On the job training

A few minutes after the Pistons had punched their sixth straight ticket to the Eastern Conference finals, rookie point guard Rodney Stuckey walked back onto the court, for an encore of sorts, to give a radio interview.
As Stuckey strolled through the tunnel wearing flip-flops and an untucked jersey, he raised a fist and flashed a wide smile to his buddy, Jordan Dumars, son of Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars.
Clearly, Stuckey was feeling good about himself, and with reason.
The Pistons are winning and Stuckey is thriving.
Stuckey, the rookie out of little-known Eastern Washington, had just taken another major step in his maturation process by filling in for the injured Chauncey Billups for the second straight game. Stuckey finished with 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting to go with six assists in the Pistons' series-clinching 91-86 win over the Orlando Magic.
The Pistons committed just three turnovers and none after the first quarter on Tuesday. Stuckey, meanwhile, didn't commit a turnover in consecutive starts. Impressive?
To many, yes. But to Stuckey, he was just doing his job.
"That's why Joe Dumars drafted me," Stuckey said. "That's why I'm here. I'm not scared. That's what I'm here for. If Chauncey gets hurt I've got to be ready to be in the situations to play just like how I did tonight."
And Stuckey was here in the first place because of the Orlando Magic, who traded the Pistons a future draft pick in exchange for draft day bust Darko Milicic two seasons ago. The Pistons drafted Stuckey with the No. 15 pick in last year's draft.
After a broken left hand forced him to miss the season's first 25 games, Stuckey was put on an accelerated tutorial on how to spell, and play with, arguably the league's most talented backcourt in Billups and Richard Hamilton.
"I said that when Chauncey got hurt that maybe all the time that he [Stuckey] got over the course of the season would pay off," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said.
Saunders was spot on.
Stuckey did what he does best on Tuesday by attacking the rim, drawing contact and getting to the free-throw line, where he made 5 of 6 attempts.
But his success didn't come without some counseling from Billups, Hamilton and veteran Lindsey Hunter, who are always in the rookie's ear.
"The one thing I tell him is when we're all on the floor don't play passive to me, don't play passive to Tay [Tayshaun Prince], don't play passive to anybody out here," Hamilton said.
Stuckey must have taken that to heart, because the 6-5 guard didn't hesitate to storm the rim midway through the third quarter, despite a hulking 6-11 Dwight Howard there to meet him. Stuckey drew the foul and sank both free throws.
Stuckey has been unfazed by the pressures of the postseason, when seldom a rookie has such an impact on his team's success.
"I'm growing up everyday," said Stuckey, who earned all-rookie second team honors. "I'm learning new things every day. But when I'm out there on the court I just try not to think about it and just play."