• December 8, 2008 3:59 pm  |  66 Comments

    Pistons To Start Three-Guard Lineup


    Desperate times call for desperate measures. The Pistons hope the young Rod Stuckey will galvanize better starts. (Via FanHouse)

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    • GotHandles? Posted: Dec.8 at 4:02 pm
      Joe Dumars is kicking himself.

    • Russ Bengtson Posted: Dec.8 at 4:02 pm
      The ship be sinkin’.

    • Lz - Cphfinest3 Posted: Dec.8 at 4:02 pm
      Fresh off my post on the Jakeson post. About freakin’ time!

    • Lz - Cphfinest3 Posted: Dec.8 at 4:04 pm
      Agree Russ, TAD must be hurting somewhere.

    • $tev3 Posted: Dec.8 at 4:05 pm
      the line up
      PG AI
      SG STUCKEY
      SF RIP
      PF PRINCE
      C RASHEED
      JOE ITS NOT THAT HARD

    • Lz - Cphfinest3 Posted: Dec.8 at 4:08 pm
      Except Stuckey will be the PG not AI.

    • Bigi Posted: Dec.8 at 4:11 pm
      Rip a SF…Seriously!Betta hit the gym if ya wanna square of against King James…Or anybody else…

    • Russ Bengtson Posted: Dec.8 at 4:11 pm
      That lineup will get killed on the boards and in the blocks all day long.

    • NBK Posted: Dec.8 at 4:12 pm
      yeah steve don’t mock an nba gm and look like an idiot at the same time. Plus it is very hard because a once defensive oriented team has to get out on the break and run, they are going to struggle.

    • ciolkstar Posted: Dec.8 at 4:14 pm
      Does this mean I should I drop Ramon Sessions for Stuckey? Like, right now?

    • ciolkstar Posted: Dec.8 at 4:15 pm
      But yeah, Rip at SF and Tayshaun at PF. That prolly won’t last…

    • NBK Posted: Dec.8 at 4:15 pm
      no Ramon Sessions is going to get his numbers. And Stuckey is the instigator of his offense he wont get inflated stats. here is an interesting question- how many times in AI’s career has he not let his team in Assts?

    • NBK Posted: Dec.8 at 4:16 pm
      lead**

    • BETCATS Posted: Dec.8 at 4:31 pm
      Ramon Sessions>>>65% of all PGs in the game

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 4:32 pm
      Why not bring A.I. Of the bench for scoring. He would be a perfect sixth man.

    • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Dec.8 at 4:37 pm
      tay and rip are going to have guarding bigger, stronger guys all season.

    • ciolkstar Posted: Dec.8 at 4:40 pm
      What is NBK talking about? And Chris, AI gets pissed about not playing 40+ minutes. I’m sure he’d be thrilled about being a 6th man.

    • neaorin Posted: Dec.8 at 4:49 pm
      Benching Kwame for Joe Dumars would still make the Pistons better.

    • Moose Posted: Dec.8 at 4:49 pm
      Tay is NOT a power forward. Rip is NOT a swingman. Is that very hard to figure out? I don’t think so.

    • Moose Posted: Dec.8 at 4:50 pm
      And Chris . . . AI is a starter. If he comes off the bench . . . there’s just NO sense in that.

    • Moose Posted: Dec.8 at 4:51 pm
      @ BET: Rajon Rondo>>>>>>>75% of all PGs in the game. At least.

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 4:52 pm
      coil:understand but this coach was brought in to be a tough-minded coach who would light a fire under the players and hold them accountable.

    • neaorin Posted: Dec.8 at 4:53 pm
      That would be a great lineup if you had to play the Knicks 60 more times this season.

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 4:54 pm
      acually moose their is he would be the primary ball handler off the bench which is one of his strengths.

    • Moose Posted: Dec.8 at 5:04 pm
      Chris, AI is one of the most prolific scorers ever in the game of basketball. If they want to win, putting Iverson out there to play is their best weapon, really.

    • B. Long Posted: Dec.8 at 5:27 pm
      Is Curry getting coaching tips from Nellie?

    • Jukai Posted: Dec.8 at 5:28 pm
      I’m going to be continually refreshing this page until I see TADOne’s comment on this one.

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 5:48 pm
      moose, A.I. Suppossedly wants to win above everything else and that means placating yourself for the better of the team. All great players hhave had to learn this. Basketball is about more than just scoring.

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 5:54 pm
      also when did being a sixth man become a bad thing. It is an essential part of any good team in a 48 minute basketball game.

    • niQ Posted: Dec.8 at 6:11 pm
      even if the pistons win it won’t prove much considering how bad washington is this season.

    • niQ Posted: Dec.8 at 6:11 pm
      but i Do like the oppurtunity for stuckey to play.

    • InsideOut Posted: Dec.8 at 6:21 pm
      Doesn’t matter who is the Point because Prince is probably going to be the one to bring the ball up on every play.

    • InsideOut Posted: Dec.8 at 6:22 pm
      Woow. that’s what I get for not refreshing the page. Didn’t notice there were a bunch of posts since.

    • MeloMan13 Posted: Dec.8 at 6:26 pm
      totaly unrelated.
      can us raptor fans debate what we need to do to turn this thing around?
      My suggestion is to trade andrea for either Marvin Williams or Jr smmith. wat do u guys think?

    • Moose Posted: Dec.8 at 6:27 pm
      I know that a sixth man is a big part of a basketball team. Being the leading scorer on a team is a big part of it too. AI is a scorer. Putting him on the bench just so you could have him in the bank is not a good idea. Stuckey would start AHEAD of IVERSON. That isn’t supposed to happen. It wouldn’t be better for his team if he took the sixth man role. Remember, they traded Chauncey Billups for him. Would you trade Chauncey for even the best sixth man in the league? I don’t think I would. If the Pistons want to win, Iverson is in no way a sixth man.

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 6:44 pm
      so manu means nothing to the spurs then. thanks for the update but I would like to think Popovich disagrees as that is where Ginobli does his best work.Just can’t see how surounding Iverson with other people that compliment his skillset better is a bad thing other than his ego getting in the way.

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 6:46 pm
      PLus now your putting other people out of position and asking 3 of them to change their game to please one.

    • Moose Posted: Dec.8 at 6:54 pm
      Chris, did I say that the sixth man position means nothing? In my own words, “a sixth man is a big part of a basketball team” (see above). The point is, AI is NOT Manu. Iverson is a starter. And I’m not saying that his ego is getting in the way of anything! I’m saying that if the Pistons want to win, the best place to put Iverson is in the starting lineup to score. I just think that your last comment made assumptions about what I was saying without clarification.

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 6:57 pm
      except they are not winning

    • Moose Posted: Dec.8 at 6:58 pm
      Chris, do you honestly think that the Pistons will have a better chance at winning with Allen Iverson on the bench? Dude, I know they aren’t winning. But if they want to win, Iverson is in the starting lineup and gets minutes.

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 7:01 pm
      because he does not fit with the strengths of the other four starters.Which is ball movement and slower tempo.However he does excel at a fsater tempo and Isolation plays which he could do with the second unit seeing as they don’t have any SCORERS in it. unles you think amir Johnson and maxiell are scorers

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 7:02 pm
      yes i do I think the pistons would come at you for a full 48 min this way

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 7:03 pm
      By the way I am a Cavs fan so I hope Porter does figure this out

    • Moose Posted: Dec.8 at 7:06 pm
      Chris, I hear what you’re saying. I just strongly disagree. And I think that if you presented that to Michael Curry, he wouldn’t buy it. Just saying. The Pistons did not trade one of the best leaders in the game with the intent on making one of the best scorers a sixth man.

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 7:14 pm
      No they did for capspace actually.

    • Chris Posted: Dec.8 at 7:15 pm
      /\Doesn’t figure this out

    • Moose Posted: Dec.8 at 7:37 pm
      They didn’t only do it for cap space. And my point is, the Piston do not (and should not) intend on using Iverson as a sixth man. Have a good one, Chris. I’m retiring to my study (to coin a phrase of my homie in NC).

    • Jukai Posted: Dec.8 at 8:00 pm
      For the first time in the history of SLAM, and maybe in the history of mankind, Moose is 100% right.

    • Jukai Posted: Dec.8 at 8:03 pm
      Manu comes off the bench for the Spurs because the Spurs bench needed firepower and Manu can score. It has nothing to do with Manu not fitting in with the starting line-up. Manu can play perfectly with the starting line-up or with the bench. Same with other amazing bench players (Odom, Barbosa, Fernandez, etc.). Bringing AI off the bench means the Pistons have to run three different styles: The half-court team style they start the team with, the gun first offense centered around Iverson when he comes off the bench with the second unit, and then a bastardized mix of the two in the fourth quarter when Iverson (supposably) will be in. Unless you want to bench Iverson in the fourth, this is not a smart game plan.

    • Z Posted: Dec.8 at 8:18 pm
      Rip + Tay + Sheed = lightest frontcourt in the L.

    • Z Posted: Dec.8 at 8:19 pm
      LeBron has 20 to 30 lbs on their center.

    • Moose Posted: Dec.8 at 8:38 pm
      Errrr, thanks, Jukai. Not quite sure if that was a complement or not. :) But I hope that you will be able to say that more in the future. You know, as I mature more in the basketball world and blogosphere world.

    • Roy Posted: Dec.8 at 9:13 pm
      Stuckey should play the pg and AI play sg. That would make the lineup have some more sense I believe. And I would have to agree with Moose about everything he said. :D

    • chris Posted: Dec.8 at 9:15 pm
      Where do rip and tayshuan play then?

    • chris Posted: Dec.8 at 9:16 pm
      Cause they are going to get abuseed on d over the long hual at the new positions

    • chris Posted: Dec.8 at 9:17 pm
      I quess my point is that the pistons kinda painted themselves in a corner. But who knows it is a long season and it is only dec 8.

    • Craig Posted: Dec.8 at 11:00 pm
      As a lifelong Pistons fan. As a guy who went to Vinny Johnson’s basketball camp in the suburbs of Detroit. As a guy who sobbed like a baby when Dantley and VJ collided heads. As a Detroit native who attended their first championship banner ceremony AND got a ceremonial championship ring along with 18,000 other lucky fans… As a guy who stuck with this team through the teal years and screamed until I lost my voice when they won their first ECC with Stack and Big Ben… As someone who drove 12 hours to attend the EC Finals game against Boston last year, and had to literally sit down when the SMS came through from my boys that our PG was traded to Denver, I gotta say… This is the beginning of the end and it sucks. Curry is overmatched and as much as the team wants to convince you of it, he does not command the respect of his players. Sheed will not last the season at the 5 - he’s pulling mad minutes and McDyess or no McDyess the guy is going to eventually end up injured or self destruct on technical fouls. There are two moves to salvage this season. The first move involves Joe Dumars admitting hiring Curry was a mistake, make amends by giving him a job in the front office and bringing in Eddie Jordan. The second move involves dumping Iverson now. Send him to Minnesota for Foye, Miller & Jefferson. Before you say that’s insane, think about this. The Wolves are going nowhere, the’re lame ducks. A.I. gives them a sellout for the rest of the season. Alright I’m nuts, but just know that this is a bitter pill to swallow. Being a Pistons fan is starting to feel like how I imagine Nets fans must’ve felt after the one year they made it to the NBA Finals. Downhill and fast. :-(

    • Jukai Posted: Dec.8 at 11:12 pm
      Craig: that’s ridiculous to say. Iverson’s 22 million comes off the books next season. Say hello to Bosh/Amare in 2010.
      I still say Rip Hamilton is the weak link. Bring HIM off the bench, or trade him for some young energy players. Stuckey, Iverson, Tayshun, Rasheed, McDyess is a nice starting line-up.
      It’s still going to get them out in the second round though.

    • Jukai Posted: Dec.8 at 11:16 pm
      Also, Foye, Miller & Jefferson are worth more than an Allen Iverson who is going to jump ship when the season is up.

    • Russ Bengtson Posted: Dec.8 at 11:22 pm
      And the Nets made it to the Finals twice.

    • chris Posted: Dec.8 at 11:22 pm
      never thought about putting hamilton on the bench guess so used to the old lineup

    • Jessdogg Posted: Dec.8 at 11:32 pm
      this is the worst decision i have seen this year, oh wait, Billups for iverson was worse. My bad.

    • Anton Posted: Dec.9 at 12:12 am
      it’s not a big deal, Iverson just needs a little bit more practice with the team.
      oh, wait…

    • Todd Spehr Posted: Dec.9 at 1:21 am
      Rip and Tay would HAVE to be the skinniest forward tandem in the history of civilization

    • Jukai Posted: Dec.9 at 2:51 am
      the history of WESTERN civilization, Todd.

    • Jack Posted: Dec.9 at 4:03 am
      Haha ah well, we’re all happy here in Nuggets Nation =]

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