Stuckey ready for a measuring-stick game

In tempering expectations for Rodney Stuckey, coming off of his tour de force stand-in performance for Chauncey Billups in last spring's playoffs and even after Billups' return against Boston in the conference finals, Michael Curry often pointed out in the preseason that Stuckey had yet to play a full season - remember, he missed the first 25 games of his rookie year with a hand injury.

Stuckey is still four games shy of the full 82-game load. But his ascencion to Curry's starting lineup has warped the timeline on his transformation to stardom. And if it needed any further nudging, Stuckey's 79th NBA game - Friday night against Utah - should help.

Because Utah means Deron Williams is coming to town, and if there is anyone among the NBA's cadre of blossoming star point guards Stuckey most resembles, it's probably Williams. Both are blessed with plus size (Williams is listed at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds; Stuckey at 6-foot-5, 207) for the position, but what really elevates them to a different plane is that they're also stronger and quicker than pretty much everyone they come across.

Except, perhaps, each other.

"Size-wise, the fact they're both aggressive drivers, very quick despite having good size, I think they are similar in build and in some ways in the way they attack the game," Curry said. "Deron is tough. He's emerging as one of the elite point guards in this league. It's a good matchup for Stuckey. It's a guy he can pick things up from as well as a good challenge for him. Knowing Stuckey the way we do, he loves to meet those challenges."

If he meets that challenge the way he's addressed that of becoming a young starting point guard surrounded by four able scorers, the Pistons have a shot at snapping their six-game losing streak to the closest thing they have to a nemesis in today's NBA. In the four games since Curry shuffled the lineup and brought Stuckey into the mix, he's averaged 15.5 points and 10 assists while shooting 62 percent. There are only two point guards in the NBA averaging double figures in assists - Chris Paul and Williams.

"I'm a good passer," Stuckey said after Thursday's practice, one night after his nine-point, four-assist fourth quarter enabled the Pistons to break open a close game and win going away over Washington. "When I see my guys open, I'll give 'em the ball."

The Pistons are 5-1 this season with Stuckey as their starting point guard - he started two games early after Billups was traded and before Iverson was cleared to join the team - with their only loss coming at Washington in the first game after the lineup switch. He's mindful, as the starter, of the scorers surrounding him and the need for everyone to get touches so they stay plugged in. To that end, his year serving as Billups' apprentice has paid dividends, for Billups was masterful at controlling the tempo of a game and making sure his teammates got scoring chances to keep defenses honest.

"Just watching him the past year, that's one thing he's always done well - just getting everyone involved and setting up the offense and creating for his teammates and then getting his stuff off," Stuckey said. "Just watching him, that's something that I learned from him. Whatever the defense gives me, I'm just playing off of them. When I see an opening, I take it."

Stuckey's success hasn't really surprised Curry, who said he expects his new point guard to average "at least eight" assists, but he's been pleased at how seamlessly he's taken to the role of orchestrating a game and understanding its rhythms.

"We play at a faster pace," with Stuckey in the game, Curry said. "He's able to push the ball, but what I like more than anything is he pushes the ball and then he recognizes when we need to walk it up and run a set and do something in the half-court. He's being very disciplined in the way he's attacking the game."

Stuckey will be challenged by Williams at both ends, especially in the way he has proven a worthy successor to longtime Jazz point guard John Stockton at manipulating defenses with his ability to work the pick and roll. But Curry has been as impressed with Stuckey's impact on the Pistons' defense as on their offense.

"I thought from the (2007) Summer League, he did some things defensively that were really good and I always thought as he got in better shape and was able to stay down in a stance longer, because of his quick feet and his strong chest area, he could bump guys and keep guys in front of him."

And for as much as Curry has tried to manage expectations for Stuckey, he can't help himself sometimes as he projects the future, adding up all the elements of Stuckey's game - his playmaking ability, his rapidly expanding shooting range, his defensive presence and his mental approach and toughness.

"He's so unselfish, it's amazing the amount of points he scored in college," Curry said. "When you have a guy like that, that's the makeup for a guy who has a chance to be really special in this league. A guy who has the ability to score and defend and he's unselfish and he's self-motivated in what he wants to do and be as a player."

Almost one full season into what Curry expects to be a career that could have his jersey hanging in The Palace rafters, the evolution of Rodney Stuckey will take another step when Utah and Deron Williams come to town.

• Allen Iverson told Arnie Kander after suffering a knee-to-knee blow in Wednesday's win that he expected it "to be on fire" when he arose Thursday. But Iverson went through practice as usual and is good to go against the Jazz.
• Utah's Carlos Boozer had hoped to be back this week after missing time with a strained left quadriceps tendon, but he had a setback Wednesday during a workout and was scheduled for an MRI Thursday. He's now missed 15 games. Boozer made some headlines Wednesday when he told ESPN.com that he intends to opt out of his contract following the season. The Pistons will be one of a handful of teams with the cap space it would take to land a player of Boozer's stature. Among the others are Memphis, Oklahoma City and Portland, although if Darius Miles plays 10 games with Memphis - which just signed him - then he goes back on Portland's cap at close to $10 million, eliminating the Blazers from pursuit.
• In Boozer's absence, third-year player Paul Millsap has put up an amazing 13 consecutive double-doubles, including a 32-point, 10-rebound performance at Boston this week. Millsap was drafted in the second round in 2006 and, as such, will be a restricted free agent after the season, giving Utah protection at the position should it lose Boozer.

---

Questions and comments on Keith's posts can be submitted via the Pistons Mailbag. Click here to submit your question.

Click here to return to Pistons.com