The Nick Young vs. Rodney Stuckey Debate

by Truth About It on Dec 24, 2008 11:46 AM EST in Polls Comment 10 comments

Why is this guy smiling?

via flickr/Keith Allison

Rodney Stuckey dropped 40 points on the Chicago Bulls last night.

Slam is calling him a stud.

Kelly Dwyer says that the Chicago D was sound.

We can safely (or perhaps precariously) speculate that Ernie Grunfeld would've taken Stuckey over Nick Young had he been available in the 2007 draft, but at the same time, Detroit has displayed flashes of buyer's remorse in not taking Young over Stuckey (ok...not really).

Young has led me to experience brief instances where I'd prefer him over Stuckey....but this year, Stuckey's ability to create for others and play defense (jn addition to his scoring, obviously), has put him slightly ahead, with perhaps last night's effort putting him over the top (in my opinion).

Sure, we know that part of Young's struggles involve the lack of minutes, but a large chunk of Nick's struggles also involve those aforementioned areas in which Stuckey excels......oh, lest I forget this observation about Young by the White President.

Sure this is a moot debate....Young is our guy and we are fully behind his development (I feel like I'm conveniently throwing Young under the bus on xmas eve). But, since polls are fun, what say you.....Stuckey or Young?

(It's also fun to rhyme at holiday time)

Poll

Who would you prefer on the Wizards?

Nick Young

29 votes

Rodney Stuckey

218 votes

247 votes | Poll has closed

1 recs | Comment 10 comments | Share

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Comments

Ouch.

by Romans12 on Dec 24, 2008 3:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I chose Nick.

But its also because I don’t think Rodney Stuckey would be doing nearly as well if he were here.

The Washington Wizards: providing career scoring nights for unknown opposing bench players since 2004.

by mamemimo on Dec 24, 2008 4:11 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Watching NY play the one man game last night and jack up tough shot after tough shot…was tough.

by MR on Dec 24, 2008 5:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Not even close

Stuckey by a mile.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Dec 24, 2008 6:34 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Sorry Nick... but it isn't your fault that

you have been playing on a team whose coaches don’t know how to bring along a young players… By the bye if you study the games just after Detroit acquired AI and Rodney seemed a bit confused about his role, you would see some similar patterns there. A ballplayer’s head is easy to mess up…

by khrabb on Dec 24, 2008 6:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

is this even in the realm of reality?

the only way we will wish we had Nick Young is when he gets traded to another team for some old dog vet—kinda like we did for Ben and Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton, ok…you getthe idea.

We’ll wish we had NY only after we’ve given up on him and he blossoms somewhere else

by ucantstopbernard on Dec 24, 2008 9:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I'm as big of a fan of NY as there is

But even I can’t take him over Stuckey.

by MikeMid on Dec 25, 2008 7:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I'd take Stuckey too

But at least we weren’t in a situation where we could choose between the two of them since Stuckey was already off the board. But take a look at the next 5 guys on the list:

Sean Williams
Marco Bellinelli
Javaris Crittenton
Jason Smith
Daequan Cook

Would you take any of those 5 over Nick Young?

Bullets Forever: A blog dedicated to the Washington Wizards with analysis, commentary, and more YouTube videos than your eyes can handle.

by JakeTheSnake on Dec 26, 2008 10:11 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

What about Rudy Fernandez?

Taken 24th.

Representing DC with Wizards & Stuff - Truth About It Dot Net

by Truth About It on Dec 26, 2008 6:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Unfair comparison

The Detroit Pistons and Coach Flip Saunders (and now Michael Curry) know how to develop young players.

They gave Rodney Stuckey a set role – and advanced his minutes throughout all of last season – to the point where Stuckey was comfortable to be major part of the rotation in the playoffs.

Nick Young on the other hand, plays for Washington. Where they don’t even know how to spell “D E V E L O P”. Where roles and playing time are left up to chance, a roll of the dice, a sign from the Gods, or a Coach’s whim. Where, unless you are a “veteran”, your playing time could go from zero minutes one night, to 25 the next. Where, as a Rookie or young player, one mistake on the court means splinters for days or weeks.

A look at the playing time given to each player in 2007-2008 is eye-opening. Just remember that Stuckey was playing behind “veteran” All-Star PG Chauncey Billups, who typically played 32-35 minutes per game…. and Nick Young was behind “veteran” DeShawn Stevenson, who averaged 31 minutes per game in 2007-08.

Stuckey:
Nov Injured
Dec 14:47
Jan 15:01
Feb 19:25
Mar 19:12
Apr 24:05
May 24:03
(see a pattern here?)

Young:
Nov 12;08
Dec 14:53
Jan 12:18
Feb 16:00
Mar 16:17
Apr 8:53

Give Nick Young a TEACHING Coach, and the minutes necessary to develop – and perhaps then you could fairly compare him to Stuckey.

If the draft picks were reversed… and Detroit had picked Nick Young, and Washington picked Stuckey – we’d all be marveling on how this Young kid looks like the next coming of Kobe ; and how did we get stuck with this turn-over prone, clueless gunner?

Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......

by Rook6980 on Dec 26, 2008 7:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs