Draft Express: Rodney Stuckey

[azirish]

Stuckey is scheduled to be worked out by the Suns on Monday

http://www.draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=2112

Filling in the blanks: Rodney Stuckeyby: Jonathan Givony - PresidentJune 13, 2007Emptying out our scouting notebook, we begin a short series examining a number of underclassmen that played for smaller, non-NCAA tournament teams who did not receive the same exposure that other players in this draft did. Rodney Stuckey, a 2-star college recruit according to Scout.com, was forced to play at Eastern Washington due to only partially qualifying out of high school, but he now finds himself in a position to get drafted in the top-20, despite playing for an average team in the low-major Big Sky Conference.

Rodney Stuckey, 6-5, Sophomore, PG/SG, Eastern Washington

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Eastern Washington Athletics

In a copycat league such as the NBA, scouts and executives are always looking for the next great talent that happens to remind them of some other team’s biggest star. In this case, we’ve seen a few quotes this year already comparing Rodney Stuckey to the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade. But is that really a fair comparison?

Physically, there are certainly some similarities. Standing a hair under 6-4 without shoes, with a great frame, a 6-7 wingspan, and solid athletic ability, Stuckey passes the eye test and then some. He is strong and quick, with a powerful first step, and has great body control putting the ball on the floor and making his way to the rack.

In terms of his style of play, Stuckey reminds of Wade to a certain extent as well, although he is obviously nowhere near as naturally talented. He has very nice ball-handling skills with either hand, being the main facilitator of his team’s offense, and likes to push the ball up the floor in transition. His footwork is outstanding, and he’s able to draw plenty of fouls through the work he does from the triple-threat position, either getting his man to bite on a pump-fake or going to the basket after utilizing a big time crossover and stopping on a dime from mid-range. Stuckey can also go into the post a bit to punish smaller, weaker matchups, showing really nice toughness in the process. His bread and butter, though, by far, lies in his mid-range game.

Stuckey doesn’t have great shooting mechanics (he has a slight hitch in his jump-shot, which leads to an inconsistent release point), but he does have great scoring instincts and a quick release, which often allow him to just throw the ball in the hoop. He has a full array of jabs, changes of speeds and hesitation moves he uses to keep his man off balance, and he’s absolutely terrific at stopping abruptly and using his strength to create excellent separation from his defender. Once he gets to the basket, or tempts his man into biting for a pump-fake, he’s excellent at finishing with contact thanks to his developed body. Stuckey is a quick player with really nice body control, but he’s not on the same level (or even close) as a Dwyane Wade for example in terms of his explosiveness or creativity finishing around the basket.

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Eastern Washington Athletics

While he’s no Steve Nash, Stuckey is not as bad a shooter as his percentages might indicate (27% 3P as a sophomore, 37% as a freshman)—it’s his shot-selection that really hurt him more than anything. The fact that he was forced to dominate the ball so much playing alongside considerably less talented teammates than him (and that’s probably being generous) also contributed to those numbers. The 85% he shot from the free throw line tells the story pretty well here in terms of his touch from mid-range. That becomes even more impressive when you consider that he got to the line nearly 9 times per game this past season. Make no mistake, though, Stuckey has a ways to go and plenty of hard work in front of him before he can legitimately expect to expand his range to the NBA 3-point line. In fact, the success he finds in the NBA will likely ultimately depend heavily on that.

Stuckey is more than just a pure scorer, though, he’s also pretty good at creating for others too. His court vision is very solid, particularly threading the needle to cutters from the perimeter, driving and dishing in traffic, or finding open teammates in transition. Despite the 17+ shots he took per game, he doesn’t come off as a selfish player when watching him on tape, even when Eastern Washington played against much more talented opponents like Washington or Gonzaga and he was forced to shoulder a considerable amount of the scoring load. He did average 5.5 assists per game on the season after all.

That doesn’t mean that Stuckey is necessarily ready to be a point guard either, though. For one, his decision making skills can be really poor at times, forcing up ill-advised shots early in the shot-clock, lowering his shoulder and driving into a brick wall, or trying to make high degree of difficulty passes in half-court sets, leading to unnecessary turnovers. As you can probably surmise by the fact that he wasn’t even able to lead his team to their conference tournament in the very weak Big Sky (the team went just 15-14 on the season), he still lacks a considerable amount of polish and experience.

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Eastern Washington Athletics

If there was ever a time for a player like Stuckey to be in demand, though, its now. Combo guards in his mold (Randy Foye, Flip Murray, Bobby Jackson) are making a great living on almost every team around the league—and he fits that mold almost to a T. NBA coaches love having a player they can throw in the game off the bench when things get stagnant offensively, and being able to guard two positions is certainly a plus.

Defensively, Stuckey is tough and pretty strong, able to get into the passing lanes and not being afraid to stick his nose in at times and take a charge. He mainly relies on his physical tools and activity level, though, not being the most aware guy in the world as far as defensive rotations or always staying in front of his man goes. He does have good potential here, though, if he’s willing to put in the time and effort. That’s going to be a key factor in whether he develops into a solid rotation player, or even much more than that. He certainly has the potential to do so, but it’s not going to come right away.

Stuckey is reportedly drawing heavy interest from the Detroit Pistons at #15. He could get drafted as high as 11 (Atlanta), and probably doesn’t fall past Philadelphia at 21.

 

[Mainstreet]

IMO, the Suns would seem interested in this type player. However, how do the Suns get him? Is he worth two first round picks or is he too big of a gamble. But he might solve the depth problem at PG/SG/SF all in one package.

 

[azirish]

IMO, the Suns would seem interested in this type player. However, how do the Suns get him? Is he worth two first round picks or is he too big of a gamble. But he might solve the depth problem at PG/SG/SF all in one package.

The Suns have talked about moving up. It is not clear how far and who would be available at the slot they moved up to. However, I'm pretty sure he's not dropping to #24 unless he does very badly in workouts.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

So, is this guy Dwayne Wade or Dajuan Wagner?

 

[dodie53]

i hope he becomes a wade when the suns get him..

 

[azirish]

Every draft prospect has the Wade or Wagner type possibilities. That's why you really need to due extensive reviews of everything you can, particularly when moving up in the draft.

Even at the time, everyone considered Wagner a reach. I can't remember exactly, but it seemed like no one had him going earlier than the late teens. Wagner was billed as the next Iverson, but was really only a very short SG who didn't play defense.

There is no reason in the world he should have been taken #6 in the 2002 draft. How bad was the Cav scouting? They refused an offer by the Suns to trade down and get a second pick. At the same time, the guys they passed on were in order:

Nene
Wilcox
Stoudemire
Butler
Jeffries

 

[HooverDam]

I honestly haven't seen Stuckey play, but just going off of what Ive read about him, I hope the Suns don't trade up for him. If he's there at 24 or 29, great (depending on who else is there of course), but he seems like too much of a gamble to trade up for. I really hope that if the Suns are unable to move Banks (and thus use a pick), that they keep both of their first rounders and use them. They obviously increase their chances of landing a 'player' if they have two picks.

 

[azirish]

Getting info on Stuckey is very hard. My read on his plusses and minuses are simple enough:

Pluses:

Quick, athletic, strong player who gets to the basket and scores even against top ranked teams.

Over 6'5" in shoes and 205 and considered very strong.

Decent PG skills for a combo who averaged 5.5 assists a game dispite being the team's main scoring threat (around 26 ppg).

Might have been a lottery pick if he played in major conference

Minuses:

Not a lot of experience against major opposition

Not really a point guard

Small for an SG on a team which has two very good ones already

Not a three point shooter
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He is rumored to go as early as 15 with the Pistons, but his workout with the Sixers yesterday at 21 seems like a more likely destination.

Bottom line: He looks like a real possibility at 24 but certainly a risk. A lot depends on if they seriously think he has point guard skills. Unless he's another Wade, he just would't help if he can only play off the ball.