Fastbreak Buckets 4.12.2009

This edition of Fastbreak Buckets is all about Allen Iverson's separation from the Pistons.

I’ve had mixed feelings about posting much more than I already have about Allen Iverson, mainly because most everything that can be said, has been said. Nevertheless, one week after Iverson was sent home, I’m going to highlight some of the opinions from around the internet, and offer up a few points of my own.

• The piece on Iverson that has garnered the most attention has been Jason Whitlock’s brutal attack on Iverson’s career.
  
  

  Winning has never really mattered to Allen Iverson.
  …
  Iverson is a one-man, no-country Army, more than likely the victim of a dysfunctional upbringing that left him incapable of embracing the concepts essential to teamwork, winning and sacrifice for the benefit of others.
  

  I have been as harsh on Iverson as anyone (Wages of Wins has given me a run for my money), but I take exception with a few of Whitlock’s suggestions, namely that Iverson never cared about winning. Iverson doesn't play selfishly (dribble and shoot too much) because of his upbringing or his race, as Whitlock suggests. Iverson plays that way because he believes it is the best way to help a team win. He is wrong.
  
  The same unbridled confidence that allowed a 5’11 man to succeed in a league that employs more people above seven-feet than below six-feet is also Iverson’s biggest fault. Iverson believes that the best way to lead a team to victory is for him to dominate the offense and fill up the score sheet. At one point, his one-man offense was able to match that of most NBA teams. At age 33, he has reached the point where any offense he leads will be a terrible one. The gap between his skills and his perception of his skills has only become more pronounced as his game has deteriorated, but his confidence has not.
  
• Over at Piston Powered, Dan Feldman explains that Iverson’s back injury had little to do with the early ending to his season.
  
  

  Iverson isn’t playing again for the Pistons because he doesn’t want to play again for the Pistons. Sure, his back may be hurting. But he just complained about not getting enough minutes. If he wanted to fight through it, he could.

  While it is hard to imagine the back injury was a deciding factor, I think Iverson’s desire to leave the team was matched only by Joe Dumars’ desire to get rid of him after it became clear he was not capable of helping the team in a bench role.
  
• For those who wonder why a former MVP was incapable of serving as a useful role player, Fanhouse’s Matt Steinmetz breaks it down.
  
  

  Even if Iverson is ready, willing and able to lower himself a rung on a team's scoring ladder, that doesn't mean he'll do it well or that he's best suited to do it.As a general rule, role players are better at being role players than stars are at being role players.

  While that does not apply to all players – David Robinson, Grant Hill, Reggie Miller, and Ray Allen, among others, have been effective as complimentary players after being go-to guys earlier in their careers – Iverson is clearly not suited to be anything other than a team’s primary scoring option. When Iverson was effective earlier in his career, his remarkable scoring ability overcame his several weaknesses, notably poor defense, poor decision-making, and a ball-hogging style of play that takes a team out of its offense. As he has aged, that scoring ability has deteriorated, but the weaknesses remain. What’s left is a player whose cannot help an NBA team unless he drastically changes his style of play. Iverson's only skill is his ability to score. The problem is that he scores in such a horribly inefficient manner that he is a hindrance to team success on both ends of the floor.
  
• The mainstream media has plenty of coverage of Iverson’s final days with the Pistons. Larry Brown says that plenty of teams will want Iverson. Either several teams have misguided GMs, Brown is wrong, or Brown is telling a white lie as not to offend “The Answer.” “He's still a starter in this league; he's going to have a lot of success," Michael Curry told The Detroit News. Again, I cannot imagine that Curry truly believes what he is saying. Marc Stein says he has talked to several league executives who do not believe there will be much of a market for Iverson. The market for Iverson will be limited, but it only takes one bad GM for a player to a contract disproportionate to his ability to contribute. Chris McCosky rails against the way Iverson handled the move to the bench. In light of what has transpired, it is hard to disagree.
  
• Lastly, for comedy’s sake, here is Rick Kamla (via Pistons Nation) making us question whether paying attention to the NBA is part of the job description for hosting a show that analyzes the NBA. “He’s a Hall of Fame player who’s still in the prime of his career,” Kamla said. If Iverson’s play this year is indicative of the prime of a Hall of Fame career, I can think of a few hundred players who deserve a plaque in Springfield. In 2009, Will Bynum is a better basketball player than Allen Iverson. The fact that Kamla has not watched enough Piston basketball to know this led him to go on national television and reveal his ignorance while shouting.

One last thing I'd like to mention. Brian Packey has launched Motown String Music as the Piston blogosphere's representative on SB Nation. MSM is off to a great start and has some exciting ideas that should strengthen the Piston blogging community. Be sure to check the site out.

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Fastbreak Buckets 3.06.09

-If the Pistons want to separate themselves from the pack at the bottom of the East standings, they need to win five of their next six games – a feat which seems very possibly given their upcoming schedule. Detroit’s upcoming schedule features home games against Golden State, Orlando, New York, and Memphis along with road games against Atlanta and Toronto. The Pistons should dominate Golden State, New York, and Memphis, while Toronto should not pose much of a threat. If the Pistons maintain last week’s momentum, they should also fare well against Orlando and Atlanta. If the Pistons hope to make a push for a top-five seed in the playoffs – hence avoiding the East’s big-three in round one – there is no time like the present to make a move up the standings.

-Piston fans need to calm down about Will Bynum. The positives about Bynum are that he is fun to watch and he has an uncanny ability to get to the basket. The negatives are everything else. Bynum has no confidence in his jump shot and for good reason – he has made 29% of non-layup two-pointers and is 1/6 on threes this season. Despite his ability to get to the basket, he is shooting only 41%. A player Bynum’s size cannot survive in the NBA without a reliable jumper. Whenever he is on the court, opposing defenses simply clog the paint and force Bynum’s teammates to shoot over people. Bynum has shown enough this season to stick in the NBA as a third point guard, but until he learns to shoot well enough to keep defenses honest, he should not be playing significant minutes.

-Speaking of players who need to fix their shot, Arron Afflalo has disappeared from the Piston’s rotation. Afflalo is a nice defender with the potential to mimic the career paths of players like Raja Bell, Bruce Bowen, and Mickael Pietrus. While none of those players are great offensively, all hit open shots and force defenses to play them honestly. Therein lies the problem for Afflalo; his shot has abandoned him lately. Since the start of February, Afflalo is 2-11 on non-layup two pointers and 1-5 on threes. January was not much better – he shot below 40% for the month.

As a result of his poor shooting, Afflalo has played 14 minutes total in the team’s last seven games. During the first 30 games of the season, Afflalo shot better than 46% with more than a quarter of his makes coming on threes. He needs to re-establish that stroke if he hopes to return to the rotation. The good news for Afflalo’s future is that similar players have tended to be late bloomers. Raja Bell did not post a respectable PER until age 27, but is currently in the midst of his sixth consecutive productive season. Likewise, Bruce Bowen did not even find his footing in the NBA until he was 26. If Afflalo can continue to improve his defense and work on his shot, he should be valuable role player down the road. In the meantime, he’s going to be hard-pressed to earn minutes if he continues to be an offensive zero.

-One often overlooked aspect of the trade for Allen Iverson was the cap space created by including Antonio McDyess in the deal. While Pistons fans are very aware that the team cleared Billups’ twelve-million-a-year contract off the books, it should be noted that the Pistons no longer are obligated to pay McDyess 7.5 million next season. McDyess is an excellent role player who has done great things in Detroit, but in this economy, that money could go a long way on the free agent market this summer. Detroit should have roughly 18 million in cap space this summer.

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Fastbreak Buckets 3.02.2009

This edition of Fastbreak Buckets is an all-Allen Iverson version.

-During yesterday’s win in Boston, the Pistons made a fundamental change in their defense – they switched on most picks. While Stuckey, Hamilton, and Prince are far from interchangeable defensively, there was little hesitation for any of the three to switch defensive assignments after a screen. They were able to do this because all three players have the size to guard point guards and wings, while also possessing the quickness to stay in front of any of the Celtics.

When Allen Iverson is on the court, the Pistons lose this ability. Iverson is typically too small to guard any player but opposing point guards. When a screen is set on Iverson, the screener’s defender has to step out on the opposing guard and then retreat to his own man. This potentially problematic task is necessary to ensure that Iverson does not have to switch onto a bigger player. That responsibility has placed a difficult burden on many of the Pistons and is a primary reason their defense has suffered this season. Iverson’s lack of size is out his control, but that is the biggest reason he is such a liability on defense.

-As much as Iverson has hurt the Pistons defensively, he has done the most damage on offense. Game recaps from the two weekend games were filled with players and coaches talking about how much better the Pistons move the ball without Iverson. Iverson tends to attack defenses off the dribble and often attempts contested mid-range jumpers. The constant dribbling takes the Pistons out of their offense and hinders the ability of players like Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince to be effective. The contested jumpers Iverson so frequently takes are the least efficient shot in basketball. Iverson does not make nearly of them to justify the regularity with which he takes such shots. If Iverson can accept a role in which he plays limited minutes as a change-of-pace offensive force playing alongside backups who struggle to score, he can help the Pistons. Otherwise, the Pistons should cut their losses and give him the Marbury treatment.

-In a related note, while the focus has been on the starting lineup lately, there is another question that needs to be answered. Which Pistons will finish close games? For the same reasons that Iverson should not start games, he should not finish them. Hopefully, Curry was paying attention this weekend and noticed that the Pistons played two of their best fourth quarters all season without Iverson.

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Fastbreak Buckets 2.12.2009

This edition of Fastbreak Buckets will be an around the league edition since far too many Piston related topics are simply depressing right now.

- Individuals in the Cavalier organization, from the owner to the overpaid former Piston, acted as if a travesty had been committed when Mo Williams was left off the All-Star Team until two spots opened up due to injury. The gist of their argument is that the Cavs have a gaudy record, others teams with similar gaudy records all have multiple All-Stars, therefore they deserve multiple All-Stars. This theory is flawed beyond belief.

First off, the Cavs do have two players worthy of playing in the All-Star Game in LeBron James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Ilgauskas went down with an injury that kept him out most of January and thus submarined his chance of making the team.

With or without Ilgauskas on the team, Williams simply does not belong. The Cavaliers claim that their players should be rewarded for the team’s success, but the All-Star Game is simply not the correct venue. Teams that win games are rewarded for their success in the spring, when they earn a high seed in the playoffs. The All-Star Game is the prize for the individuals who have had the most success, regardless of their teammates.

The player that many analysts believe was undeservingly given Williams’ spot is Devin Harris. How they can make this claim is baffling. Harris is averaging four more points per game despite attempting just one more field goal a night than Williams. Harris is also well ahead in assists and steals. As a result, Harris’ PER of 22.7 puts the 17.0 mark of Williams to shame. To put that in perspective, that gap in PER is similar to the difference between Allen Iverson with the Pistons and Allen Iverson with Philly in 2002. The fact that Cleveland is 17 games ahead of New Jersey has nothing to do with Cleveland having a superior point guard and everything to do with the difference between playing LeBron James and Bobby Simmons at small forward. It’s bad enough that Harris – an elite point guard – plays for a borderline playoff team because of a lame supporting cast. Compounding his misery by keeping him off the All-Star Team because of that same supporting cast would be excessive.

-One player with a legitimate gripe about not making the All-Star Team is Kevin Durant. Few are paying attention to the lowly Thunder, but their second year small forward has been sensational of late. P.J. Carlesimo played Durant, out of position, at shooting guard last season and at the start of this one. Since Carlesimo was fired and new coach Scott Brooks moved Durant to his natural position – small forward – Durant has been one of the most dominant offensive forces in the game.

In 41 games since Brooks took the clipboard, Durant is averaging 26.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game on 48.8% shooting. He has also making an average of 1.6 three pointers and 6.6 free throws per contest during that stretch. In 16 games from January 9th to February 10th, Durant scored fewer than 27 points only twice. If Durant has not already passed Carmelo Anthony and Paul Pierce to establish himself as the best small forward not named LeBron James, he appears to be well on his way.

- The injury woes that have hammered the Milwaukee Bucks have come with a pair of blessings in disguise. Two of their young players have emerged as building blocks for the future of the franchise. Ramon Sessions might have been the steal of the 2007 draft based on his recent play. The 56th pick in ’07 draft has been starting in place of the injured Luke Ridnour. In his last five games, Sessions is averaging an incredible 24.8 points, 9.8 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game despite just taking 13.8 shots a night. He has done so by converting 53.6% of his field goal attempts and living at the free throw line to the tune of nearly 12 attempts per game.

The other Buck having a coming out party this season is Charlie Villanueva. After a lackluster first two and a half seasons in Milwaukee, he has exploded into 2009. Since the calendar turned, he is averaging over 20 points, nearly seven rebounds, and roughly a block and a steal per game, despite turning the ball over just one a half times per contest. He has made over half of his field goal tries and better than 40% of his 89 three point attempts during 22 games this year. The strong play of Sessions and Villanueva is the primary reason the Bucks are hanging in the playoff race despite a beaten up roster that was lackluster to begin with.

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Fastbreak Buckets 1.27.09

Today’s edition of fastbreak buckets is a blockquote special.

-Interesting tidbit in the Monday’s Boston Globe. (H/T TrueHoop)

[Ray] Allen started wearing [a sleeve] when he was in a horrific slump during the Detroit series last spring. He wears the sleeve on just his left arm - sort of like Michael Jackson without the creepiness.
"Rip Hamilton grew his fingernails long and he was scratching me," explained Allen. "I needed the sleeve to shield me from those nails. And I've stayed with it."

Those are the type of tactics that earn a player “wily veteran” status from his fans and “dirty player” labels from his opponents. One thing that cannot be questioned is RIP’s willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

-Anonymous scouts are to sports what tabloids are to pop culture. They can both create unsubstantiated nonsense which appears as fact in print. The New York Post’s Peter Vescey, who usually does a much better job with his NBA coverage, had two quotes worth of anonymous rubbish in his Sunday column. (H/T Need4Sheed)

"[The Pistons] are playing with no emotion," says a long-distance viewer. Allen Iverson "has killed the team's spirit with his style of play."

I have noticed an inefficient offense, inconsistent defense, and poor coaching, but if a “long-distance viewer” can detect a dead spirit, maybe he knows something the rest of us do not.

So hooked on economics is Dumars, an agent testifies, he was prepared to deal treasured Tayshaun Prince for Stephen Jackson (or maybe it was Ron Artest) whose contract was set to terminate after next season.

It was one thing for the Pistons to trade Billups for cap space in an attempt to balance the roster; the Pistons had two quality point guards in Billups and Stuckey, but needed frontcourt help. Dumars elected to trade Billups for impending cap room which he will try to use to lure a big man, thus balancing the roster. Prince is a completely separate issue. If the Pistons were to trade Prince for cap room, they would have cap room and a major hole at small forward to fill. They would probably have to use that cap room to sign a small forward – probably a small forward very much like Prince. Dumars chimed in with his thoughts on the assertion.

"That's absolutely false! I'm not trading Prince, period," Dumars fumed.

-Piston players have made some disturbing comment about their coach recently.

Iverson, to The Detroit News, on the Pistons’ poor defense against Houston:

"Have you talked to MC yet?" Allen Iverson asked, referring to coach Michael Curry. "He should have the answers. He knows better than me why we're not getting it done."
…
"If it looked like we were playing a zone, and we weren't, that's not good," Iverson said.

More from Iverson in today's Detroit News.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't frustrated," Iverson said. "I just feel like I can offer more to the team. I can do more to help us win games, and when that opportunity presents itself, I will be right here to take the challenge."

Tayshaun Prince hinted at displeasure with the coaching staff in this Detroit News article. He said the Pistons need to stop worrying about coaching schemes and simply play better. Reading between the lines, if they need to stop worrying about coaching schemes, that implies that players currently are worrying about coaching schemes.

"At some point you have to put all that aside and not worry about the X's and O's and just do what you have to do defensively as far as taking a challenge. I don't think we are doing that in the first quarters."
…
"It's tough because you would think at this point we would have found our way and we haven't," Prince said.

Rasheed Wallace was slightly less subtle than Prince when he spoke with The Detroit News.

"I guess you can say we were confused early," said Rasheed Wallace, who voiced his displeasure to Curry twice early in the game. "We figured it out in the second half but by then it was too late."

Wallace on his lack of fourth quarter touches against Houston after scoring ten points in the third quarter.

"It wasn't my call," Wallace said. "Just got to go with the flow, I guess."

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Fastbreak Buckets 1.14.09

-Amir Johnson can have a major impact on games when he is on the floor. If he plans to spend significant time on the court, he needs to learn how to avoid fouling. Johnson has been fouling at an obscene rate the last few weeks; he has at least four fouls in each of the 10 games since Christmas despite averaging just 21.1 minutes per game in that stretch. He has averaged one foul per 4.6 minutes of game time. The foul problems reached a new extreme this week when he committed ten fouls in 18 minutes during the last two games. Johnson’s production has also fallen off during the stretch, partly because early foul trouble has taken away from his aggressiveness.

Johnson needs to stop biting on pump fakes from potential jump shooters. Players like Tayshaun Prince and Tim Duncan have shown that one can play effective defense by closing out on shooters without jumping to block the shot. Johnson needs to take a page out of Duncan’s book and simply dare players to shoot over him. Johnson also has developed a bad habit of bumping players as they attempt to drive toward the basket. He needs to learn how to say in front of his man without making contact. Lastly, Johnson needs to do a better job of setting his feet on screens as to avoid the offensive foul and turnover associated with a moving screen.

-I have spent most of my recent posts discussing the starting lineup. Just to be clear on how many minutes I want each Piston playing, here is my ideal breakdown of minutes, by position. This breakdown only applies to close games when everyone is healthy.

• PG: Stuckey: 36, Iverson: 12 (with Prince serving as point forward)
• SG: Hamilton: 18, Iverson: 18, Afflalo: 12
• SF: Prince: 34, Hamilton: 14
• PF: Johnson: 20, Maxiell: 18, McDyess: 10
• C: Wallace: 30, McDyess:14, Brown: 4

Total minutes per player: Stuckey: 36, Iverson: 30, Hamitlon: 32, Afflalo: 12, Prince: 34, Johnson: 20, Maxiell: 18, McDyess: 24, Wallace: 30, Brown: 4. Will Bynum and Walter Herrmann would play in garbage time or if other players are hurt, playing poorly, or in foul trouble.

-Many Piston fans have been begging for a RIP Hamilton trade lately. While the move would alleviate the glut at shooting guard this season, the long term ramifications would be negative. Iverson is a one year rental, so if the Pistons trade Hamilton, they would be looking for a shooting guard this summer. Before his injury, Hamilton played well alongside Stuckey. He and Stuckey should be the backcourt of the future in Detroit.

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Fastbreak Buckets 1.10.09

-Determining a starting lineup going forward could prove to be a huge challenge for Michael Curry. RIP Hamilton told The Detroit News that he has no interest in adapting to a bench role. Allen Iverson still believes that he is a star and it remains to be seen if he would be willing to be a sixth man for the first time in his career. Rodney Stuckey is clearly the team’s best point guard and Tayshaun Prince belongs at small forward, so it is in the Pistons’ best interest that either Hamilton or Iverson come off the bench. Hopefully, one of the two will relent and embrace a bench role. Until then, there will be some uncomfortable moments for the Pistons.

-The last two games have been almost exactly mirror images of each other for the Pistons. Against Portland, Detroit led by as much as thirteen, allowed Portland to drill away at the lead throughout the second half, and then watched the game slip away after Travis Outlaw made a very difficult jumper. In Denver, Detroit trailed by as much as fourteen, drilled away at the lead throughout the second half, and then stole the game after Tayshaun Prince hit a tough jumper.

-Before the 2008 season, Jason Maxiell worked on improving his free throw shooting. The extra practice time showed up on the stat sheet. Maxiell – who missed more than half of his free throw attempts during his first two seasons – converted on 63.3% of his free throws last season. This season, Maxiell seems to have reverted to his old ways. He has made just 53.2% of this season’s attempts and has had a number of embarrassing misses. Maxiell has played fewer minutes this season than he did a season ago. If he can start making upwards of 60% of his free throws again, those minutes might start to creep back up.

-Antonio McDyess was booed throughout last night’s game in Denver. The jeers served as a reminder of how lucky the Pistons are that he returned. McDyess has been invaluable this season. He is a complete player who helps the Pistons in so many ways. It is no coincidence that one of the Pistons’ worst four week stretches of the past five years coincided with the time Dice missed.

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Fastbreak Buckets 12.24.08

-Two of the biggest differences between Flip Saunders and Michael Curry were supposed to be that Curry would play young players and Curry would stop his players from complaining to the officials. Two months into the Curry era, the results have been hit and miss, with more misses than hits.

Young guards Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo have been given plenty of minutes. Stuckey’s development has been the biggest success of Curry’s coaching career thus far. On the other hand, young bigs Jason Maxiell and especially Amir Johnson are not playing nearly enough. Johnson is racking up healthy DNPs despite posting an impressive PER and the best net +/- numbers of any Piston other than Rasheed Wallace.

Also, to date, Curry has failed in his attempt to stem the complaining to officials. Wallace and RIP Hamilton are picking up technicals at a manic rate. The Pistons are fifth in the NBA in technical fouls.

-The first step toward fixing a problem is realizing that one exists. Coach Curry appears to be headed in the right direction with both of the aforementioned issues. He told The Detroit News that he plans to pull Allen Iverson and Tayshaun Prince midway through the first quarter in favor of a bigger lineup. He then plans to re-insert Iverson and Prince as part of a bigger lineup to start the second quarter. The moves should allow Maxiell and Johnson to see minutes at power forward while Will Bynum would effectively be eliminated from the rotation. These move makes sense. In the same article, there is talk that the Pistons are trying to cut back on technical fouls.

-Stuckey tracker: In the 13 games since Thanksgiving, Stuckey is averaging 15.5 points, 7.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 2.0 turnovers per game. He has made 55.6% of his field goal attempts and nine three pointers for an effective field goal percentage of 58.7%. His PER is at 19.2 on the season and is surely in the mid 20s since Thanksgiving. The man can flat out ball.

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Fastbreak Buckets: 12.19.09

-Stuckey tracker: In the ten games since Thanksgiving, Stuckey is averaging 13.4 points, 7.9 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 2.1 turnovers per game. He is shooting 53% from the floor, and has made half of his 14 three point attempts. Stuckey has also played very solid defense for the Pistons. While he will probably never be an elite defender, he is an above average defensive point guard and still has room to improve.

One clear benefit of the Iverson trade was that it opened up the point guard role for Stuckey. In theory, this should expedite his development as he should get a full season’s worth of on the job training. On the flip side of that coin, Stuckey no longer has Billups as a tutor and the trade has resulted in a rotation that will squeeze Amir Johnson’s minutes.

There was a stretch during November where Stuckey was often the worst player on the court. He was pressing at times and appeared hesitant at others. He had a miserable time trying to stay in front of Devin Harris against New Jersey and then was set back by a pair of medical problems. He suffered a dizzy spell during a game against Boston and took a hard fall after a collision with Shaq in Phoenix. It is impossible to know how much of his struggles can be traced to those two instances, but there is a good chance they contributed.

For whatever reason, Stuckey turned a corner in his development three weeks ago and has not looked back yet. As a result of his recent strong play, Stuckey’s PER is up to 17.34, a hugely impressive number for a 22 year old who fell to the middle of the first round in 2007. Stuckey is not a star yet, but he appears to be well on his way.

-Pistons fans should not get any crazy ideas a result of the team’s three game win streak. The Pistons squeaked past a mediocre Indiana team at home, barely held on against a bad Charlotte team, and then beat a horrible Washington team at the Palace. None of the three victories were particularly impressive, although there were encouraging signs. Stuckey and Iverson both had their best weeks of the season, while RIP Hamilton played some of his better basketball since the trade. Antonio McDyess also played well and showed no ill effects from his five week hiatus. This weekend’s games against Utah and Atlanta should be a much better indicator of this team’s ability.

-In the four games since the Pistons switched to a small ball lineup, they have been outrebounded by an average of 7.8 rebounds per game. Poor rebounding is a recipe for disaster in the playoffs and the Pistons must find a way to correct this problem if they hope to advance in this season’s playoffs. Amir Johsnon leads the team in rebound rate* and last season finished behind only Nazr Mohammed, who is no longer on the roster. Johnson also finished with the team lead in 2007. He has not played in the last four games.

(*Rebound rate is the percentage of missed shots a player rebounds while on the court)

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Fastbreak Buckets 12.13.08

-During an interview on “The Stoney and Wojo Show” Thursday, Michael Curry explained that RIP is struggling to adjust to fewer shot attempts. (Listen here). Curry has also said that RIP needs to adjust to fewer minutes. Curry’s theories are interesting; unfortunately they are contradicted by facts.

Hamilton is actually playing slightly more minutes per game this season compared to last. As far as field goal attempts are concerned, RIP is shooting 0.3 fewer field goals per game, but is more than compensating with an extra 1.5 free throw attempts per game. RIP is clearly adjusting to life without Billups, but there is no need for Curry to contrive additional transitions.

-Rodney Stuckey made an eye-opening four three pointers against Indiana. He is blossoming as a starter and has improved greatly in just the past few weeks. Early this year he struggled to determine when he should look to score and when he should pass. The results were a low field goal percentage and a high rate of both turnovers and offensive fouls. Part of his early struggles can be attributed to the dizzy spell he suffered against Boston and the hard foul he took from Shaquille O’Neil a week later.

However, Stuckey turned a corner against a few weeks ago and has not looked back. Since Thanksgiving, Stuckey is averaging 12.9 points, 7.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals and just 2.1 turnovers, while playing 27.4 minutes per game. He has converted 52% of his field goals, including five for 11 from long range, during the eight-game stretch.

The two most encouraging aspects of Stuckey’s play have been his jump shot and his decision-making. Stuckey looks more confident and has been much more accurate on perimeter shots recently. The big question mark with Stuckey has always been his jumper. If he continues to knock down 18-footers along with the occasional three-ball, he can be a star. Stuckey also seems to be learning when to attack and when to set up his teammates.

-A longer post about small ball is on the way, but in the meantime, here are two small ball-related noted from the Pacer game:

1) Amir Johnson did not play against Indiana and Jason Maxiell was limited to 14 minutes. In those 14 minutes, Maxiell grabbed three offensive rebounds. The rest of the Pistons combined for two offensive rebounds the entire game. Johnson and Maxiell are fourth and sixth, respectively, among 318 qualified players in offensive rebound rate – the percentage of a team’s missed shots that a player rebounds while in the game.

2) I sent an E-Mail to Need4Sheed before yesterday’s game and made the following statement: “Here's hoping Curry is smart enough to abandon small ball before Granger lights up RIP.” Apparently the message was not relayed to Michael Curry, who elected to let RIP defend Granger most of the game. Granger responded with 42 points on just 21 shots.

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Fastbreak Buckets 12.08.08

“Fastbreak Buckets” will be an occasional feature on CTBAAF where I take a quick look at a few different topics.

-The return of Antonio McDyess could not have come at a better time. The Pistons are reeling and definitely need the outside shooting, interior defense, and passionate play that McDyess brings to the table. Also, Rasheed Wallace has played poorly recently and he appears to be wearing down. With McDyess back in the fold, the Pistons only need to play Wallace about 30 minutes per game, which should allow him to be more productive.

-The more Iverson struggles, the more convinced I am that Dumars actually made the trade as a strict salary dump in an effort to re-build. The Pistons scouts could not have possibly believed that Iverson is an upgrade over Billups. While I understand the desire to re-build after falling short of a championship for four straight seasons, trading the team’s best player – Billups – for salary cap relief was not the right move. Billups’ contract is reasonable and he is one of the 20 best players in the NBA. His strong play in Denver has only confirmed this.

-Michael Curry hinted that a change in the starting lineup is on the way. Many Pistons fans are clamoring for the team to start Stuckey over Iverson and in a strictly basketball sense, I agree with them. However, Iverson’s ego and a bench role are a potentially disastrous pairing. Ideally, I would love to see the Pistons show Iverson the advantages of the Jason Terry role. Terry is taking more shots per game than Iverson despite coming off the bench. If Iverson were to embrace a bench role, his shots per game could actually increase because he will spend more time on the floor with players like Afflalo and Maxiell who do not need the ball. The problem is that I doubt Iverson would embrace such a change. If Iverson needs to start, I think the starting lineup that makes the most sense is: Iverson, RIP, Tay, Amir, and Sheed.

-I fear that the lineup Curry will actually choose is: Stuckey, Iverson, RIP, Tay, and Sheed. This lineup would be punished inside and would struggle to rebound. Also, if Prince is eating up minutes at power forward, Maxiell and Amir Johnson would lose minutes. Johnson makes plays and good things tend to happen when he is on the court. I would hate to see his minutes cut in favor of a small ball approach.

Update: Shortly after posting this, I learned that the Pistons will use the small ball arrangement I argued against. I hope I am wrong, but I see major problems with that lineup's lack of size. Also, keep an eye on Amir Johnson's minutes, or lack thereof, in upcoming games. He should be playing about 20 minutes per night, but there is virtually no chance of this happening without an injury.

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