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After hinting as much yesterday, Michael Curry confirmed today that Rodney Stuckey will join the starting lineup. He's replacing Kwame Brown, bumping Allen Iverson to off-guard, Rip Hamilton to the three, Tayshaun Prince to the four and Rasheed Wallace to center. I'm not sure a three-guard lineup will work on a regular basis, but it's certainly worth a shot. Stuckey has turned the corner in his last six games, averaging 12.5 points (.476 FG) and 6.5 assists in just under 25 minutes a game. The offense seems to flow better when he's in the game as Iverson can focus on scoring and Prince doesn't have to play out of position.
Offensively, Hamilton's role shouldn't change, and in fact he may have an easier time shedding bigger players trying to keep up. The same goes for Prince, who should have a mismatch drawing bigger defenders out to the wing. The concern will be on the defensive end, though it's worth pointing out Prince has already had a career year crashing the boards with 6.6 rebounds a game.
Besides, this move is about injecting energy into the first quarter -- it's not like the big men on the bench (Antonio McDyess, Jason Maxiell, Amir Jonson and Kwame Brown) won't see action if Rip and Tay are overwhelmed. Plus, the Pistons have been grooming Stuckey for this opportunity by giving him a long leash. While Curry prefers to call plays from the bench when AI or Prince were running the show, he's allowed Stuckey to call his own plays coming off the bench.
"He's doing a good job," Curry said. "I said early in the year, Stuckey is still learning the league. Some of these guys, it's the first time he's played heavy minutes against them, and as he learns guys and learns the league, I think he's doing better and better.
"He's doing a great job of leading when he goes out there, taking charge [of] what's going on out on the court," Curry said. "A lot of times he's calling sets on his own that he feels necessary for the personnel on the court and that's what I want from him. He's taking the challenge defensively and I think he's getting better in that area as well."
After Friday's game, I asked Stuckey about his improved play of late, which he attributed to finally being healthy after dealing with a couple of nagging injuries, including a sore wrist suffered during his run-in with Shaq. He's already been given the chance to finish several games this year, and the Pistons are undefeated in the three games he's started this year. If he plays as well as a starter as he has off the bench, this move could be a permanent one.
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