it, the Piston bigs do not produce at a high or consistent level if you combine offense and defense and really compare them to other team's bigs. Boozer is not a franchise player but has anyone watched his numbers lately? You can't do what Boozer does game in and game out in the NBA without being an above par player. The Pistons don't have that. Ben is doing great but he is 35. CV will be a real force but probably more as a 6th man or when the Pistons upgrade the front line. Now many people clamor for Kamen but he has a history of not stepping up to better teams. I remember a lot of folk who wanted Wilcox. The Pistons may actually be two bigs short. Daye will be good but that could take two years. JJ is good but would be better feeding off bigs who could put up some numbers. Back to Stuckey, he might be a force if he can feed off of other players. He cannot carry a team as his shot is not good enough. But if the Piston offense had more weapons, guarding Stuckey might be what breaks a defense. Hard to say right now. Gordon looks good to fair now. But imagine Gordon when there are other serious options. Who is going to stay with him all the time. That is when he can break a defense.
I agree with Bill's assessment of Stuckey's play in this game, buy you really hit the nail on the head with how running the team kills him. Freezing up is exactly what he does. Stuckey had 9 assists and 4 turnovers. I think 3 of those came on offensive fouls within a 2-3 minute stretch of the 2nd half. The last may have been a bad call. He definitely got some other guys shots though. The mental part of the game kills him. If I were Charlie V I would wear that mask everywhere. He had the potential to look Ernie TSA level bad with that thing on, but I actually think it was a major improvement for him.
Upon Tay's return I'd like to see how we do with Starting JJ at the PF upfront with Ben and Tay. Being able to bring ben and CV off the bench with AD and Bynum..........at full strength, we can compete for the 5th maybe even 4th playoff spot. Joe admitted it last season, he(and us) made the assumption that his confusion at the point was a result of last years circus (AI/The Griever/MC/Sheed and all the injuries). This year none of those things are taking place, (except the injuries) and he still looks confused running the offense, and why, BECAUSE HE'S A 2-GUARD!!!! If you're PG is doing that game in and game out, you're going to lose a helluva lot more games than you win because your team has no continuity or rhythm. If your 2Guard does that within the flow of the offense then it really doesn't hurt your team at all.
That doesn't matter what position he technically "played". He created the plays, got layups for his teammates, took open shots... all the things that elite point guards do on a nightly basis.
I don't know, we're not exactly tearing up the league without Prince. There may be things that he does that we don't even realize we are missing right now. We're last in the league in assists with no floor leader and he's a good passer who's like a coach on the floor.
If we trade Tay, and make the J.J. start, who will come from bench at SF this point? I think J.J. is pretty good, but I support we start Tay, and make J.J. comes from bench, with CV, Gordon, Bynum. This will be a very good team to compete in the playoff.
It's great that JJ was able to fill in at SF since we have not had anyone else outside of Day lately to play it. But he was drafted as a 4/5 so I would imagine that he was playing that over in Europe. He has the size and inside presence to play it. I would imagine that he will excel that much more when he goes back to his natural position. I think we still need Prince more than we think, 7-12 is not exactly burning up the league.
There's some truth to this... The "glue" concept is real... yet so is the "passive" My hope is that Daye starts understanding the importance of passing (can you say black hole)... then he will have what Tay offers.
It's hard thinking back 7 years ago when Prince was a rookie. Of course he did not play as much as Day is and only starting coming around during the playoffs. Day seems more talented but Prince was a little more refined. One thing I like about Day is that he is not afraid to make mistakes.
On reviewing the game. One comment. Some don't understand the value of a strong defensive player like Maxiell. Bogut, while primarily Maxiell and Ben Wallace were in the game, (thru most of 3 quarters) managed just one bucket, a tip in when we were short handed due to JJ getting mugged with no call. And that was just Bogut's 2nd rebound of the game, happening with a few minutes left to go in the 3rd quarter. Let me repeat that. Their center just got one bucket thru most of 3 quarters, and no buckets, no rebounds, in the first half of the game. (and just one rebound, no points, in the first 8 minutes of the 3rd quarter. Their starting power forward did not do much either. Don't be so sure Ben Wallace or Jason Maxiell will get replaced in the starting unit. Not with results like this.
JJ played the 3 in Europe. SF is his natural position, remember in Europe there's not alot of 1on1 and iso's ran, so their 3's don't handle the ball in the same fashion over there as over here. JJ a 5? Not a sight I want to see anytime soon, however I'm begging to see him get more minutes at the 4.
