With Stuckey down, Afflalo steps up

For the first time since the Pistons drafted him a little more than a year ago, Arron Afflalo was asked to carry the team offensively. If he passes all such future tests with equal aplomb, they’ll have a worthy successor to Rip Hamilton.

With Rodney Stuckey sidelined by a bothersome sore toe that caused him to sit out the second half – nothing serious, but no sense pushing it in July – Afflalo scored 19 of his 25 points after halftime Sunday night as the Pistons went to 2-0 in the Las Vegas Summer League with a 75-66 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Afflalo sizzled, shooting 8 of 10, most of them medium-range jump shots to deep 2-pointers, and knocked down all nine of his foul shots while also grabbing four rebounds.

Sunday’s performance continues a strong summer for Afflalo, who has already clearly developed into one of new coach Michael Curry’s favorite players. Afflalo is averaging 20 points in two Summer League games.

“You’re always glad to see everyone play well, but especially him because of how hard he works,” Curry said. “He puts the time in the gym to improve his game. I’ve always said when Arron plays consistent minutes, he shoots the ball consistent. He’s going to be our backup (shooting guard). We expect him to come in and play consistent minutes each night and he’ll be a consistent contributor for us.”

Afflalo told me a few days ago that he was happy to take on the role of defensive stopper as a rookie because that’s what the team needed, but he’s never considered himself anything but a complete player and is looking forward to expanding his role offensively. He scored 13 points in the third quarter of Sunday’s win to give the Pistons a 20-point lead after three quarters. When the Clippers cut it to six in the fourth quarter, Afflalo came back into the game and choked off the LA rally by nailing two more long jump shots in the final minutes.

“Rodney is aggressive and when we’re out there together, it’s fun,” Afflalo said. “But when Rodney is out, somebody has to take a little more initiative. I’m very confident scoring the basketball. I knew my opportunities would be there.”

Afflalo scored the Pistons’ first four points Sunday night in a game they never trailed, leading by as many as 14 points in the second quarter and stretching a nine-point halftime lead quickly in a third quarter dominated by Afflalo. Everything in Summer League is measured against the quality of competition, but just as the Pistons left Las Vegas last summer buoyed by Stuckey’s ability to take over close games in the fourth quarter, they’ll leave this year struck by Afflalo’s ability to score in bunches when he was asked to carry that burden.

“He’s a fighter,” Curry said. “So he just goes to work. If he’s not playing, he’s going to work even harder. He’s going to come in there twice a day. We have to make him get out of the gym. He’s done a really good job. He’s a confident kid. Even when he’s not shooting the ball well, he doesn’t play a lot of bad games.”

Among the other encouraging performances from Sunday’s win:

• Will Bynum took advantage of Stuckey’s absence to score 10 points, dish out four assists and turn two half-court steals into layups, furthering his case to stick as the No. 3 point guard. Check back tomorrow when I’ll be blogging about Bynum.



• Walter Sharpe had another rough shooting night, going 2 for 8, but he and fellow rookie small forward Deron Washington did a nice job defending against Clippers second-year player Al Thornton, who went one spot ahead of Stuckey in the 2007 draft and would have been the Pistons’ pick had the Clippers selected Stuckey instead. Thornton finished with 14 points, but shot just 5 of 18. Washington, who played against Thornton in the ACC, finished with five points and three rebounds, knocking down a 3-point shot. Perimeter shooting is perhaps Washington’s biggest weakness. He also had a spectacular alley-oop dunk.



• Amir Johnson again didn’t get many chances in the half-court offense, but he put up nine points and grabbed five rebounds while playing terrific defense. He and rookie Trent Plaisted cover tremendous ground and have been a dynamite combination in defending the pick and roll.



• Cheikh Samb had eight points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 26 strong minutes after a shaky opener Friday.

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