Versatile Stuckey a concern
Gonzaga University held its weekly men’s basketball media day Monday, but not much of the conversation was centered on the Bulldogs.
The main topic, instead, was Eastern Washington’s Rodney Stuckey and the multitude of defensive problems the Eagles’ sophomore sensation will present for the Zags when the teams open their 2006-07 regular-season schedules at 5 p.m. Friday in GU’s McCarthey Athletic Center.
Stuckey, a 6-foot-5 guard, averaged 24.2 points last season and became the first freshman in the history of the Big Sky Conference to be named the league’s player of the year. And he expects to draw most of the Bulldogs’ attention come Friday.
“Probably, his strength in his versatility,” GU coach Mark Few said of Stuckey, who prepped at Kentwood High School in Kent. “You can’t really pinpoint one thing. He’s not just a catch-and-shoot guy; he’s not just a driver. He’s a good offensive rebounder, and he’s an anticipator on defense
“He just causes a lot of problems.”
Stuckey scored 20 points in a 75-65 loss to the Zags in the Arena last season, but made just 1 of 6 3-point attempts and committed six turnovers. GU’s Larry Gurganious, another rookie at the time, did some of the most impressive defensive work on Stuckey, but GU’s 6-5 sophomore won’t be available Friday due to a stress reaction in a vertebrae that is expected to keep him sidelined at least a month – and possibly for the season.
And that, Few, admitted, adds greatly to his concerns.
“No question,” Few said, when asked if a healthy Gurganious might make a difference in how the Bulldogs deal with Stuckey. “I even think (Eastern’s coaching staff) would tell you he probably guarded Rodney better than anybody last year, but that’s just the way it goes.
“We’re going to have to guard him with as many different guys as we can, just like we’ve always done with any good player. Even if we had Larry, we wouldn’t just hang him out there.”
Jeremy Pargo, GU’s 6-2 sophomore guard, said he expects to be matched up against Stuckey at times, but gave no indication he has the solution for stopping him – or even slowing him down, for that matter.
“It’s like guarding anybody,” he said. “All you can do is just be tough and play as hard as you can.”
Senior Derek Raivio, Pargo’s backcourt runningmate, said the key is making Stuckey work hard for everything he gets, much like the Zags did last year.
“Any time you’ve got a player that’s putting up that many points and that many shots, you’ve got to make every one tough,” Raivio explained. “You’ve got to limit his touches, and make sure the other guys don’t become a factor by giving them easy buckets.
“We can’t give him any easy looks. We’ve got to make him work at both ends of the court.”
Like Few, Bulldogs assistant and defensive coordinator Bill Grier is most concerned with the vast variety of ways Stuckey can hurt you.
“He’s just such a good all-around player,” Grier said. “He scores from every area on the floor. He’s good around the basket, he can post up, he’s good at driving the basketball, he’s good at catching and shooting the 3, and he’s good at getting to the (free throw) line.
“If he was one-dimensional and you could take one thing away from him, that would be the way to play him. But he’s such a multi-dimensional player that it’s hard to really limit him.
“He’s going to be a handful – not only for us, but for everybody he plays. I know I certainly don’t have the answer, yet.”