The Detroit Free Press (Vince Ellis) reports: Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey missed the first 25 games of his rookie season after suffering a broken left hand in the final exhibition game, but averaged 7.6 points and 2.8 assists during the regular season. He really flashed his potential as a big 6-foot-5 guard in the playoffs. In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Orlando Magic, he replaced an injured Chauncey Billups and led a Pistons’ surge with 19 points, although the team dropped the game. He followed with three double-figure scoring efforts out of six games in the Eastern Conference finals against the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics. He upped his scoring average to 8.2 points per game during the playoffs. His play impressed so much that he was picked to scrimmage against the Olympic team in Las Vegas just before the team departed for its date with a gold medal in Beijing.
