Pistons Lose Third Straight
November 19th, 2009 | by coryelfrink |The Pistons showed a lot of fight following a disastrous third quarter in Portland last night. Still, despite outscoring the opposition 31-17 in the fourth, John Kuester’s troops fell 87-81 on Wednesday.
Props to the Pistons, in particular Ben Wallace, who outrebounded the Trail Blazers 39-36. Portland entered the game with the third-best rebounding differential in the league, and the Pistons did a terrible job on the glass the previous night in Los Angeles. Detroit garnered 12 offensive rebounds to Portland’s six.
However, shooting was the problem on Wednesday. The team hit a mere 38.8 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from three-point range. Aside from Charlie Villanueva, who had 20 points on 15 shots, the rest of the starters converted just 11-of-40 (27.5 percent) shots. Rodney Stuckey led the way with 21 points, but he needed 21 shots to get there. Stuckey launched a season-high five three-pointers, missing each of them. After hitting 29.5 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc last season, the point guard is hitting only 23.8 percent this year.
Backup Will Bynum came into the game averaging 29.8 minutes per game through eight November games, but logged just 22 minutes in Portland. He was a bit sloppy with the ball as he committed four turnovers in the limited minutes, and he also may have seen less playing time due to playing a season-high 36 minutes the previous night.
Stuckey, who is averaging only 3.8 assists per game, logged 39 minutes and managed to dish out five assists. It was just the second time in 12 games that he’s led the team in dimes despite playing mostly point guard for 37.9 minutes per game. Bynum has led the team in assists in half of their games this season and leads the team with 4.2 assists per game (in 27.3 minutes per game).
On October 15, I wrote a piece suggesting Bynum was the better point guard when compared to Stuckey. Eleven games into the season and the evidence supports my thesis. Bynum’s PER (Player Efficiency Rating) is a staggering 21.07 compared to Stuckey’s 14.32. PER adjusts itself to make the average player a 15.0, meaning Stuckey is playing below average not just for a starter, but for any player in the league. Meanwhile, Bynum ranks 19th in the league among players who have played at least 25 minutes per game in at least nine contests (Stuckey is 142nd overall).
What makes Stuckey so much more inefficient than Bynum? For one, he’s a terrible shooter. He’s hit a mere 38.7 percent of his field goal attempts this season. Eliminating the three-pointer from his arsenal would help his numbers, but defenders would be able to defend more against his drives to the basket. Secondly, he’s not a willing passer. Per 40 minutes, he’s averaging only four assists. That’s fifth best on the team. That’s also unacceptable for a starting point guard.
The Pistons are second to last in the league in assists per game and 25th in assist-to-turnover ratio. Stuckey is the primary reason for these rankings. I’m not calling for him to be removed from the starting lineup, but cutting his minutes from nearly 38 minutes per game to 30 would make this team better. Perhaps that will be the case once Richard Hamilton returns. Whatever the case, Stuckey’s play has not warranted his playing time.
Tags: Pistons lose to Trail Blazers, Pistons losing streak, Rodney Stuckey, Will Bynum
