Rodney Stuckey: Nobody Knew Michael Curry Was Going To Be Fired
July 6, 2009 – 8:30 am by Tas Melas
Back in January, Skeets and I had a debate on our daily Basketball Jones video cast: Who would you rather have – Rodney Stuckey or Rajon Rondo? We both selected Stuckey, without much deliberating either. I hate to admit I was wrong, but yeah, we both look like idiots now. At the same time, the two players have been put in very different situations. Rondo has been allowed to be the fourth best player on a great team, playing ample minutes, in charge of a world championship unit. Conversely, Stuckey explained on WDFN why this season was a rough one, that he never got in the flow, why change was needed, and that things should turn around for him. Stuckey has time to grow, but this being his third year in the league (it’ll be the fourth for Rondo), there should be seem some evident improvements.
Did guys stab Michael Curry in the back on the way out?
“No, not at all, not at all; nobody knew this was going to happen. I think that if you heard Joe Dumars’ interview, it’s just a direction, something that needed to happen for the organization and direction this is gonna be. He just thought we needed another experienced coach that’s gonna guide us to where we need to be.”
After backing up Chauncey Billups and playing some two guard, what did you learn in your first full season starting at the point?
“Oh man, I think this year was more mental than physical (laughs). You know, first year making it to the eastern conference finals, and then second year going through losing your star point guard, your all-star point guard, then acquiring somebody else (Allen Iverson), just going through losing streak after losing streak, and stuff like that. I think this past year was just more mental – just something that you grow from and something you don’t ever wanna go through again.”
Can you be a great guard in this league?
“I think I can make myself to be a great point guard, but at the same time, the thing is I can still score the basketball. If I see an opportunity that the defense is giving me, I’m gonna take it. You can never not take that opportunity, but I can see myself being a good point guard in this league. It’s just all about me maturing and just getting better. I think having Avery Johnson, if he’s gonna be our head coach, is gonna help me out a lot because he’s been through a lot of situations too as well, so he can help me through those kind of things.”
Listen to Rodney Stuckey on WDFN The Fan in Detroit
Tags: Basketball, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Detroit Pistons, Joe Dumars, Michael Curry, NBA, Rodney Stuckey
